EVENTS
- 45 BC – The first Leap Day is recognized by the proclamation of Julius Caesar
- 1692 – The first people are accused of witchcraft in Salem, Massachusetts – Sarah Good, Sarah Osborne and Tituba, and a West Indian slave
- 1848 – Switzerland becomes a federal state
- 1856 – The Crimean War ends
- 1904 – Theodore Roosevelt appoints a 7-man Panama Canal Commission to proceed with completing a canal at the Isthmus
- 1908 – Solid helium is created for the first time by Dutch scientists
- 1960 – Agadir earthquake in Morocco kills a third of the population (12,000-15,000)
- 1968 – The Beatles’ “Sergeant Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” wins Grammy for ‘Album of the Year.’
- 1984 – Pierre Trudeau announces he is stepping down after 15 years as Canadian Prime Minister
- 1996 – Siege of Sarajevo is lifted
BIRTHDAYS
- 1736 – Ann Lee (Founder of the Shakers movement)
- 1840 – John Philip Holland (Inventor of the modern submarine)
- 1936 – Henri Richard (Ice hockey player)
- 1976 – Ja Rule (American Rapper)
DEATHS
- 1956 – Elpidio Quirino (6th President of the Philippines)
- 1960 – Melvin Purvis (FBI agent responsible for manhunts for American outlaws such as Baby Face Nelson, Pretty Boy Floyd, and John Dillinger)
- 2012 – Davy Jones (Member of the pop rock band The Monkees)