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February 29 in history

67 sourced entries recorded on February 29, from 468 CE to 2024 CE. Every line is quoted from the revision it came from.

Events

  • 824Prince Li Zhan, 14 years old, is enthroned as the Emperor Jingzong of China, four days after the death of his father, Emperor Muzong.source
  • 1312The division of Greater Poland (Wielkopolska) is carried out by the sons of Henry III, Duke of Silesia-Glogau, with Konrad I and Bolesław receiving the eastern portion of Henry III's lands, and Henry IV, Jan and Przemko II retaining the rest.source
  • 1324Battle of Lucocisterna: Aragonese forces led by Prince Alfonso defeat a Pisan army, which is disembarked near the area of Capoterra. During the battle, Alfonso loses some 150 knights. On the same day, a Pisan fleet (some 30 galleys) is defeated in the Gulf of Cagliari at Sardinia.source
  • 1460Johann IV and his brother Sigismund of the House of Wittelsbach become the joint rulers of "Bavaria-Munich", one of several smaller states that had been fragmented from the original Duchy of Bavaria, upon the death of their father, Albrecht III the Pious. Albrecht III's third son, Albrecht IV, will reunite Bavaria-Munich with the other states (Bavaria-Landshut, Bavaria-Ingolstadt and Bavaria-Straubing) into a single Duchy of Bavaria in 1503.source
  • 1504Christopher Columbus uses his knowledge of a lunar eclipse this night, to convince the indigenous Jamaican people to provide him with supplies (in Europe, the eclipse is in the early morning of March 1).source
  • 1528John Zápolya, ruler of the remaining eastern portion of Hungary after its the acquisition of the western section by the Habsburg Austrians, joins in an alliance with the Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent of the Ottoman Turks, receiving protection and autonomy in return for allowing Turkish occupation of his Eastern Hungarian Kingdom.source
  • 1536Francis I seizes control of Savoy as War resumes between France and Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor. Turin was captured in the next week or two.source
  • 1704Raid on Deerfield (Queen Anne's War): French Canadians and Native Americans sack Deerfield, Massachusetts, killing over 50 English colonists.source
  • 1704This date was intended to be skipped in the calendar, but was not. See February 30#Swedish calendar.source
  • 1717February 26–March 6 – What becomes the northeastern United States is paralyzed by a series of blizzards that bury the region.source
  • 1720Queen Ulrika Eleonora of Sweden resigns to let her husband Frederick I take over as king of Sweden. She had desired a joint rule, in a similar manner to William III and Mary II in Britain, but as the Swedish Riksdag of the Estates refuses this, she abdicates in her husband's favour instead.source
  • 1752Alaungpaya, a village chief in Upper Burma, founds the Konbaung Dynasty; by the time of his death 8 years later, he will have unified the whole country.source
  • 1768Five days after the signing of the treaty, a group of the szlachta, Polish nobles, establishes the Bar Confederation, to defend the internal and external independence of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth against Russian influence, and against King Stanisław August Poniatowski.source
  • 1796Ratifications of the Jay Treaty between Great Britain and the United States are officially exchanged, bringing it into effect.source
  • 1796ratifications of the Jay Treaty between Great Britain and the United States are officially exchanged, bringing it into effect. Britain vacates the forts it has been retaining in the Great Lakes region.source
  • 1796Macarthur resigns as Inspector of the Public Works and is replaced by Richard Atkins.source
  • 1808A French column, disguised as a convoy of wounded, takes Barcelona by convincing the authorities to open the city's gates.source
  • 1836Giacomo Meyerbeer's opera, Les Huguenots is performed for the first time in Paris, France.source
  • 1846February 20–March 3 – Kraków uprising: Polish nationalists stage an uprising in the Free City of Kraków; it is suppressed by forces of the Austrian Empire, supported by peasants.source
  • 1892St. Petersburg, Florida is incorporated as a town.source
  • 1908The State Normal and Industrial School for Women, precursor to James Madison University, is founded in Harrisonburg, Virginia.source
  • 1912Serbia and Bulgaria secretly sign a treaty of alliance for a term of eight years, with each pledging to come to the defence of the other during war. The treaty would eventually be dishonored in World War I.source
  • 1924Last public appearance of the caliph Abdülmecit IIsource
  • 1936Prime Minister Keisuke Okada, a target in the February 26 incident, emerges from hiding.source
  • 1960The 5.7 Mw Agadir Earthquake shakes coastal Morocco with a maximum perceived intensity of X (Extreme), destroying Agadir and leaving 12,000 dead and another 12,000 injured.source
  • 1984Canadian prime minister Pierre Trudeau announces his retirement.source
  • 1984Shaheed Tajul Islam, a shifting worker at the Adamjee Jute Mills who served as the leader of the leader of the Adamjee Majdur (worker) Trade Union, was fatally injured by the armed cadres loyal to the autocratic regime of Hussain Muhammad Ershad.source
  • 1988February 27–29 – Collapse of the Soviet Union: The Sumgait pogrom of Armenians occurs in Sumqayit.source
  • 1988Nadav Ben Yehuda, mountaineer and SAR specialistsource
  • 1988A Nazi document implicates Kurt Waldheim in World War II deportations.source
  • 1996The Bosnian government declares the end of the Siege of Sarajevo.source
  • 1996At least 81 people drown when a boat capsizes 120 kilometres east of Kampala, Uganda.source
  • 2000February 23–March 7 – Mayon volcano in Albay erupts, with the most violent occurred, February 28 – March 1; its status is raised to the highest, Alert Level 5, on February 24 due to its hazardous explosions with pyroclastic and lahar flows that affected parts of the province, with several thousands evacuated even outside identified danger zones.source
  • 2000A rare century leap year date occurs. Usually, century years are common years due to not being exactly divisible by 400. 2000 is the first such year to have a February 29 since the year 1600, making it only the second such occasion since the Gregorian Calendar was introduced in 1582. The next such leap year will occur in 2400.source
  • 2004Haitian president Jean-Bertrand Aristide is overthrown in a coup d'état.source
  • 2004A coup d'état takes place in Port-au-Prince, forcing President Aristide to resign and flee to the Central African Republic. 10 people have been killed in the process.source
  • 2020A conditional peace agreement is signed between the United States and the Taliban. The U.S. begins gradually withdrawing combat troops from Afghanistan on March 10.source
  • 2020Barquisimeto shooting: During a demonstration, pro-government colectivos shoot at disputed President and Speaker of the National Assembly Juan Guaidó and his supporters in Barquisimeto, Venezuela, leaving five injured.source
  • 2020A senior Russian-backed bishop in Ukraine Onufriy Berezovsky participated and led a prayer walk and protest rally in Podgorica, reflecting tense relations between the Montenegrin government and Russia.source
  • 2020Egypt says it will use "all means" to defend its interests in a dispute with Ethiopia and Sudan over a dam on the Nile River.source
  • 2024Gaza war: Soldiers of the Israel Defense Forces open fire on a crowd of civilians in Gaza City, killing more than 100 people, as the Palestinian casualties of the war exceed 30,000.source

Births

  • 1468Pope Paul III (died 1549)source
  • 1528Albert V, Duke of Bavaria (died 1579)source
  • 1528Domingo Báñez, Spanish theologian (died 1604)source
  • 1572Edward Cecil, 1st Viscount Wimbledon, English viscount (died 1638)source
  • 1576Antonio Neri, Italian chemist (died 1614)source
  • 1692John Byrom, poet, inventor of a shorthand system (died 1763)source
  • 1708Peter Jefferson, father of US President Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826) (died 1757)source
  • 1736Ann Lee, English-born American religious leader (died 1784)source
  • 1772Hans Andersen Barlien, farmer and politician. (died 1842)source
  • 1792Gioachino Rossini, Italian composer (died 1868)source
  • 1804Carl von Rokitansky, Czech medical doctor and pathologist (died 1878)source
  • 1924Vladimir Kryuchkov, head of the KGB (died 2007)source
  • 1960Khaled, Algerian raï musiciansource

Deaths

  • 468Pope Hilarius dies at Rome after a 6½-year reign, and is succeeded by Simplicius as the 47th pope.source
  • 992Oswald, archbishop of Worcestersource
  • 1212Hōnen, Japanese Buddhist reformer (born 1133)source
  • 1460Albert III, Duke of Bavaria-Munich (born 1401)source
  • 1528Patrick Hamilton, Scottish religious reformer (martyred) (born 1504)source
  • 1592Alessandro Striggio, Italian composer (born 1540)source
  • 1604John Whitgift, Archbishop of Canterbury from 1583 to his death (born c. 1530)source
  • 1740Pietro Ottoboni, Italian cardinal (born 1667)source
  • 1768John Mitchell, colonial American physician and botanist (born 1711)source
  • 1868King Ludwig I of Bavaria (born 1786)source
  • 1956Elpidio Quirino, 6th president of the Philippines (born 1890)source
  • 1996Faucett Perú Flight 251 en route from Lima to Rodriguez Ballon airport crashes into a mountain near Arequipa; all 123 people on board are killed.source
  • 2024Brian Mulroney, 84, Canadian politician, prime minister (1984–1993) and MP (1983–1993), complications from a fall.source