Leap days

February 29, also known as leap day or leap year day, is a date added to leap years. A leap day is added in various solar calendars (calendars based on the Earth's revolution around the Sun), including the Gregorian calendar standard in most of the world. Lunisolar calendars (whose months are based on the phases of the Moon) instead add a leap or intercalary month. It is the 60th day of a leap year in the Gregorian calendar, and 306 days remain until the end of the leap year. It is also the last day of February on leap years. It is also the last day of meteorological winter in Northern Hemisphere and the last day of meteorological summer in the Southern Hemisphere on leap years.

Events

Pre-1600

* 1504 – Christopher Columbus uses his knowledge of a lunar eclipse that night to convince Jamaican natives to provide him with supplies.

1601–1900

* 1644 – Abel Tasman's second Pacific voyage begins as he leaves Batavia in command of three ships.
* 1704 – In Queen Anne's War, French forces and Native Americans stage a raid on Deerfield, Massachusetts Bay Colony, killing 56 villagers and taking more than 100 captive.
*1712 – February 29 is followed by February 30 in Sweden, in a move to abolish the Swedish calendar for a return to the Julian calendar.
* 1720 – Ulrika Eleonora, Queen of Sweden abdicates in favour of her husband, who becomes King Frederick I on March 24.
*1768 – Polish nobles form the Bar Confederation.
*1796 – The Jay Treaty between the United States and Great Britain comes into force, facilitating ten years of peaceful trade between the two nations.
* 1892 – St. Petersburg, Florida is incorporated.

1901–present

*1912 – The Piedra Movediza (Moving Stone) of Tandil falls and breaks.
* 1916 – Tokelau is annexed by the United Kingdom.
* 1916 – In South Carolina, the minimum working age for factory, mill, and mine workers is raised from 12 to 14 years old.
*1920 – The Czechoslovak National Assembly adopts the Constitution.
* 1936 – The February 26 Incident in Tokyo ends.
* 1940 – For her performance as Mammy in '' Gone with the Wind'', Hattie McDaniel becomes the first African American to win an Academy Award.
* 1940 – Finland initiates Winter War peace negotiations.
* 1940 – In a ceremony held in Berkeley, California, physicist Ernest Lawrence receives the 1939 Nobel Prize in Physics from Sweden's consul general in San Francisco.
*1944 – The Admiralty Islands are invaded in Operation Brewer, led by American general Douglas MacArthur, in World War II.
*1960 – The 5.7  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.
* 1972 – South Korea withdraws 11,000 of its 48,000 troops from Vietnam as part of Nixon's Vietnamization policy in the Vietnam War.
*1980 – Gordie Howe of the Hartford Whalers makes NHL history as he scores his 800th goal.
* 1984 – Pierre Trudeau announces his retirement as Liberal Party leader and Prime Minister of Canada.
* 1988 – South African archbishop Desmond Tutu is arrested along with 100 other clergymen during a five-day anti-apartheid demonstration in Cape Town.
* 1988 – Svend Robinson becomes the first member of the House of Commons of Canada to come out as gay.
* 1992 – First day of Bosnia and Herzegovina independence referendum.
* 1996 – Faucett Flight 251 crashes in the Andes; all 123 passengers and crew are killed.
* 1996 – The Siege of Sarajevo officially ends.
* 2000 – Chechens attack a guard post near Ulus Kert, eventually killing 84 Russian paratroopers during the Second Chechen War.
*2004 – Jean-Bertrand Aristide is removed as president of Haiti following a coup.
*2008 – The United Kingdom's Ministry of Defence withdraws Prince Harry from a tour of Afghanistan after news of his deployment is leaked to foreign media.
* 2008 – Misha Defonseca admits to fabricating her memoir, '' Misha: A Mémoire of the Holocaust Years'', in which she claims to have lived with a pack of wolves in the woods during the Holocaust.
* 2012 – North Korea agrees to suspend uranium enrichment and nuclear and long-range missile tests in return for US food aid.
* 2016 – At least 40 people are killed and 58 others wounded following a suicide bombing by ISIL at a Shi'ite funeral in the city of Miqdadiyah, Diyala.
* 2020 – Joe Biden wins the South Carolina primary election.
* 2020 – South Korea reports a record total of 3,150 confirmed cases of COVID-19 during the pandemic.
* 2020 – 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.
* 2020 – The United States and the Taliban sign the Doha Agreement for bringing peace to Afghanistan.

Births

Pre-1600

*1468 – Pope Paul III (d. 1549)
* 1528 – Albert V, Duke of Bavaria (d. 1579)
* 1528 – Domingo Báñez, Spanish theologian (d. 1604)
* 1572 – Edward Cecil, 1st Viscount Wimbledon (d. 1638)
* 1576 – Antonio Neri, Florentine priest and glassmaker (d. 1614)

1601–1900

* 1640 – Benjamin Keach, Particular Baptist preacher and author whose name was given to Keach's Catechism (d. 1704)
* 1692 – John Byrom, English poet and educator (d. 1763)
* 1724 – Eva Marie Veigel, Austrian-English dancer (d. 1822)
*1736 – Ann Lee, English-American religious leader, founded the Shakers (d. 1784)
* 1792 – Gioachino Rossini, Italian composer (d. 1868)
* 1812 – James Milne Wilson, Scottish-Australian soldier and politician, eighth Premier of Tasmania (d. February 29, 1880)
* 1828 – Emmeline B. Wells, American journalist, poet, and activist (d. 1921)
* 1836 – Dickey Pearce, American baseball player and manager (d. 1908)
* 1852 – Frank Gavan Duffy, Irish-Australian lawyer and judge, fourth Chief Justice of Australia (d. 1936)
* 1852 – Prince George Maximilianovich, 6th Duke of Leuchtenberg (d. 1912)
*1860 – Herman Hollerith, American statistician and businessman, co-founded the Computing-Tabulating-Recording Company (d. 1929)
* 1884 – Richard S. Aldrich, American lawyer and politician (d. 1941)
* 1892 – Augusta Savage, American sculptor (d. 1962)
* 1896 – Morarji Desai, Indian civil servant and politician, fourth Prime Minister of India (d. 1995)
* 1896 – William A. Wellman, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 1975)

1901–present

* 1904 – Jimmy Dorsey, American saxophonist, composer, and bandleader (d. 1957)
* 1904 – Pepper Martin, American baseball player and manager (d. 1965)
* 1908 – Balthus, French-Swiss painter and illustrator (d. 2001)
* 1908 – Dee Brown, American historian and author (d. 2002)
* 1908 – Alf Gover, English cricketer and coach (d. 2001)
* 1908 – Louie Myfanwy Thomas, Welsh writer (d. 1968)
* 1916 – James B. Donovan, American lawyer (d. 1970)
* 1916 – Leonard Shoen, founder of U-Haul Corp. (d. 1999)
*1920 – Fyodor Abramov, Russian author and critic (d. 1983)
* 1920 – Arthur Franz, American actor (d. 2006)
* 1920 – James Mitchell, American actor and dancer (d. 2010)
* 1920 – Michèle Morgan, French-American actress and singer (d. 2016)
* 1920 – Rolland W. Redlin, American lawyer and politician (d. 2011)
*1924 – David Beattie, New Zealand judge and politician, 14th Governor-General of New Zealand (d. 2001)
* 1924 – Carlos Humberto Romero, Salvadoran politician, President of El Salvador (d. 2017)
* 1924 – Al Rosen, American baseball player and manager (d. 2015)
*1928 – Joss Ackland, English actor
* 1928 – Jean Adamson, British writer and illustrator
* 1928 – Vance Haynes, American archaeologist, geologist, and author
* 1928 – Seymour Papert, South African mathematician and computer scientist, co-creator of the Logo programming language (d. 2016)
*1932 – Gene H. Golub, American mathematician and academic (d. 2007)
* 1932 – Masten Gregory, American race car driver (d. 1985)
* 1932 – Reri Grist, American soprano and actress
* 1932 – Jaguar, Brazilian cartoonist
* 1932 – Gavin Stevens, Australian cricketer
* 1936 – Nh. Dini, Indonesian writer (d. 2018)
* 1936 – Jack R. Lousma, American colonel, astronaut, and politician
* 1936 – Henri Richard, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 2020)
* 1936 – Alex Rocco, American actor (d. 2015)
* 1940 – Sonja Barend, Dutch talk show host
*1944 – Dennis Farina, American police officer and actor (d. 2013)
* 1944 – Nicholas Frayling, English priest and academic
* 1944 – Phyllis Frelich, American actress (d. 2014)
* 1944 – Steve Mingori, American baseball player (d. 2008)
* 1944 – Paolo Eleuteri Serpieri, Italian author and illustrator
* 1944 – Lennart Svedberg, Swedish ice hockey player (d. 1972).
* 1948 – Hermione Lee, English author, critic, and academic
* 1948 – Manoel Maria, Brazilian footballer
* 1948 – Patricia A. McKillip, American author
* 1952 – Tim Powers, American author and educator
* 1952 – Raisa Smetanina, Russian cross-country skier
* 1952 – Bart Stupak, American police officer and politician
*1956 – Jonathan Coleman, English-Australian radio and television host (d. 2021)
* 1956 – Bob Speller, Canadian businessman and politician, 30th Canadian Minister of Agriculture
* 1956 – Aileen Wuornos, American serial killer (d. 2002)
* 1960 – Khaled, Algerian singer-songwriter
* 1960 – Richard Ramirez, American serial killer (d. 2013)
* 1964 – Dave Brailsford, English cyclist and coach
* 1964 – Lyndon Byers, Canadian ice hockey player and radio host
* 1964 – Mervyn Warren, American tenor, composer, and producer
*1968 – Chucky Brown, American basketball player and coach
* 1968 – Gareth Farr, New Zealand composer and percussionist
* 1968 – Pete Fenson, American curler
* 1968 – Bryce Paup, American football player and coach
* 1968 – Howard Tayler, American author and illustrator
* 1968 – Eugene Volokh, Ukrainian-American lawyer and educator
* 1968 – Frank Woodley, Australian actor, producer, and screenwriter
* 1972 – Sylvie Lubamba, Italian showgirl
* 1972 – Mike Pollitt, English footballer and coach
* 1972 – Antonio Sabàto Jr., Italian-American model and actor
* 1972 – Pedro Sánchez, Prime Minister of Spain
* 1972 – Dave Williams, American singer (d. 2002)
* 1972 – Saul Williams, American singer-songwriter
* 1972 – Pedro Zamora, Cuban-American activist and educator (d. 1994)
* 1976 – Vonteego Cummings, American basketball player
* 1976 – Katalin Kovács, Hungarian sprint kayaker
* 1976 – Terrence Long, American baseball player
* 1976 – Ja Rule, American rapper and actor
*1980 – Çağdaş Atan, Turkish footballer and coach
* 1980 – Simon Gagné, Canadian ice hockey player
* 1980 – Rubén Plaza, Spanish cyclist
* 1980 – Clinton Toopi, New Zealand rugby league player
* 1980 – Taylor Twellman, American soccer player and sportscaster
* 1980 – Peter Scanavino, American actor, who is well-known for his role on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
* 1984 – Darren Ambrose, English footballer
* 1984 – Rica Imai, Japanese model and actress
* 1984 – Cullen Jones, American swimmer
* 1984 – Nuria Martínez, Spanish basketball player
* 1984 – Lena Raine, American video game composer and producer
* 1984 – Rakhee Thakrar, English actress
* 1984 – Cam Ward, Canadian ice hockey player
* 1984 – Mark Foster, American singer, songwriter and musician
* 1988 – Lena Gercke, German model and television host
* 1988 – Benedikt Höwedes, German footballer
* 1988 – Brent Macaffer, Australian Rules footballer
* 1988 – Hannah Mills, Welsh sports sailor
* 1992 – Sean Abbott, Australian cricketer
* 1992 – Eric Kendricks, American football player
* 1992 – Jessica Long, American paralympic swimmer
* 1992 – Jessie T. Usher, American actor
* 1996 – Nelson Asofa-Solomona, New Zealand rugby league player
* 1996 – Reece Prescod, British sprinter
* 1996 – Claudia Williams, New Zealand tennis player
* 2000 – Tyrese Haliburton, American basketball player
* 2000 – Ferran Torres, Spanish footballer
*2004 – Lydia Jacoby, American swimmer

Deaths

Pre-1600

* 468 – Pope Hilarius
* 992 – Oswald of Worcester, Anglo-Saxon archbishop and saint (b. 925)
* 1460 – Albert III, Duke of Bavaria-Munich (b. 1401)
* 1528 – Patrick Hamilton, Scottish Protestant reformer and martyr (b. 1504)
* 1592 – Alessandro Striggio, Italian composer and diplomat (b. 1536/1537)
* 1600 – Caspar Hennenberger, German pastor, historian and cartographer (b. 1529)

1601–1900

*1604 – John Whitgift, English archbishop and academic (b. 1530)
*1712 – Johann Conrad Peyer, Swiss anatomist (b. 1653)
* 1744 – John Theophilus Desaguliers, French-English physicist and philosopher (b. 1683)
* 1792 – Johann Andreas Stein, German piano builder (b. 1728)
* 1820 – Johann Joachim Eschenburg, German historian and critic (b. 1743)
* 1848 – Louis-François Lejeune, French general, painter and lithographer (b. 1775)
*1856 – Auguste Chapdelaine, French Christian missionary (b. 1814)
* 1868 – Ludwig I of Bavaria (b. 1786)
* 1880 – James Milne Wilson, Scottish-Australian soldier and politician, 8th Premier of Tasmania (b. February 29, 1812)

1901–present

* 1904 – Patrick O'Sullivan, Irish-Australian politician (b. 1818)
* 1904 – Henri Joseph Anastase Perrotin, French astronomer (b. 1845)
* 1908 – Pat Garrett, American sheriff (b. 1850)
* 1908 – John Hope, 1st Marquess of Linlithgow, Scottish-Australian politician, 1st Governor-General of Australia

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