Tomorrow only comes once every 4 years. Leap year, February 29th. Ja Rule might be the most famous modern day leaper. Its finally his birthday, and he’s spending it in jail. Here’s a list of people who got screwed out of presents 3/4s of the time by being born on February 29.
- 1468 – Pope Paul III (d. 1549)
- 1568 – Juan Bautista Comes, Spanish composer (d. 1643)
- 1692 – John Byrom, English poet (d. 1763)
- 1724 – Eva Marie Veigel, ballet dancer and wife of actor David Garrick (d. 1822)
- 1736 – Ann Lee, American founder of Shakers (d. 1784)
- 1792 – Gioachino Rossini, Italian composer (d. 1868)
- 1812 – Sir James Wilson, Premier of Tasmania (d. 1880)
- 1828 – Emmeline B. Wells, American women’s rights advocate (d. 1921)
- 1836 – Dickey Pearce, American baseball player and manager (d. 1908)
- 1840 – John Philip Holland, Irish inventor (d. 1914)
- 1848 – Arthur Giry, French historian (d. 1899)
- 1852 – Frank Gavan Duffy, Australian judge (d. 1936)
- 1852 – George Maximilianovich, 6th Duke of Leuchtenberg, Russian nobleman (d. 1912)
- 1860 – Herman Hollerith, American statistician (d. 1929)
- 1892 – Ed Appleton, American baseball player (d. 1932)
- 1892 – Augusta Savage, African-American sculptor (d. 1962)
- 1896 – Morarji Desai, Prime Minister of India (d. 1995)
- 1896 – Roy Parker, baseball player (d. 1954)
- 1896 – William A. Wellman, American film director (d. 1975)
- 1904 – Jimmy Dorsey, American bandleader (d. 1957)
- 1904 – Pepper Martin, baseball player (d. 1965)
- 1904 – Rukmini Devi Arundale, Indian dancer and founder of Kalakshetra (d. 1986)
- 1904 – Wolfe+585, Senior (alleged date), German-born American typesetter who has the longest personal name ever used (death year unknown)
- 1908 – Balthus, French-Polish painter (d. 2001)
- 1908 – Dee Brown, American writer (d. 2002)
- 1908 – Alf Gover, English cricketer (d. 2001)
- 1916 – Dinah Shore, American singer and actress (d. 1994)
- 1920 – Arthur Franz, American actor (d. 2006)
- 1920 – James Mitchell, American actor (d. 2010)
- 1920 – Michèle Morgan, French actress
- 1920 – Howard Nemerov, American poet (d. 1991)
- 1920 – Ivan Ivanovich Petrov, Russian operatic bass (d. 2003)
- 1920 – Rolland W. Redlin, American politician (d. 2011)
- 1920 – Fyodor Abramov, Russian novelist (d. 1983)
- 1924 – Al Rosen, American baseball player
- 1924 – David Beattie, New Zealand Governor-General (d. 2001)
- 1924 – Carlos Humberto Romero, President of El Salvador
- 1928 – Joss Ackland, English actor
- 1928 – Vance Haynes, American archaeologist
- 1928 – Terry Lewis, Australian police commissioner
- 1928 – Tempest Storm, American burlesque performer
- 1932 – Paul Giel, American baseball player (d. 2002)
- 1932 – Gene Golub, American mathematician (d. 2007)
- 1932 – Masten Gregory, American F1 Driver (d. 1985)
- 1932 – Reri Grist, African-American coloratura soprano
- 1932 – Jaguar, Brazilian cartoonist
- 1936 – Jack Lousma, American astronaut
- 1936 – Henri Richard, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1936 – Alex Rocco, American actor
- 1940 – Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I of Constantinople
- 1940 – William H. Turner, Jr. American horse trainer
- 1944 – Ene Ergma, Estonian politician
- 1944 – Dennis Farina, American actor
- 1944 – Phyllis Frelich, American actress
- 1944 – Steve Mingori, American baseball player (d. 2008)
- 1944 – Paolo Eleuteri Serpieri, Italian illustrator
- 1948 – Jirō Akagawa, Japanese novelist
- 1948 – Gérard Darmon, French movie actor and singer
- 1948 – Ken Foree, American actor
- 1952 – Al Autry, American baseball player
- 1952 – Sharon Dahlonega Raiford Bush, American television personality
- 1952 – Tim Powers, American writer
- 1952 – Raisa Smetanina, Russian cross-country skier
- 1952 – Bart Stupak, American congressman
- 1956 – Jonathan Coleman, Anglo-Australian entertainer
- 1956 – Jerry Fry, American baseball player
- 1956 – Bob Speller, Canadian politician
- 1956 – J. Randy Taraborrelli, American celebrity journalist
- 1956 – Aileen Wuornos, American serial killer (d. 2002)
- 1960 – Khaled, Algerian raï musician
- 1960 – Bill Long, American baseball player
- 1960 – Richard Ramirez, American serial killer
- 1960 – Tony Robbins, American motivational speaker
- 1964 – Lyndon Byers, Canadian hockey player and Boston radio personality
- 1964 – Mervyn Warren, American film & TV composer and musician
- 1968 – Suanne Braun, South African actress
- 1968 – Chucky Brown, American basketball player
- 1968 – Pete Fenson, American curler
- 1968 – Naoko Iijima, Japanese actress
- 1968 – Gonzalo Lira, Chilean-American novelist
- 1968 – Bryce Paup, American football player
- 1968 – Wendi Peters, British actress
- 1968 – Eugene Volokh, American law professor
- 1968 – Frank Woodley, Australian comedian
- 1972 – Antonio Sabàto, Jr., Italian-born actor
- 1972 – Dave Williams, American singer (Drowning Pool) (d. 2002)
- 1972 – Saul Williams, American rapper, poet, and actor
- 1972 – Mike Pollitt, English footballer
- 1972 – Pedro Zamora, Cuban-born American Real World housemate and AIDS activist (d. 1994)
- 1972 – Iván García, Cuban athlete
- 1976 – Katalin Kovács, Hungarian sprint canoer
- 1976 – Ja Rule, American rapper and actor
- 1976 – Terrence Long, American baseball player
- 1976 – Zoë Baker, New Zealand swimmer
- 1980 – Simon Gagné, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1980 – Taylor Twellman, American soccer player
- 1980 – Clinton Toopi, New Zealand rugby league footballer
- 1980 – Chris Conley, American musician
- 1980 – Ruben Plaza, Spanish cyclist
- 1980 – Michail Mouroutsos, Greek Olympic taekwondo gold medalist
- 1984 – Darren Ambrose, English footballer
- 1984 – Cullen Jones, American swimmer
- 1984 – Nuria Martinez, Spanish basketball player WNBA
- 1984 – Adam Sinclair, Indian field hockey player
- 1984 – Dennis Walger, German rugby player
- 1984 – Cam Ward, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1984 – Mark Foster, American musician
- 1988 – Scott Golbourne, English footballer
- 1988 – Benedikt Höwedes, German footballer
- 1988 – Bobby Sanguinetti, American ice hockey player
- 1992 – Perry Kitchen, American soccer player
- 1992 – Sean Abbott, Australian cricketer
