1468 – Pope Paul III was born(d. 1549)
1504 – Christopher Columbus used his knowledge of a lunar eclipse that night to convince Native Americans to provide him with supplies.
1692 - John Byrom, English poet was born (d. 1763)
1704 – Queen Anne’s War: French forces and Native Americans stagd a raid on Deerfield, Massachusetts, killing 56 villagers and taking more than 100 captive.
1712 – February 29 was followed by February 30 in Sweden, in a move to abolish the Swedish calendar for a return to the Old style.
1720 – Queen Ulrika Eleonora of Sweden abdicated in favour of her husband, who became King Frederick I.
1796 – The Jay Treaty between the United States and Great Britain came into force, facilitating ten years of peaceful trade between the two nations.
1812 – Sir James Wilson, Premier of Tasmania, was born (d. 1880)
1840 – John Philip Holland, Irish inventor (submarine) was born (d. 1914)
1852 – George Maximilianovich, 6th Duke of Leuchtenberg, Russian nobleman, was born (d. 1912)
1864 – American Civil War: Kilpatrick-Dahlgren Raid failed – plans to free 15,000 Union soldiers being held near Richmond, Virginia were thwarted.
1892 – St. Petersburg, Florida was incorporated.
1896 – Morarji Desai, Prime Minister of India (d. 1995)
1904 – Jimmy Dorsey, American bandleader was born (d. 1957).
1904 – Wolfe+585, Senior (alleged date), German-born American typesetter who has the longest personal name ever used (death year unknown).
1916 – Dinah Shore, American singer and actress (d. 1994)
1916 – Child labour: In South Carolina, the minimum working age for factory, mill, and mine workers was raised from twelve to fourteen years old.
1924 – Sir David Beattie, New Zealand Governor-General was born (d. 2001)
1932 – Time magazine featured eccentric American politician William “Alfalfa” Murray on its cover after Murray stated his intention to run for President of the United States.
1936 – Baby Snooks, played by Fanny Brice, debuted on the radio programme The Ziegfeld Follies of the Air.
1940 – For her role as Mammy in Gone with the Wind, Hattie McDaniel became the first African American to win an Academy Award.
1940 – Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I of Constantinople was born.
1940 – Finland initiated Winter War peace negotiations
1940 – In a ceremony held in Berkeley, California, because of the war, physicist Ernest Lawrence received the 1939 Nobel Prize in Physics from Sweden’s Consul General in San Francisco.
1944 – World War II: The Admiralty Islands were invaded in Operation Brewer led by American General Douglas MacArthur.
1952 – The island of Heligoland was restored to German authority.
1956 – U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower announced to the nation that he was running for a second term.
1960 – An earthquake in Morocco killed over 3,000 people and nearly destroyed Agadir in the southern part of the country.
1960 – Family Circus made its debut.
1964 – Opening of first road to Maungapohatu.
1964 – In Sydney, Australian swimmer Dawn Fraser set a new world record in the 100-meter freestyle swimming competition (58.9 seconds).
1972 – Vietnam War Vietnamisation – South Korea withdrew 11,000 of its 48,000 troops from Vietnam.
1972 – Hank Aaron became the first player in the history of Major League Baseball to sign a $200,000 contract.
1980 – Gordie Howe of the then Hartford Whalers made NHL history as he scores his 800th goal.
1984 – Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau announced he would retire as soon as the Liberals could elect another leader.
1988 – South African archbishop Desmond Tutu was arrested along with 100 clergymen during a five-day anti-apartheid demonstration in Cape Town.
1988 – Svend Robinson became the first member of the Canadian House of Commons to come out as gay.
1996 – Faucett Flight 251 crashed in the Andes, killing 123 people.
2004 – Jean-Bertrand Aristide was removed as President of Haiti following a coup.
