Today
Saturday February 28 2026
- Day of the year
- 59/ 365
- Week
- 92,026
- Days left
- 30616%
- Moon
- 91%Waxing gibbous
Today is Saturday, February 28, 2026. It is day 59 of 2026, a year of 365 days: 306 remain, and 16% of the year has gone. Under ISO 8601 this date falls in week 9.
What's celebrated on this date
No United Nations international day falls on this date.
Coming up
- March 3World Wildlife Day
- March 8International Women's Day
- March 20International Day of Happiness
Saints and name days
Saints whose feast falls on this date, most widely known first.
- Aba IPatriarch of the Church of the East at Seleucia-Ctesiphon
- Romanus of CondatChristian saint, monk and hermit
- Daniel BrottierCatholic priest and beatus (1876-1936)
- Kyranna of ThessalonikiGreek orthodox saint
- Nicholas Salos of PskovRussian saint
Sources : Wikidata (P841) · CC0 1.0
Astronomy
New York
- Sunrise
- 06:31
- Sunset
- 17:46
- Length of day
- 11h 15m+3 min vs yesterday
- Solar noon
- 12:08
Times shown for America/New_York
Season
Winter
began on December 21, 2025
Next season
Spring — 20 days, March 20, 2026 (March equinox)
Public holidays — United States
Not a public holiday in the United States.
Next public holiday : Memorial Day — May 25, 2026
National holidays only. Regions, provinces and Länder add their own.
Moon
Waxing gibbous
Illumination : 91%
Moon age : 11.2 days
- Next full moon
- March 3, 2026
- Next new moon
- March 19, 2026
Astrology
Today's zodiac sign
Pisces
until March 21, 2026 — Aries
Zodiac dates are an astrological convention, not the Sun's actual position among the constellations. The astronomy above is measured; this is not.
On this day in history
-202
Liu Bang is enthroned as the Emperor of China, beginning four centuries of rule by the Han dynasty. Wikipedia
1525
Aztec king Cuauhtémoc is executed on the order of conquistador Hernán Cortés. Wikipedia
1835
Elias Lönnrot signs and dates the foreword to the first version of the Kalevala, the so-called Old Kalevala. Wikipedia
1922
The United Kingdom ends its protectorate over Egypt through a Unilateral Declaration of Independence. Wikipedia
1947
February 28 incident: In Taiwan, civil disorder is put down with the death of an estimated 18,000 - 28,000 civilians. Wikipedia
1986
Olof Palme, 26th Prime Minister of Sweden, is assassinated in Stockholm. Wikipedia
Show more (4)
1993
Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) agents raid the Branch Davidian church in Waco, Texas with a warrant to arrest the group's leader David Koresh, starting a 51-day standoff. Wikipedia
1997
An earthquake in northern Iran is responsible for about 1,100 deaths. Wikipedia
2013
Pope Benedict XVI resigns as the pope of the Catholic Church, becoming the first pope to do so voluntarily since Pope Gregory XII in 1415. Wikipedia
2026
The United States and Israel launch attacks across Iran, assassinating Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. Retaliatory strikes are launched by Iran against US military bases in the Gulf, with explosions reported in Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar and the UAE. Wikipedia
Sources : Wikipedia (en) · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Data imported on 2026-08-26
Births and deaths
Born on this day February 28
- 1533Michel de Montaigne, French philosopher and author (died 1592)
- 1552Jost Bürgi, Swiss mathematician and clockmaker (died 1632)
- 1675Guillaume Delisle, French cartographer (died 1726)
- 1683René Antoine Ferchault de Réaumur, French entomologist and academic (died 1757)
- 1896Philip Showalter Hench, American physician and endocrinologist, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1965)
- 1901Linus Pauling, American chemist and activist, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1994)
- 1915Peter Medawar, Brazilian-English biologist and immunologist, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1987)
- 1930Leon Cooper, American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 2024)
Died on this day February 28
- 1621Cosimo II de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany (born 1590)aged 31 years
- 1648Christian IV, King of Denmark (born 1577)aged 71 years
- 1932Guillaume Bigourdan, French astronomer and academic (born 1851)aged 81 years
- 1936Charles Nicolle, French biologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1866)aged 70 years
- 2002Helmut Zacharias, German violinist and composer (born 1920)aged 82 years
- 2004Daniel J. Boorstin, American historian and librarian (born 1914)aged 90 years
- 2013Donald A. Glaser, American physicist and biologist, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1926)aged 87 years
- 2026Ali Khamenei, Supreme Leader of Iran (born 1939)aged 87 years
Sources : Wikipedia (en) · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Data imported on 2026-08-26
The day in words
In New York the sun rises at 06:31 and sets at 17:46, giving 11h 15m of daylight — 3 minutes more than yesterday. It has been winter since December 21, 2025; spring opens in 20 days, on March 20, 2026 (March equinox).
The moon is waxing gibbous, 91% illuminated. The next full moon falls on March 3, 2026 and the next new moon on March 19, 2026.
The saints' calendar attaches February 28 to Aba I, Romanus of Condat and Daniel Brottier.
No United Nations international day falls on February 28. The next one on the calendar is World Wildlife Day, on March 3.
It is not a public holiday in the United States.
On this day in history: Liu Bang is enthroned as the Emperor of China, beginning four centuries of rule by the Han dynasty (-202); Aztec king Cuauhtémoc is executed on the order of conquistador Hernán Cortés (1525). English Wikipedia records 10 events for this date.
Michel de Montaigne was born on February 28, 1533; Cosimo II de' Medici died on February 28, 1621.
300 days remain until Christmas and 307 until New Year's Day.
In astrology — kept separate from the measured astronomy above, deliberately — February 28 falls under the sign of Pisces.
Calendar
By the numbers
- 16%
- of the year elapsed
- 300
- until Christmas
- 307
- until New Year
- 731
- until the next 29 February
2026 — Common year (365 days)
Work with dates
Sources
Every block on this page names where its data comes from. Nothing here is generated when the source is silent.
- United Nations — International Days— What's celebrated today
- Wikidata (P841)— Saints and name days · CC0 1.0
- Wikipedia (en)— On this day in history · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Data imported on 2026-08-26