Events on February 26 29
Year 1233
Mongol-Jin War: The Mongols capture Kaifeng, the capital of the Jin dynasty, after besieging it for months.
Year 1266
Battle of Benevento: An army led by Charles, Count of Anjou, defeats a combined German and Sicilian force led by Manfred, King of Sicily. Manfred is killed in the battle and Pope Clement IV invests Charles as king of Sicily and Naples.
Year 1616
Galileo Galilei is formally banned by the Roman Catholic Church from teaching or defending the view that the earth orbits the sun.
Year 1876
Japan and Korea sign a treaty granting Japanese citizens extraterritoriality rights, opening three ports to Japanese trade, and ending Korea's status as a tributary state of Qing dynasty China.
Year 1909
Kinemacolor, the first successful color motion picture process, is first shown to the general public at the Palace Theatre in London.
Year 1914
HMHS Britannic, sister to the RMS Titanic, is launched at Harland and Wolff shipyard in Belfast.
Year 1919
President Woodrow Wilson signs an act of Congress establishing the Grand Canyon National Park.
Year 1929
President Calvin Coolidge signs an executive order establishing the 96,000 acre Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming.
Year 1935
Adolf Hitler orders the Luftwaffe to be re-formed, violating the provisions of the Treaty of Versailles.
Year 1935
Robert Watson-Watt carries out a demonstration near Daventry which leads directly to the development of radar in the United Kingdom.
Year 1936
In the February 26 Incident, young Japanese military officers attempt to stage a coup against the government.
Year 1952
Vincent Massey is sworn in as the first Canadian-born Governor General of Canada.
Year 1960
A New York-bound Alitalia airliner crashes into a cemetery in Shannon, Ireland, shortly after takeoff, killing 34 of the 52 persons on board.
Year 1971
U.N. Secretary-General U Thant signs United Nations proclamation of the vernal equinox as Earth Day.
Year 1987
Iran-Contra affair: The Tower Commission rebukes President Ronald Reagan for not controlling his national security staff.
Year 1992
Nagorno-Karabakh War: Khojaly Massacre: Armenian armed forces open fire on Azeri civilians at a military post outside the town of Khojaly leaving hundreds dead.
Year 1993
World Trade Center bombing: In New York City, a truck bomb parked below the North Tower of the World Trade Center explodes, killing six and injuring over a thousand.
Year 1995
The UK's oldest investment banking institute, Barings Bank, collapses after a rogue securities broker Nick Leeson loses $1.4 billion by speculating on the Singapore International Monetary Exchange using futures contracts.
Year 1996
Keddies, the Southend-on-Sea department store closes it doors after 104 years of trading.
Year 2008
The New York Philharmonic performs in Pyongyang, North Korea; this is the first event of its kind to take place in North Korea.
Year 2012
A train derails in Burlington, Ontario, Canada killing at least three people and injuring 45.