February 29 is a leap day (or "leap year day")—an intercalary date added periodically to create leap years in the Julian and Gregorian calendars. It is the 60th day of a leap year in both Julian and Gregorian calendars, and 306 days remain until the end of the leap year. It is the last day of February in leap years and does not exist in common years. It is also the last day of meteorological winter in the Northern Hemisphere and the last day of meteorological summer in the Southern Hemisphere in leap years.

In the Gregorian calendar, the standard civil calendar used in most of the world, February 29 is added in each year that is an integer multiple of four, unless it is evenly divisible by 100 but not by 400. For example, 1900 was not a leap year, but 2000 was. The Julian calendar—since 1923 a liturgical calendar—has a February 29 every fourth year without exception. Consequently, February 29 in the Julian calendar, since 1900, falls 13 days later than February 29 in the Gregorian, until the year 2100.^[1]

The convention of using February 29 was not widely accepted before the 15th century; from Julius Caesar's edict in 45 BC until the 16th century (formally), February 24 was doubled instead.^[2] In one of its attempts to adopt the Gregorian calendar, Sweden tried (unsuccessfully) to phase in the change by omitting leap days in the 11 successive leap-years, 1700–1740.^[3]

• 888 – Odo, count of Paris, is crowned king of West Francia (France) by Archbishop Walter of Sens at Compiègne.^[4]
• 1504 – Christopher Columbus uses his knowledge of a lunar eclipse that night to convince Jamaican natives to provide him with supplies.^[5]

• 1644 – Abel Tasman's second Pacific voyage begins as he leaves Batavia in command of three ships.^[6][7]
• 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.^[8]
• 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.^[9]
• 1720 – Ulrika Eleonora, Queen of Sweden abdicates in favour of her husband, who becomes King Frederick I on March 24.^[10]
• 1768 – Polish nobles form the Bar Confederation.^[11]
• 1796 – The Jay Treaty between the United States and Great Britain comes into force, facilitating ten years of peaceful trade between the two nations.^[12]
• 1892 – St. Petersburg, Florida is incorporated.^[13]

• 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.^[14]
• 1912 – The Piedra Movediza (Moving Stone) of Tandil falls and breaks.^[15]
• 1916 – Tokelau is annexed by the United Kingdom.^[16]
• 1916 – In South Carolina, the minimum working age for factory, mill and mine workers is raised from 12 to 14 years old.^[17]
• 1920 – The Czechoslovak National Assembly adopts the Constitution.^[18]
• 1936 – The February 26 Incident in Tokyo ends.^[19]
• 1940 – For her performance as Mammy in Gone with the Wind, Hattie McDaniel becomes the first African American to win an Academy Award.^[20]
• 1940 – Finland initiates Winter War peace negotiations.^[21]
• 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.^[22]
• 1944 – The Admiralty Islands are invaded in Operation Brewer, led by American general Douglas MacArthur, in World War II.^[23]
• 1960 – The 5.7 M_w  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.^[24]
• 1964 – British Eagle International Airlines Flight 802/6 crashes into the Glungezer mountain in the Tux Alps of Austria, killing all 75 people aboard.^[25]
• 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.^[26][27]
• 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.^[28]
• 1980 – Gordie Howe of the Hartford Whalers makes NHL history as he scores his 800th goal.^[29]
• 1984 – Pierre Trudeau announces his retirement as Liberal Party leader and Prime Minister of Canada.^[30]
• 1988 – South African archbishop Desmond Tutu is arrested along with 100 other clergymen during a five-day anti-apartheid demonstration in Cape Town.^[31]
• 1988 – Svend Robinson becomes the first member of the House of Commons of Canada to come out as gay.^[32]
• 1992 – A referendum is begun in Bosnia and Herzegovina for the determination of Bosnian independence.^[33]
• 1996 – Faucett Perú Flight 251 crashes in the Andes; all 123 passengers and crew are killed.^[34]
• 1996 – The Siege of Sarajevo officially ends.^[35]
• 2000 – Chechens attack a guard post near Ulus Kert, eventually killing 84 Russian paratroopers during the Second Chechen War.^[36]
• 2004 – Jean-Bertrand Aristide is removed as president of Haiti following a coup.^[37]
• 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.^[38]
• 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.^[39]
• 2012 – North Korea agrees to suspend uranium enrichment and nuclear and long-range missile tests in return for US food aid.^[40]
• 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.^[41]
• 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.^[42][43]
• 2020 – The United States and the Taliban sign the Doha Agreement for bringing peace to Afghanistan.^[44]
• 2020 – Muhyiddin Yassin is appointed as the 8th Prime Minister of Malaysia, amid the 2020 Malaysian political crisis.^[45]
• 2024 – The Flour massacre (also known as the Al-Rashid massacre) took place on al-Rashid street at the Al-Nabulsi roundabout to the west of Gaza City in the Palestinian territory of the Gaza Strip where more than 100 Palestinians were killed and over 750 were wounded after Israeli forces opened fire on Palestinians waiting for humanitarian aid amidst the Israel–Hamas war.^[46][47]

• 1468 – Pope Paul III (d. 1549)^[48]
• 1528 – Albert V, Duke of Bavaria (d. 1579)^[49]
• 1528 – Domingo Báñez, Spanish theologian (d. 1604)^[50]
• 1572 – Edward Cecil, 1st Viscount Wimbledon (d. 1638)^[51]
• 1576 – Antonio Neri, Florentine priest and glassmaker (d. 1614)^[52]

• 1640 – Benjamin Keach, Particular Baptist preacher and author whose name is given to Keach's Catechism (d. 1704)^[53]
• 1692 – John Byrom, English poet and educator (d. 1763)^[54]
• 1724 – Eva Marie Veigel, Austrian-English dancer (d. 1822)^[55]
• 1736 – Ann Lee, English-American religious leader, founder of the Shakers (d. 1784)^[56]
• 1792 – Gioachino Rossini, Italian composer (d. 1868)^[57]
• 1812 – James Milne Wilson, Scottish-Australian soldier and politician, eighth Premier of Tasmania (d. 1880)^[58]
• 1828 – Emmeline B. Wells, American journalist, poet and activist (d. 1921)^[59]
• 1836 – Dickey Pearce, American baseball player and manager (d. 1908)^[60]
• 1840 – Theodor Leber, German ophthalmologist (d. 1917)^[61]
• 1852 – Frank Gavan Duffy, Irish-Australian lawyer and judge, fourth Chief Justice of Australia (d. 1936)^[62]
• 1852 – Prince George Maximilianovich, 6th Duke of Leuchtenberg (d. 1912)^[63]
• 1860 – Herman Hollerith, American statistician and businessman, co-founder of the Computing-Tabulating-Recording Company (d. 1929)^[64]
• 1884 – Richard S. Aldrich, American lawyer and politician (d. 1941)^[65]
• 1892 – Augusta Savage, American sculptor (d. 1962)^[66]
• 1896 – Morarji Desai, Indian civil servant and politician, fourth Prime Minister of India (d. 1995)^[67]
• 1896 – William A. Wellman, American actor, director, producer and screenwriter (d. 1975)^[68]

• 1904 – Jimmy Dorsey, American saxophonist, composer and bandleader (d. 1957)^[69]
• 1904 – Pepper Martin, American baseball player and manager (d. 1965)^[70]
• 1908 – Balthus, French-Swiss painter and illustrator (d. 2001)^[71]
• 1908 – Dee Brown, American historian and author (d. 2002)^[72]
• 1908 – Alf Gover, English cricketer and coach (d. 2001)^[73]
• 1908 – Louie Myfanwy Thomas, Welsh writer (d. 1968)^[74]
• 1912 – Kamil Tolon, Turkish industrialist (d. 1978)^[75]
• 1916 – James B. Donovan, American lawyer (d. 1970)^[76]
• 1916 – Leonard Shoen, founder of U-Haul Corp. (d. 1999)^[77]
• 1920 – Fyodor Abramov, Russian author and critic (d. 1983)^[78]
• 1920 – Arthur Franz, American actor (d. 2006)^[79]
• 1920 – James Mitchell, American actor and dancer (d. 2010)^[80]
• 1920 – Michèle Morgan, French-American actress and singer (d. 2016)^[81]
• 1920 – Rolland W. Redlin, American lawyer and politician (d. 2011)^[82]
• 1924 – David Beattie, New Zealand judge and politician, 14th Governor-General of New Zealand (d. 2001)^[83]
• 1924 – Carlos Humberto Romero, Salvadoran politician, President of El Salvador (d. 2017)^[84]
• 1924 – Al Rosen, American baseball player and manager (d. 2015)^[85]
• 1928 – Joss Ackland, English actor (d. 2023)^[86]
• 1928 – Jean Adamson, British writer and illustrator (Topsy and Tim) (d. 2024)^[87]
• 1928 – Vance Haynes, American archaeologist, geologist and author^[88]
• 1928 – Michael Henshall, English Anglican suffragan bishop (d. 2017)^[89]
• 1928 – Seymour Papert, South African mathematician and computer scientist, co-creator of the Logo programming language (d. 2016)^[90]
• 1928 – Tempest Storm, born Annie Banks, "The Queen Of Exotic Dancers", American burlesque performer and actress (d. 2021)^[91]
• 1932 – Gene H. Golub, American mathematician and academic (d. 2007)^[92]
• 1932 – Masten Gregory, American race car driver (d. 1985)^[93]
• 1932 – Reri Grist, American soprano and actress^[94]
• 1932 – Jaguar, Brazilian cartoonist^[95]
• 1932 – Gavin Stevens, Australian cricketer^[96]
• 1936 – Nh. Dini, Indonesian writer (d. 2018)^[97]
• 1936 – Jack R. Lousma, American colonel, astronaut and politician^[98]
• 1936 – Henri Richard, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 2020)^[99]
• 1936 – Alex Rocco, American actor (d. 2015)^[100]
• 1940 – Sonja Barend, Dutch talk show host^[101]
• 1944 – Dennis Farina, American police officer and actor (d. 2013)^[102]
• 1944 – Nicholas Frayling, English priest and academic^[103]
• 1944 – Phyllis Frelich, American actress (d. 2014)^[104]
• 1944 – Steve Mingori, American baseball player (d. 2008)^[105]
• 1944 – Paolo Eleuteri Serpieri, Italian author and illustrator^[106]
• 1944 – Lennart Svedberg, Swedish ice hockey player (d. 1972).^[107]
• 1944 – Saeed Poursamimi, Iranian actor^[108]
• 1948 – Hermione Lee, English author, critic and academic^[109]
• 1948 – Manoel Maria, Brazilian footballer^[110]
• 1948 – Patricia A. McKillip, American author (d. 2022)^[111]
• 1948 – Sonny M'Pokomandji, Central African basketball player and politician, Minister of Equipment and Transport (2003–2005)^[112]
• 1952 – Tim Powers, American author and educator^[113]
• 1952 – Raisa Smetanina, Russian cross-country skier^[114]
• 1952 – Bart Stupak, American police officer and politician^[115]
• 1956 – Knut Agnred, Swedish singer, actor and comedian^[116]
• 1956 – Jonathan Coleman, English-Australian radio and television host (d. 2021)^[117]
• 1956 – Bob Speller, Canadian businessman and politician, 30th Canadian Minister of Agriculture (d. 2021)^[118]
• 1956 – Aileen Wuornos, American serial killer (d. 2002)^[119]
• 1960 – Khaled, Algerian singer-songwriter^[120]
• 1960 – Richard Ramirez, American serial killer and sex offender (d. 2013)^[121]
• 1960 – Tony Robbins, American author and motivational activist^[122]
• 1964 – Dave Brailsford, English cyclist and coach^[123]
• 1964 – Carmel Busuttil, former Maltese footballer^[124][125]
• 1964 – Lyndon Byers, Canadian ice hockey player and radio host^[126]
• 1964 – Mervyn Warren, American tenor, composer and producer^[127]
• 1968 – Chucky Brown, American basketball player and coach^[128]
• 1968 – Gareth Farr, New Zealand composer and percussionist^[129]
• 1968 – Pete Fenson, American curler^[130]
• 1968 – Bryce Paup, American football player and coach^[131]
• 1968 – Howard Tayler, American author and illustrator^[132]
• 1968 – Eugene Volokh, Ukrainian-American lawyer and educator^[133]
• 1968 – Frank Woodley, Australian actor, producer and screenwriter^[134]
• 1972 – Sylvie Lubamba, Italian showgirl^[135]
• 1972 – Mike Pollitt, English footballer and coach^[136]
• 1972 – Antonio Sabàto Jr., Italian-American model and actor^[137]
• 1972 – Pedro Sánchez, Prime Minister of Spain^[138]
• 1972 – Dave Williams, American singer (d. 2002)^[139]
• 1972 – Saul Williams, American singer-songwriter^[140]
• 1972 – Pedro Zamora, Cuban-American activist and educator (d. 1994)^[141]
• 1976 – Vonteego Cummings, American basketball player^[142]
• 1976 – Katalin Kovács, Hungarian sprint kayaker^[143]
• 1976 – Terrence Long, American baseball player^[144]
• 1976 – Ja Rule, American rapper and actor^[145]
• 1980 – Çağdaş Atan, Turkish footballer and coach^[146]
• 1980 – Simon Gagné, Canadian ice hockey player^[147]
• 1980 – Rubén Plaza, Spanish cyclist^[148]
• 1980 – Clinton Toopi, New Zealand rugby league player^[149]
• 1980 – Taylor Twellman, American soccer player and sportscaster^[150]
• 1980 – Peter Scanavino, American actor (Law & Order: Special Victims Unit)^[151]
• 1984 – Darren Ambrose, English footballer^[152]
• 1984 – Rica Imai, Japanese model and actress^[153]
• 1984 – Cullen Jones, American swimmer^[154]
• 1984 – Nuria Martínez, Spanish basketball player^[155]
• 1984 – Lena Raine, American video game composer and producer^[156]
• 1984 – Rakhee Thakrar, English actress^[157]
• 1984 – Cam Ward, Canadian ice hockey player^[158]
• 1984 – Mark Foster, American singer, songwriter and musician^[159]
• 1988 – Lena Gercke, German model and television host^[160]
• 1988 – Benedikt Höwedes, German footballer^[161]
• 1988 – Brent Macaffer, Australian Rules footballer^[162]
• 1988 – Hannah Mills, Welsh sports sailor^[163]
• 1992 – Sean Abbott, Australian cricketer^[164]
• 1992 – Eric Kendricks, American football player^[165]
• 1992 – Jessica Long, American paralympic swimmer^[166]
• 1992 – Jessie T. Usher, American actor^[167]
• 1992 – Saphir Taïder, Algerian footballer^[168]
• 1996 – Nelson Asofa-Solomona, New Zealand rugby league player^[169]
• 1996 – Norberto Briasco, Argentine-Armenian footballer^[170]
• 1996 – Reece Prescod, British sprinter^[171]
• 1996 – Claudia Williams, New Zealand tennis player^[172]
• 2000 – Tyrese Haliburton, American basketball player^[173]
• 2000 – Ferran Torres, Spanish footballer^[174]
• 2000 – Jesper Lindstrøm, Danish footballer^[175]
• 2004 – Lydia Jacoby, American swimmer^[176]

• 468 – Pope Hilarius^[177]
• 992 – Oswald of Worcester, Anglo-Saxon archbishop and saint (b. 925)^[178]
• 1460 – Albert III, Duke of Bavaria-Munich (b. 1401)^[179]
• 1528 – Patrick Hamilton, Scottish Protestant reformer and martyr (b. 1504)^[180]
• 1592 – Alessandro Striggio, Italian composer and diplomat (b. 1536/1537)^[181]
• 1600 – Caspar Hennenberger, German pastor, historian and cartographer (b. 1529)^[182]

• 1604 – John Whitgift, English archbishop and academic (b. 1530)^[183]
• 1712 – Johann Conrad Peyer, Swiss anatomist (b. 1653)^[184]
• 1744 – John Theophilus Desaguliers, French-English physicist and philosopher (b. 1683)^[185]
• 1792 – Johann Andreas Stein, German piano builder (b. 1728)^[186]
• 1820 – Johann Joachim Eschenburg, German historian and critic (b. 1743)^[187]
• 1848 – Louis-François Lejeune, French general, painter and lithographer (b. 1775)^[188]
• 1856 – Auguste Chapdelaine, French Christian missionary (b. 1814)^[189]
• 1868 – Ludwig I of Bavaria (b. 1786)^[190]
• 1880 – James Milne Wilson, Scottish-Australian soldier and politician, 8th Premier of Tasmania (b. 1812)^[58]

• 1904 – Patrick O'Sullivan, Irish-Australian politician (b. 1818)^[191]
• 1904 – Henri Joseph Anastase Perrotin, French astronomer (b. 1845)^[192]
• 1908 – Pat Garrett, American sheriff (b. 1850)^[193]
• 1908 – John Hope, 1st Marquess of Linlithgow, Scottish-Australian politician, 1st Governor-General of Australia (b. 1860)^[194]
• 1916 – John Nanson, English-Australian journalist and politician (b. 1863)^[195]
• 1920 – Ernie Courtney, American baseball player (b. 1875)^[196]
• 1924 – Frederic Chapple, Australian educator (b. 1845)^[197]
• 1928 – Adolphe Appia, Swiss architect and theorist (b. 1862)^[198]
• 1928 – Ina Coolbrith, American poet and librarian (b. 1841)^[199]
• 1932 – Arthur Mills Lea, Australian entomologist (b. 1868)^[200]
• 1932 – Giuseppe Vitali, Italian mathematician (b. 1875)^[201]
• 1940 – E. F. Benson, English archaeologist and author (b. 1867)^[202]
• 1944 – Pehr Evind Svinhufvud, Finnish lawyer, judge and politician, 3rd President of Finland (b. 1861)^[203]
• 1948 – Robert Barrington-Ward, English lawyer and journalist (b. 1891)^[204]
• 1952 – Sarah Ann Jenyns, Australian entrepreneur (b. 1865)^[205]
• 1956 – Elpidio Quirino, Filipino lawyer and politician, 6th President of the Philippines (b. 1890)^[206]
• 1960 – Melvin Purvis, American police officer and FBI agent (b. 1903)^[207]
• 1960 – Walter Yust, American journalist and author (b. 1894)^[208]
• 1964 – Frank Albertson, American actor and singer (b. 1909)^[209]
• 1968 – Tore Ørjasæter, Norwegian poet and educator (b. 1886)^[210]
• 1972 – Tom Davies, American football player and coach (b. 1896)^[211]
• 1976 – Florence P. Dwyer, American politician (b. 1902)^[212]
• 1980 – Yigal Allon, Israeli general and politician, Prime Minister of Israel (b. 1918)^[213]
• 1980 – Gil Elvgren, American painter and illustrator (b. 1914)^[214]
• 1984 – Ludwik Starski, Polish screenwriter and songwriter (b. 1903)^[215]
• 1992 – Ruth Pitter, English poet and author (b. 1897)^[216]
• 1996 – Frank Daniel, Czech-American director, producer and screenwriter (b. 1926)^[217]
• 1996 – Wes Farrell, American singer-songwriter and producer (b. 1939)^[218]
• 1996 – Ralph Rowe, American baseball player, coach and manager (b. 1924)^[219]
• 2000 – Dennis Danell, American guitarist (b. 1961)^[220]
• 2004 – Kagamisato Kiyoji, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 42nd Yokozuna (b. 1923)^[221]
• 2004 – Jerome Lawrence, American playwright and author (b. 1915)^[222]
• 2004 – Harold Bernard St. John, Barbadian lawyer and politician, 3rd Prime Minister of Barbados (b. 1931)^[223]
• 2004 – Lorrie Wilmot, South African cricketer (b. 1943)^[224]
• 2008 – Janet Kagan, American author (b. 1946)^[225]
• 2008 – Erik Ortvad, Danish painter and illustrator (b. 1917)^[226]
• 2008 – Akira Yamada, Japanese scholar and philosopher (b. 1922)^[227]
• 2012 – Davy Jones, English singer, guitarist and actor (b. 1945)^[228]
• 2012 – Sheldon Moldoff, American illustrator (b. 1920)^[229]
• 2012 – P. K. Narayana Panicker, Indian social leader (b. 1930)^[230]
• 2016 – Wenn V. Deramas, Filipino director and screenwriter (b. 1966)^[231]
• 2016 – Gil Hill, American police officer, actor and politician (b. 1931)^[232]
• 2016 – Josefin Nilsson, Swedish singer (b. 1969)^[233]
• 2016 – Mumtaz Qadri, Pakistani assassin, executed (b. 1985)^[234]
• 2016 – Louise Rennison, English author (b. 1951)^[235]
• 2020 – Dieter Laser, German actor (b. 1942)^[236]
• 2020 – Éva Székely, Hungarian Hall of Fame swimmer and 1952 Olympic champion (b. 1927)^[237]
• 2024 – Ali Hassan Mwinyi, 2nd President of Tanzania and 3rd President of Zanzibar (b. 1925)^[238]
• 2024 – Brian Mulroney, 18th Prime Minister of Canada (b. 1939)^[239]

• As a Christian feast day:
  • Saint John Cassian^[240]
  • February 29 in the Orthodox church
• Rare Disease Day (in leap years; usually celebrated in common years on February 28)^[241]
• Bachelor's Day (Ireland and United Kingdom)^[242]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to February 29.

• BBC: On This Day
• The New York Times: On This Day
• Historical Events on February 29