February 29

February 29 is the 60th day of the year, occurring in the Gregorian Calendar every four years, excepting those years ending in two zeros which are not evenly divisible by 400. This means that the year 2000 was a leap year and so will 2400 be, but the years 2100, 2200, 2300 won't be leap years and neither was 1900. If a year is a leap year, there are 306 days remaining after February 29.

Those who are born on this day usually celebrate their birthdays on February 28 during non-leap years.

Events

1704 - Native Americans attack and destroy Deerfield, Massachusetts
1720 - Queen Ulrike Eleonora of Sweden resigns
1940 - For her role as Mammy in "Gone with the Wind," Hattie McDaniel becomes the first African American to win an Academy Award (Best Supporting Actress).
1944 - World War II: The Admiralty Islands are invaded in the American General Douglas MacArthur-led Operation Brewer.
1964 - In Sydney, Australian swimmer Dawn Fraser sets a new world record in the 100-meter freestyle swimming competition (58.9 seconds).
1988 - The soap opera Day by Day premieres on NBC.

Births

1736 - Ann Lee, founder of the United Society of Believers in Christ's Second Appearing ("Shakers")
1792 - Gioacchino Rossini, composer († 1868)
1840 - John Philip Holland, developer of the first submarine
1860 - Herman Hollerith, statistician († 1929)
1904 - Jimmy Dorsey, bandleader († 1957)
1908 - Balthus, painter († 2001)
1908 - Dee Brown, writer, historian († 2002)
1916 - Dinah Shore, singer († 1994)
1920 - Howard Nemerov, American, winner of the Pulitzer Prize († 1991)
1924 - Al Rosen, baseball player
1936 - Henri Richard, ice hockey player
1960 - Tony Robbins, motivational speaker
1972 - Antonio Sabato Jr, actor

Deaths

468 - Pope Hilarius
1940 - Edward Frederick Benson, American writer

Holidays and observances

Bahá'í Faith - Day 4 of Ayyám-i-Há (Intercalary Days) (in leap years only) - days in the Bahá'í calendar devoted to service and gift giving.

See also:

February 28 - March 1 - January 29 - March 29 -- listing of all days

January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December

Commercial Usage: February 29

Domain	Title
Books	Shoot down of U.S. civilian aircraft by Castro regime : hearing before the Committee on International Relations, House of Representatives, One Hundred Fourth Congress, second session, February 29, 1996 (reference) Cancer patient access to unapproved treatments : hearing before the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations of the Committee on Commerce, House of Representatives, One Hundred Fourth Congress, second session, February 29, 1996 (reference) (more book examples)
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Non-Fiction Usage: February 29

Subject	Topic	Quote
Trade	Mexico	On February 29, 2000 Mexico's Secretariat of Commerce and Industrial Development (currently known as the Secretariat of the Economy or SEC) published in the Diario Oficial changes to its product certification policies and procedures for products subject to SEC issued NOMs. (references)
Travel	Belgium	The phase-in of Euro notes and coins will take place alongside local notes and coins until February 29, 2002. Beginning March 1, only Euros will be accepted as legal tender for commercial and consumer use. (references)
Source: compiled by the editor from ICON Group International, Inc.; see credits.

Anagrams: February 29

Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams
	Words within the letters "2-9-a-b-e-f-r-r-u-y"
	-4 letters: brayer, rarefy, rebury.
	-5 letters: barer, barre, barye, berry, burry, buyer, faery, farer, ferry, feuar, fryer, furry, rebar, rebuy, refry, urare, yarer, yerba.
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. SCRABBLE® is a registered trademark. All intellectual property rights in and to the game are owned in the U.S.A and Canada by Hasbro Inc., and throughout the rest of the world by J.W. Spear & Sons Limited of Maidenhead, Berkshire, England, a subsidiary of Mattel Inc. Mattel and Spear are not affiliated with Hasbro.