By Day: Historical Events on February 28th

Deposition of the last Roman Emperor Romulus Augustulus by Odoacer, marking the end of the Western Roman Empire.

Fourth Council of Constantinople concludes, condemning Photius and reconciling the East-West Schism temporarily.

Eighth Ecumenical Council, the Fourth Council of Constantinople, concludes with decisions against Photius and reaffirming Nicene Christianity.

Death of Pope Gregory V, the first German Pope.

Alexios I Komnenos becomes Byzantine Emperor after the death of Nikephoros III.

Union of Krewo: Jogaila, Grand Duke of Lithuania, converts to Christianity and agrees to marry the Queen of Poland, Jadwiga, forming a dynastic union.

Battle of Kosovo: Ottoman Empire defeats Serbian forces, resulting in heavy casualties on both sides and solidifying Ottoman control in the Balkans.

The Battle of Towton: Edward IV defeats Henry VI during the Wars of the Roses, becoming the King of England.

Bartolomeu Dias, Portuguese explorer, reaches the Cape of Good Hope in his attempt to establish a sea route to India.

Spanish explorer Vicente Yáñez Pinzón discovers Brazil while captaining a ship in a fleet led by Pedro Álvares Cabral.

King Edward VI of England is crowned at Westminster Abbey at the age of nine following the death of Henry VIII.

Irish rebel Hugh O'Neill signs the Second Treaty of Dungannon, effectively ending the Nine Years' War in Ireland.

The Scottish National Covenant is signed in Edinburgh, opposing religious reforms imposed by King Charles I of England.

Cambridge University scientists, James Watson and Francis Crick determined the structure of the double helix, the twisted-ladder structure of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA). Their work was aided by use of Rosalind Franklin's X-ray photographic work showing crystallographic evidence of the structure of DNA, which was shown to them, without her knowledge. Watson and Crick were awarded the Nobel Prize in 1962. More

Swedish Prime Minister Olof Palme is gunned down in the street outside a cinema in Stockholm. His killer was never found.