From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
December 28 is the 362nd day of the year (363rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar, with 3 days remaining.
[edit] Events
- 418 - St. Boniface I becomes Pope.
- 1065 - Westminster Abbey is consecrated.
- 1308 - The reign of Emperor Hanazono, emperor of Japan, begins.
- 1612 - Galileo Galilei becomes the first astronomer to observe the planet Neptune, although he mistakenly catalogued it as a fixed star.
- 1832 - John C. Calhoun becomes the first Vice President of the United States to resign.
- 1835 - Osceola led his Seminole warriors in Florida into the Second Seminole War against the U.S. Army.
- 1836 - South Australia and Adelaide are founded.
- 1836 - Spain recognizes independence of Mexico.
- 1846 - Iowa is admitted as the 29th U.S. state.
- 1867 - United States claims Midway Island, first territory annexed outside Continental limits.
- 1869 - William E. Semple of Mount Vernon, Ohio patents chewing gum.
- 1879 - The Tay Bridge Disaster: The central part of the Tay Rail Bridge in Dundee, Scotland collapses as a train passed over it, killing 75.
- 1895 - The Lumière brothers have their first paying audience at the Grand Cafe in Boulevard des Capucines marking the debut of the cinema.
- 1897 - The play Cyrano de Bergerac, by Edmond Rostand, premieres in Paris.
- 1902 - The first indoor professional American football game is played in New York City at Madison Square Garden.
- 1908 - An earthquake rocks Messina, Sicily killing over 75,000.
- 1912 - The first municipally owned streetcars take to the streets in San Francisco.
- 1935 - Pravda publishes a letter by Pavel Postyshev, who revives New Year tree tradition in the Soviet Union.
- 1939 - First flight of the Consolidated XB-24 Liberator" bomber prototype.
- 1945 - The U.S. Congress officially recognizes the Pledge of Allegiance.
- 1948 - The DC-3 airliner NC16002 disappears 50 miles south of Miami, Florida.
- 1950 - The Peak District becomes the United Kingdom's first National Park.
- 1958 - Sunday, 4:00p.m., Dedication of St. Genevieve Church, Bayou Liberty (Bayou Bonfouca), Slidell, Louisiana by Archbishop Joseph F. Rummel
- 1968 - Israeli commando troops destroy 13 civilian aircraft at Beirut International Airport.
- 1973 - The Endangered Species Act is passed in the United States.
- 1974 - Senegalese marxist group Reenu-Rew founds the political movement And-Jëf at a clandestine congress.
- 1981 - The first American test-tube baby, Elizabeth Jordan Carr, is born in Norfolk, Virginia.
- 1981 - The HBO pay cable television service expanded its schedule offering to 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
- 1981 - Pat Sajak starts hosting the daytime version of Wheel of Fortune.
- 1984 - The Edge of Night, a long running daytime American soap opera ends after a 28 year run and 7420 episodes.
- 1989 - A magnitude 5.6 earthquake hits Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia, killing 13 people.
- 1992 - NFL Hall of Fame quarterback Joe Montana played in his final game as a San Francisco 49er in a victory over the Detroit Lions.
- 1995 - CompuServe sets a precedent by blocking access to sex-oriented newsgroups after being pressured by German prosecutors.
- 1999 - Saparmurat Niyazov is proclaimed President for Life in Turkmenistan.
- 2000 - U.S. retail giant Montgomery Ward announces it is going out of business after 128 years.
- 2005 - A U.S. immigration judge orders John Demjanjuk deported to Ukraine for crimes against humanity committed during World War II
[edit] Births
- 1164 - Emperor Rokujō of Japan (d. 1176)
- 1522 - Margaret of Austria, regent of the Netherlands (d. 1583)
- 1619 - Antoine Furetière, French writer (d. 1688)
- 1655 - Charles Cornwallis, 3rd Baron Cornwallis, First Lord of the British Admiralty (d. 1698)
- 1665 - George FitzRoy, 1st Duke of Northumberland, British general (d. 1716)
- 1763 - John Molson, English-born Canadian brewer (d. 1836)
- 1778 - Franciszek Ksawery Drucki-Lubecki, Polish politician (d. 1846)
- 1842 - Calixa Lavallée, French-Canadian composer (O Canada) (d. 1891)
- 1856 - Woodrow Wilson, 28th President of the United States, Nobel laureate (d. 1924)
- 1866 - Szymon Askenazy, Polish diplomat (d. 1935)
- 1879 - Billy Mitchell, American military aviation pioneer (d. 1936)
- 1882 - Arthur Stanley Eddington, British astronomer (d. 1944)
- 1888 - Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau, German film director (d. 1931)
- 1898 - Carl-Gustaf Rossby, Swedish meteorologist (d. 1957)
- 1899 - Eugeniusz Bodo, Polish actor (d. 1943)
- 1902 - Mortimer Adler, American philosopher (d. 2001)
- 1902 - Shen Congwen, Chinese writer (d. 1988)
- 1903 - Earl Hines, American musician (d. 1983)
- 1903 - John von Neumann, Hungarian-born mathematician (d. 1957)
- 1905 - Cliff Arquette, American actor (d. 1974)
- 1908 - Lew Ayres, American actor (d. 1996)
- 1913 - Lou Jacobi, Canadian actor
- 1915 - Pops Staples, American musician (The Staple Singers) (d. 2000)
- 1922 - Stan Lee, American comic book writer
- 1924 - Milton Obote, President of Uganda (d. 2005)
- 1925 - Hildegard Knef, German actress (d. 2002)
- 1928 - Moe Koffman, Canadian musician (d. 2001)
- 1929 - Brian Redhead, British journalist (d. 1994)
- 1929 - Terry Sawchuk, Canadian hockey player (d. 1970)
- 1931 - Guy Debord, French writer (d. 1994)
- 1932 - Dhirubhai Ambani, Indian businessman (d. 2002)
- 1932 - Manuel Puig, Argentine writer (d. 1990)
- 1932 - Roy Hattersley, British politician
- 1932 - Dorsey Burnette, American singer (d. 1979)
- 1932 - Harry Howell, Canadian hockey player
- 1933 - Nichelle Nichols, American actress
- 1934 - Maggie Smith, British actress
- 1934 - Yujiro Ishihara, Japanese actor (d. 1987)
- 1936 - Jacques Mesrine, French criminal (d. 1979)
- 1937 - Ratan Tata, Indian industrialist
- 1939 - Philip Anschutz, American businessman
- 1940 - Don Francisco, Chilean television host
- 1943 - Richard Whiteley, British television presenter (d. 2005)
- 1943 - David Peterson, Canadian politician
- 1944 - Kary Mullis, American chemist, Nobel laureate
- 1946 - Edgar Winter, American musician
- 1946 - Pierre Falardeau, Quebec film director
- 1947 - Aurelio Rodríguez, Mexican baseball player (d. 2000)
- 1950 - Alex Chilton, American musician (Box Tops)
- 1950 - Øivind Blunck, Norwegian comedian and actor
- 1953 - Richard Clayderman, French pianist
- 1954 - Denzel Washington, American actor
- 1956 - Nigel Kennedy, British violinist
- 1957 - Anne Sargeant, Australian netballer
- 1959 - Ana Torroja, Spanish singer (Mecano)
- 1960 - Raymond Bourque, Canadian hockey player
- 1962 - Rachel Z, American pianist
- 1962 - Michel Petrucciani, French pianist (d. 1999)
- 1967 - Chris Ware, American cartoonist
- 1969 - Linus Torvalds, Finnish computer programmer
- 1971 - Frank Sepe, American bodybuilder
- 1971 - Benny Agbayani, American baseball player
- 1972 - Patrick Rafter, Australian tennis player
- 1972 - Adam Vinatieri, American football player
- 1973 - Herborg Kråkevik, Norwegian singer and actress
- 1977 - Shane Elford, Australian sportsman
- 1978 - John Legend, American musician
- 1980 - Lomana LuaLua, Congo footballer
- 1980 - Vanessa Ferlito, American actress
- 1981 - Sienna Miller, British actress
- 1982 - Cedric Benson, American football player
- 1982 - Kevin Pereira, American television host
- 1982 - Quinton Porter, American football player
- 1984 - Leroy Lita, English footballer
- 1986 - Tom Huddlestone, English footballer
- 1987 - Thomas Dekker, American actor
- 1989 - Mackenzie Rosman, American actress
[edit] Deaths
- 300 - Theonas, Patriarch of Alexandria
- 1367 - Ashikaga Yoshiakira, Japanese shogun (b. 1330)
- 1446 - Antipope Clement VIII
- 1503 - Piero di Lorenzo de' Medici, ruler of Florence (b. 1471)
- 1558 - Hermann Finck, German composer (b. 1527)
- 1622 - Francis de Sales, Bishop of Geneva and saint (b. 1567)
- 1663 - Francesco Maria Grimaldi, Italian mathematician and physicist (b. 1618)
- 1671 - Johann Friedrich Gronovius, German classical scholar (b. 1611)
- 1694 - Queen Mary II of England (b. 1662)
- 1703 - Mustafa II, Ottoman Sultan (b. 1664)
- 1706 - Pierre Bayle, French philosopher (b. 1647)
- 1708 - Joseph Pitton de Tournefort, French botanist (b. 1656)
- 1715 - William Carstares, Scottish minister (b. 1649)
- 1734 - Robert Roy MacGregor, Scottish folk hero (b. 1671)
- 1736 - Antonio Caldara, Italian composer (b. 1670)
- 1795 - Eugenio Espejo, Ecuadorian scientist (b. 1747)
- 1829 - Jean-Baptiste Lamarck, French scientist (b. 1744)
- 1859 - Thomas Macaulay, British poet (b. 1800)
- 1872 - James Van Ness, Mayor of San Francisco (1855-1856) (b. 1808)
- 1877 - Nikolai Alekseevich Nekrasov, Russian poet (b. 1821)
- 1900 - Alexandre Alberto da Rocha de Serpa Pinto, Portuguese explorer (b. 1846)
- 1916 - Eduard Strauss, Austrian composer (b. 1835)
- 1918 - Olavo Bilac, Brazilian poet (b. 1865)
- 1919 - Johannes Rydberg, Swedish physicist (b. 1854)
- 1924 - Léon Bakst, Russian artist (b. 1866)
- 1932 - Jack Blackham, Australian cricketer (b. 1854)
- 1937 - Maurice Ravel, French composer (b. 1875)
- 1938 - Florence Lawrence, American actress (b. 1886)
- 1943 - Steve Evans, American baseball player (b. 1885)
- 1945 - Theodore Dreiser, American author (b. 1871)
- 1947 - King Victor Emmanuel III of Italy (b. 1869)
- 1949 - Jack Lovelock, New Zealand athlete (b. 1910)
- 1952 - Fletcher Henderson, American musician (b. 1897)
- 1962 - Kathleen Clifford, American actress (b. 1887)
- 1963 - Paul Hindemith, German composer (b. 1895)
- 1967 - Katharine McCormick, American women's rights activist (b. 1875)
- 1971 - Max Steiner, Austrian-born American film music composer (b. 1888)
- 1976 - Katharine Byron, American politician (b. 1903)
- 1976 - Freddie King, American musician (b. 1934)
- 1981 - Allan Dwan, Canadian-born film director (b. 1885)
- 1983 - William Demarest, American actor (b. 1892)
- 1983 - Jimmy Demaret, American golfer (b. 1910)
- 1983 - Dennis Wilson, American musician (The Beach Boys) (b. 1944)
- 1984 - Sam Peckinpah, American film director (b. 1925)
- 1986 - Andrei Tarkovsky, Russian film director (b. 1932)
- 1989 - Hermann Oberth, German physicist (b. 1894)
- 1991 - Cassandra Harris, Australian actress (b. 1952)
- 1992 - Sal Maglie, American baseball player (b. 1917)
- 1994 - Jean-Louis Lévesque, French Canadian entrepreneur (b. 1911)
- 1998 - Claudia Benton, Peruvian child psychologist (b. 1959)
- 1999 - Clayton Moore, American actor (b. 1914)
- 2001 - Samuel A. Goldblith, American food scientist (b. 1919)
- 2001 - William X. Kienzle, American novelist (b. 1928)
- 2003 - Benjamin Hacker, American admiral (b. 1935)
- 2004 - Jerry Orbach, American actor (b. 1935)
- 2004 - Susan Sontag, American writer (b. 1933)
- 2006 - Jared Nathan, American child actor (ZOOM, 1999) (b. 1985)
[edit] Holidays and observances
[edit] External links
