Did you know
Ali Hosseini Khamenei was an Iranian politician and Shia cleric who served as the second supreme leader of Iran from 1989 until his assassination in 2026.
Notable Deaths on February 28
2026 — Ali Khamenei
Supreme Leader of Iran (born 1939)
February 28 has 44 recorded notable deaths across history, from 628 to 2026. This focused page highlights 20 people with the strongest available profile context.
By thisDay.info Editorial Team · — Wikipedia
Notable Deaths
44 source records
628 – 2026
Today in history
Major events on February 28
See what else happened on this day in history.
- 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. Source
- 1922 The United Kingdom ends its protectorate over Egypt through a Unilateral Declaration of Independence. Source
- 2024 Prime Minister Modi of India inaugurates the 2nd Space Port of India - Kulasekarapattinam Spaceport. Source
- 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. Source
Did you know
was an American actor who appeared in more than 100 film and television productions.
Did you know
André George Previn was a German and American conductor, composer, and pianist.
Did you know
Paul Harvey News was carried on 1,200 radio stations, on 400 American Forces Network stations, and in 300 newspapers.
Did you know
Freeman Dyson was professor emeritus in the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton and a member of the board of sponsors of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists.
More major people who died on February 28
Notable people are ranked by substantive profile depth and public notability.
2016
George Kennedy
American actor (born 1925)
George Harris Kennedy Jr. was an American actor who appeared in more than 100 film and television productions.
2019
André Previn
German-American pianist, conductor, and composer. (born 1929)
André George Previn was a German and American conductor, composer, and pianist. His career had three facets: Hollywood films, jazz, and classical music.
2009
Paul Harvey
American radio host (born 1918)
Paul Harvey Aurandt was an American radio broadcaster for ABC News Radio. He broadcast News and Comment on mornings and mid-days on weekdays and at noon on Saturdays and also his famous The Rest of the Story segments.
2020
Freeman Dyson
British-born American physicist and mathematician (born 1923)
Freeman John Dyson was a British-American theoretical physicist and mathematician who worked in quantum field theory, astrophysics, random matrices, mathematical formulation of quantum mechanics, condensed matter…
1740
Pietro Ottoboni
Italian cardinal and patron of the arts (born 1667)
Pietro Ottoboni was an Italian cardinal and grandnephew of Pope Alexander VIII, who was also born Pietro Ottoboni. He is remembered especially as a great patron of music and art.
2007
Arthur M. Schlesinger
Jr. American historian and critic (born 1917)
Arthur Meier Schlesinger Jr. was an American historian, social critic, and public intellectual. The son of the influential historian Arthur M. Schlesinger Sr.
1993
Ruby Keeler
Canadian-American actress and dancer (born 1909)
Ethel Ruby Keeler was a Canadian and American actress, dancer, and singer who was paired on-screen with Dick Powell in a string of successful early musicals at Warner Bros., particularly 42nd Street (1933).
2026
Aziz Nasirzadeh
Minister of Defense of the Islamic Republic of Iran (born 1964)
Aziz Nasirzadeh was an Iranian military officer who served as the Minister of Defence of Iran from 2024 to 2026.
1966
Charles Bassett
American captain, engineer, and astronaut (born 1931)
Charles Arthur Bassett II was an American electrical engineer and United States Air Force test pilot and astronaut.
2020
Sir Lenox Hewitt
Australian public servant (born 1917)
Sir Cyrus Lenox Simson Hewitt was an Australian public servant. His career in the Commonwealth Public Service spanned from 1939 to 1980, and included periods as a senior adviser and departmental secretary.
1975
Neville Cardus
English cricket and music writer (born 1888)
Sir John Frederick Neville Cardus CBE was an English writer and critic.
2025
Joseph Wambaugh
American writer (born 1937)
Joseph Aloysius Wambaugh Jr. was an American writer known for his fictional and nonfictional accounts of police work in the United States.
2004
Daniel J. Boorstin
American historian and librarian (born 1914)
Daniel Joseph Boorstin was an American historian at the University of Chicago who wrote on many topics in American and world history.
1955
Isak Penttala
Finnish politician (born 1883)
Isak Penttala was a Finnish newspaper editor, politician and member of the Parliament of Finland, the national legislature of Finland.
2025
Miguel Piñera
Chilean celebrity, night club owner and amateur musician (born 1954)
José Miguel Carlos "Negro" Piñera Echenique was a Chilean celebrity, night club owner and amateur musician who was the youngest brother of former Chilean President Sebastián Piñera and of economist José Piñera.
1978
Zara Cully
American actress (born 1892)
Zara Frances Cully was an American actress. Cully was best known for her role as Olivia "Mother Jefferson" Jefferson in the CBS sitcoms All in the Family and The Jeffersons.
2025
David Johansen
American singer-songwriter and actor (born 1950)
David Roger Johansen was an American singer, songwriter, and actor best known as lead singer of the seminal proto-punk band the New York Dolls.
1648
Christian IV
King of Denmark (born 1577)
Christian IV was King of Denmark and Norway, and Duke of Holstein and Schleswig from 1588 until his death in 1648. His reign of 59 years and 330 days makes him the longest-reigning monarch in Scandinavian history.
2005
Chris Curtis
English singer and drummer (born 1941)
Chris Curtis was an English musician. He was best known for being a member the 1960s beat band The Searchers. He originated the concept behind Deep Purple and formed the band in its original incarnation of 'Roundabout'.