At present is Saturday, Feb. 28, the 59th day of 2026. There are 306 days left within the 12 months.
At present in historical past:
On Feb. 28, 2013, Benedict XVI turned the primary pope in 600 years to resign, ending an eight-year preach. (Benedict was succeeded the next month by Pope Francis.)
Additionally on this date:
In 1844, an enormous 12-inch gun aboard the USS Princeton exploded because the ship was crusing on the Potomac River, killing Secretary of State Abel P. Upshur, Navy Secretary Thomas W. Gilmer and several other others; President John Tyler, who additionally was aboard the ship, was unhurt.
In 1953, Francis H.C. Crick introduced that he and fellow scientist James D. Watson had found the double-helix construction of DNA.
In 1975, 43 individuals had been killed in London’s Underground when a prepare did not cease at Moorgate station, smashing into the top of a tunnel.
In 1983, the ultimate episode of the tv collection “M*A*S*H” aired; almost 106 million viewers noticed the finale, which stays the most-watched episode of any U.S. tv collection up to now.
In 1986, Swedish Prime Minister Olof Palme was assassinated whereas strolling on a Stockholm road together with his spouse; his assailant was by no means captured and stays unidentified.
In 1993, a gun battle erupted at a spiritual compound close to Waco, Texas, when Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms brokers tried to arrest Department Davidian chief David Koresh for stockpiling unlawful weapons; 4 brokers and 6 Davidians had been killed as a 51-day standoff started. (On April 19 of that 12 months, FBI brokers stormed the compound with tear gasoline and armored autos, with dozens useless earlier than the standoff was over).
In 2014, President Barack Obama delivered a blunt warning to Moscow about stories of army exercise inside Ukraine by Russia and mentioned “there will probably be prices” for any intervention.
In 2023, a passenger prepare collided head-on with a freight prepare greater than 200 miles north of Athens, Greece, killing 57 individuals in that nation’s deadliest rail catastrophe.
In 2024, Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the longest-serving U.S. Senate chief in historical past, introduced he would step down from the management position the next November. (Twelve months later, the octogenarian senator mentioned his time period ending in January 2027 can be his final).
At present’s birthdays:
- Rock singer Sam the Sham (aka Domingo Samudio) is 89.
- Actor-director-choreographer Tommy Tune is 87.
- Corridor of Fame auto racer Mario Andretti is 86.
- Actor Mercedes Ruehl is 79.
- Nobel Prize-winning economist Paul Krugman is 73.
- Basketball Corridor of Famer Adrian Dantley is 71.
- Actor John Turturro is 69.
- Actor Robert Sean Leonard is 57.
- Musician Pat Monahan (Prepare) is 57.
- Actor Tasha Smith is 55.
- Hockey Corridor of Famer Eric Lindros is 53.
- Actor Ali Larter is 50.
- Nation musician Jason Aldean is 49.
- NBA guard Luka Dončić is 27.
