Portal:United States/Anniversaries/February/February 29
- 1864 – The American Civil War] Kilpatrick-Dahlgren Raid, a plan to free 15,000 Union soldiers being held near Richmond, Virginia, fails.
- 1904 – Jazz clarinetist and Big Band leader Jimmy Dorsey is born.
- 1920 – Two-time Poet Laureate and Pulitzer Prize for Poetry winner Howard Nemerov is born.
- 1940 – For her role as Mammy in Gone with the Wind, Hattie McDaniel (pictured) becomes the first African American to win an Academy Award.
- 1972 – Hank Aaron becomes the first player in the history of Major League Baseball to sign a $200,000 contract.
On this day for the United States
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Events
- 1864 - American Civil War: Kilpatrick-Dahlgren Raid fails - Plans to free 15,000 Union soldiers being held near Richmond, Virginia are thwarted.
- 1892 - St. Petersburg, Florida incorporated.
- 1916 - Child labor: In South Carolina, the minimum working age for factory, mill, and mine workers is raised from twelve to fourteen years old.
- 1932 - TIME magazine features eccentric American politician William "Alfalfa" Murray on its cover after Murray stated his intention to run for President of the United States.
- 1936 - Baby Snooks, played by Fanny Brice, debuts on the radio program The Ziegfeld Follies of the Air.
- 1940 - For her role as Mammy in Gone with the Wind, Hattie McDaniel becomes the first African American to win an Academy Award.
- 1940 - In a ceremony held in Berkeley, California, because of the war, physicist Ernest Lawrence receives his 1939 Nobel Prize in Physics from the Sweden's Consul General in San Francisco.
- 1944 - World War II: The Admiralty Islands are invaded in the American General Douglas MacArthur-led Operation Brewer.
- 1956 - U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower announces to the nation that he is running for a second term.
- 1972 - Hank Aaron becomes the first player in the history of Major League Baseball to sign a $200,000 contract.
- 1996 - Novelist Joan Collins awarded US $1 million from Random House for breach of contract.
- 2000 - Six year old Dedrick Owens shoots and kills Kayla Rolland, also six years old, at Theo J. Buell Elementary School in Mount Morris Township, Michigan.
Births
- 1736 - Ann Lee, American founder of Shakers (d. 1784)
- 1860 - Herman Hollerith, American statistician (d. 1929)
- 1896 - William A. Wellman, American film director (d. 1975)
- 1904 - Jimmy Dorsey, American bandleader (d. 1957)
- 1904 - Pepper Martin, baseball player (d. 1965)
- 1908 - Dee Brown, American writer (d. 2002)
- 1916 - Dinah Shore, American singer (d. 1994)
- 1920 - Arthur Franz, American actor (d. 2006)
- 1920 - James Mitchell, American actor
- 1920 - Howard Nemerov, American poet (d. 1991)
- 1924 - Al Rosen, American baseball player
- 1928 - Tempest Storm, American burlesque performer
- 1932 - Gene Golub, American mathematician (d. 2007)
- 1932 - Masten Gregory, American F1 Driver (d. 1985)
- 1936 - Jack Lousma, astronaut
- 1936 - Alex Rocco, American actor
- 1940 - William H. Turner, Jr. American horse trainer
- 1944 - Phyllis Frelich, American actress
- 1944 - Dennis Farina, American actor
- 1952 - Sharon Dahlonega Raiford Bush, American television personality
- 1952 - Tim Powers, American writer
- 1952 - Bart Stupak, American politician
- 1956 - Jonathan Coleman, Anglo-Australian entertainer
- 1956 - Bob Speller, Canadian politician
- 1956 - Aileen Wuornos, American serial killer (d. 2002)
- 1960 - Khaled, Algerian raï musician
- 1960 - Richard Ramirez, American serial killer
- 1960 - Tony Robbins, American motivational speaker
- 1968 - Chucky Brown, American basketball player
- 1968 - Pete Fenson, American curler
- 1968 - Bryce Paup, American football player
- 1972 - Dave Williams, American singer (Drowning Pool) (d. 2002)
- 1972 - Saul Williams, American rapper, poet, and actor
- 1972 - Pedro Zamora, Cuban-born American AIDS activist (d. 1994)
- 1976 - Ja Rule, American rapper and actor
- 1980 - Taylor Twellman, American soccer player
- 1980 - Chris Conley, American musician
Deaths
- 1928 - Ina Coolbrith, first poet laureate of California (b. 1841)
- 1964 - Frank Albertson, American actor (b. 1909)
- 1980 - Gil Elvgren, American artist (b. 1914)
- 2000 - Dennis Danell, American Artist (b. 1961)
- 2004 - Jerome Lawrence, American playwright (b. 1915)