March 1, 1349 - Jews massacred during the Black Death epidemic in the town of Freiburg, Germany. The Black Death Persecutions swept into the oldest Jewish community in Germany. The Alderman of Worms sentenced the entire Jewish community to death by being burned at the stake. The Jews had heard grotesque tales of torture by the hands of the anti-Semites. Rather than submit to torture, the Jews set fire to their own homes and perished inside. In the end 580 Jews died.
1475- The first complete Hebrew sefer (Torah with Rashi) was printed by Abraham ben Garton, in Reggio de Calabria, Italy. It was soon followed in Piovo di Sacco near Padua by a printing of the Arbah Turim of Rav Yaakov ben HaRosh.
Mar. 4, 1849- Jews of the Austrian Empire were granted equal civil and political rights.
Feb. 27, 1980- In 1980, Israel and Egypt exchanged ambassadors, marking a new era of cordial, if cold, diplomacy. In 1973, Egyptian President Anwar Sadat had orchestrated an attack on Israel in the Yom Kippur War, but after suffering defeat he became resigned to Israel's existence. In 1978, Sadat and Menachem Begin signed the Camp David Peace Agreement, for which they received the Nobel Peace Prize. Much of the Arab world was outraged by Sadat's overtures toward Israel, and he was assassinated by a Muslim extremist in 1981.