February 29
- 1504 - Christopher Columbus used his prediction of a lunar eclipse to frighten hostile Jamaican Indians.
- 1692 - US: First people accused of witchcraft in Salem, Massachusetts - Sarah Good, Sarah Osborne and Tituba.
- 1940 - US: Hattie McDaniel became 1st African American woman to win an Oscar for "Gone with the Wind".
- 1944 - Poland: Karol Wojtyla, (future Pope John Paul II) was run down and injured by a Nazi truck in Krakow.
- 1948 - Stern-group bomb on Cairo-Haifa train killed 27 British soldiers.
- 1956 - Islamic Republic formed in Pakistan
- 1960 - US: 1st Playboy Club, featuring bunnies, opened in Chicago.
- 1960 - Morocco: Agadir earthquake killed 12,000+ people.
- 1984 - Canada: Pierre Trudeau announced that he is stepping down after 15 years as Prime Minister.
- 2020 - US and Taliban sign deal to end 18-year war in Afghanistan in Doha, Qatar. If the deal is honored then the US and NATO allies will withdraw their forces after 14 months.