This day in history

Today is Thursday, Feb. 29, the 60th day of 2024. There are 306 days left in the year.

Birthdays: Former astronaut Jack Lousma is 88. Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I of Constantinople is 84. Motivational speaker Tony Robbins is 64. Legal affairs blogger Eugene Volokh is 56. Actor Antonio Sabato Jr. is 52. Poet and hip-hop artist Saul Williams is 52. Rapper Ja Rule is 48. Singer-musician Mark Foster (Foster the People) is 40.

▶ In 1504, Christopher Columbus, stranded in Jamaica during his fourth voyage to the West, used a correctly predicted lunar eclipse to frighten hostile natives into providing food for his crew.

▶ In 1796, President Washington proclaimed Jay’s Treaty, which settled some outstanding differences with Britain, in effect.

▶ In 1940, Hattie McDaniel became the first Black actor to win an Academy Award when she took best supporting actress for “Gone With the Wind,” which won eight Oscars overall, including best picture.

▶ In 1984, Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau announced he was stepping down after more than 15 combined years in power.

▶ In 2016, Justice Clarence Thomas broke 10 years of courtroom silence and posed questions during a Supreme Court oral argument dealing with gun rights, provoking gasps from the audience.

▶ In 2020, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced the first reported death from coronavirus. The man, in his 50s, died in Kirkland, Wash., site of one earliest outbreaks in the United States. Joe Biden rebounded with a win in the Democratic primary in South Carolina, recharging his presidential campaign.