It happened on Feb. 29

642: St. Oswald, who brought Christianity to northeastern England, is killed in battle.

1692: Salem Witch Trials begin when Sarah Osborne, Sarah Goode and Tituba, a female slave of the Rev. Samuel Parris, are accused of witchcraft.

1860: Deseret News publishes a guide for the Deseret alphabet, an experimental phonetic language developed under the direction of Brigham Young, to help foreign converts learn English.

1880: The St. Gotthard Tunnel, which connects Switzerland and Italy by rail, opens.

1908: Heike Onnes, a scientist in Leyden, Netherlands, announces his success in liquefying helium.

1940: Hattie McDaniel becomes the first African-American to win an Academy Award, given for her role in "Gone With the Wind."

1944: The Admiralty Islands are invaded under the command of Gen. Douglas McArthur during World War II.

1956: President Dwight D. Eisenhower announces he will run for a second term.

1960: An earthquake in Agadir, Morocco, destroys much of the town and kills some 12,500 people.

1972: Hank Aaron becomes the first Major League baseball player to sign a $200,000 contract.

1984: Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau resigns.

2000: The one hundredth millionth copy of the Book of Mormon is published, making it the third-most published book in the world.