February 29
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Events on This Day
45BC - The leap year, this confusing state of calendars, began in 45 B.C., when Julius Caesar added an extra day to the Julian calendar every fourth year upon the advice of astronomer, Sosigenes. Or it could have been 1582 when Pope Gregory XIII ordered every fourth year to be a leap year (leap Year brought the Gregorian calendar closer to the earth’s orbital period of 365.2422 days) unless it is a century year that cannot be divisible by 400. Or maybe it was 1698 when the Protestant rulers of Germany and the Netherlands thought it was time they agreed with the pope, or 1752 when the English made the calendar move or 1918 when the Russians picked up on the Gregorian calendar. It's your call. It is called Leap year because it is not a common year. A common year consists of exactly 52 weeks plus one day. That extra day means that if your birthday falls on a Tuesday in one common year, it will fall on a Wednesday in the next one. Just when you get it all straight, four years have passed and a leap year comes along to confuse the issue. A leap year consists of exactly 52 weeks plus two days. So now, if your birthday fell on a Wednesday last year, it will fall on a Friday this year (February 29 through February 28 of next year).
1704 - The town of Deerfield, MA was raided on this day by French Canadians and Indians who were trying to retrieve their church bell that had been shipped from France. The bell was to hang in the Canadian Indian’s village church. Neither the raiders nor the residents of Deerfield were aware that the bell had been stolen from the ship. The Deerfield folks had purchased the bell from a privateer, unaware that it belonged to the Indian congregation. Although 56 people were killed in the incident, we could say that the 109 captured were saved by the bell.
1904 - On this day in Washington, DC, a seven-man commission was created to hasten the construction of the Panama Canal. The commission, which was appointed by President Roosevelt, arrived on the Isthmus in September of that year.
1920 - Miklos Horthy de Nagybanya became the Regent of Hungary just six months after leading a counterrevolt. He probably gained control because everyone else was distracted while trying to pronounce his name.
1932 - Bing Crosby and The Mills Brothers teamed up to record Shine for Brunswick Records.
1936 - Fanny Brice brought her little girl character Baby Snooks to radio on The Ziegfeld Follies of the Air on CBS Radio. Miss Brice presented the character and later sang My Man on the program. She was 44 at the time, and was known as America’s Funny Girl long before Barbra Streisand brought her even greater fame and notoriety nearly 30 years later.
1940 - A big party was thrown at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles. Partygoers were celebrating the motion pictures of 1939 at the 12th annual Academy Awards presentation. Gone with the Wind won for Best Picture, Best Director (Victor Fleming), Best Actress (Vivien Leigh) and Best Supporting Actress (Hattie McDaniel). The Best Actor honor went to Robert Donat for his performance in Goodbye, Mr. Chips. Thomas Mitchell won Best Supporting Actor for Stagecoach. What happened to The Wizard of Oz? It did capture the Oscar for Original Score (Herbert Stothart) and Best Song Over the Rainbow (Harold Arlen, E. Y. Harburg) but was pretty much blown away by Gone with the Wind. In any other year...
1944 - The invasion of the Admiralty Islands began on this date as U.S. General Douglas MacArthur led his forces in Operation Brewer. Troops surged onto Los Negros, following a month of Allied advances in the Pacific.
1944 - The Germans opened a third major offensive against Anzio beach-head.
1944 - The first woman appointed secretary of a national political party was named to the Democratic National Committee. Dorothy McElroy Vredenburgh of Alabama began her new appointment this day.
1956 - In a nationally broadcast speech, U.S. President Dwight Eisenhower announced he would seek a second term.
1960 - The first Playboy Club opened on this day at 116 E. Walton, Chicago, IL. According to a list of frequently asked questions we found at playboy.com, “During the last three months of 1961, more than 132,000 people visited the Chicago club, making it the busiest night club in the world.” In case you hadn’t noticed, the last U.S. club, located in Lansing, MI, closed in 1988. The last international club, located in Manila, closed in 1991.
1960 - Family Circle comic strip debuted in newspapers. When Family Circle magazine complained, cartoonist Bil Keane renamed it The Family Circus.
1964 - Dawn Fraser got her 36th world record this day. The Austrailian swimmer was timed at 58.9 seconds in the 100-meter freestyle in Sydney, Australia.
1964 - The United States was in the grip of Beatlemania! I Want to Hold Your Hand, by the lads from Liverpool, was in its 5th week at #1 on the pop charts. It stayed there until March 21, when it was replaced by She Loves You, which was replaced by Can’t Buy Me Love, which was finally replaced by Hello Dolly, by Louis Armstrong, on May 9, 1964. 14 straight weeks of #1 stuff by the Beatles! Yeah, yeah, yeah...
1964 - Hang on to your racquets on this one, sports fans: A shuttlecock drive record was set by Frank Rugani this day. Mr. Rugani slammed the birdie 79-feet, 8-1/2 inches in a test at San Jose, CA. A giant leap for badminton. A little leap for all mankind.
1968 - U.S. President Lyndon Johnson’s National Advisory Commission on Civil Disorders, also known as the Kerner Commission, warned that racism was causing America to move “toward two societies, one black, one white -- separate and unequal.”
1968 - U.S. Defense Secretary Robert McNamara resigned to become president of the World Bank. Increasing intensity of the anti-Vietnam War movement and the upcoming presidential campaign, in which Lyndon Johnson was expected to seek reelection, figured heavily in explanations of McNamara’s departure.
1968 - The Fifth Dimension’s Up, Up and Away won the Grammy Award for record of the year for 1967, while album of the year honors went to the Beatles for Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band.
1972 - The U.S. Justice Department had recently settled an antitrust lawsuit in favor of International Telephone and Telegraph Corporation. On this date, newspaper columnist, Jack Anderson revealed a memo written by ITT’s Washington lobbyist, Dita Beard, that connected ITT’s funding of part of the Republican National Convention with the resulting lawsuit settlement.
1972 - Swimmer Mark Spitz was named the 1971 James E. Sullivan Memorial Trophy winner as the top amateur athlete in America.
1972 - Karen and Richard Carpenter of Downey, CA received a gold record for the hit single Hurting Each Other. When they tore the golden platter from its protective frame and plunked it on the player, they heard, Hurt So Bad, by Little Anthony and the Imperials. They were so upset by this that they ran out to the back yard and used the record as a Frisbee for the rest of the day. (Some of the preceding is based upon actual fact.)
1980 - Gordie Howe of the Detroit Red Wings became the first player in NHL history to score 800 career goals (in a 3-0 Wings’ win over the St. Louis Blues). Howe finished his career with 801 regular-season goals. Only Wayne Gretzky has surpassed that mark.
1984 - Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau announced that he was stepping down after more than 15 years in office.
1988 - Day by Day, a situation comedy, premiered on this date on NBC-TV. It was one of the "yuppie sitcoms" that were all over the TV dial in the late 1980s. This particular one was about a suburban overachieving couple who dropped out and opened up a daycare center in their home to spend more quality time with their children. The quality time lasted just under five months.
1992 - Mr. Big hit it big this day, moving to #1 with To Be with You. It was the biggest hit in the U.S. for three big weeks.
1992 - Bosnia-Herzegovina voted overwhelmingly for independence. The Muslim-led Bosnian government declared independence.
1996 - A Fawcett Boeing 737 caught fire and crashed into remote Andean mountain canyon in Peru. The jet slammed into a hillside five miles from Arequipa, killing all 123 people on board.
1996 - Daniel Green was convicted in Lumberton, North Carolina, of murdering James R. Jordan, the father of basketball star Michael Jordan, during a 1993 roadside holdup. (Green was sentenced to life in prison; Larry Demery, an accomplice who had testified against Green, is also given a life sentence.)
2000 - George W. Bush beat John McCain in Virginia, Washington and North Dakota primaries; Al Gore beat Bill Bradley in Washington state.
2000 - Sparky Anderson was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame -- with Turkey Stearnes of the Negro leagues and 1890s second baseman Bid McPhee.
2004 - The 76th Academy Awards were doled out at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood, California. The host of the star-studded evening was Billy Crystal (his eighth time at the helm). Oscars were given for (among many others): Best Picture (The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King); Actor (Sean Penn in Mystic River); Actress (Charlize Theron in Monster); Actor in a Supporting Role (Tim Robbins in Mystic River); Actress in a Supporting Role (Renée Zellweger in Cold Mountain); Director (Peter Jackson for The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King); Screenplay [material previously produced or published] (The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, screenplay by Fran Walsh, Philippa Boyens & Peter Jackson); Screenplay [written directly for the screen] (Lost in Translation, written by Sofia Coppola); Animated film (Finding Nemo [Buena Vista]); Art Direction: The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King [Art Direction: Grant Major, Set Decoration: Dan Hennah and Alan Lee]) Cinematography (Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World); Costume Design (The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King); Documentary (The Fog of War [Sony Pictures Classics]); Music [original score] (Howard Shore for The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King; Music [original song] (Into the West from The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, Music and Lyric by Fran Walsh and Howard Shore and Annie Lennox); Sound (Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World); Visual Effects (The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King).
2004 - Playwright Jerome Lawrence died at 88 years of age. His 39 plays include Inherit the Wind, The Night Thoreau Spent in Jail, and Auntie Mame.
2008 - Movies debuting in the U.S.: The Other Boleyn Girl, starring Natalie Portman, Scarlett Johansson, Eric Bana, Kristin Scott Thomas, Mark Rylance and David Morrissey; Penelope, with Christina Ricci, James McAvoy, Catherine O'Hara, Reese Witherspoon, Peter Dinklage, Richard E. Grant, Simon Woods, Ronni Ancona, Nick Frost and Richard James; and Semi-Pro, starring Will Ferrell, Woody Harrelson, André Benjamin, Will Arnett, Jay Phillips, Josh Braaten, Rob Corddry, DeRay Davis, Maura Tierney and Jackie Earle Haley.
2008 - The British military decided to pull Prince Harry out of Afghanistan after news of his deployment leaked to the media.
2008 - The Ninth U.S. circuit Court of appeals ruled that the Navy must protect endangered whales from the potentially lethal effects of underwater sonar while it conducts anti-submarine training off the Southern California coast. The ruling sent the problem to the U.S. Supreme Court for sorting out.
2012 - Federal charges were brought in New York City against a fraud ring that involved 10 doctors and 105 firms that conspired to steal over $250 million from insurance companies. The case centered on no-fault insurance claims.
2012 - 66-year-old Davy Jones, lead singer of 1960s pop music group The Monkees, died after suffering a heart attack in Indiantown, Florida.
2016 - Israeli drinks company SodaStream laid off its last Palestinian workers and lashed out at the government for refusing to grant them work permits. This, after the company relocated from the West Bank to southern Israel.
2016 - France interior minister Bernard Cazeneuve said Parisian police would be given assault rifles and Kalashnikov-resistant shields. It was a first for the French capital’s officers nearly four months after a devastating terror attack killed 130 people.
2016 - POTUS Barack Obama awarded the Medal of Honor, the highest U.S. military honor, to Navy SEAL Senior Chief Special Warfare Operator Edward Byers, Jr, who participated in a daring 2012 raid that rescued an American hostage in Afghanistan.
2016 - Peter Rabbit became the first character from children’s literature to appear on British coinage. Author Beatrix Potter’s creation was featured on 50-pence pieces commemorating her birth.
2020 - U.S. health officials reported three more cases of the coronavirus had been transmitted to people who did not travel overseas or come in contact with anyone known to be ill. And the first U.S. COVID-19-related death was reported in Washington State. POTUS Trump said the victim was a woman in her 50s (the CDC later clarified it to be a man in his 50s.)
2020 - Joe Biden won 60% of the votes cast in South Carolina by non-white voters, dominating a crowded Democratic field among a group that made up more than half of the electorate. Bernie Sanders won roughly 14% of African American voters, while billionaire Tom Steyer won 15% - and dropped out of the race.
and more...
Birthdays on This Day February 29
1468 - Pope Paul III (Alessandro Farnese)
221st pope of the Roman Catholic Church [1534-1549]: last of Renaissance popes and first pope of Counter Reformation; died Nov 10, 15491736 - Ann Lee (Anne the Word or Mother Anne)
religious zealot: founder of Shakerism in U.S.; died Sep 8, 17841792 - Gioacchino Rossini
operatic composer: The Barber of Seville; died Nov 13, 18681841 - John Philip Holland
inventor of first true submarine accepted by U.S. Navy [spent 57 years working with submersibles]; invented device to allow sailors to escape from damaged subs; died Aug 12, 19141860 - Herman Hollerith
engineer, teacher, inventor: first electric tabulating machine [forerunner of the calculator], founded Tabulating Machine Company: forerunner of Computer Tabulating Recording Company [CTR]: forerunner of IBM [International Business Machines]; died Nov 17, 19291896 - William A. (Augustus) Wellman Academy Award-winning screenwriter: A Star is Born [1937]; director: The High and the Mighty, Battleground, A Star is Born [1937], Westward the Women; died Dec 9, 1975
1904 - Jimmy Dorsey
bandleader: So Rare, Contrasts, June Night; died June 12, 19571904 - Pepper (John Leonard Roosevelt) Martin
baseball: leader of St. Louis Cardinals ‘Gas House Gang’ in early 1930s [club record: stolen bases by a third baseman: 26 in 1933]; died Mar 5, 19651916 - Dinah (Frances Rose) Shore
Emmy Award-winning singer, entertainer: The Dinah Shore Show [1951], Dinah’s Place [1970]; Daytime Emmy: Dinah’s Place [1970], Dinah! [1974]; The Dinah Shore Chevy Show, Oh, God!, Death Car on the Freeway; singer: Yes, My Darling Daughter, The Breeze and I, Blues in the Night, I’ll Walk Alone, Buttons and Bows; sponsored Dinah Shore Classic pro golf tournament for over twenty years; died Feb 24, 19941920 - Arthur Franz
actor: The Member of the Wedding, Dream No Evil; died Jun 16, 20061920 - James Mitchell
actor: 3 Day Test, What Waits Below, Women at West Point, The Silence, La Femme de Jean, A Touch of Magic, The Peacemaker; died Jan 22, 20101920 - Michèle Morgan (Simone Roussel)
actress: The Fallen Idol, Joan of Paris, Bluebeard, Everybody’s Fine; died Dec 20, 20161920 - Howard Nemerov
Pulitzer Prize-winning poet: Collected Works [1978]; 3rd poet laureate of U.S. [1988-1990]; died Jul 5, 19911924 - Al Rosen
baseball [third base]: Cleveland Indians: [1947–1956]: 1948 World Series champs; died Mar 13, 20151928 - Joss Ackland
actor: The Hunt for Red October, The House that Dripped Blood, The Sicilian, A Woman Named Jackie1928 - Tempest Storm (Annie Blanche Banks)
‘The Fabulous 4D Girl’: stripper, burlesque star, actress: Strip Strip Hooray, Striptease Girl, Teaserama, Buxom Beautease, Mundo depravados; finally retired from stripping at age 65; died Apr 20, 20211936 - Jack Lousma
Astronaut Hall of Famer: member of Skylab space station crew [1973], commanded third orbital test flight of the Space Shuttle Columbia [1982]1936 - Henri Richard
‘The Pocket Rocket’: hockey: NHL: Montreal Canadiens: 4-time all-star, played on 11 Stanley Cup champion teams [1955-1975]1936 - Alex Rocco
Emmy Award-winning supporting actor: The Famous Teddy Z [1989]; The Godfather, The Friends of Eddie Coyle, The Blue Knight, Herbie Goes Bananas, Cannonball Run II, How to Murder a Millionaire, Boris and Natasha, Get Shorty, A Bug’s Life [voice of Thorny], Dudley Do-Right [1999]; died Jul 18, 20151940 - Gretchen Christopher
singer: group: The Fleetwoods: Mr. Blue, Come Softly to Me, Tragedy1940 - Joe Giglio
singer: group: The Four Aces: The Gang that Sang ‘Heart of My Heart’, Love is a Many Splendored Thing, Melody of Love, Mr. Sandman, Stranger in Paradise, Three Coins in the Fountain; musician: guitar: Malaguena1940 - Monte Kiffin
football [coach: father of the widely imitated "Tampa Cover 2" defense]: Tampa Bay Buccaneers [defensive coordinator 1996-2008]: 2003 Super Bowl XXXVII champs; Dallas Cowboys [defensive coordinator, assistant head coach for defense: 2013, 2014]1944 - Dennis Farina
actor: Law & Order, Triplecross, Code of Silence, Jo Jo Dancer, Your Life Is Calling, Crime Story, The Case of the Hillside Stranglers, Striking Distance, Get Shorty, Saving Private Ryan, The Mod Squad [1999]; died Jul 22, 20131944 - Steve Mingori
baseball: pitcher: Cleveland Indians, KC Royals; died Jul 10, 20081944 - John Niland
football: Dallas Cowboys Guard, Super Bowl V, VI1948 - Ken Foree
actor: Dawn of the Dead, Kenan & Kel, The Wanderers, The Dentist, From Beyond, Knightriders, The Devil’s Rejects, The Lords of Salem, Cut/Print, The Divine Tragedies, The Rift1948 - Patricia (Anne) McKillip
science-fiction writer: The Forgotten Beasts of Eld, Fool’s Run, Song for the Basilisk, Book of Atrix Wolfe1952 - Al Autry
baseball: pitcher: Atlanta Braves1952 - Tim (Timothy) Powers
science-fiction writer: The Anubis Gates, Epitaph in Rust, Night Moves, Last Call1960 - Tony Robbins
American life coach, motivational speaker, author: Unlimited Power, Awaken the Giant Within, Giant Steps1964 - Mervyn Warren
film composer, record producer, lyricist, songwriter, music arranger, pianist, vocalist: group: Take 6: I L-O-V-E U, Destiny, One and the Same, Fly Away, Mary, Biggest Part of Me1968 - Chucky Brown
basketball: North Carolina State; NBA: Cleveland Cavaliers, LA Lakers, NJ Nets, Houston Rockets, Phoenix Suns, Milwaukee Bucks, Atlanta Hawks, Charlotte Hornets1968 - Bryce Paup
football [linebacker]: NFL: Green Bay Packers, Buffalo Bills LB [AFC defensive player of the year: 1995], Jacksonville Jaguars1972 - Antonio Sabato Jr.
actor: Earth 2, Beyond the Law, War of the Robots, Thundersquad1976 - Katalin Kovács
Hungarian canoer and kayaker: four Olympic medals in team kayak events; 2006 World Championships: 6 gold medals [K2 200 m, 500 m, 1000 m, K4 200 m, 500 m, 1000 m] w/partner Natasa Janics1976 - Terrence Long
baseball [left, center field]: New York Mets, Oakland Athletics, San Diego Padres, Kansas City Royals, New York Yankees
1976 - Ja Rule (Jeffery Atkins)
rapper: LPs: Venni Vetti Vecci, Rule 3:36, Pain Is Love, The Last Temptation, Blood in My Eye, R.U.L.E., Pain Is Love 2, Renaissance Project1980 - Simon Gagné
hockey [left winger]: NHL: Philadelphia Flyers [1999–2010]; Tampa Bay Lightning [2010–2011]; Los Angeles Kings [2011–2013]: 2012 Stanley Cup champs; Philadelphia Flyers [2013]; Boston Bruins [2014]1984 - Cam Ward
hockey [goaltender]: NHL: Carolina Hurricanes [2004–2018]: 2006 Stanley Cup champs; Chicago Blackhawks [2018-2019]1988 - Benedikt Höwedes
footballer [centre-back, full-back]: Germany [2011- ]: 2014 World Cup Champs1992 - Jessica Long
Paralympic swimmer: 12 gold medals in her first three Paralympic games
and still more...
Hit Music on This Day February 29
1952Cry (facts) - Johnnie Ray
Slowpoke (facts) - Pee Wee King
1960
1968
1976
1984
1992
2000
2008
2016
and even more...
Those were the days, my friend. We thought they’d never end...
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