February 29, also known as the leap day of the Gregorian calendar, is a date that occurs in most years that are divisible by 4, such as 2008, 2012, 2016, 2020, and 2024. Years that are divisible by 100, but not by 400, do not contain a leap day. Thus, 1700, 1800, and 1900 did not contain a leap day, 2100, 2200, and 2300 will not contain a leap day, while 1600 and 2000 did, and 2400 will. Years containing a leap day are called leap years. February 29 is the 60th day of the Gregorian calendar in such a year, with 306 days remaining until the end of the year. In the Chinese calendar, this day will only occur in years of the monkey, dragon, and rat.
Births
A person who is born on February 29 may be called a "leapling" or a "leap-year baby". In non-leap years, some leaplings celebrate their birthday on either February 28 or March 1, while others only observe birthdays on the authentic intercalary date, February 29.
Notable persons born on February 29:
Births
A person who is born on February 29 may be called a "leapling" or a "leap-year baby". In non-leap years, some leaplings celebrate their birthday on either February 28 or March 1, while others only observe birthdays on the authentic intercalary date, February 29.
Notable persons born on February 29:
- 1468 – Pope Paul III (d. 1549)
- 1692 – John Byrom, English poet and educator (d. 1763)
- 1724 – Eva Marie Veigel, Austrian-English dancer (d. 1822)
- 1736 – Ann Lee, English-American religious leader, founded the Shakers (d. 1784)
- 1792 – Gioachino Rossini, Italian pianist and composer (d. 1868)
- 1812 – James Milne Wilson, Scottish-Australian soldier and politician, 8th Premier of Tasmania (d. 1880)
- 1828 – Emmeline B. Wells, American journalist, poet, and activist (d. 1921)
- 1836 – Dickey Pearce, American baseball player and manager (d. 1908)
- 1852 – Frank Gavan Duffy, Irish-Australian lawyer and judge, 4th Chief Justice of Australia (d. 1936)
- 1852 – George Maximilianovich, 6th Duke of Leuchtenberg, Russian son of Grand Duchess Maria Nikolaevna of Russia (d. 1912)
- 1860 – Herman Hollerith, American statistician and businessman, co-founded the Computing-Tabulating-Recording Company (d. 1929)
- 1884 – Richard S. Aldrich, American lawyer and politician (d. 1941)
- 1892 – Ed Appleton, American baseball player (d. 1932)
- 1892 – Augusta Savage, American sculptor (d. 1962)
- 1896 – Morarji Desai, Indian politician, 4th Prime Minister of India (d. 1995)
- 1896 – Roy Parker, American baseball player (d. 1954)
- 1896 – William A. Wellman, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 1975)
- 1904 – Rukmini Devi Arundale, Indian dancer and choreographer (d. 1986)
- 1904 – Jimmy Dorsey, American saxophonist, composer, and bandleader (The California Ramblers, The Dorsey Brothers, and The Charleston Chasers) (d. 1957)
- 1904 – Pepper Martin, American baseball player and manager (d. 1965)
- 1908 – Balthus, French-Swiss painter and illustrator (d. 2001)
- 1908 – Dee Brown, American historian and author (d. 2002)
- 1908 – Alf Gover, English cricketer and coach (d. 2001)
- 1908 – Mary Beck, Detroit politician; first female city councilman in Detroit; first Ukrainian-American in that capacity (d. 2005).
- 1916 – Dinah Shore, American singer and actress (d. 1994)
- 1920 – Fyodor Abramov, Russian author and critic (d. 1983)
- 1920 – Arthur Franz, American actor (d. 2006)
- 1920 – James Mitchell, American actor and dancer (d. 2010)
- 1920 – Michèle Morgan, French-American actress and singer
- 1920 – Howard Nemerov, American poet and essayist (d. 1991)
- 1920 – Ivan Ivanovich Petrov, Russian opera singer (d. 2003)
- 1920 – Rolland W. Redlin, American lawyer and politician (d. 2011)
- 1924 – David Beattie, New Zealand judge and politician, 14th Governor-General of New Zealand (d. 2001)
- 1924 – Carlos Humberto Romero, Salvadoran politician, President of El Salvador
- 1924 – Al Rosen, American baseball player and manager (d. 2015)
- 1928 – Joss Ackland, English actor and singer
- 1928 – Vance Haynes, American archaeologist, geologist, and author
- 1928 – Terry Lewis, Australian police officer
- 1928 – Seymour Papert, South African mathematician and computer scientist, co-created the Logo programming language
- 1928 – Tempest Storm, American actress, singer, and dancer
- 1932 – Jaguar, Brazilian cartoonist
- 1932 – Gene H. Golub, American mathematician and academic (d. 2007)
- 1932 – Masten Gregory, American race car driver (d. 1985)
- 1932 – Reri Grist, American soprano and actress
- 1932 – Gavin Stevens, Australian cricketer
- 1936 – Jack R. Lousma, American astronaut, engineer, and politician
- 1936 – Henri Richard, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1936 – Alex Rocco, American actor (d. 2015)
- 1940 – Patriarch Bartholomew I of Constantinople
- 1940 – William H. Turner, Jr. American horse trainer
- 1944 – Ene Ergma, Estonian physicist and politician
- 1944 – Dennis Farina, American police officer and actor (d. 2013)
- 1944 – Nicholas Frayling, English priest and academic
- 1944 – Phyllis Frelich, American actress (d. 2014)
- 1944 – Leiki Loone, Estonian mathematician
- 1944 – Steve Mingori, American baseball player (d. 2008)
- 1944 – Paolo Eleuteri Serpieri, Italian author and illustrator
- 1948 – Jirō Akagawa, Japanese author
- 1948 – Gérard Darmon, French-Moroccan actor and singer
- 1948 – Hermione Lee, English author, critic, and academic
- 1948 – Patricia A. McKillip, American author
- 1952 – Al Autry, American baseball player
- 1952 – Sharon Dahlonega Raiford Bush, American journalist and producer
- 1952 – Tim Powers, American author and educator
- 1952 – Raisa Smetanina, Soviet-Russian cross-country skier
- 1952 – Bart Stupak, American police officer and politician
- 1956 – Jonathan Coleman, English-Australian radio and television host
- 1956 – Jerry Fry, American baseball player
- 1956 – Bob Speller, Canadian businessman and politician, 30th Canadian Minister of Agriculture
- 1956 – J. Randy Taraborrelli, American journalist and author
- 1956 – Aileen Wuornos, American serial killer (d. 2002)
- 1960 – Khaled, Algerian singer-songwriter
- 1960 – Lucian Grainge, English businessman
- 1960 – Bill Long, American baseball player
- 1960 – Richard Ramirez, American serial killer (d. 2013)
- 1960 – Tony Robbins, American motivational speaker and author
- 1964 – Dave Brailsford, English cyclist and coach
- 1964 – Lyndon Byers, Canadian ice hockey player and radio host
- 1964 – Mervyn Warren, American tenor, composer, and producer (Take 6)
- 1968 – Suanne Braun, South African-English actress
- 1968 – Chucky Brown, American basketball player and coach
- 1968 – Pete Fenson, American curler and sportscaster
- 1968 – Naoko Iijima, Japanese actress and model
- 1968 – Bryce Paup, American football player and coach
- 1968 – Howard Tayler, American author and illustrator
- 1968 – Eugene Volokh, Ukrainian-American lawyer, legal scholar, and educator
- 1968 – Frank Woodley, Australian actor, producer, and screenwriter
- 1972 – Iván García, Cuban sprinter
- 1972 – Mike Pollitt, English footballer and coach
- 1972 – Antonio Sabàto, Jr., Italian-American model and actor
- 1972 – Pedro Sánchez (Spanish politician), Spanish politician
- 1972 – Dave Williams, American singer-songwriter (Drowning Pool) (d. 2002)
- 1972 – Saul Williams, American singer-songwriter and actor (Wax Poetic)
- 1972 – Pedro Zamora, Cuban-American television personality, cast member on The Real World: San Francisco (d. 1994)
- 1972 – Nejat İşler, Turkish actor
- 1976 – Zoë Baker, English-New Zealand swimmer and coach
- 1976 – Katalin Kovács, Hungarian canoe racer
- 1976 – Terrence Long, American baseball player
- 1976 – Ja Rule, American rapper and actor
- 1980 – Chris Conley, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (Saves the Day and Two Tongues)
- 1980 – Patrick Côté, Canadian mixed martial artist
- 1980 – Simon Gagné, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1980 – Michail Mouroutsos, Greek martial artist
- 1980 – Rubén Plaza, Spanish cyclist
- 1980 – Clinton Toopi, New Zealand rugby league player
- 1980 – Taylor Twellman, American soccer player and sportscaster
- 1980 – Çağdaş Atan, Turkish retired footballer
- 1984 – Darren Ambrose, English footballer
- 1984 – Rica Imai, Japanese model, entertainer, and actress
- 1984 – Cullen Jones, American swimmer
- 1984 – Nuria Martínez, Spanish basketball player
- 1984 – Adam Sinclair, Indian field hockey player
- 1984 – Rakhee Thakrar, English actress
- 1984 – Dennis Walger, German rugby player
- 1984 – Cam Ward, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1984 – Mark Foster, American singer-songwriter (Foster the People)
- 1988 – Lena Gercke, German model and television host
- 1988 – Scott Golbourne, English footballer
- 1988 – Benedikt Höwedes, German footballer
- 1988 – Bobby Sanguinetti, American ice hockey player
- 1992 – Sean Abbott, Australian cricketer
- 1992 – Perry Kitchen, American soccer player
- 1992 – Caitlin EJ Meyer, American actress
- 1992 – Majesty Rose, American singer
- 1992 – Saphir Taïder, French-Algerian footballer
- 1996 – Claudia Williams, New Zealand tennis player
