Event of Interest
1504 Christopher Columbus uses a lunar eclipse to frighten hostile Jamaican Indians
Christopher Columbus
Salem Witch Trials
1692 First people are accused of witchcraft in Salem Massachusetts - Sarah Good, Sarah Osborne and Tituba, a West Indian slave
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- 1696 English ex-premier Earl Danby accused of corruption
- 1704 French & Indians attack Deerfield, Massachusetts, kill 50, abduct 100
- 1712 February 29 is followed by February 30 in Sweden, in a move to abolish the Swedish calendar for a return to the Old style.
- 1720 Queen Ulrica Eleonora of Sweden resigns
Event of Interest
1768 Polish nobleman Casimir Pulaski joins the Bar Confederation to defend the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth against Russian influence
Casimir Pulaski
Event of Interest
1784 Marquis de Sade transferred from Vincennes fortress to the Bastille
Marquis de Sade
- 1796 Jay's Treaty proclaimed, settles some differences with England
Event of Interest
1832 Charles Darwin walks through the tropical forests of Bahia in Brazil, describing the experience as being in "transports of pleasure"
Charles Darwin
Event of Interest
1868 1st British government of Benjamin Disraeli forms
Benjamin Disraeli
Event of Interest
1904 Theodore Roosevelt, appoints 7-man Panama Canal Commission to proceed with completing a canal at the Isthmus
Theodore Roosevelt
- 1908 Dutch scientists produce solid helium
- 1920 Trying to maintain independence from Germany and the USSR, Czechoslovakia adopts a constitution
- 1932 Failed coup attempt by fascist Lapua Movement in Finland
- 1932 TIME magazine features eccentric American politician William "Alfalfa" Murray on its cover after Murray stated his intention to run for President of the United States.
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Event of Interest
1944 Karol Wojtyla, future Pope John Paul II, is run down and injured by a Nazi truck in Krakow
John Paul II
- 1948 Stern-group bomb Cairo-Haifa train, 27 British soldiers died
- 1952 Ice Pairs Championship at Paris won by Ria Falk & Paul Falk of West Germany
- 1952 Ladies Figure Skating Champ in Paris won by Jacqueline du Bief of France
- 1952 Men's Figure Skating Championship in Paris won by Richard Button of USA
- 1952 The island of Heligoland is restored to German authority.
- 1956 Islamic Republic forms in Pakistan
Event of Interest
1956 US President Eisenhower announces he will seek a 2nd term
Dwight D. Eisenhower
Theater Premiere
1960 1st playboy club, featuring bunnies, opens in Chicago
Hugh Hefner
- 1960 Agadir earthquake in Morocco kills a third of the population (12,000-15,000)
John F. Kennedy
Lyndon B. Johnson
- 1968 US end regular flights with nuclear bombs
- 1968 US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
- 1968 National Advisory Commission on Civil Disorders (Kerner Comm) reports against racism & demands aid given to blacks
- 1972 Jack Anderson discloses Dita Beard (ITT) memo indicating antitrust charges were dropped for $400,000 contribution to Republican Party
- 1980 Michael Bracey ends 59 h 55 m trapped in an elevator, England
Event of Interest
1984 Pierre Trudeau announces he is stepping down after 15 years as Canadian Prime Minister
Pierre Trudeau
- 1988 KWK-FM in St Louis Missouri changes call letters to WKBG
Ronald Reagan
- 1988 Nazi document implicates Waldheim in WW II deportations
- 1992 Professional Spring Football League begins
- 1996 Soyuz TM-23, lands
- 1996 Serb forces withdraw from Sarajevo, ending the siege after 1,425 days, the longest siege of a capital city in the history of modern warfare
- 2004 Jean-Bertrand Aristide resigns as President of Haiti following popular rebel uprising.
February in History
![Wonder of Woolworths Begins its Meteoric Rise]()
Wonder of Woolworths Begins its Meteoric Rise
It was a simple idea: opening a store where nothing cost more than five cents. The idea caught on so quickly that Woolworth’s became a retail phenomenon.
February 22, 1878![The Man Who Re-wrote 'Offensive' Shakespeare]()
The Man Who Re-wrote 'Offensive' Shakespeare
Thomas Bowdler, the man who re-wrote Shakespeare to remove the "offensive" bits, died on this day and added a new word – bowdlerise – to the language.
February 24, 1825![The 'Baronet' From Wagga Wagga]()
The 'Baronet' From Wagga Wagga
In the bizarre Tichborne case, a claim by a butcher from Wagga Wagga to be a missing baronet fell apart on this day after the longest trial in English history.
February 28, 1874![Crafty Columbus Plays a Leap Year Trick]()
Crafty Columbus Plays a Leap Year Trick
Many people born on February 29th curse their luck but it can also bring luck and benefits as explorer Christopher Columbus demonstrated over 400 years ago.
February 29, 1504
