On This Day — 28 February

2000s

2026

The United States and Israel launch attacks across Iran, assassinating Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. Retaliatory strikes are launched by Iran against US military bases in the Gulf, with explosions reported in Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar and the UAE.

United States

2024

Prime Minister Modi of India inaugurates the 2nd Space Port of India - Kulasekarapattinam Spaceport.

Prime minister

2023

Two trains collide south of the Vale of Tempe in Greece, leading to the deaths of at least 57 people and leaving 58 missing and 85 injured.

Tempi train crash

2013

Pope Benedict XVI resigns as the pope of the Catholic Church, becoming the first pope to do so voluntarily since Pope Gregory XII in 1415.

Pope Benedict XVI

2002

During the religious violence in Gujarat, 97 people are killed in the Naroda Patiya massacre and 69 in the Gulbarg Society massacre.

2002 Gujarat violence

2001

The 2001 Nisqually earthquake, having a moment magnitude of 6.8, with epicenter in southern Puget Sound, damages the Seattle metropolitan area.

2001 Nisqually earthquake

1900s

1997

An earthquake in northern Iran is responsible for about 1,100 deaths.

1997 Ardabil earthquake

1997

A Turkish military memorandum results in the collapse of the coalition government in Turkey.

1997 Turkish military memorandum

1993

Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) agents raid the Branch Davidian church in Waco, Texas with a warrant to arrest the group's leader David Koresh, starting a 51-day standoff.

Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives

1990

Space Shuttle Atlantis is launched on STS-36.

Space Shuttle Atlantis

1986

Olof Palme, 26th Prime Minister of Sweden, is assassinated in Stockholm.

Olof Palme

1985

The Provisional Irish Republican Army carries out a mortar attack on the Royal Ulster Constabulary police station at Newry, killing nine officers.

Provisional Irish Republican Army

📅

1983

The final episode of M*A*S*H airs, with almost 110 million viewers.

Goodbye, Farewell and Amen

1975

In London, an underground train fails to stop at Moorgate terminus station and crashes into the end of the tunnel, killing 43 people.

Moorgate tube crash

1974

The British election ends in a hung parliament after the Jeremy Thorpe-led Liberal Party achieved their biggest vote share since 1929.

February 1974 United Kingdom general election

1973

Aeroflot Flight X-167 crashes during takeoff from Semey Airport, killing 32 people.

Aeroflot Flight X-167

📅

1969

The 1969 Portugal earthquake hits Portugal, Spain and Morocco.

1969 Portugal earthquake

1966

A NASA T-38 Talon crashes into the McDonnell Aircraft factory while attempting a poor-visibility landing at Lambert Field, St. Louis, killing astronauts Elliot See and Charles Bassett.

Northrop T-38 Talon

1959

Discoverer 1, an American spy satellite that is the first object intended to achieve a polar orbit, is launched but fails to achieve orbit.

Discoverer 1

1958

A school bus in Floyd County, Kentucky hits a wrecker truck and plunges down an embankment into the rain-swollen Levisa Fork river. The driver and 26 children die in one of the worst school bus accidents in U.S. history.

Floyd County, Kentucky

1948

The 1948 Accra riots erupt following a march by ex-servicemen of the Gold Coast Regiment towards the seat of the colonial government at Christiansborg Castle, where they were fired upon by Superintendant Colin Imray, leading to the killing of Sergeant Adjetey, Corporal Attipoe and Private Odartey Lamptey and the arrest of the Big Six in the Gold Coast.

1948 Accra riots

1947

February 28 incident: In Taiwan, civil disorder is put down with the death of an estimated 18,000 - 28,000 civilians.

February 28 incident

1925

The Charlevoix-Kamouraska earthquake strikes northeastern North America.

1925 Charlevoix–Kamouraska earthquake

📅

1922

The United Kingdom ends its protectorate over Egypt through a Unilateral Declaration of Independence.

Protectorate

1800s

1844

A gun explodes on board the steam warship USS Princeton during a pleasure cruise down the Potomac River, killing six, including Secretary of State Abel Upshur. President John Tyler, who is also on board, is not injured from the blast.

USS Princeton (1843)