February 28: Tibetan New Year begins (2025); Kalevala Day in Finland; Peace Memorial Day in TaiwanRanavalona III of Madagascar202 BC Rebel leader Liu Bang declared himself Emperor Gaozu of Han after overthrowing the Qin dynasty, the first imperial dynasty of China.1897 RanavalonaIII (pictured), the last sovereign ruler of the Kingdom of Madagascar, was deposed by French military forces.1928 Indian physicist C.V. Raman and his colleagues discovered what is now known as Raman scattering, for which he later became the first Asian to win the Nobel Prize in Physics.1975 A London Underground train failed to stop at the terminal Moorgate station, crashing and causing the deaths of 43 people.2002 During a period of religious violence in Gujarat, India, mobs of Hindus attacked Muslims in Naroda Patiya and in Chamanpura, resulting in 166 deaths.Cornelius Gemma (b.1535)Alfred von Schlieffen (b.1833)Charles Bassett and Elliot See (d.1966)Koesbini (d.1991)More anniversaries: February 27February 28March 1ArchiveBy emailList of days of the yearAbout