February 29

1828 – Emmeline Blanche Woodward Wells, fifth General President of the Relief Society from 1910-1921, was born in Petersham, Massachusetts.

1836 – The Prophet Joseph spent most of the day studying as usual for this period of his life. Joseph records in history that two men visited the Kirtland Temple. Upon entering, Elder Morey, who was keeper of the Temple, asked them to remove their hats. One refused and said he would “not take off his hat nor bow to ‘Jo Smith’.’ Elder Morey then informed them to leave the temple, “for when a man insulted Joseph Smith, he, Brother Morey, was himself insulted’ (History of the Church, 2:401). The Prophet then writes of his respect for Brother Morey and asked the Lord’s blessings be upon him.

1844 – The Prophet Joseph directed his scribe to write a response to an article about the annexation of Texas to the United States, a main point of his presidential campaign. He then spent some time with Orin Porter Rockwell riding.

1860 – The Deseret News publishes a guide for the Deseret Alphabet, an experimental phonetic alphabet developed under the direction of Brigham Young. The effort, headed by Church member George D. Watt, was intended to help foreign converts immigrating to Utah learn English.

2000 – The one hundred millionth copy of the Book of Mormon published by the Church since 1830 is released, making it the third most published book in the world.