What are the important events that happened on February 28? Here are historical events, facts, and some myths about this day.

February 28: Facts & Myths About This Day

February 28 is the 59^th day of the year 2025 in the Gregorian calendar. There are 306 days remaining until the end of this year. The day of the week is Friday.

Under the Julian calendar, this day is February 15, 2025 – a Friday. Both day of the week are the same but did you notice the difference with the Gregorian calendar?

When this day started, 29,011,680 minutes has elapsed since midnight of January 1, 1970 – the Unix epoch.

Strange as it may, if we name this day after a polygon then it will be called ‘pentacontaenneagon’ day.

Pisces is the zodiac sign of a person born on this day. Amethyst is the modern birthstone for this month. Bloodstone is the mystical birthstone from Tibetan origin that dates back over a thousand years.

According to the lunisolar Chinese calendar, there are 354 days remaining before the start of the next Chinese New Year.

The ancient Maya civilization believes that the end of the world will happen on December 21, 2012. There are now 4,452 days since this fabled cataclysmic event.

February 28 Historical Events

• 1700 –
  Today is followed by March 1 in Sweden, thus creating the Swedish calendar.
• 1849 –
  Regular steamboat service from the west to the east coast of the United States begins with the arrival of the SS California in San Francisco Bay, 4 months 22 days after leaving New York Harbor.
• 1854 –
  The Republican Party of the United States is organized in Ripon, Wisconsin.
• 1939 –
  The erroneous word “dord” is discovered in the Webster’s New International Dictionary, Second Edition, prompting an investigation.
• 1959 –
  Discoverer 1, an American spy satellite that is the first object to achieve a polar orbit, is launched.
• 1993 –
  Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms agents raid the Branch Davidian church in Waco, Texas with a warrant to arrest the group’s leader David Koresh. Four BATF agents and five Davidians die in the initial raid, starting a 51-day standoff.
• 1997 –
  An earthquake in northern Iran is responsible for about 3,000 deaths.
• 1997 –
  GRB 970228, a highly luminous flash of gamma rays, strikes the Earth for 80 seconds, providing early evidence that gamma-ray bursts occur well beyond the Milky Way.
• 1998 –
  Kosovo War: Serbian police begin the offensive against the Kosovo Liberation Army in Kosovo.
• 2001 –
  The Nisqually Earthquake measuring 6.8 on the Richter Scale hits the Nisqually Valley and the Seattle, Tacoma, and Olympia area of the U.S. state of Washington.

Who were born on February 28?

• 1675 –
  Guillaume Delisle, French cartographer (d. 1726)
• 1838 –
  Maurice Lévy, French engineer (d. 1910)
• 1895 –
  Marcel Pagnol, French novelist, playwright and film director (d. 1974)
• 1925 –
  Harry H Corbett, English actor (d. 1982)
• 1947 –
  Stephanie Beacham, English actress
• 1953 –
  Ingo Hoffmann, Brazilian racing driver
• 1956 –
  Mike Tenay, American wrestling commentator
• 1966 –
  Paulo Futre, Portuguese footballer
• 1976 –
  Adam Pine, Australian swimmer
• 1978 –
  Benjamin Raich, Austrian skier

Who died on February 28?

• 1510 –
  Juan de la Cosa, Spanish cartographer and explorer
• 1746 –
  Hermann von der Hardt, German historian (b. 1660)
• 1788 –
  Thomas Cushing, American Continental Congressman (b. 1725)
• 1836 –
  Friedrich August Grotefend, German philogist (b. 1798)
• 1869 –
  Alphonse de Lamartine, French writer and poet (b. 1790)
• 1925 –
  Friedrich Ebert, Chancellor of Germany (b. 1871)
• 1932 –
  Guillaume Bigourdan, French astronomer (b. 1851)
• 1986 –
  Olof Palme, Prime Minister of Sweden (b. 1927)
• 2004 –
  Daniel J. Boorstin, American historian, writer, and Librarian of Congress (b. 1914)
• 2011 –
  Peter Gomes, Harvard University Chaplain (b. 1942)