Thursday 28th of February 0486

46th Pope Hilarius dies of unknown causes in Rome, Lazio, Italy.

Tuesday 28th of February 1865

70-year-old Jane Taylor is poisoned with antimony by doctor and murderer Edward William Pritchard in Sauchiehall Street, Glasgow, Scotland, United Kingdom.

Saturday 28th of February 1880

Victim of John George Haigh aka The Acid Bath Murderer Olive Henrietta Olivia Robarts Durand-Deacon is born in Richmond, Surrey, United Kingdom.

Wednesday 28th of February 1906

Mobster Bugsy Benjamin Siegel is born as Benjamin Siegelbaum in New York, Brooklyn, New York, United States.

Wednesday 28th of February 1912

Mistress of Benito Mussolini Clara Claretta Petacci is born in Rome, Lazio, Italy.

Saturday 28th of February 1942

Rolling Stone Brian Lewis Hopkins Jones is born in Park Nursing Home, Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, United Kingdom.

Friday 28th of February 1947

Start of the 228 Incident, an anti-government uprising after the confiscation of contraband cigarettes and subsequent killing a 40-year-old widow named Lin Jiang-mai by agents of the Tobacco Monopoly Bureau enforcement team in Tianma teahouse, Dadaocheng, Taiheichō, Taipei, Taiwan.

Estimates of the number of deaths vary from ten thousand to thirty thousand or more.

Tuesday 28th of February 1950

Irish republican hunger striker Francis Hughes is born as Proinsias Ó hAodha in Bellaghy, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom.

Tuesday 28th of February 1956

Gangster and French public enemy No. 1 for 1950 Émile Buisson aka Mimile is executed by the Guillotine by André Olbrecht at the age of 54 in Paris, Île-de-France, France.

Thursday 28th of February 1957

Murderer Leonardo Salemi is executed by Old Sparky at the age of 44 in Sing Sing Prison, Ossining, New York, United States.

Sunday 28th of February 1960

Serial killer Richard Ricardo Leyva Muñoz Ramirez aka The Night Stalker is born in El Paso, Texas, United States.

Sunday 28th of February 1960

Playmate of the Year 1980 Dorothy Stratten is born as Dorothy Ruth Hoogstraten in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.

Sunday 28th of February 1971

31-year-old Performance artist Vito Hannibal Acconci performs 'Security Zone' with Lee Jaffe in Pier 18, New York, New York, United States.

Thursday 28th of February 1974

Picasso’s painting 'Guernica' is sprayed over with "KILL LIES ALL" in foot-high letters by 31-year-old Art gallery owner and art vandal Tony Shafrazi in Museum of Modern Art, New York, Manhattan, New York, United States.

Thursday 28th of February 1980

2-year-old Cassidy Mae Marie Johnson aka Muffin is suffocated by serial killer Christine Falling aka The Babysitter Killer in Blountstown, Florida, United States.

Three days earlier Johnson was sent to a doctor's office. She was diagnosed with meningitis caused by traumatic brain injuries. In 1982 Falling confessed to murdering children because she had heard voices telling her "Kill the baby".

Friday 28th of February 1986

26th Prime Minister of Sweden Olof Sven Joachim Palme is shot dead by an unidentified assassin at the age of 59 in Sveavägen, Stockholm, Södermanland, Sweden.

Although more than 130 people have confessed to Palme's murder the case remains unsolved.

Sunday 28th of February 1988

26-year-old Serial killer Roberto Succo aka L'Assassino della Luna Piena aka Il Mostro di Mestre aka Roberto il Folle is arrested in Mestre, Veneto, Italy.

Friday 28th of February 1992

Double murderer David Michael Clark is executed by lethal injection at the age of 33 in Huntsville Prison, 815 12th Street, Huntsville, Texas, United States.

Friday 28th of February 1997

Bank robber Larry Eugene Phillips commits suicide by a shot in the head at the age of 27 in Bank of America, 6600 Laurel Canyon Boulevard, North Hollywood, California, United States.

About an hour earlier Phillips and Emil Mătăsăreanu entered and robbed the bank but were confronted by LAPD officers when they exited the bank and a shootout between the officers and robbers ensued. The robbers attempted to flee the scene, Phillips on foot and Mătăsăreanu in their getaway vehicle, while continuing to exchange fire with the officers. Phillips was shot in the right hand, causing him to drop his Beretta 92FS pistol. After retrieving it, he placed the muzzle under his chin and fired. Phillips was simultaneously shot by a bullet that severed his spine.

Friday 28th of February 1997

Bank robber Emil Decebal Mătăsăreanu dies from trauma due to excessive blood loss coming from two gunshot wounds in his left thigh at the age of 31 in Bank of America, 6600 Laurel Canyon Boulevard, North Hollywood, California, United States.

About an hour earlier Mătăsăreanu and Larry Phillips entered and robbed the bank but were confronted by LAPD officers when they exited the bank and a shootout between the officers and robbers ensued. The robbers attempted to flee the scene, Phillips on foot and Mătăsăreanu in their getaway car, while continuing to exchange fire with the officers. Mătăsăreanu took cover behind the getaway car and engaged them two-and-a-half minutes of almost uninterrupted gunfire. One SWAT officer fired his AR-15 below the cars and wounded Mătăsăreanu in his unprotected lower legs; he was soon unable to continue and put his hands up to show surrender. The police radioed for an ambulance but Mătăsăreanu, loudly swearing profusely and goading the police to shoot him, died before the ambulance and EMTs were allowed to reach the scene almost 70 minutes later.

Thursday 28th of February 2002

Murderer Monty Allen Delk is executed by lethal injection at the age of 35 in Huntsville Prison, 815 12th Street, Huntsville, Texas, United States.

When the warden asked if he had a final statement Delk shouted. "I am the warden! Get your warden off this gurney and shut up!"

Wednesday 28th of February 2007

41-year-old Mass murderess Geneviève Lhermitte stabs her five children to death in 42 Avenue Général Jacques, Nivelles, Brabant-Wallon, Belgium.

The victims were 7-year-old Mina, 3-year-old Mehdi, 10-year-old Myriam, 12-year-old Nora and 15-year-old Yasmin. After Nora had been killed, Lhermitte wrote the letters "JUD" on the bathroom mirror in Nora's blood and later stated that she had intended to spell the name "Judas". With her children dead, Lhermitte then attempted to kill herself by falling on her knife. When she realized that the wound would not be fatal, she wrote "call the police" in red marker on her door and called emergency services to the house.

Thursday 28th of February 2013

Great Train Robber Bruce Richard Reynolds known for masterminding the 1963 Great Train Robbery dies of poor health at the age of 82 in London, Croydon, Greater London, United Kingdom.

Tuesday 28th of February 2023

Mass murderess Geneviève Lhermitte is euthanised at the age of 57 in Hôpital Léonard de Vinci, Rue de Gozée 706, Montigny-le-Tilleul, Hainaut, Belgium.

Exactly 16 years before Lhermitte stabbed her five children to death.

Wednesday 28th of February 2024

Murderer Ahmed Salim is executed by hanging at the age of 35 in Changi Prison, Singapore, Singapore.

Salim was convicted of strangling his former fiancée, Indonesian national Nurhidayati Wartono Surata in 2018.

Wednesday 28th of February 2024

Double murderer Ivan Cantu is executed by lethal injection at the age of 50 in Huntsville Prison, 815 12th Street, Huntsville, Texas, United States.

Cantu was convicted and sentenced to death for the 2000 murders of his cousin and his cousin’s fiancée.