Historical Events and Current Affairs on February 28

1066: Westminster Abbey opens
1570: Anti-Portugese uprising on Ternate, Moluccas
1610: Thomas West, Baron de La Mar, is appointed governor of Virginia
1638: Scottish Presbyterians sign National Convent, Greyfriars, Edinburgh
1646: Roger Scott was tried in Mass for sleeping in church
1653: -Mar 3] 3 Day Sea battle English beats Dutch
1667: English colony Suriname in Dutch hands
1692: Salem witch hunt begins
1704: Elias Neau, a Frenchman, opens a school for blacks in NYC
1704: Indians attack Deerfield, Mass, kill 40, kidnap 100
1708: Slave revolt, Newton, Long Island NY, 11 die
1728: Georg F H„ndels opera "Siroe, re di Persia," premieres in London
1730: Tsarina Anna Ivanovna leads autocracy
1749: 1st edition of Henry Fieldings' "Tom Jones" published
1759: Pope Clement XIII allows Bible to be translated into various languages
1778: Rhode Island General Assembly authorizes enlistment of slaves
1784: John Wesley charters Methodist Church
1794: US Senate voids Pennsylvania's election of Abraham Gallatin
1810: 1st US fire insurance joint-stock company organized, Philadelphia
1819: 1st public performance of a Schubert song, "Sch„fers Klageleid"
1826: M Biela, an Austrian officer, discovers Biela's Comet
1827: 1st commercial railroad in US, Baltimore & Ohio (B&O) chartered
1828: Franz Grillparzer's "Ein Treuer Diener," premieres in Vienna
1835: Dr Elias L"nnrot publishes Finnish poem "Kalevala"
1844: 12-inch gun aboard USS Princeton explodes
1847: US defeats M‚xico in battle of Sacramento
1849: 1st boat load of gold rush prospectors arrives in SF from east coast
1854: Republican Party formally organized at Ripon, Wisc
1859: Arkansas legislature requires free blacks to choose exile or slavery
1861: Territories of Nevada & Colorado created
1862: Opera "La Reine de Saba," premieres in Paris
1863: Confederate raider "Nashville" sinks near Fort McAllister Georgia
1864: -Mar 3rd] Skirmish at Albemarle County Virginia (Burton's Ford)
1864: -Mar 4th) Raid at Kilpatrick's Richmond
1871: 2nd Enforcement Act gives federal control of congressional elections
1878: US congress authorizes large-size silver certificate
1879: "Exodus of 1879" southern blacks flee political/economic exploitation
1882: 1st US college cooperative store opens, at Harvard U
1883: 1st US vaudeville theater opens (Boston)
1888: Ferry in San Pablo Bay explodes
1888: Vincent d'Indy's Wallenstein-trilogy, premieres
1891: Oscar Grund‚n skates world record 500m (50.8 sec)
1893: Edward Acheson, Penn, patents an abrasive he names "carborundum"
1896: France dismisses Queen Ranavalona of Madagascar
1900: General Buller's troops relieve Ladysmith Natal
1902: Jules Massenets opera premieres in Monte Carlo
1903: Barney Dreyfuss & James Potter buys Phila Phillies for $170,000
1904: Vincent d'Indy's 2nd Symphony in B, premieres
1906: Stanley Cup: Ottawa Silver 7 sweep Queen's U (Kingston Ont) in 2 games
1908: Failed assassination attempt on Shah Mohammed Ali in Teheran
1913: 6.8-m, 4000-kg elephant seal killed, South Georgia (S Atlantic)
1914: Construction begins on Tower of Jewels for the Exposition (SF)
1917: AP reports M‚xico & Japan will allie with Germany if US enters WW I
1917: Russian Duma sets up Provisional Committee; workers set up Soviets
1920: Maurice Ravel's "Le tombeau de Couperin," premieres
1922: Egypt regains independence from Britain, but British troops remain
1922: English princess Mary marries viscount Lascelles
1922: KHQ-AM in Spokane WA begins radio transmissions
1923: Swedish king Gustaaf V begins state visit to Netherlands
1924: US begins intervention in Honduras
1925: "Tea For Two" by Marion Harris hit #1
1925: Congress authorizes a special handling stamp
1925: Longest win streak in Toronto Maple Leaf history (9 games)
1925: Theater Museum of Amsterdam forms
1929: Chic Black Hawks lose record NHL 15th straight game at home
1931: Canadian Rugby Union adopts the forward pass
1931: Oswald Mosley founds his New Party
1933: 1st female in cabinet: Francis Perkins appointed Secretary of Labor
1933: German Pres Von Hindenburg abolishes free expression of opinion
1933: Hitler disallows German communist party (KPD)
1935: Amsterdam Hotel of the Red Lion gets sidewalk permit
1935: Nylon discovered by Dr Wallace H Carothers
1939: Great-Britain recognizes Franco-regime in Spain
1940: 1st televised basketball game (U of Pitts beats Fordham U, 50-37)
1940: Richard Wright's "Native Son" published
1940: US population at 131,669,275 (12,865,518 blacks (9.8%))
1941: 39 U Boats (197,000 ton) sunk this month
1941: British-Italian dogfight above Albania
1942: 1st weapon drop on Netherlands
1942: Japanese land in Java, last Allied bastion in Dutch East Indies
1942: Race riot, Sojourner Truth Homes, Detroit
1943: "Porgy & Bess" opens on Broadway with Anne Brown & Todd Duncan
1943: 63 U Boats (359,300 ton) sinks this month
1947: Anti Kuomintang demonstration on Taiwan
1950: "Alive & Kicking" closes at Winter Garden Theater NYC after 46 perfs
1951: French govt of Pleven dissolves
1951: Senate committee reports of at least 2 major US crime syndicates
1952: L Boyer discovers asteroids #1629 Pecker & #1630 Milet
1953: Stalin meets with Beria, Bulganin, Khrushchev & Malenkov
1954: US performs atmospheric nuclear test at Bikini Island
1956: 13 die in a train crash in Swampscott Mass
1956: Forrester issued a patent for computer core memory
1957: Jockey Johnny Longden's 5,000th career victory
1959: "Goldilocks" closes at Lunt Fontanne Theater NYC after 161 perfs
1959: Ice Dance Championship at Colo Springs USA won by Denny & Jones of GRB
1959: Ice Pairs Championship at Colorado Springs won by Wagner & Paul of CAN
1959: Ladies Figure Skating Championship in Colo Spr won by Carol Heiss USA
1959: Launch of Discoverer 1 (WTR)-1st polar orbit
1959: Men's Figure Skating Championship in Colo Spr won by David Jenkins USA
1959: NFL trade, Chicago Cards trade Ollie Matson to LA Rams for 9 players
1960: 8th winter Olympic games close at Squaw Valley, Colo
1960: US wins Olympic hockey gold medal by defeating Czechoslovakia 9-4
1961: JFK names Henry Kissinger special advisor
1962: WMGM-AM in New York City changes call letters to WHN
1966: Cavern Club (Beatles hangout) in Liverpool closes
1966: Sandy Koufax & Don Drysdale begin a joint holdout against Dodgers
1967: Wilt Chamberlain sinks NBA record 35th consecutive field goal
1968: Pirate Radio Hauraki, off NZ, returns to the air
1969: Ice Dance Championship at Colorado Spr won by Towler & Ford of GBR
1969: Ice Pairs Championship at Colorado Spr won by Rodnina & Ulanov of URS
1969: Ladies Figure Skating Champion in Colo Spr won by Gabriele Seyfert GDR
1969: Men's Figure Skating Championship in Colo Springs won by Tim Wood USA
1970: "Georgy" closes at Winter Garden Theater NYC after 4 performances
1970: Bicycles permitted to cross Golden Gate Bridge
1970: Caroline Walker runs world female record marathon (3:02:53)
1970: KIIN (now KUN) TV channel 12 in Iowa City, IA (PBS) 1st broadcast
1970: WUTR TV channel 20 in Utica-Rome, NY (ABC) begins broadcasting
1971: 53rd PGA Championship: Jack Nicklaus shoots a 281 at PGA Natl FL
1971: WDRB TV channel 41 in Louisville, KY (IND) begins broadcasting
1972: George Harrison is involved in a minor car accident
1972: Last broadcast of "M*A*S*H" on NBC-TV
1972: Pres Richard Nixon ends historic week-long visit to China
1973: L Kohoutek discovers asteroids #3407 & #3627
1973: Suriname govt of Sedney arrests 13 union leaders
1974: Ethiopian govt of Makonnen forms
1974: Labour Party wins British parliamentary election
1974: Taiwan police shoots into crowd
1974: US & Egypt re-form diplomatic relations after 7 years
1975: 41 killed in London Underground, as train speeds past final stop
1975: EG signs accord of Lom‚ with 46 developing countries
1975: US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
1976: 18th Grammy Awards: Love Will Keep Us Together, Natalie Cole wins
1976: Ceuta & Melilla (Spanish Morocco) are last European African possession
1976: Spain withdraws from Western Sahara
1977: 1st killer whale born in captivity (Marineland, LA Calif)
1977: Harbor strike in Rotterdam/Amsterdam ends
1979: Ernest Thompson's "On Golden Pond," premieres in NYC
1980: "The Well-Tuned Piano" by La Monte Young premieres (takes 4 h 12 m)
1980: US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
1981: #3805 Goldreich, #4052 Crovisier, #4473, #4523, #4989, #5046, #5308,
1981: #5992, #6079 & #6112
1981: Calvin Murphy (Hou), sets NBA record with 78 consecutive free throws
1981: China PR throws out Neth ambassador due to submarine sale to Taiwan
1981: S J Bus discovers asteroids #2780 Monnig, #3287, #3307, #3602,
1982: AT & T looses record $7 BILLION for fiscal year ending on this day
1982: FALN (PR Nationalist Group) bombs Wall Street
1983: Final TV episode of "M*A*S*H" airs (CBS); record 125 million watch
1984: 26th Grammy Awards: Beat It, Michael Jackson wins 8
1986: admitted in Curtis Strong's trial in September, they used drugs
1986: European Economic Community sign "Special Act" for Europe free trade
1986: Peter Uberroth suspended 7 baseball players for 1 year, after they
1988: 15th Winter Olympic games close at Calgary, Canada
1988: Anti-Armenian pogrom in Azerbaijan, 30 killed
1988: Pat Verbeek becomes 1st NJ Devil to score 4 goals in an NHL game
1988: Yvonne van Gennip skates world record 5 km ladies (7:14.13)
1989: Gretchen Polhemus, 23, (Texas), crowned 38th Miss USA
1989: Memo by Brian Gumbel criticizing Today Show co-workers becomes public
1989: Red Schoendienst & Al Barlick elected to Hall of Fame
1990: Dutch police seize 3,000 kg of cocaine
1990: US 65th manned space mission STS 36 (Atlantis 6) launches into orbit
1991: "Les Miserables" opens at Theatre Carre, Amsterdam
1991: "Speed of Darkness" opens at Belasco Theater NYC for 36 performances
1991: Don Mattingly named 10th NY Yankee Captain
1991: Noureddine Morceli runs world record 1500m indoor (3:34:16)
1991: US & allied forces grant Iraq a cease fire
1993: "Anna Christie" closes at Criterion Theater NYC after 54 performances
1993: 7th American Comedy Award: Seinfeld wins
1993: Gun battle erupts at Waco Texas between FBI & Branch Davidians
1993: Iolanda Chen triple jumps world indoor record hop step (14.46m)
1993: Tony Curtis weds Lisa Deutsch as his 4th wife
1994: 100 agents raid Branch Davidian compound at Waco Texas
1994: Brady Law, imposing a wait-period to buy a hand-gun, went into effect
1995: Denver International Airport opens
1996: 38th Grammy Awards: Jagged Little Pill, Alanis Morisette wins
1997: Earthquake in Pakistan, kills 45
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
1998: "View From the Bridge," closes at Criterion Theater NYC
1998: Vancouver Canucks Mark Messier is 4th NHLer to get 1,600 points
2008: 14 crushed to death by train near Surat, India
2008: Canadian gets worlds first ever eyeball tattoo
2008: CBI says computer graphics teacher Rizwanur Rehman committed suicide and was not killed
2008: Deadly missile strikes in Pakistan near the Afghan border killing 12
2008: Deadly poison found at Las Vegas hotel
2008: Illinois mall blast injures 5
2008: Iraqi leaders approve 'Chemical Ali' execution
2008: U.S. Navy ships move closer to Lebanon

News Updates

Birthdays

Death Days

Events