1940

Hattie McDaniel becomes first African American actress to win Oscar

Born on This Day

Phyllis Frelich

1944 - 2014

Actress and advocate for the deaf community who won a Tony Award for "Children of a Lesser God."

Jimmy Dorsey

1904 - 1957

Musician and bandleader whose hits "Green Eyes" and "I'm Glad There is You" helped define big band swing music.

Tony Robbins

1960 -

Author and motivational speaker known for his self-help seminars and books like "Awaken the Giant Within."

Phyllis FrelichFilmMagic
Jimmy DorseyGetty Images
Tony RobbinsGetty Images
1960
FEB29

First-ever Playboy Club opens in downtown Chicago. Women servers, known as "bunnies," had a 42-page manual that threatened demerits for everything from chewing gum to unkempt bunny tails.

Timeline

Also on This Day in History

Discover more of the major events, famous births, notable deaths and everything else history-making that happened on February 29th

1704

Deerfield settlement razed in Queen Anne’s War

Deerfield, a frontier settlement in western Massachusetts, is attacked by a French and Native American force. Some 100 men, women and children are massacred as the town is burned to the ground. The Deerfield raid was the bloodiest event of Queen Anne’s War, a conflict known to American historians as the second of the French […]

0:58m read
1916

Two ships sink in North Sea battle

On the afternoon of February 29, 1916, both the British armed merchant ship Alcantara and the German raider Grief sink after engaging each other in a close-range battle on the North Sea. The German raider Grief was in disguise, flying under the Norwegian flag and with Norwegian colors displayed on its sides, when it attempted […]

1:16m read
1968

Kerner Commission Report released

The President’s National Advisory Commission on Civil Disorders—known as the Kerner Commission—releases its report, condemning racism as the primary cause of the recent surge of riots. Headed by Governor Otto Kerner of Illinois, the 11-member commission was appointed by President Lyndon B. Johnson in July 1967 to uncover the causes of urban riots and recommend […]

1:14m read
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