On This Day: February 28th

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.

Prime Minister Modi of India inaugurates the 2nd Space Port of India - Kulasekarapattinam Spaceport.

Two trains collide south of the Vale of Tempe in Greece, leading to the deaths of at least 57 people and leaving 58 missing and 85 injured.

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.

During the religious violence in Gujarat, 97 people are killed in the Naroda Patiya massacre and 69 in the Gulbarg Society massacre.

The 2001 Nisqually earthquake, having a moment magnitude of 6.8, with epicenter in southern Puget Sound, damages the Seattle metropolitan area.

An earthquake in northern Iran is responsible for about 1,100 deaths.

A Turkish military memorandum results in the collapse of the coalition government in Turkey.

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.

Space Shuttle Atlantis is launched on STS-36.