What happened on February 29 ?

1468 - Pope Paul III (d. 1549)

1692 - John Byrom, English poet (d. 1763)

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

1792 - Gioacchino Rossini, Italian composer (d. 1868)

1840 - John Philip Holland, Irish inventor (d. 1914)

1852 - Frank Gavan Duffy, Australian judge (d. 1936)

1860 - Herman Hollerith, American statistician (d. 1929)

1896 - Morarji Desai, Prime Minister of India (d. 1995)

1896 - William A. Wellman, American film director (d. 1975)

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

1904 - Pepper Martin, baseball player (d. 1965)

1908 - Balthus, French-Polish painter (d. 2001)

1908 - Dee Brown, American writer and historian (d. 2002)

1908 - Alf Gover, English cricketer (d. 2001)

1916 - Dinah Shore, American singer (d. 1994)

1920 - James Mitchell, American actor

1920 - Michèle Morgan, French actress

1920 - Howard Nemerov, American poet (d. 1991)

1924 - Al Rosen, baseball player

1928 - Tempest Storm, actress and burlesque performer

1932 - Jaguar, Brazilian cartoonist

1936 - Jack Lousma, astronaut

1936 - Henri Richard, Canadian hockey player

1936 - Alex Rocco, American actor

1940 - Patriarch Bartholomew I of Constantinople

1944 - Phyllis Frelich, deaf American actress/Tony Winner

1944 - Dennis Farina, American actor

1944 - Paolo Eleuteri Serpieri, Italian illustrator

1952 - Tim Powers, American writer

1952 - Raisa Smetanina, Russian cross-country skier

1952 - Bart Stupak, American politician

1956 - Jonathan Coleman, Anglo-Australian radio and television personality

1956 - Bob Speller, Canadian politician

1956 - Aileen Wuornos, American serial killer (d. 2002)

1960 - Ian McKenzie Anderson, British musician and record producer

1960 - Richard Ramirez, American serial killer

1960 - Tony Robbins, American motivational speaker

1964 - Lyndon Byers, Canadian hockey player

1968 - Bryce Paup, American football player

1968 - Pete Fenson, American curler

1972 - Antonio Sabato Jr., Italian-born actor

1972 - Dave Williams, American singer (Drowning Pool) (d. 2002)

1972 - Pedro Zamora, Cuban-born American AIDS activist (d. 1994)

1976 - Ja Rule, American rapper and actor

1980 - Simon Gagné, Canadian hockey player

1980 - Taylor Twellman, American soccer player

1984 - Darren Ambrose, English footballer

1984 - Cam Ward, Canadian hockey player