ON THIS DAY
LEAP YEAR DAY, which occurs every four years to make the calendar year “catch up” with the solar year which actually takes 365.242199 days.
992: Death of St Oswald, Archbishop of York who revived Christianity in the North-East.
1736: Birth of Ann Lee, Manchester blacksmith’s daughter who emigrated to the United States and founded the American Society of Shakers religious group.
1792: Operatic composer Gioachino Rossini was born in Pesaro, Italy.
1840: John Philip Holland, American-based inventor who pioneered the submarine, was born in County Clare, Ireland.
1880: The nine-mile St Gotthard tunnel in Switzerland was completed, linking the Swiss and Italian railways.
1956: Pakistan became an Islamic republic.
1960: Hugh Hefner opened his first Playboy Club in Chicago, introducing the Bunny girls, scantily-clad waitresses dressed as fur-tailed bunnies.
1960: The Moroccan port of Agadir was devastated by an earthquake, with 12,000 dead.
1968: The discovery of the first “pulsar” (pulsating radio source) was announced by Dr Jocelyn Burnell of Cambridge.
1984: John Francome rode his 1,000th National Hunt winner at Worcester, the second jockey to do so after Stan Mellor. ON THIS DAY IN 2012: It was announced that James Murdoch would be stepping down as executive chairman of News International.
LEAP YEAR BIRTHDAYS: Joss Ackland, stage and film actor, 92; Tim Powers, author, 68; James Ogilvy, son of Princess Alexandra, 56; Wendi Peters, actress, 52; Ja Rule, rapper, 44; Zoe Baker, former swimmer, 44; Darren Ambrose, footballer, 36.