What happened on February 28 ?

1155 - Henry the Young King, son of Henry II of England (d. 1183)

1533 - Michel de Montaigne, French writer and philosopher (d. 1592)

1552 - Joost Bürgi, Swiss clockmaker and mathematician (d. 1632)

1612 - John Pearson, English theologian (d. 1686)

1670 - Benjamin Wadsworth, American President of Harvard University (d. 1737)

1675 - Guillaume Delisle, French cartographer (d. 1726)

1683 - René Antoine Ferchault de Réaumur, French scientist (d. 1757)

1704 - Louis Godin, French astronomer (d. 1760)

1712 - Louis-Joseph de Montcalm, French military commander (d. 1759)

1724 - George Townshend, 1st Marquess Townshend, British field marshal (d. 1807)

1820 - John Tenniel, English illustrator (d. 1914)

1823 - Ernest Renan, French philosopher (d. 1892)

1827 - Blondin, French tightrope walker (d. 1897)

1833 - Alfred von Schlieffen, German field marshal (d. 1913)

1865 - Wilfred Grenfell, medical missionary to Newfoundland and Labrador (d. 1940).

1878 - Pierre Fatou, French mathematician (d. 1929)

1882 - Geraldine Farrar, American soprano (d. 1967)

1882 - José Vasconcelos, Mexican writer and politician (d. 1959)

1894 - Ben Hecht, American playwright and screenwriter (d. 1964)

1896 - Philip Showalter Hench, American physician, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (d. 1965)

1900 - Wolfram Hirth, German pilot and aircraft designer (d. 1959)

1901 - Linus Pauling, American chemist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry and Peace (d. 1994)

1903 - Vincente Minnelli, American director (d. 1986)

1906 - Bugsy Siegel, American gangster (d. 1947)

1907 - Milton Caniff, American cartoonist (Terry and the Pirates, Steve Canyon)

1908 - Billie Bird, American actress (d. 2002)

1909 - Stephen Spender, English poet (d. 1995)

1915 - Peter Medawar, Brazilian-born scientist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (d. 1987)

1915 - Zero Mostel, American actor (d. 1977)

1921 - Pierre Clostermann, French World War II pilot (d. 2006)

1923 - Charles Durning, American actor

1926 - Svetlana Alliluyeva, Soviet defector, daughter of Joseph Stalin

1929 - Hayden Fry, American football coach

1929 - Frank Gehry, Canadian-American architect

1930 - Leon Neil Cooper, American physicist, Nobel Prize laureate

1930 - Gavin MacLeod, American actor

1931 - Dean Smith, American basketball coach

1932 - Don Francks, Canadian actor

1933 - Rein Taagepera, Estonian politician

1939 - Daniel C. Tsui, Chinese-born physicist, Nobel Prize laureate

1939 - Tommy Tune, American dancer, choreographer, and actor

1940 - Mario Andretti, American race car driver

1940 - Joe South, American singer and songwriter

1942 - Frank Bonner, American actor and director

1942 - Brian Jones, English musician (The Rolling Stones) (d. 1969)

1942 - Dino Zoff, Italian footballer

1944 - Kelly Bishop, American actress

1944 - Sepp Maier, German footballer

1944 - Win Aung, Burmese politician

1945 - Bubba Smith, American football player and actor

1946 - Robin Cook, British politician (d. 2005)

1946 - Syreeta Wright, American singer (d. 2004)

1947 - Stephanie Beacham, British actress

1948 - Steven Chu, American physicist, Nobel Prize laureate

1948 - Mike Figgis, English director, writer, and composer

1948 - Bernadette Peters, American actress and singer

1948 - Mercedes Ruehl, American actress

1952 - William Finn, American composer and lyricist

1955 - Gilbert Gottfried, American comedian and actor

1955 - Silky Sullivan, American racehorse (d. 1977)

1956 - Jimmy Nicholl, Canadian-born Northern Irish footballer

1956 - Mike Tenay, American wrestling commentator

1957 - John Turturro, American actor

1960 - Dorothy Stratten, Canadian actress and model (d. 1980)

1961 - Rae Dawn Chong, Canadian actress

1961 - Mark Latham, Australian politician

1967 - Colin Cooper, English footballer

1969 - Robert Sean Leonard, American actor

1969 - Patrick Monahan, American rock singer (Train (band))

1970 - Noureddine Morceli, Algerian athlete

1970 - Lemony Snicket, American writer

1971 - Tristan Louis, American writer

1972 - Rory Cochrane, American actor

1973 - Eric Lindros, Canadian hockey player

1974 - Lee Carsley, Irish footballer

1978 - Benjamin Raich, Austrian Olympic skier

1979 - Primo? Peterka, Slovenian ski jumper

1980 - Pascal Bosschaart, Dutch footballer

1980 - Piotr Giza, Polish footballer

1982 - Natalia Vodianova, Russian supermodel

1984 - Karolína Kurková, Czech supermodel

1985 - Jelena Jankovi?, Serbian tennis player

1986 - Daniel Broderick, Australian musician

2001 - Smarty Jones, American racehorse