This Day in History
October 28

What happened in history on this day: October 28? On October 28 in ... 900 - Alfred the Great, English monarch, dies. 1017 - Birth of Heinrich III, Holy Roman Emperor (1046-56). 1200 - Birth of St. Ludwig IV von Thüringen. 1412 - Queen Margaret of Sweden dies on a ship in Flensburg. 1489 - In England, King Henry VII orders the mint to begin coining gold bullion in new coin called a sovereign, 240 grains weight, 23 carats + 3.5 grains, valued at 20 shillings. 1492 - Christopher Columbus discovers Cuba. 1585 - Birth of Cornelius Otto Jansen France, Roman Catholic reform leader. 1636 - Harvard University (Boston) established. 1776 - Battle of White Plains; Washington retreats to New Jersey. 1790 - New York gives up claims to Vermont for $30,000. 1793 - Eli Whitney applies for a patent on the cotton gin. 1810 - Birth of Brigadier General Adley H Gladden Louisiana, killed at Shiloh. 1818 - Birth of Ivan Turgenev Russia, novelist/poet/playwright (Fathers and Sons). 1842 - Birth of Anna Elizabeth Dickinson orator (Joan of Arc of the Civil War). 1846 - Birth of Auguste Escoffier king of chefs and chef of kings. 1886 - The statue of Liberty Enlightening the World is dedicated by President Grover Cleveland in New York Harbor. It is celebrated by the first confetti (ticker tape) parade in New York City. 1890 - Last National League-AA World Series game Brooklyn ties Louisville three games and one tie. 1891 - In Mino-Owari, Japan, an approximate magnitude 8 earthquake occurs. Over 7,000 deaths. The earthquake caused damage over a 4200 square mile area. 130,000 houses were destroyed. 1896 - Birth of Howard Hanson Wahoo Nebraska, composer/conductor (Nordic). 1900 - After over five months, the Paris Olympic Games close. 1902 - Birth of Elsa Lanchester in Lewisham, London, England; actress (Bride of Frankenstien). 1903 - Birth of Evelyn Waugh in London, England; author (Brideshead Revisited). 1904 - Saint Louis, Missouri, police try a new investigation method: fingerprints. 1907 - Birth of Edith Head; fashion designer (MGM). 1907 - Birth of Lew Parker; actor (Lou Marie - That Girl). 1910 - Birth of Marie Dollinger in Germany; dropped baton in 1936 Olympic sprint. 1914 - Birth of Jonas Salk in New York City, New York, USA; medical researcher, polio vaccine promoter. 1914 - Omega Psi Phi Fraternity is founded at Howard University. 1918 - Czechoslovakia declares independence. 1919 - Volstead Act passed by US Congress, starts prohibition over President Woodrow Wilson's veto. 1922 - First US coast-to-coast radio broadcast of a football game. 1922 - Benito Mussolini takes control of Italy's government. 1924 - Chicago White Sox beat New York Giants 8-4 in Dublin, less than 20 fans attend. 1926 - Birth of Bowie Kuhn; American baseball commissioner (1969-1984). 1927 - Birth of Cleo Laine in Middlesex, England; singer ("Flesh to a Tiger"). 1929 - First child born in aircraft, in Miami, Florida, USA. 1929 - Birth of Dody Goodman in Columbus, Ohio, USA; actress (Mary Hartman!, Max Duggan). 1929 - Birth of Joan Plowright in England; actress (Brimstone and Treacle). 1934 - Birth of Jim Beatty; track runner (first sub-4 minute indoor mile). 1934 - Brooklyn Dodgers and Pittsburgh Pirates play a penalty free NFL game. 1936 - Birth of Charlie Daniels; country music star ("Devil Went Down to Georgia"). 1936 - President Franklin Roosevelt rededicates Statue of Liberty on its 50th anniversary. 1937 - Birth of Lenny Wilkins; NBA player, coach (Seattle SuperSonics, Cleveland Cavaliers). 1939 - Birth of Jane Alexander in Massachusetts, USA; actress (The Betsy, Kramer versus Kramer). 1940 - Birth of Gennadi M Strekalov; cosmonaut (Soyuz T-3, T-8, T-11). 1940 - Italy launches an attack on Greece from Albania. 1940 - Greece successfully resists Italy's attack. 1942 - Train crashes into bus, killing 16 and injuring 20 (Detroit, Michigan). 1944 - Birth of Coluche France; comedian/actor (My Best Friend's Girl). 1944 - Birth of Dennis Franz in Maywood, Illinois, USA; actor (Norman Buntz - Hill Street Blues). 1945 - Birth of Wayne Fontana in Manchester, England; rocker ("Groovy Kind of Love"). 1946 - German rocket engineers begin work in USSR. 1947 - Birth of Tom Fitzsimmons in San Francisco, California, USA; actor (Franklin - The Paper Chase). 1948 - Birth of Telma Hopkins in Louisville, Kentucky, USA; singer (Tony Orlando, Family Matters). 1948 - Flag of Israel is adopted. 1949 - Birth of Bruce Jenner; American decathalete (Olympic-gold-1976). 1952 - Birth of Annie Potts in Nashville, Tennessee, USA; actress (Mary Jo - Designing Women). 1953 - Bud Grant of Winnipeg Blue Bombers intercepts five passes (record). 1955 - Birth of William Gates; billionaire CEO (Microsoft). 1957 - Anthony J Morabito, co-owner of San Francisco 49ers, dies while watching a game. 1957 - Birth of Stephen Morris; rocker (New Order - "Round and Round"). 1958 - Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli is elected Pope, taking the name John XXIII. 1959 - Birth of Neville Henry; rocker (Blow Monkeys - "Wicked Ways"). 1959 - Death of Walther Bauersfeld, 1919 inventor (first modern projection planetarium). 1959 - Buffalo Bills enter the AFL. 1960 - Birth of Mark Derwin in Park Forest, Illinois, USA; actor (AC Mallet - Guiding Light). 1961 - Ground broken for Municipal (Shea) Stadium for New York Mets. 1962 - Birth of Daphne Zuniga; actress (Gross Anatomy, Fly II, Spaceballs). 1962 - Nikita Khrushchev announces his government's intent to dismantle and remove all offensive Soviet weapons in Cuba. 1962 - New York Giants' Y.A. Tittle passes for seven touchdowns versus Washington Redskins (49-34). 1965 - Birth of Jami Gertz in Chicago, Illinois, USA; actress (Less the Zero, Crossroads, Solarbabies). 1965 - In St. Louis, Missouri, construction is completed on the Gateway Arch, a 630-foot-high parabola of stainless steel. The arch was erected to commemorate President Thomas Jefferson's Louisiana Purchase of 1803. 1965 - Pope Paul VI proclaims Jews not collectively guilty for crucifixion. 1966 - Belgium's Gaston Roelants runs 12.8 miles in one hour. 1966 - Birth of Lauren Holly; actress (All My Children). 1970 - NBA Cleveland Cavaliers first home game, lose to San Diego Rockets 110-99. 1970 - US/USSR sign an agreement to discuss joint space efforts. 1971 - England becomes sixth nation to have a satellite (Prospero) in orbit. 1973 - Elmore Smith of the Los Angeles Lakers blocks 17 shots in a game (NBA record). 1974 - First time two New York Islanders hat tricks in same game-MacMillian and Westfall. 1974 - Birth of Leaf Phoenix in Puerto Rico; actor (Russkies, Space Camp). 1976 - Billy Martin named American League Manager of the Year (New York Yankees). 1977 - TV's Rhoda gets married. 1978 - Donald Ritchie runs the fastest 100km ever, doing it in 7.2722 seconds. 1979 - Billy Martin is fired as New York Yankees' manager (second time), replaced by Dick Howser. 1979 - Arnold Soboloff, American stage actor (Peter Pan), suffers a heart attack while performing in New York and dies at age 48. 1980 - U.S. President Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan debate in Cleveland, Ohio. Reagan's genial, witty performance causes him to overtake Carter in the polls. 1980 - Birth of Alan Smith; English football player. 1980 - Birth of Christy Hemme; American professional wrestler. 1980 - Leon Janney, actor (Hawk), dies at age 63. 1981 - The Los Angeles Dodgers defeat the New York Yankees 9-2, to capture the World Championship in six games. 1982 - Birth of Anthony Lerew; American baseball player. 1982 - The Socialist Party wins the election in Spain; Felipe González is elected Prime Minister. 1982 - NASA launches RCA-E. 1983 - Death of Otto Messmer, American cartoonist (born 1892). 1983 - In Borah Peak, Idaho, a magnitude 6.9 earthquake occurs, the largest historical earthquake in Idaho. 1984 - Birth of Obafemi Martins; Newcastle United football player. 1986 - Death of Ian Marter, British actor and writer (born 1944). 1987 - André Masson, French surrealist artist (Labyrinth), dies at age 91 (born 1896). 1988 - Birth of Devon Murray; Irish actor. 1988 - 48 hours after announcing it was abandoning RU-486, French manufacturer Roussel Uclaf states that it would resume distribution of the abortion drug, bowing to pressure from the government of France. 1988 - Microsoft cofounder Paul Allen gives US$10 million to University of Washington library. 1989 - The Oakland Athletics sweep of the San Francisco Giants winning baseball's World Series. 1989 - In Canada, four people share a CDN$14 million Lotto 6/49 jackpot. 1991 - In Russia, Boris Yeltsin announces the lifting of price controls. 1991 - John Korbal, film historian (Marlene Dietrich), dies at age 51. 1992 - The ABC TV network airs the last Laurie Hill show. 1993 - Birth of Elliot John Crosby, English tenpin bowler. 1995 - The Atlanta Braves defeat the Cleveland Indians to win the World Series. 1995 - Fire breaks out on a crowded metro train in Baku, Azerbaijan killing more than 300 passengers. This is the world's worst metro disaster. 1996 - Birth of Jasmine Jessica Anthony, American actress. 1996 - Birth of Naelee Rae, American actress. 1997 - The Dow Jones Industrial Average gains a record 337.17 to 7,498.32. One billion shares are traded on the New York Stock Exchange for the first time ever. 1998 - An Air China jetliner is hijacked by disgruntled pilot Yuan Bin and flown to Taiwan. After landing the plane safely, Yuan Bin is arrested. 2004 - Death of Jimmy McLarnin, Irish-born boxer (born 1907). 2005 - Vice presidential adviser Lewis "Scooter" Libby resigns after being charged with obstruction of justice, perjury and making a false statement in the US Central Intelligence Agency leak investigation. 2005 - Death of Richard Smalley, American physicist (born 1943). 2006 - Death of Red Auerbach, American basketball coach and official (born 1917). 2006 - Death of Trevor Berbick, Jamaican boxer (born 1955). 2007 - Elections in Argentina for the President and members of the National Congress. Cristina Fernández de Kirchner wins presidential elections and becomes the first female elected president in Argentina. 2007 - The Boston Red Sox win the 2007 World Series in a four-game sweep against the Colorado Rockies. 2007 - The Vatican beatifies 498 Spanish victims of religious persecution from before and during the Spanish Civil War. 2007 - Death of Porter Wagoner, American country singer (born 1927). 2008 - The International Monetary Fund reaches an agreement with Hungary for a US$25.1-billion loan package to help the country. 2008 - The Dow Jones Industrial Average rises 889.35 points, or 10.88 percent, to 9,065.12, its second-biggest point gain. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index gains 91.59 points, or 10.79 percent, to 940.51, also its second-biggest point gain. The Nasdaq Composite Index rises 143.57 points, or 9.53 percent, to 1,649.47. 2008 - Volkswagen briefly becomes the world's biggest company by market value, with short sellers paying up to 1,005 euros a share. At that price Volkswagen's voting stock was worth 296 billion euros (US$370 billion). 2008 - Maldives President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom concedes electoral victory to opposition leader Mohamed "Anni" Nasheed (54 percent of vote). Gayoom was president for 30 years. 2009 - In Peshawar, Islamabad, Pakistan, a car bomb rips through a crowded market killing 120 people, injuring at least 200. 2009 - NASA launches a prototype Ares I-X rocket from Florida to test technology for the development of a future manned launch vehicle. The US$450 million launcher is the first NASA has built in more than 30 years. 2009 - STX Europe in Turku, Finland, delivers the world's largest cruise ship, the Oasis of the Seas to Royal Caribbean International. The ship is 361 metres long, 66 metres wide and rises 72 metres above sea level. The gross tonnage is 225,000, and can accomodate 6,360 passengers and 2,100 crew members. 2010 - Death of Jonathan Motzfeldt, 1st Prime Minister of Greenland (born 1938).         Your Ad Here         You can pick a particular day to view that day's events in history. Bookmark this URL:   http://thisdayinhistoryinfo.info/   and revisit each day. (this URL will automatically re-direct to the file containing the current day's events) Or, visit my Timelines of History page. Other web pages of interest: Chronology of World History Today in Sports History Today in USA History Today in Disney History Chronology of World War II Chronology of Personal Computers