February 28 in Pop Culture History

February 28th History, Trivia, and Fun Facts

February 28th History Highlights

  • 1844 – The USS Princeton exploded while demonstrating a gun, killing five people, and injuring many more.
  • 1947 – The 228 Incident in Taiwan resulted in protests and rioting. Between 10,000 and 20,000 people were killed.
  • February 28, 19** Birthday (fictional) Superman, DC Comics
  • 1983 – The final episode of M*A*S*H aired, and 77% of all television owners in the US watched.
  • If you were born on February 28th,
    You were likely conceived the week of… June 7th (prior year)

February 28th is…

Floral Design Day
Global Scouse Day
National Chocolate Soufflé Day
National Science Day
National Tooth Fairy Day
Public Sleeping Day
Rare Disease Day
Tartar Sauce Day

February 28th Birthday Quotes

“Of all our infirmities, the most savage is to despise our being.”
– Michel de Montaigne

“Simply enjoy life and the great pleasures that come with it.”
– Karolina Kurkova

“The freedom of any society varies proportionately with the volume of its laughter.”
– Zero Mostel

“Science cannot be stopped. Man will gather knowledge no matter what the consequences- and we cannot predict what they will be. Science will go on- whether we are pessimistic, or are optimistic, as I am. I know that great, interesting, and valuable discoveries can be made and will be made… But I know also that still more interesting discoveries will be made that I have not the imagination to describe- and I am awaiting them, full of curiosity and enthusiasm.”
– Linus Pauling

“Las Vegas turns women into men and men into idiots.”
– ‘Bugsy’ Siegel

“In our country, learned ignorance is on the rise.”
– Paul Krugman

“It’s interesting that somebody might decide suddenly that we [cartoonists] have a social significance or not. But, we’re not in business for that purpose. We’re in business to sell newspapers, and the criticism, acceptance, or whatever, lies in the fact that we are in hundreds of newspapers, and that the readership of something like Peanuts is in the millions every day.”
– Milton Caniff

February 28th Birthdays

1533 – Michel de Montaigne, French Renaissance writer (died in 1592)
1824 – Charles Blondin (Jean Gravelet), French trapeze artist
1882 – Geraldine Farrar, American soprano and actress (died in 1967)
1901 – Linus Carl Pauling, American chemist and biochemist (died in 1994)
1906 – Benjamin ‘Bugsy’ Siegel, American gangster (shot and killed in 1947)
1907 – Milton Caniff, American cartoonist (died in 1988)
1908 – Billie Bird (Sellen), American actress (died in 2002)
1915 – Zero Mostel, American actor and comedian (died in 1977)
1923 – Charles Durning, American actor (died in 2012)
1931 – Gavin MacLeod, American actor
1939 – Tommy Tune, American actor, singer, dancer, and director
1940 – Aldo Andretti, Italian-American race car driver, Twin
1940 – Mario Andretti, Italian-American race car driver, Twin
1942 – Brian Jones, English guitarist, songwriter, and producer (died in 1969) #27club
1943 – Barbara Acklin, American singer-songwriter (died in 1998)
1945 – Bubba Smith, American football player and actor (died in 2011)
1947 – Stephanie Beacham, English actress
1948 – Bernadette Peters, American actress and singer
1948 – Mercedes Ruehl, American actress
1953 – Paul Krugman, American economist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
1953 – Ricky Steamboat, American wrestler
1955 – Gilbert Gottfried, American comedian and actor
1957 – John Turturro, American actor
1961 – Rae Dawn Chong, Canadian-American actress
1973 – Eric Lindros, Canadian ice hockey player
1976 – Ali Larter, American actress
1977 – Jason Aldean, American singer-songwriter
1984 – Karolína Kurková, Czech model

February 28th History

1066 – Westminster Abbey opened

1525 – Aztec king Cuauhtémoc was executed on the order of conquistador Hernán Cortés.

1784 – John Wesley chartered the first Methodist Church in the United States. An Anglican, Wesley wanted a church structure for his followers after the Anglican Church abandoned its American believers during the American Revolution.

1827 – The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad was incorporated. It was the first railroad in America offering commercial transportation of both people and freight.

1854 – The Republican Party was organized in Ripon, WI. It was primarily anti-slavery people.

1885 – The American Telephone and Telegraph Company (AT&T) was incorporated in New York, as the subsidiary of American Bell Telephone.

1922 – The United Kingdom ended its protectorate over Egypt through a Unilateral Declaration of Independence.

1935 – Wallace Carothers discovered Nylon while working at DuPont.

1839 – The non-existent word “dord” was published in the Webster’s New International Dictionary, Second Edition.

February 28, 1925 (fiction) artists around the world have a dream about Cthulu and the City of R’lyeh, Lovecraft, Horror, Books

1940 – Basketball was televised for the first time. The game was Fordham University vs. University of Pittsburgh

1953 – Cambridge University scientists James D. Watson and Frances H.C. Crick announced that they had found the double-helix structure of DNA, the molecule containing human genes.

1954 – The first color television sets using the NTSC standard were offered for sale to the general public.

1970 – #1 Hit February 28, 1970 – April 10, 1970: Simon & Garfunkel – Bridge Over Troubled Water

1976 – February 28, 1976 – March 5, 1976: Rhythm Heritage – Theme From S.W.A.T.

1981 – February 28, 1981 – March 20, 1981: Eddie Rabbitt – I Love a Rainy Night

1983 – CBS sitcom M*A*S*H ended after 11 seasons, airing a special two-and-a-half-hour episode watched by 77% of the television viewing audience.

1993 – Near Mount Carmel in Waco, Texas, agents of the U.S. Treasury Department’s Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (ATF) launch a raid against the Branch Davidian compound. At least 80 people, including 22 children, were killed.

1996 – KISS reunited at the Grammys in full makeup and costume.

1998 – #1 Hit February 28, 1998 – March 13, 1998: Celine Dion – My Heart Will Go On

2002 – Sotheby’s auction house announced that Peter Paul Reubens was the creator of the painting The Massacre of the Innocents, not Jan van den Hoecke as previously believed.

2004 – #1 Hit February 28, 2004 – May 21, 2004: Usher featuring Lil Jon and Ludacris – Yeah!

2009 – #1 Hit February 28, 2009 – April 10, 2009: Flo Rida – Right Round

2013 – Pope Benedict XVI resigned as the pope of the Catholic Church – the first pope to do so since 1415.

Today’s Random Trivia and Shower Thoughts

Superman is probably a lot weaker in winter due to the decrease in sunlight.

How many people slipped on banana peels for it to become a thing? #neverseenithappen

“Let’s go to the Winchester, have a pint and wait for this to all blow over” – Shaun (of the Dead) #moviequotes

Guy Fawkes used the pseudonym John Johnson during the gunpowder plot.

I might enjoy sleeping without any clothes on but I don’t due to being afraid someone could break into my house and I would have to fight them while naked.

A health study conducted in 2010, found that not having friends has the same health risks as smoking a pack of cigarettes a day.

US President #6 John Quincy Adams (1825-1829) On April 13, 1843, he became the first ex (or even active) President to be photographed.

The biggest film of 1973: The Exorcist (Horror) earned ~ $202,000,000

Evel Knievel suffered 433 broken bones over his lifetime, the most in recorded history.

“Canola” is derived from the combination of “Canada” and “ola,” meaning oil.

If you make a Mobius strip out of regular tape, you’ve technically got a piece of tape that only has one side and is simultaneously sticky and not sticky.

The Capital of Papua New Guinea is Port Moresby

The sound of the adults in the “Peanuts” Cartoon is made using a Trombone with a Mute.

“I…drink…your…milkshake! I drink it up!” – Daniel Plainview in There Will Be Blood  #moviequotes

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