February 28

Historic Events

2026

The United States and Israel launch attacks across Iran, assassinating Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. Retaliatory strikes are launched by Iran against US military bases in the Gulf, with explosions reported in Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar and the UAE. ›

2024

Prime Minister Modi of India inaugurates the 2nd Space Port of India - Kulasekarapattinam Spaceport. ›

2023

Two trains collide south of the Vale of Tempe in Greece, leading to the deaths of at least 57 people and leaving 58 missing and 85 injured. ›

2013

Pope Benedict XVI resigns as the pope of the Catholic Church, becoming the first pope to do so voluntarily since Pope Gregory XII in 1415. ›

2002

During the religious violence in Gujarat, 97 people are killed in the Naroda Patiya massacre and 69 in the Gulbarg Society massacre. ›

2001

The 2001 Nisqually earthquake, having a moment magnitude of 6.8, with epicenter in southern Puget Sound, damages the Seattle metropolitan area. ›

1997

An earthquake in northern Iran is responsible for about 1,100 deaths. ›

1997

A Turkish military memorandum results in the collapse of the coalition government in Turkey. ›

1993

Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) agents raid the Branch Davidian church in Waco, Texas with a warrant to arrest the group's leader David Koresh, starting a 51-day standoff. ›

1990

Space Shuttle Atlantis is launched on STS-36. ›

1986

Olof Palme, 26th Prime Minister of Sweden, is assassinated in Stockholm. ›

1985

The Provisional Irish Republican Army carries out a mortar attack on the Royal Ulster Constabulary police station at Newry, killing nine officers. ›

1983

The final episode of M*A*S*H airs, with almost 110 million viewers. ›

1975

In London, an underground train fails to stop at Moorgate terminus station and crashes into the end of the tunnel, killing 43 people. ›

1974

The British election ends in a hung parliament after the Jeremy Thorpe-led Liberal Party achieved their biggest vote share since 1929. ›

1973

Aeroflot Flight X-167 crashes during takeoff from Semey Airport, killing 32 people. ›

1966

A NASA T-38 Talon crashes into the McDonnell Aircraft factory while attempting a poor-visibility landing at Lambert Field, St. Louis, killing astronauts Elliot See and Charles Bassett. ›

1959

Discoverer 1, an American spy satellite that is the first object intended to achieve a polar orbit, is launched but fails to achieve orbit. ›

1958

A school bus in Floyd County, Kentucky hits a wrecker truck and plunges down an embankment into the rain-swollen Levisa Fork river. The driver and 26 children die in one of the worst school bus accidents in U.S. history. ›

1948

The 1948 Accra riots erupt following a march by ex-servicemen of the Gold Coast Regiment towards the seat of the colonial government at Christiansborg Castle, where they were fired upon by Superintendent Colin Imray, leading to the killing of Sergeant Adjetey, Corporal Attipoe and Private Odartey Lamptey and the arrest of the Big Six in the Gold Coast. ›

1947

February 28 incident: In Taiwan, civil disorder is put down with the death of an estimated 18,000 - 28,000 civilians. ›

1925

The Charlevoix-Kamouraska earthquake strikes northeastern North America. ›

1922

The United Kingdom ends its protectorate over Egypt through a Unilateral Declaration of Independence. ›

1844

A gun explodes on board the steam warship USS Princeton during a pleasure cruise down the Potomac River, killing six, including Secretary of State Abel Upshur. President John Tyler, who is also on board, is not injured from the blast. ›

1835

Elias Lönnrot signs and dates the foreword to the first version of the Kalevala, the so-called Old Kalevala. ›

1638

The Scottish National Covenant is signed in Edinburgh. ›

1525

Aztec king Cuauhtémoc is executed on the order of conquistador Hernán Cortés. ›

870

The Fourth Council of Constantinople closes. ›

202 BC

Liu Bang is enthroned as the Emperor of China, beginning four centuries of rule by the Han dynasty. ›