February 29 in History

Year 888 (DCCCLXXXVIII) was a leap year starting on Monday of the Julian calendar.

Christopher Columbus was an Italian explorer and navigator from the Republic of Genoa who completed four Spanish transatlantic voyages in the name of the Catholic Monarchs, opening the way for the widespread European exploration and colonization of the Americas. His expeditions were the first known European contact with the Caribbean and Central and South America.

Abel Janszoon Tasman (Dutch: [ˈaːbəl ˈjɑnszoːn ˈtɑsmɑn]; 1603 – 10 October 1659) was a Dutch seafarer and explorer, best known for his voyages of 1642 and 1644 in the service of the Dutch East India Company (VOC). He was the first European to reach New Zealand, which he named Staten Landt. He also discovered and was the eponym of Tasmania. Likely born in 1602 or 1603 in Lutjegast, Netherlands, Tasman started his career as a merchant seaman and became a skilled navigator. In 1633, he joined the VOC and sailed to Batavia, now Jakarta, Indonesia. He participated in several voyages, including one to Japan. In 1642, Tasman was appointed by the VOC to lead an expedition to explore the uncharted regions of the southern Pacific Ocean. His mission was to discover new trade routes and to establish trade relations with the native inhabitants. After leaving Batavia, Tasman sailed westward to Mauritius, then south to the Roaring Forties, then eastward, and reached the coast of Tasmania, which he named Van Diemen's Land after his patron, Anthony van Diemen. He then sailed northeast, and was the first European to discover the west coast of New Zealand, which he named Staten Landt. It was later renamed Nieuw Zeeland, after the Dutch province of Zeeland, by Joan Blaeu, official Dutch cartographer to the Dutch East India Company. Despite his achievements, Tasman's expedition was not entirely successful. The encounter with the Māori people on the South Island of New Zealand resulted in a violent confrontation, which left four of Tasman's men dead. He returned to Batavia without having made any significant contact with the native inhabitants or establishing any trade relations. Tasman continued to serve the Dutch East India Company until his death in 1659. More than a century later, knowledge from Tasman's expeditions was used by James Cook, leading to exploration and colonization of Australia and New Zealand by the British.

Queen Anne's War (1702–1713) was the second in a series of French and Indian Wars fought in North America involving the colonial empires of Great Britain, France, and Spain. In the United States, it is regarded as a standalone conflict. Elsewhere it is viewed as the American theater of the War of the Spanish Succession. It is also known as the Third Indian War. In France it was known as the Second Intercolonial War.

Ulrika Eleonora or Ulrica Eleanor (23 January 1688 – 24 November 1741), also known as Ulrika Eleonora the Younger, was Queen of Sweden from 5 December 1718 until her abdication on 29 February 1720 in favour of Frederick, her husband. Upon his accession, as King Frederick I, she served as his queen consort until her death on 24 November 1741. Ulrika Eleonora was the youngest child of Sweden's King Charles XI and his wife, Ulrika Eleonora of Denmark. She was named after her mother, who became known as Ulrika Eleonora the Elder. In 1715, the younger Ulrika married Frederick of Hesse-Kassel. After the death of her brother Charles XII in 1718, she claimed the Swedish throne. By primogeniture, Charles Frederick of Holstein-Gottorp, son of Hedvig Sophia, her deceased elder sister, had the better claim; but citing the precedent of Queen Christina, Ulrika Eleonora asserted that, by proximity of blood, she was the closest surviving relative of the late king. After agreeing to renounce the powers of absolute monarchy established by her father, she was recognized as successor by the Riksdag. She abdicated on 29 February 1720.

The Bar Confederation (Polish: Konfederacja barska; 1768–1772) was an association of Polish nobles (szlachta) formed at the fortress of Bar in Podolia (now Ukraine), in 1768 to defend the internal and external independence of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth against Russian political influence and against King Stanislaus II Augustus with Polish reformers, who were attempting to limit the power of the Commonwealth's wealthy magnates. The founders of the Bar Confederation included the magnates Adam Stanisław Krasiński, the bishop of Kamieniec, Karol Stanisław Radziwiłł, Casimir Pulaski, his father and brothers and Michał Hieronim Krasiński. Its creation led to a civil war and contributed to the First Partition of Poland. Maurice Benyovszky was the best known European Bar Confederation volunteer, supported by Roman Catholic France and Austria. Some historians consider the Bar Confederation the first Polish uprising.

The Treaty of Amity, Commerce, and Navigation, Between His Britannic Majesty and the United States of America, commonly known as the Jay Treaty, and also as Jay's Treaty, was a 1794 treaty between the United States and Great Britain that averted war, resolved issues remaining since the 1783 Treaty of Paris, and facilitated ten years of peaceful trade between Americans and the British in the midst of the French Revolutionary Wars, which had begun in 1792. For the Americans, the treaty's policy was designed by Treasury secretary Alexander Hamilton, supported by President George Washington. It angered France and bitterly divided American public opinion, encouraging the growth of two opposing American political parties, the pro-Treaty Federalists and the anti-Treaty Democratic-Republicans.

St. Petersburg is a city in Pinellas County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 258,308, making it the fifth-most populous city in Florida and the most populous city in the state that is not a county seat. It is the second-most populous city in the Tampa Bay area, which is the second-largest metropolitan area in Florida with an estimated population of about 3.29 million in 2022.

James Madison University (JMU, Madison, or James Madison) is a public research university in Harrisonburg, Virginia, United States. Founded in 1908, the institution was renamed in 1938 in honor of the fourth president of the United States, James Madison. It has since expanded from its origins as a normal school and teacher's college into a comprehensive university. It is situated in the Shenandoah Valley, just west of Massanutten Mountain.

Piedra Movediza (lit. 'Moving Stone') was a balancing rock located in Tandil, Buenos Aires Province, Argentina. It weighed about 300 tons. It attracted attention and tourists because of the way it was balanced on the edge of a hill. The stone fell and broke on 29 February 1912. Some sources say it fell due to vandalism or vibrations caused by explosions in a nearby quarry.

Tokelau is a dependent territory of New Zealand in the southern Pacific Ocean. It consists of three tropical coral atolls: Atafu, Nukunonu, and Fakaofo. They have a combined land area of 10 km2 (4 sq mi). In addition to these three, Swains Island, which forms part of the same archipelago, is the subject of an ongoing territorial dispute, while being currently administered by the United States as part of American Samoa. Tokelau lies north of the Samoan Islands, east of Tuvalu, south of the Phoenix Islands, southwest of the more distant Line Islands, and northwest of the Cook Islands. The islands sit in the south east hemisphere.

South Carolina is a state in the Southeastern, South Atlantic and Deep South regions of the United States. It borders North Carolina to the north and northeast, the Atlantic Ocean to the southeast, and Georgia to the west and south across the Savannah River. Along with North Carolina, it makes up the Carolinas region of the East Coast. South Carolina is the 11th-smallest and 23rd-most populous U.S. state, with an estimated population of 5.5 million as of 2025, South Carolina is composed of 46 counties. Its capital is Columbia, while its most populous city is Charleston. Other urban areas include the Upstate, the state's largest metropolitan area which includes Greenville and Spartanburg, as well as Myrtle Beach.

The First Czechoslovak Republic, often colloquially referred to as the First Republic, was the first Czechoslovak state that existed from 1918 to 1938, a union of ethnic Czechs and Slovaks. The country was commonly called Czechoslovakia, a compound of Czech and Slovak; which gradually became the most widely used name for its successor states. It was composed of former territories of Austria-Hungary, inheriting different systems of administration from the formerly Austrian and Hungarian territories.

The Charles Brownlow Trophy, better known as the Brownlow Medal (and informally as Charlie), is awarded to the best and fairest player in the Australian Football League (AFL) during the home-and-away season, as determined by votes cast by the four officiating field umpires after each game. It is the most prestigious award for individual players in the AFL. The medal was first awarded by the Victorian Football League (VFL). It was created and named in honour of Charles Brownlow, a former Geelong Football Club footballer (1880–1891) and club secretary (1885–1923), and VFL president (1918–1919), who had died in January 1924 after an extended illness.

The February 26 incident (Japanese: 二・二六事件, Hepburn: Ni Ni-Roku Jiken), also known as the 2–26 incident, was an attempted coup d'état in the Empire of Japan on 26 February 1936. It was organized by a group of young Imperial Japanese Army (IJA) officers with the goal of purging the government and military leadership of their factional rivals and ideological opponents. Although the rebels succeeded in assassinating several leading officials (including two former prime ministers) and in occupying the government center of Tokyo, they failed to assassinate Prime Minister Okada Keisuke or secure control of the Imperial Palace. Their supporters in the army made attempts to capitalize on their actions, but divisions within the military, combined with Imperial anger at the coup, meant they were unable to achieve a change of government. Facing overwhelming opposition as the army moved against them, the rebels surrendered on 29 February. Unlike earlier examples of political violence by young officers, the coup attempt had severe consequences. After a series of closed trials, 19 of the uprising's leaders were executed for mutiny and another 40 were imprisoned. The radical Kōdōha faction lost its influence within the army, while the military, now free from infighting, increased its control over the civilian government, which had been severely weakened by the assassination of key moderate and liberal-minded leaders.

Gone with the Wind is a 1939 American epic historical romance film adapted from the 1936 novel by Margaret Mitchell. It was produced by David O. Selznick of Selznick International Pictures and directed by Victor Fleming. Set in the American South during the Civil War and Reconstruction, the film tells the story of Scarlett O'Hara, the strong-willed daughter of a Georgia plantation owner, following her romantic pursuit of Ashley Wilkes, who is married to his cousin Melanie Hamilton, and her subsequent marriage to Rhett Butler.

The Winter War was a war between the Soviet Union and Finland. It began with a Soviet invasion of Finland on 30 November 1939, three months after the outbreak of World War II, and ended three and a half months later with the Moscow Peace Treaty on 13 March 1940. Despite superior military strength, especially in tanks and aircraft, the Soviet Union suffered severe losses and initially made little headway. The League of Nations deemed the attack illegal and expelled the Soviet Union from its organization. The Soviets made several demands, including that Finland cede substantial border territories in exchange for land elsewhere, claiming security reasons — primarily the protection of Leningrad, 32 km (20 mi) from the Finnish border. When Finland refused, the Soviets invaded. Most sources conclude that the Soviet Union had intended to conquer all of Finland, and cite the establishment of the puppet Finnish Communist government and the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact's secret protocols as evidence of this, while other sources argue against the idea of a full Soviet conquest. Finland repelled Soviet attacks for more than two months and inflicted substantial losses on the invaders in temperatures as low as −43 °C (−45 °F). The battles focused mainly on Taipale along the Karelian Isthmus, on Kollaa in Ladoga Karelia and on Raate Road in Kainuu, but there were also battles in Lapland and North Karelia. Following the initial setbacks, the Soviets reduced their strategic objectives and put an end to the puppet Finnish communist government in late January 1940, and informed the legitimate Finnish government that they were willing to negotiate peace. After the Soviet military reorganized and adopted different tactics, they renewed their offensive in February 1940 and overcame the Finnish defences on the Karelian Isthmus. This left the Finnish Army in the main theatre of war near the breaking point, with a retreat seeming inevitable. Consequently, Finnish commander-in-chief Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim urged a peace deal with the Soviets, while the Finns still retained bargaining power. Hostilities ceased in March 1940 with the signing of the Moscow Peace Treaty in which Finland ceded 9% of its territory to the Soviet Union. Soviet losses were heavy, and the country's international reputation suffered. Their gains exceeded their pre-war demands, and the Soviets received substantial territories along Lake Ladoga and further north. Finland retained its sovereignty and enhanced its international reputation. The poor performance of the Red Army encouraged German Chancellor Adolf Hitler to believe that an attack on the Soviet Union would be successful and confirmed negative Western opinions of the Soviet military. After 15 months of Interim Peace, in June 1941, Germany commenced Operation Barbarossa, and the Continuation War between Finland and the Soviets began.

Berkeley ( BURK-lee) is a city on the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay (part of the San Francisco Bay Area) in northern Alameda County, California, United States. It is named after the 18th-century Anglo-Irish bishop and philosopher George Berkeley. It borders the cities of Oakland and Emeryville to the south and the city of Albany and the unincorporated community of Kensington to the north. Its eastern border with Contra Costa County generally follows the ridge of the Berkeley Hills. The 2020 census recorded a population of 124,321. Berkeley is home to the oldest campus in the University of California, the University of California, Berkeley, and the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, which is managed and operated by the university in coordination with the United States Department of Energy. It also has the Graduate Theological Union, one of the largest religious studies institutions in the world. Berkeley is considered one of the most socially progressive cities in the United States.

The Admiralty Islands are an archipelago group of 40 islands in the Bismarck Archipelago, to the north of New Guinea in the South Pacific Ocean. These are also sometimes known as the Manus Islands, after the largest island of the chain.

The 1960 Agadir earthquake occurred on 29 February at 23:40:18 Western European Time near the city of Agadir, located in western Morocco on the shore of the Atlantic Ocean. Despite the earthquake's moderate Mw scale magnitude of 5.8, its relatively shallow depth (15.0 km) resulted in strong surface shaking, with a maximum perceived intensity of X (Extreme) on the Mercalli intensity scale. Between 12,000 and 15,000 people (about a third of the city's population of the time) were killed and another 12,000 injured with at least 35,000 people left homeless, making it the most destructive and deadliest earthquake in Moroccan history. Particularly hard hit were Founty, the Kasbah, Yachech/Ihchach and the Talborjt area. The earthquake's shallow focus, close proximity to the port city of Agadir, and unsatisfactory construction methods were all reasons declared by earthquake engineers and seismologists as to why it was so destructive.

On Saturday, 29 February 1964, British Eagle International Airlines Flight 802/6 crashed into the Glungezer mountain near Innsbruck, Austria. The aircraft, a Bristol Britannia registered G-AOVO, had taken off from London Heathrow Airport, England, destined for Innsbruck Kranebitten Airport in Austria. All 75 passengers and 8 crew died in the crash.

Aeroflot Flight 15 (Russian: Рейс 15 Аэрофлота Reys 15 Aeroflota) was a passenger flight from Moscow-Domodedovo Airport to Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky Airport with a stopover at Yemelyanovo Airport that crashed on 29 February 1968 en route to Petropavlovsk. All but one aboard the aircraft were killed in the crash.

The Republic of Vietnam, commonly known as South Vietnam, was a country in Southeast Asia that existed from 1955 to 1975. It first garnered recognition in 1949 as the associated State of Vietnam within the French Union, with its capital at Saigon. Since 1950, it was a member of the Western Bloc during the Cold War. Following the 1954 partition of Vietnam, it became known as South Vietnam and was established as a republic in 1955. Although South Vietnam failed to gain admission into the United Nations as a result of a Soviet veto in 1957, its sovereignty was recognized by 95 countries as of January 1975. It was succeeded by the communist-controlled Republic of South Vietnam in 1975. In 1976, North Vietnam and the Republic of South Vietnam merged to form the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.

Gordon Howe was a Canadian professional ice hockey player. From 1946 to 1980, he played 26 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) and six seasons in the World Hockey Association (WHA); his first 25 seasons were spent with the Detroit Red Wings. Nicknamed "Mr. Hockey", Howe is often considered the most complete player ever to play the game and one of the greatest of all time. At his retirement, his 801 goals, 1,049 assists, and 1,850 total points were all NHL records that stood until they were broken by Wayne Gretzky, who himself has been a major champion of Howe's legacy. A 23-time NHL All-Star, he shares the NHL record for seasons played with Chris Chelios, and his all-time NHL games played record of 1,767 was only surpassed in 2021 by Patrick Marleau. In 2017, Howe was named one of the "100 Greatest NHL Players".

Joseph Philippe Pierre Yves Elliott Trudeau (October 18, 1919 – September 28, 2000) was a Canadian politician, lawyer, jurist, academic, author, and journalist who served as the 15th prime minister of Canada from 1968 to 1979 and from 1980 to 1984. He served as the leader of the Opposition from 1979 to 1980. He led the Liberal Party from 1968 until 1984 and was the member of Parliament (MP) for Mount Royal from 1965 to 1984. Born and raised in Outremont, Quebec, Trudeau studied law and political economy. He co-founded Cité Libre in 1950 and rose to prominence as a labour activist in Quebec politics by opposing the conservative Union Nationale government. Trudeau was also an associate professor of law at the Université de Montréal. He was originally part of the social democratic New Democratic Party (NDP), but then joined the Liberal Party in 1965 because he believed the NDP could not attain power. In the election that year, he was elected to the House of Commons, and was quickly appointed as Prime Minister Lester B. Pearson's parliamentary secretary. Trudeau served as minister of justice and attorney general from 1967 to 1968, during which time he liberalized divorce and abortion laws and decriminalized homosexuality. His outgoing personality and charisma caused a sensation, termed "Trudeaumania", which helped him win the leadership of the Liberal Party in 1968. He then succeeded Pearson and became prime minister of Canada. From the late 1960s until the mid-1980s, Trudeau dominated the Canadian political scene. After his appointment as prime minister, he led the Liberals to victory in the 1968, 1972, and 1974 federal elections, before narrowly losing in 1979. He won a fourth election victory in 1980. Trudeau is the most recent prime minister to win four federal elections (having won three majority governments and one minority government) and to serve non-consecutive terms. His tenure of 15 years and 164 days makes him the third longest-serving prime minister in Canadian history, behind John A. Macdonald and William Lyon Mackenzie King. As prime minister, Trudeau pioneered official bilingualism and multiculturalism. Amid the Quebec sovereignty movement, he invoked the War Measures Act in response to the 1970 October Crisis and later led the federalist campaign to victory in the 1980 Quebec sovereignty-association referendum. In economic policy, he introduced the capital gains tax, expanded social programs, sharply increased deficit spending, and responded to the 1970s recession through wage and price controls. In a bid to move the Liberal Party towards economic nationalism, Trudeau established Petro-Canada and launched the National Energy Program, both of which generated significant controversy in oil-rich Western Canada and led to a rise in what was called "Western alienation". Trudeau's government also converted Canada to the metric system, created Via Rail, and enacted the Access to Information Act and the Canada Health Act. In foreign policy, Trudeau reduced Canada's alignment with the United States, maintained cordial relations with the Soviet Union, and developed strong ties with China and with Cuban leader Fidel Castro, which put him at odds with other Western capitalist states. He also oversaw Canada's entry into the G7 forum. In 1982, Trudeau patriated the Constitution of Canada and established the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms with the Constitution Act, 1982, which achieved full Canadian sovereignty. Trudeau retired from politics shortly before the 1984 federal election. In his retirement, he practised law at the Montreal law firm of Heenan Blaikie. He also spoke out against the Meech Lake and Charlottetown accords (which proposed granting Quebec certain concessions), arguing they would strengthen Quebec nationalism. Trudeau died in 2000, aged 80. He is ranked highly among scholars in historical rankings of Canadian prime ministers, but remains a divisive figure in Canadian politics. Critics accused him of arrogance, economic mismanagement, and unduly centralizing Canadian decision-making to the detriment of the culture of Quebec and the economy of the Prairies, while admirers praised what they considered to be the force of his intellect and his political acumen, which helped maintain national unity throughout the Quebec sovereignty movement. Trudeau's eldest son, Justin Trudeau, served as prime minister of Canada from 2015 to 2025, and was the first child of a former prime minister to serve as prime minister.

Desmond Mpilo Tutu (; 7 October 1931 – 26 December 2021) was a South African Anglican bishop and theologian, known for his work as an anti-apartheid and human rights activist. He was Bishop of Johannesburg from 1985 to 1986 and then Archbishop of Cape Town from 1986 to 1996, in both cases being the first black African to hold the position. Theologically, he sought to fuse ideas from black theology with African theology. Tutu was born of mixed Xhosa and Motswana heritage to a poor family in Klerksdorp, South Africa. Entering adulthood, he trained as a teacher and married Nomalizo Leah Shenxane, with whom he had several children. In 1961, he was ordained as an Anglican priest and in 1962 moved to the United Kingdom to study theology at King's College London. In 1966 he returned to southern Africa, teaching at the Federal Theological Seminary and then the University of Botswana, Lesotho and Swaziland. In 1972, he became the Theological Education Fund's director for Africa, a position based in London but necessitating regular tours of the African continent. Back in southern Africa in 1975, he served first as dean of St Mary's Cathedral in Johannesburg and then as Bishop of Lesotho; from 1978 to 1985 he was general-secretary of the South African Council of Churches. He emerged as one of the most prominent opponents of South Africa's apartheid system of racial segregation and white minority rule. Although warning the National Party government that anger at apartheid would lead to racial violence, as an activist he stressed non-violent protest and foreign economic pressure to bring about universal suffrage. In 1985, Tutu became the Bishop of Johannesburg and in 1986 the Archbishop of Cape Town, the most senior position in southern Africa's Anglican hierarchy. In this position, he emphasised a consensus-building model of leadership and oversaw the introduction of female priests. Also in 1986, he became president of the All Africa Conference of Churches, resulting in further tours of the continent. After President F. W. de Klerk released the anti-apartheid activist Nelson Mandela from prison in 1990 and the pair led negotiations to end apartheid and introduce multi-racial democracy, Tutu assisted as a mediator between rival black factions. After the 1994 general election resulted in a coalition government headed by Mandela, the latter selected Tutu to chair the Truth and Reconciliation Commission to investigate past human rights abuses committed by both pro and anti-apartheid groups. Following apartheid's fall, Tutu campaigned for gay rights and spoke out on a wide range of subjects, among them his criticism of South African presidents Thabo Mbeki and Jacob Zuma, his opposition to the Iraq War, and his view that Israel's treatment of Palestinians constituted apartheid. In 2010, he retired from public life, but continued to speak out on various issues. Tutu attracted controversy throughout his career. He was popular among South Africa's black majority and was internationally praised for his anti-apartheid activism, for which he won the Nobel Peace Prize and other international awards. Conversely, many white South Africans considered him too radical, various anti-apartheid activists deemed him too moderate, and Jewish groups accused him of making antisemitic statements.

Svend Robinson (born March 4, 1952) is a Canadian politician. He was a member of Parliament (MP) from 1979 to 2004, representing suburban Vancouver-area constituencies in the city of Burnaby for the New Democratic Party (NDP). He was the first member of Parliament in Canadian history to come out as gay while in office. In 2004, he pleaded guilty to stealing an expensive ring and decided not to run in the June 2004 election. At the time, he was one of the longest-serving members in the House of Commons, having been elected and re-elected for seven consecutive terms. In the 2019 Canadian federal election, Robinson was the NDP candidate for the riding of Burnaby North—Seymour but lost to Liberal incumbent Terry Beech by 1,560 votes.

The Socialist Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina (SR Bosnia and Herzegovina; SR BiH), commonly referred to as Socialist Bosnia or simply Bosnia, was one of the six constituent republics forming the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. It was a predecessor of the modern-day Bosnia and Herzegovina, existing between 1945 and 1992, under a number of different formal names, including Democratic Bosnia and Herzegovina (1943–1945), Federal State of Bosnia and Herzegovina (1945–1946), and People's Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina (1946–1963). Within Yugoslavia, Bosnia and Herzegovina was a unique federal unit with no dominant ethnic group, as was the case in other constituent states, all of which were also nation states of Yugoslavia's South Slavic ethnic groups. It was administered under strict terms of sanctioned consociationalism, known locally as "ethnic key" or "national key" (Serbo-Croatian: etnički/nacionalni ključ), based on the balance of political representation of 3 largest ethnic groups (Bosnian Muslims, Croats and Serbs). Sarajevo served as the capital city throughout its existence and remained the capital following independence. The Socialist Republic was dissolved in 1990 when it abandoned its socialist institutions and adopted liberal ones, as the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina which declared independence from Yugoslavia in 1992. The Government of Bosnia and Herzegovina was, up to 20 December 1990, in sole control of the League of Communists of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Bosnian branch of League of Communists of Yugoslavia. The borders of SR Bosnia and Herzegovina were almost identical to those that the Condominium of Bosnia and Herzegovina had during the period of Austro-Hungarian rule that lasted until 1918. That year Bosnia became part of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes and divided into several banovinas (regional administrative units), namely parts of Vrbas, Drina, Zeta and Croatia banovinas. With the establishment of a People's Republic, its modern borders were delineated.

Faucett Perú Flight 251 was a scheduled domestic flight from Lima to Tacna, with a stopover in Arequipa. On 29 February 1996, while completing the first leg, the Boeing 737-200 operating the route crashed on approach to Rodríguez Ballón International Airport. All 123 passengers and crew aboard the aircraft lost their lives in the accident. It is the deadliest aviation accident to occur on Peruvian soil.

The Second Chechen War took place in Chechnya and the border regions of the North Caucasus between the Russian Federation and the breakaway Chechen Republic of Ichkeria, from August 1999 to April 2009.

Jean-Bertrand Aristide is a Haitian former Salesian priest and politician who served as president of Haiti in 1991, from 1994 to 1996, and from 2001 to 2004. He lived in exile between the 1991 military coup and 1994, and again between the 2004 coup and 2011. Aristide was a member of the Lavalas Political Organization before he founded the party Fanmi Lavalas in 1996.

Angelina Jolie is an American actress, filmmaker, and humanitarian. She is the recipient of numerous accolades, including an Academy Award, a Tony Award and three Golden Globe Awards. Films in which she has appeared have grossed over $6.9 billion worldwide. She has been named Hollywood's highest-paid actress multiple times.

The Ministry of Defence is a ministerial department of the Government of the United Kingdom. It is responsible for implementing the defence policy set by the government and serves as the headquarters of the British Armed Forces.

North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korean Peninsula and borders China and Russia to the north at the Yalu (Amnok) and Tumen rivers, and South Korea to the south at the Korean Demilitarized Zone (DMZ). The country's western border is formed by the Yellow Sea, while its eastern border is defined by the Sea of Japan. Pyongyang is the capital and largest city.

Colectivos are Venezuelan armed paramilitary groups that support the Bolivarian government, the Great Patriotic Pole (GPP) political alliance and Venezuela's ruling party, the United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV). Colectivo has become an umbrella term for irregular armed groups that operate in poverty-stricken areas. The term may also refer to a community organization with any shared purpose, such as a neighborhood group that organizes social events. Some colectivos began by doing community work or helping with social programs in barrios, and their members said they promoted democracy, political activism and culture.

The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic consisting of 50 states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 contiguous states border Canada to the north and Mexico to the south, with the semi-exclave of Alaska in the northwest and the archipelago of Hawaii in the Pacific Ocean. The United States also asserts sovereignty over five major island territories and various uninhabited islands in Oceania and the Caribbean. It is a megadiverse country, with the world's fourth-largest total area and third-largest population, exceeding 341 million.

Mahiaddin bin Md. Yasin, commonly known as Muhyiddin Yassin, is a Malaysian politician and civil servant who served as the eighth prime minister of Malaysia from 2020 until his resignation in 2021 after losing parliamentary support amid the 2020–2022 political crisis. A president of BERSATU, he represented Pagoh in Dewan Rakyat since 1995 and previously served as the Menteri Besar of Johor from 1986 to 1995.

Luxembourg, officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, is a landlocked country in Western Europe. It is bordered by Belgium to the west and north, Germany to the east, and France to the south and west. Its capital and most populous city, Luxembourg City, is one of the four institutional seats of the European Union and hosts several EU institutions, notably the Court of Justice of the European Union, the highest judicial authority in the EU.

The Flour Massacre occurred in the Gaza Strip on 29 February 2024, when at least 118 Palestinians were killed and 760 injured after Israeli forces opened fire while the Palestinians were seeking food from aid trucks on the coastal al-Rashid Street in Gaza City.