1. On February 28, 1865, Union troops led by General William T. Sherman entered Columbia, South Carolina, during the Civil War. The city was largely destroyed by fires that broke out during the occupation, and the event is still remembered as a dark moment in South Carolina history.

2. In 1909, the first motor vehicle bridge in South Carolina was opened to traffic on February 28. The Cooper River Bridge, now known as the Arthur Ravenel Jr. Bridge, spans the Cooper River and connects Charleston to Mount Pleasant.

3. On February 28, 1934, South Carolina Governor Ibra Charles Blackwood signed a bill making the palmetto tree and crescent moon emblem the official state flag. The design has its roots in the Revolutionary War, when South Carolina troops used a blue flag with a white crescent and palmetto tree as a symbol of their resistance.

4. In 1953, ten African-American students were expelled from South Carolina State College (now South Carolina State University) on February 28 for participating in a sit-in protest against segregation in a local restaurant. This incident marked the beginning of the civil rights movement in South Carolina.

5. On February 28, 2008, a tornado outbreak struck central and eastern South Carolina, causing extensive damage and claiming nine lives. One of the tornadoes was classified as an EF4, the second-highest rating on the Enhanced Fujita scale. It remains one of the deadliest tornado outbreaks in South Carolina history.