February 29 / Leap Day

Birthdays:

1944 ~ Dennis Farina, American actor.

1904 ~ Jimmy Dorsey (d. 1957), American bandleader.

1792 ~ Gioacchino Antonio Rossini (d. 1868), Italian composer, whose works include The Barber of Seville and William Tell.

1736 ~ Ann Lee (d. 1784), American founder of the Shakers.

Events that Changed the World:

1960 ~ The comic strip, Family Circus, made its debut.

1940 ~ Hattie McDaniel won an Academy Award for her role as Mammy in Gone with the Wind, becoming the first African-American to win an Oscar.

1892 ~ St. Petersburg, Florida became incorporated.

Good-Byes:

2012 ~ Davey Jones (b. 1945), British singer and song-writer, best known as being a member of The Monkees.

1880 ~ Sir James Wilson (b. 1812), Premier of Tasmania. He died on his 68th birthday.

February 4

Birthdays:

1948 ~ Alice Cooper (né Vincent Furnier), American musician.

1947 ~ Dan Quayle, 44th Vice President of the United States under President George H.W. Bush.

1921 ~ Betty Friedan (d. 2006) American feminist. She died on her 85th birthday.

1913 ~ Rosa Parks (d. 2005), American civil rights activitist.

1906 ~ Clyde Tombaugh (d. 1997), American astronomer, best known for discovering Plute in 1930.

1902 ~ Charles Lindbergh (d. 1974), American aviator who made the first solo non-stop flight across the Atlantic Ocean in 1927.

Events that Changed the World:

2004 ~ Facebook was founded by Mark Zuckerberg.

1974 ~ Heiress Patty Hearst was kidnapped by the Symbionese Liberation Army.

1969 ~ Yasser Arafat became chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization.

1964 ~ The 24th Amendment to the United States Constitution was ratified, making it illegal for a state to use the payment of a poll tax as a prerequisite for voting in national elections.

1948 ~ Ceylon, the country that since 1972 has been known as Sri Lanka, gained its independence from Great Britian.

1945 ~ The Yalta Conference began the “Big Three” (Churchill, Roosevelt and Stalin).

1936 ~ Radium became the first radioactive element that was made synthetically.

1899 ~ The Philippine-American War began

1861 ~ The Confederate States of America became organized.

1801 ~ John Marshall was sworn is as the Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court. He served in that office from 1801 ~ 1835.

1794 ~ The French legislature abolished slavery throughout all its territories in the French Republic.

1789 ~ George Washington was unanimously elected as the First President of the United States by the Electoral College.

Good-Byes:

2006 ~ Betty Friedan (b. February 4, 1921), American feminist, who died on her 85th birthday.

1987 ~ Liberace (b. 1919), American musician.

1983 ~ Karen Carpenter (b. 1950), American singer, who, with her brother Richard, formed The Carpenters. She died of anorexia.