Did you know
The Swedish calendar was introduced on 1 March 1700 and was used for 12 years until its abolition in 1712.
February 29 in History
1712 — February 29 is followed by February 30 in Sweden, in a move to abolish the Swedish calendar for a return to the Julian calendar
February 29 spans 42 recorded events across recorded history, from 888 to 2024. Below is a curated digest of the most significant moments tied to this date.
By thisDay.info Editorial Team · — Wikipedia
Historical Events
42 events
888 – 2024
Today in history
More major events on February 29
The featured story and these ranked highlights form a quick summary. Every recorded event remains available in the chronology below.
Did you know
Sweden's eastern Baltic dominions also adopted the Swedish calendar during this period.
Did you know
The Julian calendar, which Sweden reverted to in 1712, was the dominant calendar in Europe before the introduction of the Gregorian calendar.
Did you know
The Gregorian calendar was eventually adopted in Sweden on 1 March 1753, with some modifications to its Easter rules.
Did you know
The Swedish calendar was one day ahead of the Julian calendar and ten days behind the Gregorian calendar during its use from 1700 to 1712.
888
Odo, count of Paris, is crowned king of West Francia (France) by Archbishop Walter of Sens at Compiègne.
Calendar year
1504
Christopher Columbus uses his knowledge of a lunar eclipse that night to convince Jamaican natives to provide him with supplies.
Italian navigator and explorer (1451–1506)
1644
Abel Tasman's second Pacific voyage begins as he leaves Batavia in command of three ships.
Dutch seafarer, explorer and merchant (1603–1659)
1704
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 the War of the Spanish Succession (1702–1713)
1720
Ulrika Eleonora, Queen of Sweden abdicates in favour of her husband, who becomes King Frederick I on March 24.
Queen of Sweden from 1718 to 1741
1768
Polish nobles form the Bar Confederation.
Association of Polish–Lithuanian nobles (1768–1772)
1796
The Jay Treaty between the United States and Great Britain comes into force, facilitating ten years of peaceful trade between the two nations.
1794 treaty between the US and Great Britain
1908
James Madison University is founded at Harrisonburg, Virginia, United States as The State Normal and Industrial School for Women by the Virginia General Assembly.
Public university in Harrisonburg, Virginia, US
1912
The Piedra Movediza (Moving Stone) of Tandil falls and breaks.
Former balancing rock in Argentina
1916
Tokelau is annexed by the United Kingdom.
Dependent territory of New Zealand in the southern Pacific Ocean
1916
In South Carolina, the minimum working age for factory, mill and mine workers is raised from 12 to 14 years old.
U.S. state
1920
The Czechoslovak National Assembly adopts the Constitution.
Czechoslovak state from 1918 to 1938
1940
For her performance as Mammy in Gone with the Wind, Hattie McDaniel becomes the first African American to win an Academy Award.
1939 film by Victor Fleming
1940
Finland initiates Winter War peace negotiations.
1939–1940 war between the Soviet Union and Finland
1940
In a ceremony held in Berkeley, California, physicist Ernest Lawrence receives the 1939 Nobel Prize in Physics from Sweden's consul general in San Francisco.
City in California, United States
1944
The Admiralty Islands are invaded in Operation Brewer, led by American general Douglas MacArthur, in World War II.
Archipelago in the South Pacific Ocean
1960
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
1964
British Eagle International Airlines Flight 802/6 crashes into the Glungezer mountain in the Tux Alps of Austria, killing all 75 people aboard.
1964 aviation accident
1968
Aeroflot Flight 15 crashes Irkutsk Oblast, Soviet Union, due to a loss of control.
Eighty-three of the 84 occupants onboard die. The exact cause of the accident is unknown.
1972
South Korea withdraws 11,000 of its 48,000 troops from South Vietnam as part of Nixon's Vietnamization policy in the Vietnam War.
Country in Southeast Asia (1955–1975)
1980
Gordie Howe of the Hartford Whalers makes NHL history as he scores his 800th goal.
Canadian ice hockey player (1928–2016)
1984
Pierre Trudeau announces his retirement as Liberal Party leader and Prime Minister of Canada.
Prime Minister of Canada (1968–1979; 1980–1984)
1988
South African archbishop Desmond Tutu is arrested along with 100 other clergymen during a five-day anti-apartheid demonstration in Cape Town.
South African bishop and anti-apartheid activist (1931–2021)
1988
Svend Robinson becomes the first member of the House of Commons of Canada to come out as gay.
Canadian politician (born 1952)
1992
A referendum is begun in Bosnia and Herzegovina for the determination of Bosnian independence.
Federated state of Yugoslavia (1943–1992)
1996
Faucett Perú Flight 251 crashes in the Andes; all 123 passengers and crew are killed.
1996 aviation accident
1996
2000
Chechens attack a guard post near Ulus Kert, eventually killing 84 Russian paratroopers during the Second Chechen War.
1999–2009 war in the Caucasus region
2004
Jean-Bertrand Aristide is removed as president of Haiti following a coup.
Former president of Haiti (born 1953)
2004
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)
2008
The United Kingdom's Ministry of Defence withdraws Prince Harry from a tour of Afghanistan after news of his deployment is leaked to foreign media.
UK Government department responsible for defence
2008
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 Holocaust memoir
2012
North Korea agrees to suspend uranium enrichment and nuclear and long-range missile tests in return for US food aid.
Country in East Asia
2016
In the Miqdadiyah bombing: at least 40 people are killed and 58 others wounded following a suicide bombing by ISIL at a Shi'ite funeral in the city of Miqdadiyah, Diyala, Iraq.
Terrorist incident in Iraq
2020
During a demonstration, pro-government colectivos shoot at disputed President and Speaker of the National Assembly Juan Guaidó and his supporters in Barquisimeto, Venezuela, leaving five injured.
Paramilitary groups that support the Venezuelan government
2020
The United States and the Taliban sign the Doha Agreement for bringing peace to Afghanistan.
Country primarily in North America
2020
Muhyiddin Yassin is appointed as the 8th Prime Minister of Malaysia, amid the 2020 Malaysian political crisis.
8th Prime Minister of Malaysia
2020
Luxembourg becomes the first country in the world to render public transport free nationwide.
Country in Western Europe
2024
The Flour Massacre took place in the Gaza Strip: Israeli forces opened fire on Palestinians waiting for aid amidst the Gaza war, killing over 100 and wounding 750.
2024 mass killing by Israeli forces