History of 28 February
- 1986 – Swedish Prime Minister Olof Palme was assassinated in Stockholm.
- 1993 – U.S. Federal agents raided the compound of an armed religious cult in Waco, TX. The ATF had planned to arrest the leader of the Branch Davidians, David Koresh, on federal firearms charges. Four agents and six Davidians were killed and a 51-day standoff followed.
- 1994 – NATO made its first military strike when U.S. F-16 fighters shot down four Bosnian Serb warplanes in violation of a no-fly zone over central Bosnia.
- 1995 – The Denver International Airport opened after a 16-month delay.
- 1998 – Serbian police began a campaign to wipe out “terrorist gangs” in the Yugoslav province of Kosovo.
- 2001 – The Northwest region of the U.S., including the state of Washington, was hit by an earthquake that measured 6.9 on the Richter Scale. There were no deaths reported.
- 2002 – In Ahmadabad, India, Hindus set fire to homes in a Muslim neighborhood. At least 55 people were killed in the attack.
- 2002 – Sotheby’s auction house announced that it had identified Peter Paul Reubens as the creator of the painting “The Massacre of the Innocents.” The painting was previously thought to be by Jan van den Hoecke.
- 2002 – It was announced that John Madden would be replacing Dennis Miller on “Monday Night Football.” Madden signed a four-year $20 million deal with ABC Sports.
- 2007 – NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft made a gravitational slingshot against Jupiter to change the planned trajectory towards Pluto.
- 2013 – Benedict XVI resigned as pope. He was the first pope to resign since Gregory XII in 1415 and the first to resign voluntarily since Celestine V in 1294.
Celebrating Birthday Today
- 1981 – Brian Bannister, American baseball player and scout
- 1981 – Florent Serra, French tennis player
- 1982 – Natalia Vodianova, Russian-French model and actress
- 1983 – Terry Bywater, English basketball player
- 1984 – Noureen DeWulf, American actress
- 1984 – Karolína Kurková, Czech model and actress
- 1985 – Tim Bresnan, English cricketer
- 1985 – Jelena Janković, Serbian tennis player
- 1985 – Diego Ribas da Cunha, Brazilian footballer
- 1986 – Tendai Mzungu, Australian footballer
- 1986 – Travis Stevens, American judoka
- 1987 – Antonio Candreva, Italian footballer
- 1988 – Aroldis Chapman, Cuban baseball player
- 1988 – Jorge Gastélum, Mexican footballer
- 1988 – Markéta Irglová, Czech singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actress
- 1989 – Carlos Dunlap, American football player
- 1989 – Charles Jenkins, American basketball player
- 1989 – Kevin Proctor, New Zealand rugby league player
- 1989 – Angelababy, Chinese actress
- 1990 – Takayasu Akira, Japanese sumo wrestler
- 1994 – Jake Bugg, English singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1994 – Arkadiusz Milik, Polish footballer