Born on February 29
February 29 birthdays & history
If you were born on February 29, you share a birthday with Gioachino Rossini, Pedro Sánchez and Pope Paul III. February 29 babies are Pisces, with amethyst as their birthstone and the violet as their birth flower. February 29 is leap day, which comes round once every four years.
Famous people born on February 29
- 1792Gioachino Rossini, Italian composer
- 1972Pedro Sánchez, Prime Minister of Spain
- 1468Pope Paul III, Head of the Catholic Church from 1534 to 1549
- 1940Bartholomew I, current Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople.
- 2000Ferran Torres, Spanish footballer
- 1988Benedikt Höwedes, German footballer
- 1860Herman Hollerith, American statistician and businessman, co-founder of the Computing-Tabulating-Recording Company
- 1960Tony Robbins, American author and motivational activist
- 1920Michèle Morgan, French-American actress and singer
- 1960Khaled, Algerian singer-songwriter
What happened on February 29
- 1892St. Petersburg, Florida is incorporated.
- 1908James Madison University is founded at Harrisonburg, Virginia, United States as The State Normal and Industrial School for Women by the Virginia General Assembly.
- 1912The Piedra Movediza (Moving Stone) of Tandil falls and breaks.
- 1916In South Carolina, the minimum working age for factory, mill and mine workers is raised from 12 to 14 years old.
- 1920The Czechoslovak National Assembly adopts the Constitution.
- 1924The Victorian Football League created the Brownlow Medal to honour deceased administrator Charles Brownlow, now awarded to the "fairest and best" player in the Australian Football League.
- 1940At the 12th Academy Awards, Hattie McDaniel became the first African American to be awarded an Oscar, winning Best Supporting Actress for her role as Mammy in Gone with the Wind.
- 1940In a ceremony held in Berkeley, California, physicist Ernest Lawrence receives the 1939 Nobel Prize in Physics from Sweden's consul general in San Francisco.
- 1980La Bougie du Sapeur, a humorous French newspaper that is published only on leap days, printed its first issue.
- 1992Costello's, a New York City bar popular with journalists, writers, novelists, and cartoonists, closed.
- 2004Angelina Jolie wears a White Marc Bouwer dress to the 76th Academy Awards, which has since been placed on numerous lists for best red carpet fashion.
- 2012Construction of Tokyo Skytree, the world's tallest tower and third-tallest structure, was completed.
Also observed on February 29
- As a Christian feast day: Saint John Cassian
- As a Christian feast day: February 29 in the Orthodox church
- Bachelor's Day (Ireland and United Kingdom)
Questions, answered
What star sign is February 29?
People born on February 29 are Pisces. Their birthstone is amethyst and their birth flower is the violet.
Which famous people were born on February 29?
Gioachino Rossini (1792), Pedro Sánchez (1972), Pope Paul III (1468), Bartholomew I (1940), Ferran Torres (2000), Benedikt Höwedes (1988) were all born on February 29.
What happened on February 29 in history?
Among other things: in 1992, Costello's, a New York City bar popular with journalists, writers, novelists, and cartoonists, closed; in 2004, Angelina Jolie wears a White Marc Bouwer dress to the 76th Academy Awards, which has since been placed on numerous lists for best red carpet fashion; in 2012, Construction of Tokyo Skytree, the world's tallest tower and third-tallest structure, was completed.
Can I get a newspaper front page from February 29?
Yes. The Birthday Gazette makes a personalised vintage-style front page for any February 29 birth year, with their name in the headline, events, famous birthdays and typical US prices. The preview is free and the print files cost $9.
Events, birthdays and observances are adapted from Wikipedia contributors, “February 29”, English Wikipedia, under CC BY-SA 4.0 (shortened and filtered). Ranking uses Wikidata (CC0). Sources.