✦ DateLore

On This Day · The 60th day of the year

February 29

A look at February 29 through the almanac — historic events, famous birthdays including Gioachino Rossini and Rubén Plaza, and the day's notable deaths and observances.

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Events

10 notable moments
  1. 2020

    United States

    The United States and the Taliban sign the Doha Agreement for bringing peace to Afghanistan.

    Country primarily in North
  2. 2020

    Luxembourg

    Luxembourg becomes the first country in the world to render public transport free nationwide.

    Country in Western Europe
  3. 2012

    North Korea

    North Korea agrees to suspend uranium enrichment and nuclear and long-range missile tests in return for US food aid.

    Country in East Asia
  4. 2008

    Misha Defonseca

    Misha Defonseca admits to fabricating her memoir, Misha: A Mémoire of the Holocaust Years, in which she claims to have lived with a pack of wolves in the woods during the Holocaust.

    Author of a fraudulent
  5. 2004

    Angelina Jolie

    Angelina Jolie wears a White Marc Bouwer dress to the 76th Academy Awards, which has since been placed on numerous lists for best Oscars fashion.

    American actress (born 1975)
  6. 2004

    Jean-Bertrand Aristide

    Jean-Bertrand Aristide is removed as president of Haiti following a coup.

    Former president of Haiti
  7. 1996

    Faucett Perú Flight 251

    Faucett Perú Flight 251 crashes in the Andes; all 123 passengers and crew are killed.

    1996 aviation accident
  8. 1960

    1960 Agadir earthquake

    The 5.7 Mw Agadir earthquake shakes coastal Morocco with a maximum perceived intensity of X (Extreme), destroying Agadir and leaving 12,000 dead and another 12,000 injured.

    Earthquake in Morocco
  9. 1916

    South Carolina

    In South Carolina, the minimum working age for factory, mill and mine workers is raised from 12 to 14 years old.

    U.S. state
  10. 1704

    Queen Anne's War

    In Queen Anne's War, French forces and Native Americans stage a raid on Deerfield, Massachusetts Bay Colony, killing 56 villagers and taking more than 100 captive.

    North American theater of
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Famous birthday twins

Born on February 29

Gioachino Rossini

b. 1792

Italian composer

Rubén Plaza

b. 1980

Spanish cyclist

Rica Imai

b. 1984

Japanese model and actress

Bartholomew I of Constantinople

b. 1940

current Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople.

Albert V, Duke of Bavaria

b. 1528

Duke of Bavaria from 1550 to 1579

Theodor Leber

b. 1840

German ophthalmologist

Lena Gercke

b. 1988

German model and television host

Pope Paul III

b. 1468

Head of the Catholic Church from 1534 to 1549

Deaths

  • 2020Dieter Laser, German actor
  • 1868Ludwig I of Bavaria, King of Bavaria from 1825 to 1848
  • 1820Johann Joachim Eschenburg, German historian and critic
  • 1792Johann Andreas Stein, German piano builder
  • 1712Johann Conrad Peyer, Swiss anatomist
  • 1460Albert III, Duke of Bavaria, Munich

Holidays & observances

  • —As a Christian feast day: Saint John Cassian
  • —As a Christian feast day: February 29 in the Orthodox church
  • —Rare Disease Day (in leap years; usually celebrated in common years on February 28)
  • —Bachelor's Day (Ireland and United Kingdom)

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