On This Day for February 29 - Voting begun on Bosnian independence, Gioachino Rossini is featured, and more

Created: 2020-02-29 11:02 Updated: 2020-02-29 11:02 Notebook: On this Day in History

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February 29

FEATURED BIOGRAPHY

1792

Gioachino Rossini

FEATURED EVENT

1992

Voting begun on Bosnian independence

MORE EVENTS ON THIS DAY

The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King

2004: The Return of the King—the last installment in the film adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien's epic fantasy The Lord of the Rings—received 11 Academy Awards, tying the record held by Ben-Hur (1959) and Titanic (1997). [ Test your knowledge of the Oscars .]

1904: Jimmy Dorsey, whose orchestra was one of the most popular big bands of the swing era in the United States, was born.

1896: Indian politician Morarji Desai—who, as prime minister of India (1977–79), was the first leader of sovereign India not to represent the long-ruling Indian National Congress party—was born. [ Explore India in our quiz .]

1920: A new, democratic constitution was adopted by the National Assembly elected by Czech and Slovak leaders, furthering the consolidation of the two states into Czechoslovakia.

1768: The Confederation of Bar was organized to defend the privileges of the Roman Catholic Church and the independence of Poland against Russian encroachment.

Shakers, near Lebanon, New York; engraving by an unknown artist.

1736: Ann Lee (“Mother Ann”), the religious leader who brought the Shaker sect from England to the American colonies, was born in Manchester, England. [ Take our quiz on religion across the globe .]

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ALSO BORN ON THIS DAY

1956

Aileen Wuornos
American serial killer

1944

Dennis Farina
American actor

1468

Paul III
pope

1896

Morarji Desai
prime minister of India

1960

Khaled
Algerian singer