On this day in history

February 29

26 births · 4 deaths · 5 events

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Anniversary highlights

Event anniversary

314

February 30

314 years ago

Born this day

1792

Gioachino Rossini

Died aged 76

Photo (modified): Étienne Carjat · Public domain

Oldest record

558th

Paul III

birth anniversary

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Famous births26

1468 · 558 yrs

Paul III

Pope Paul III (Latin: Paulus III; Italian: Paolo III; born Alessandro Farnese; 29 February 1468 – 10 November 1549) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 13 October 1534 to his death, in November 1549.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

ReligionDied aged 81

View profile Photo (modified): Titian · Public domain

1784 · 242 yrs

Leo von Klenze

Leo von Klenze (born Franz Karl Leopold Klenze; 29 February 1784 – 26 January 1864) was a German architect and painter. He was the court architect of Ludwig I of Bavaria.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

ArtDied aged 79

View profile Photo (modified): Franz Hanfstaengl · Public domain

1792 · 234 yrs

Gioachino Rossini

Gioachino Antonio Rossini (29 February 1792 – 13 November 1868) was an Italian composer and conductor of the late Classical and early Romantic eras. While he gained most of his fame for his 39 operas, he also wrote many pieces of chamber music, piano, and some sacred music.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

MusicDied aged 76

View profile Photo (modified): Étienne Carjat · Public domain

1820 · 206 yrs

Lewis A. Swift

Lewis A. Swift (February 29, 1820 – January 5, 1913) was an American astronomer who discovered 13 comets and 1,248 previously uncatalogued nebulae. Only William Herschel discovered more nebulae visually.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

ScienceDied aged 92

View profile Photo (modified): Unknown author · Public domain

1860 · 166 yrs

Herman Hollerith

Herman Hollerith (February 29, 1860 – November 17, 1929) was a German-American statistician, inventor, and businessman who developed an electromechanical tabulating machine for punched cards to assist in summarizing information and, later, in accounting.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

TechnologyDied aged 69

View profile Photo (modified): Charles Milton Bell · Public domain

1896 · 130 yrs

William A. Wellman

William Augustus Wellman (February 29, 1896 – December 9, 1975) was an American film director, producer, screenwriter, actor and military pilot. He was known for his work in crime, adventure, and action genre films, often focusing on aviation themes, a particular passion.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

FilmWould be 130

View profile Photo (modified): Unknown author · Public domain

1904 · 122 yrs

Rukmini Devi Arundale

Rukmini Devi Arundale (née Sastri; 29 February 1904 – 24 February 1986) was an Indian theosophist, dancer and choreographer of the Indian classical dance form of Bharatanatyam, and an activist for animal welfare.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

PoliticsWould be 122

View profile Photo (modified): The original uploader was ImpuMozhi at English Wikipedia . · Public domain

1916 · 110 yrs

Dinah Shore

Dinah Shore (born Frances Rose Shore; February 29, 1916 – February 24, 1994) was an American singer, actress, television personality, author, and talk show host. Born in Winchester, Tennessee and raised in Nashville, Tennessee, she rose to prominence as a recording artist during the Big Band era.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

MusicWould be 110

View profile Photo (modified): Unknown author · Public domain

1920 · 106 yrs

Michèle Morgan

Michèle Morgan (French:; born Simone Renée Roussel; 29 February 1920 – 20 December 2016) was a French film actress, who was a leading lady for three decades in both French cinema and Hollywood features. She is considered one of the greatest French actresses of the 20th century.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

FilmWould be 106

View profile Photo (modified): Unknown author · Public domain

1928 · 98 yrs

Seymour Papert

Seymour Aubrey Papert (29 February 1928 – 31 July 2016) was a South African-born American mathematician, computer scientist, and educator, who spent most of his career teaching and researching at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

ScienceWould be 98

View profile Photo (modified): Rodrigo Mesquita · CC BY-SA 2.0

1936 · 90 yrs

Jack R. Lousma

Jack Robert Lousma (born February 29, 1936) is an American astronaut, aeronautical engineer, retired United States Marine Corps officer, former naval aviator, NASA astronaut, and politician. He was a member of the second crew, Skylab-3, on the Skylab space station in 1973.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

SpaceAge 90

View profile Photo (modified): NASA · Public domain

1936 · 90 yrs

Alex Rocco

Alex Rocco (born Alessandro Federico Petricone Jr.; February 29, 1936 – July 18, 2015) was an American actor. Known for his distinctive, gravelly voice, he was often cast as villains, including Moe Greene in The Godfather (1972) and his Primetime Emmy Award–winning role in The Famous Teddy Z.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

FilmWould be 90

View profile Photo (modified): Alan Light · CC BY 2.0

Showing 12 of 26

Famous deaths4

1868 · 158 yrs

Ludwig I of Bavaria

Ludwig I or Louis I (German: Ludwig I.; 25 August 1786 – 29 February 1868) was King of Bavaria from 1825 until the 1848 revolutions in the German states. When he was crown prince, he was involved in the Napoleonic Wars.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

RoyaltyDied aged 81

View profile Photo (modified): photo taken by User:Cybershot800i · Public domain

1944 · 82 yrs

Pehr Evind Svinhufvud

Pehr Evind Svinhufvud af Qvalstad (Finland Swedish:, 15 December 1861 – 29 February 1944) served as the president of Finland from 1931 to 1937.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

PoliticsDied aged 82

View profile Photo (modified): Unknown author · Public domain

1956 · 70 yrs

Elpidio Quirino

Elpidio Rivera Quirino (Tagalog:; November 16, 1890 – February 29, 1956) was the sixth president of the Philippines, serving from 1948 to 1953. As the second vice president from 1946 to 1948, he assumed the presidency upon the death of Manuel Roxas in 1948.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

PoliticsWould be 135

View profile Photo (modified): Philippine Presidential Museum and Library · Public domain

2024 · 2 yrs

Brian Mulroney

Martin Brian Mulroney (March 20, 1939 – February 29, 2024) was a Canadian lawyer, businessman, and politician who served as the 18th prime minister of Canada from 1984 to 1993. He led the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada and served as a member of Parliament (MP) from 1983 to 1993.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

PoliticsWould be 87

View profile Photo (modified): A1C LYNCH · Public domain

Events5

1712 · 314 yrs

February 30

Several non-standard dates are used in calendars for various purposes: some are expressly fictional, some are intended to produce a rhetorical effect (such as sarcasm), and others attempt to address a particular mathematical, scientific or accounting requirement or discrepancy within the calendar system.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

History

1940 · 86 yrs

12th Academy Awards

The 12th Academy Awards ceremony, held on February 29, 1940, by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), honored the best in film for 1939 at a banquet in the Coconut Grove at The Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles. It was hosted by Bob Hope, in his first of nineteen turns as host.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

Culture

1960 · 66 yrs

1960 Agadir earthquake

The 1960 Agadir earthquake occurred on 29 February at 23:40:18 Western European Time near the city of Agadir, located in western Morocco on the shore of the Atlantic Ocean.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

Disaster

2004 · 22 yrs

76th Academy Awards

The 76th Academy Awards ceremony, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), honored the best films of 2003 and took place on February 29, 2004, at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

Culture

2020 · 6 yrs

Doha Agreement

The United States–Taliban deal, officially known as the Agreement for Bringing Peace to Afghanistan between the United States of America and the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (which is not recognized by the United States as a state and is known as the Taliban) and commonly known as the Doha Accords, was a peace…

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

Politics

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