468: Death of Pope St. Hilary (Hilarius), 46th Bishop of Rome. During his seven-year pontificate, he reaffirmed the earlier church councils of Nicea (325), Ephesus (431) and Chalcedon (451), at which the major creeds of the Early Church were hammered out.

     1528: Martyrdom of Scottish reformer Patrick Hamilton, 24. Having spent time with Martin Luther and William Tyndale, Hamilton began promoting Reformation in Scotland. He was afterward arrested and burned at the stake one of the first martyrs of the Scottish Reformation.

     1692: The Salem Witch Trials began on this Leap Day when Tituba, the female Indian servant of the Rev. Samuel Parris, and one Sarah Goode were both arrested and accused of witchcraft.

     1880: American evangelist Frank Sandford, 18, was converted to a believing Christian faith. As an adult Sandford became an instrumental figure in Holiness and Pentecostal history.

     1948: American missionary and martyr Jim Elliot wrote in his journal: 'Redemption marks the new beginning of life. Men and women do not live at all until they have life eternal.'