1066 Westminster Abbey opens
1638 Scottish Presbyterians sign National Convenant, Greyfriars, Edinburgh
1704 Elias Neau, a Frenchman, opens a school for blacks in NYC
1704 Indians attack Deerfield, Massachusetts, kill 40, kidnap 100
1708 Slave revolt, Newton, Long Island NY, 11 die
1749 First edition of Henry Fieldings' "Tom Jones" published
1778 Rhode Island General Assembly authorizes enlistment of slaves
1794 US Senate voids Pennsylvania's election of Abraham Gallatin
1810 First US fire insurance joint-stock company organized, Philadelphia
1827 First commercial railroad in US, Baltimore & Ohio (B&O) chartered
1827 Baltimore & Ohio Railroad (B&O) charter granted
1847 US defeats Mexico in battle of Sacramento
1849 First boatload of gold rush prospectors arrives in SF from east coast
1854 Republican Party formally organized at Ripon, Wisconsin
1859 Arkansas legislature requires free blacks to choose exile or slavery
1861 Territory of Colorado created
1883 First US vaudeville theater opens (Boston)
1917 Russian Duma sets up Provisional Committee; workers set up Soviets
1922 Egypt regains independence from Britain, but British troops remain
1931 Canadian Rugby Union adopts the forward pass
1940 First televised basketball game (college game at NYC's MSG)
1940 Richard Wright's "Native Son" published
1940 US population at 131,669,275
1942 Japanese land in Java, last Allied bastion in Dutch East Indies
1943 "Porgy & Bess" opens on Broadway with Anne Brown & Todd Duncan
1956 13 die in a train crash in Swampscott, Massachusetts
1957 Jockey Johnny Longden's 5,000th career victory
1967 Wilt Chamberlain sinks NBA record 35th consecutive field goal
1971 Jack Nicklaus completes his second golf grand slam
1974 US & Egypt re-establish diplomatic relations after 7 years
1975 40 killed in London Undergroud, as train speeds past final stop
1981 Calvin Murphy (Houston), sets NBA record with 78 consecutive free throws
1983 Final TV episode of "M*A*S*H" airs (CBS); record 125 million watch

Birthdays which occurred on February 28th:

1533 Michel de Montaigne, France, essayist/philosopher
1675 Guillaume Delisle, Paris, cartographer/geographer
1820 John Tenniel, England, cartoonist/illustrator (Alice in Wonderland)
1823 Ernest Renan, French philosopher/historian/scholar of religion
1824 Charles Blondin, France, acrobat/aerialist
1865 Sir Wilfred Grenfell, England, medical missionary
1866 Vyacheslav Ivanov, Russia, Symbolist poet (Pilot Stars)
1876 John Alden Carpenter, Chicago Illinois, composer (Sea Drift)
1887 William Zorach, Lithuania, US sculptor (Spirit of the Dance)
1893 Ben Hecht, NYC, novelist/playwright/screenwriter (The Front Page)
1895 Guiomar Novaes, Brazil, pianist (Brazilian Order of Merit)
1896 Philip Showalter Hench, Pittsburgh, physician (cortisone-Nobel)
1898 Molly Picon, actress (Milk & Honey)
1901 Linus Pauling, chemist/peace worker (Nobel 1954, 1962)
1907 Milton Caniff, Hillsboro Ohio, cartoonist (Terry & the Pirates)
1909 Olan Soule, La Harpe IL, actor (My 3 Sons, Arnie)
1909 Stephen Spender, England, poet/critic (Edge of Darkness)
1910 Vincente Minnelli, movie director (American in Paris)
1914 Jim Boles, Lubbock TX, actor (Joe-One Man's Family)
1915 Sir Peter Medawar, England, zoologist, immunologist (Nobel 1953)
1915 Zero Mostel, actor, (Fiddler on the Roof)
1917 Hans Deutgen, Sweden, world champion archer
1917 John B. Connally, (Governor and Senator-Texas), took a bullet with JFK
1923 Charles Durning, NY, actor (Dog Day Afternoon, Fury, Sting, Tootsie)
1928 Bettye Ackerman, Cottageville SC, actress (Maggie Graham-Ben Casey)
1931 Gavin MacLeod, Mt. Kisco NY, actor (Murray-Mary Tyler Moore, Love Boat)
1932 Brian Moore, British commentator (Big Match)
1932 Don Francks, Vancouver, actor (Terminal Choice, Finian's Rainbow)
1933 Charles Durning, Higland Falls NY, actor (Dog Day Afternoon, Tootsie)
1934 Willie Bobo, NYC, jazz drummer (Cos)
1939 Tommy Tune, Wichita Falls TX, dancer/choreographer (The Boyfriend)
1940 Mario Andretti, race-car driver
1942 Brian Jones, rocker (Rolling Stones)
1943 Barbara Acklin, Chicago, R&B singer (Love Makes a Woman)
1944 Bernadette Peters, Queens NY, actress (The Jerk, Song & Dance)
1948 Frank Bonner, Little Rock Arkansas, actor (Herb-WKRP, Sidekicks)
1952 Jennie Lynn, San Diego, actress (Love & Marriage)
1956 Adrian Dantley, NBA forward
1957 Cindy Wilson, vocals/percussion (B-52's-Love Shack, Rock Lobster)
1962 Rae Dawn Chong, Edmonton Alberta, actress (Quest for Fire)