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What happened in history on this day: February 28?
On February 28 in ...
- 1778 - Rhode Island General Assembly authorizes enlistment of slaves.
- 1794 - US Senate voids Pennsylvania's election of Abraham Gallatin.
- 1810 - First US fire insurance joint-stock company organized, Philadelphia.
- 1827 - The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad is the first US railway to be chartered for commercial transportation of freight and passengers.
- 1844 - 12-inch gun aboard USS Princeton explodes.
- 1845 - Congress approves joint resolution to accept Texas as a state.
- 1847 - US defeats México in battle of Sacramento.
- 1854 - Republican Party formally organizes at Ripon, Wisconsin.
- 1859 - Arkansas legislature requires free blacks to choose exile or slavery.
- 1860 - William C. Price takes office as US Treasurer.
- 1863 - Confederate raider Nashville sinks near Fort McAllister, Georgia.
- 1864 - Raid at Kilpatrick's, Richmond.
- 1864 - Skirmish at Albemarle County, Virginia (Burton's Ford).
- 1871 - Second Enforcement Act gives federal control of congressional elections.
- 1878 - US Congress enacts the Bland-Allison Act (over President Rutherford B. Hayes' veto), requiring the US Treasury to buy silver at market rates and coin it as silver dollars, and authorizes silver certificates of deposit.
- 1879 - "Exodus of 1879" as US southern blacks flee political and economic exploitation.
- 1882 - First US college cooperative store opens, at Harvard University.
- 1883 - First US vaudeville theater opens (Boston, Massachusetts).
- 1893 - Edward Acheson of Pennsylvania, USA, patents an abrasive he names "carborundum".
- 1917 - Associated Press reports México and Japan will ally with Germany if US enters Great War.
- 1924 - US begins intervention in Honduras.
- 1925 - US Congress authorizes a special handling stamp.
- 1940 - US population at 131,669,275.
- 1942 - Race riot, Sojourner Truth Homes, Detroit, Illinois.
- 1946 - Combined Chiefs of Staff reveal that the American, Canadian, and British Governments had experimented with building ice ships during 1942-43. The Habbakuk project was to create a two-million-ton ship made of ice and wood pulp, 2000 feet long, 300 feet wide, as a floating aircraft base.
- 1951 - US Senate committee reports of at least two major US crime syndicates.
- 1953 - Cambridge University scientists James D. Watson and Frances H.C. Crick announce that they have determined the double-helix structure of DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid), the molecule containing human genes.
- 1954 - US performs atmospheric nuclear test at Bikini Island.
- 1956 - Thirteen die in a train crash in Swampscott, Massachusetts, USA.
- 1959 - Launch of Discoverer 1 (WTR)-first polar orbit.
- 1961 - US President John Kennedy names Henry Kissinger special advisor.
- 1972 - US President Richard Nixon ends historic week-long visit to China.
- 1973 - In New Jersey, USA, a magnitude 3.8 earthquake occurs.
- 1974 - US and Egypt re-establish diplomatic relations after seven years.
- 1975 - US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site.
- 1977 - First killer whale born in captivity (Marineland, Los Angeles, California).
- 1979 - In Mt. Saint Elias, Alaska, a magnitude 7.5 earthquake occurs.
- 1980 - US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site.
- 1982 - FALN (PR Nationalist Group) bombs Wall Street, New York.
- 1982 - AT&T loses record US$7 billion for fiscal year ending on this day.
- 1983 - Final TV episode of MASH airs (CBS); record 125 million watch.
- 1989 - Gretchen Polhemus, age 23, of Texas, crowned 38th Miss USA.
- 1990 - In Southern California, a magnitude 5.7 earthquake occurs.
- 1991 - US and allied forces grant Iraq a cease fire.
- 1993 - Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms agents raid the Branch Davidian compound in Waco, Texas, with a warrant to arrest leader David Koresh on federal firearms violations. Four agents and five Davidians die in the raid and a 51-day standoff begins.
- 1994 - Brady Law, imposing a wait-period to buy a hand-gun, goes into effect.
- 1995 - Members of the group Patriot's Council are convicted in Minnesota of manufacturing ricin.
- 1995 - Denver International Airport opens in Colorado, USA.
- 1997 - FBI agent Earl Pitts pleads guilty to selling secrets to Russia.
- 1997 - Smokers must prove they are over 18 to purchase cigarettes in US.
- 1997 - The North Hollywood shootout takes place between two heavily armed bank robbers and officers of the Los Angeles Police Department.
- 1997 - WFAA-TV becomes the first TV station in the USA to start broadcasting their newscasts in HDTV on a VHF channel.
- 2001 - In Washington state, a magnitude 6.8 earthquake occurs. About 400 people injured and major damage in the Seattle-Tacoma-Olympia area. Damage estimate between US$1 and 4 billion.
- 2008 - Legislation (HR 5512) is introduced in the House of Representatives, the Coin Modernization and Taxpayer Savings Act of 2008. It includes replacing the copper-plated zinc cent with a steel coin, and requiring the US Mint lose money on any circulating coin for five years before changing alloys.
- 2008 - A report by the Pew Center on the United States says the American penal system held more than 2.3 million adults at the start of the year, meaning more than one in every 100 American adults is confined in a prison or jail, the highest ratio in the nation's history. The report also notes that the United States incarcerates more people than any other country in the world.
Births on February 28
- 1876 - Birth of John Alden Carpenter in Chicago, Illinois, USA; composer (Sea Drift).
- 1889 - Birth of Victor Sutherland in Paducah, Kentucky, USA; actor (Captive City).
- 1893 - Birth of Ben Hecht in New York City, New York, USA; novelist/playwright/screenwriter (The Front Page).
- 1896 - Birth of Philip Showalter Hench in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; physician (cortisone - Nobel Prize).
- 1906 - Birth of Benjamin "Bugsy" Siegel in Brooklyn, New York, USA; gangster, created casinos in Las Vegas.
- 1907 - Birth of Milton Caniff in Hillsboro, Ohio, USA; Dutch cartoonist (Terry and the Pirates).
- 1908 - Birth of Billie Bird in Pocatello, Idaho, USA; actress (Mrs Cassidy - Benson, Dear John, Jury Duty).
- 1909 - Birth of Olan Soule in La Harpe, Illinois, USA; actor (My Three Sons, Arnie).
- 1910 - Birth of Vincente Minnelli in Chicago, Illinois, USA; movie director (American in Paris, Gigi).
- 1914 - Birth of Jim Boles in Lubbock, Texas, USA; actor (Joe - One Man's Family).
- 1915 - Birth of Zero [Samuel Joel] Mostel in Brooklyn, New York, USA; actor (Fiddler on the Roof).
- 1923 - Birth of Charles Durning in Highland Falls, New York, USA; actor (Dog Day Afternoon, Fury, The Sting, Tootsie).
- 1928 - Birth of Bettye Ackerman in Cottageville, South Carolina, USA; actress (Maggie Graham - Ben Casey).
- 1928 - Birth of Tom Aldredge in Dayton, Ohio, USA; actor (What About Bob, Nurse, Mind Snatchers).
- 1931 - Birth of Gavin MacLeod in Mount Kisco, New York, USA; American actor (Murray - The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Captain Stubing - The Love Boat), Christian activist.
- 1934 - Birth of Willie Bobo in New York City, New York, USA; jazz drummer (Cos).
- 1939 - Birth of Charles Brown in Cincinnati, Ohio, USA; featherweight boxer (Olympics-bronze-1964).
- 1939 - Birth of Tommy Tune in Wichita Falls, Texas, USA; dancer/choreographer (The Boyfriend).
- 1940 - Birth of Joe South in Atlanta, Georgia, USA; guitarist/songwriter/singer ("Games People Play").
- 1942 - Birth of Frank Bonner in Little Rock, Arkansas, USA; actor (WKRP, Hoax, You Can't Hurry Love, Sidekicks).
- 1943 - Birth of Barbara Acklin [Allen] in Chicago, Illinois, USA; rhythm and blues singer ("Love Makes a Woman").
- 1944 - Birth of Kelly Bishop in Colorado, USA; actress (Unmarried Woman, Advice to Lovelorn).
- 1945 - Birth of Charles "Bubba" Smith in Texas, USA; NFL player (Baltimore Colts)/actor (Police Academy).
- 1945 - Birth of Mimsy Farmer in Chicago, Illinois, USA; actress (Devil's Angel, Road to Salina).
- 1948 - Birth of Bernadette Peters [Lazzaro] in Queens, New York, USA; actress (The Jerk, Song and Dance).
- 1948 - Birth of Mercedes Ruehl in Queens, New York, USA; actress (Lost in Yonkers, Crazy People).
- 1950 - Birth of Ilene Graff in Brooklyn, New York, USA; actress (Marsha - Mr Belvedere).
- 1951 - Birth of John Roarke in Providence, Rhode Island, USA; comedian (Fridays).
- 1952 - Birth of Jennie Lynn in San Diego, California, USA; actress (Love and Marriage).
- 1952 - Birth of Melissa Babish in South Carolina, USA; swimmer (Olympics).
- 1955 - Birth of Randy Jackson in New Orleans, Louisiana, USA; guitarist (Zebra - "Tell Me What You Want").
- 1957 - Birth of Cindy Wilson in Athens, Georgia, USA; rock vocalist (B-52's - "Love Shack").
- 1957 - Birth of John Turturro in Brooklyn, New York, USA; actor (Brain Donor, Color of Money, Jungle Fever).
- 1961 - Birth of Wayne Smith in Albany, Washington, USA; Australasia golfer.
- 1967 - Birth of Jeff[rey] Pfaendtner in Detroit, Michigan, USA; rower (Olympics-bronze-1996).
- 1968 - Birth of J T Snow; US baseball first baseman (New York Yankees, California Angels).
- 1968 - Birth of Mike Milchin in Knoxville, Tennessee, USA; pitcher (Minnesota Twins).
- 1969 - Birth of Robert Sean Leonard in Westwood, New Jersey, USA; actor (Dead Poets Society, Mr and Mrs Bridge).
- 1969 - Birth of Shawn McEachern in Waltham, Massachusetts, USA; NHL forward (Boston Bruins, Washington Senators).
- 1972 - Birth of Melisa Moses in Jacksonville, Florida, USA; diver (Olympics-4th-1996).
- 1977 - Birth of Debbie Koegel in Norristown, Pennsylvania; dance skater (and Oleg Fediukov).
- 1978 - Birth of Marissa Perez; Miss Connecticut Teen-USA (1996).
- 1979 - Birth of Virginia Ledgerwood in Chester, Virginia; rhythmic gymnast (Olympics-1996).
- 1980 - Birth of Tayshaun Prince; American basketball player.
Deaths on February 28
- 1844 - Abel P Upshur, US Secretary of State, dies in explosion on USS Princeton.
- 1844 - Thommas W Gilmer, US Navy Secretary, dies in explosion on USS Princeton.
- 1959 - Maxwell Anderson, US dramatist (Key Largo, Bad Seed), dies at age 70.
- 1967 - Death of Henry Robinson Luce in Phoenix, Arizona, USA; co-founder of Time magazine, founder of Fortune magazine, founder of Sports Illustrated.
- 1978 - Death of Philip Ahn at age 72 in Los Angeles, California, USA; Korean-American actor (Master Kan - Kung Fu) (born 1905).
- 1979 - Mr Ed, TV show talking horse, dies.
- 1985 - Charita Bauer, actress (Mary - Aldrich Family), dies at age 62 in New York City, New York.
- 1987 - Nora Kaye, US ballet dancer, dies at age 67.
- 2004 - Death of Daniel J. Boorstin, American historian and Librarian of Congress (born 1914).
- 2009 - Death of Paul Harvey, American radio broadcaster, in Phoenix Arizona, at age 90.
- 2020 - Death of Joe Coulombe at age 89 in Pasadena, California; founder of Trader Joe's shops.
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