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Today December 28th 2009 this day in history Read more below to view events, deaths, births, Holidays observances and video clips. Last database updated: Jan 17th, 2009
Events
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.
1768 – King Taksin s coronation achieved through conquest as a king of Thailand and established Thonburi as a capital.
1795 – Construction of Yonge Street, the longest street in the world, begins in York, Upper Canada (present-day Toronto, Ontario).
1832 – John C. Calhoun becomes the first Vice President of the United States to resign.
1835 – Osceola leads his Seminole warriors in Florida into the Second Seminole War against the United States Army.
1836 – South Australia and Adelaide are founded.
1836 – Spain recognizes the independence of Mexico.
1846 – Iowa is admitted as the 29th U.S. state.
1867 – United States claims Midway Atoll, the first territory annexed outside Continental limits.
1879 – The Tay Bridge Disaster: The central part of the Tay Rail Bridge in Dundee, Scotland collapses as a train passes over it, killing 75.
1895 – The Lumière brothers perform for their first paying audience at the Grand Cafe in Boulevard des Capucines marking the debut of the cinema.
1908 – An earthquake rocks Messina, Sicily killing over 75,000.
1912 – The first municipally owned streetcars take to the streets in San Francisco, California.
1929 – Black Saturday in Samoa: New Zealand colonial police kill 11 unarmed demonstrators, an event which leads the Mau movement to demand independence for Samoa.
1935 – Pravda publishes a letter by Pavel Postyshev, who revives New Year tree tradition in the Soviet Union.
1943 – World War II – After eight days of brutal house-to-house fighting, the battle of Ortona concludes with the victory of the1st Canadian Infantry Division over the German 1st Parachute Division and the capture of the Italian town of Ortona.
1944 – Maurice Richard becomes the first player to score 8 points in one game of NHL ice hockey.
1945 – The Congress of the United States 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 – Greatest Game Ever Played – Baltimore Colts defeat the New York Giants in the first ever National Football League sudden death overtime game at New York s Yankee Stadium.
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.
1989 – A magnitude 5.6 earthquake hits Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia, killing 13 people.
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.
2007 – Nepal declares a federal democratic Republic by interim parliament, abolishing the monarchy.
2008 – The Detroit Lions finished the season 0-16 with a 31-21 lost to the Green Bay Packers The first time in National Football League history that a team went winless in a 16-game season.
Births
1164 – Emperor Rokujo of Japan (d. 1176)
1522 – Margaret of Austria, regent of the Netherlands (d. 1583)
1619 – Antoine Furetière, French writer (d. 1688)
1635 – Princess Elizabeth of England (d. 1650)
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 historian and 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)
1898 – Shigematsu Sakaibara, Japanese admiral (d. 1947)
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)
1907 – Nicolae Brânzeu , Romanian composer and conductor.(d. 1983)
1908 – Lew Ayres, American actor (d. 1996)
1910 – Billy Williams, American singer (d. 1972)
1913 – Lou Jacobi, Canadian actor
1914 – Bernard Youens, English actor (d. 1984)
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 – Dorsey Burnette, American singer (d. 1979)
1932 – Roy Hattersley, British politician
1932 – Harry Howell, Canadian hockey player
1932 – Nichelle Nichols, American actress and singer
1932 – Manuel Puig, Argentine writer (d. 1990)
1933 – John Y. Brown, Jr., American politician
1934 – Dame Maggie Smith, British actress
1934 – Yujiro Ishihara, Japanese actor (d. 1987)
1936 – Jacques Mesrine, French criminal (d. 1979)
1936 – Lawrence Schiller, American journalist
1937 – Ratan Tata, Indian industrialist
1938 – Dick Sudhalter, American jazz musician (d. 2008)
1938 – Lagumot Harris, Nauruan politician and former President (d. 1999)
1939 – Philip Anschutz, American businessman
1940 – Don Francisco, Chilean television host
1942 – Roger Swerts, Belgian cyclist
1943 – Richard Whiteley, British television presenter (d. 2005)
1943 – David Peterson, Canadian politician
1944 – Johnny Isakson, American politician
1944 – Kary Mullis, American chemist, Nobel laureate
1946 – Edgar Winter, American musician
1946 – Mike Beebe, American politician, governor of Arkansas
1946 – Pierre Falardeau, Quebec film director
1946 – Tim Johnson, American politician, senior senator from South Dakota
1947 – Aurelio Rodríguez, Mexican baseball player (d. 2000)
1950 – Alex Chilton, American musician (Box Tops)
1950 – Øivind Blunck, Norwegian comedian and actor
1951 – Ian Buruma, Anglo-Dutch scholar and writer on Japan and the Far East.
1952 – Arun Jaitley, Indian Politician
1953 – Richard Clayderman, French pianist
1953 – Tatsumi Fujinami, Japanese professional wrestler
1954 – Denzel Washington, American actor
1954 – Lanny Poffo, American professional wrestler
1956 – Nigel Kennedy, British violinist
1957 – Anne Sargeant, Australian netballer
1959 – Ana Torroja, Spanish singer (Mecano)
1959 – Phil Abrams, American actor
1960 – Raymond Bourque, Canadian hockey player
1961 – Kent Nielsen, Danish footballer and football coach
1962 – Rachel Z, American pianist
1962 – Michel Petrucciani, French pianist (d. 1999)
1962 – Melissa R. Kelly, former Maryland politician
1962 – Choi Soo Jong, South Korean actor
1962 – Niel van der Watt, South African composer
1964 – Maite Zúñiga, Spanish athlete
1967 – Chris Ware, American cartoonist
1969 – Linus Torvalds, Finnish computer programmer
1970 – Francesca Le, American porn star
1971 – Frank Sepe, American bodybuilder
1971 – Benny Agbayani, American baseball player
1971 – William Gates, American basketball player
1972 – Patrick Rafter, Australian tennis player
1972 – Roberto Palacios, Peruvian footballer
1972 – Adam Vinatieri, American football player
1973 – Alex Dimitriades, Australian actor
1973 – Herborg Kråkevik, Norwegian singer and actress
1973 – Seth Meyers, American actor
1974 – Jason Ridge, American porn actor
1974 – Rob Niedermayer, Canadian-born ice-hockey player.
1975 – B.J. Ryan, American baseball player
1977 – Shane Elford, Australian rugby league player
1978 – Chris Coyne, Australian footballer
1978 – John Legend, American musician
1979 – James Blake, American tennis player
1979 – Bill Hall, American baseball player
1979 – Senna Guemmour, German Singer (Monrose)
1980 – Lomana LuaLua, Congo footballer
1980 – Vanessa Ferlito, American actress
1981 – Elizabeth Jordan Carr, American Test-Tube Baby
1981 – Sienna Miller, British actress
1981 – Khalid Boulahrouz, Dutch footballer
1981 – Mika Väyrynen, Finnish footballer
1982 – Cedric Benson, American football player
1982 – François Gourmet, Belgian decathlete
1982 – Kevin Pereira, American television host
1983 – Mike He, Taiwanese actor
1984 – Leroy Lita, English footballer
1984 – Wesley Holiday, American wrestler/model
1984 – Alex Lloyd, British racing driver
1985 – Kamani Hill, American footballer
1985 – Taryn Terrell, American wrestler/model
1986 – Tom Huddlestone, English footballer
1987 – Thomas Dekker, American actor
1989 – Mackenzie Rosman, American actress
1990 – David Archuleta, American Idol runner-up, American singer
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), of the joint monarchy William and Mary.
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)
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)
1897 – Rev. William Corby, American Catholic priest (b. 1833)
1900 – Alexandre Alberto da Rocha de Serpa Pinto, Portuguese explorer (b. 1846)
1916 – Eduard Strauss, Austrian composer (b. 1835)
1917 – Alfred Edwin McKay, Canadian World War One flying ace (b. 1892)
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)
1959 – Ante Pavelic, leader of Nazi Germany puppet Independent State of Croatia (b. 1889)
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)
1993 – William L. Shirer, American journalist (b. 1904)
1994 – Jean-Louis Lévesque, French Canadian entrepreneur (b. 1911)
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 – Jamal Karimi-Rad, Iranian Minister of Justice (b. 1956)
2007 – Aidin Nikkhah Bahrami, Iran national basketball team player (b. 1982)
Holidays and observances
The fourth day of Christmas in Western Christianity.
Proclamation Day in South Australia
Roman Catholic / Eastern Orthodox saints – Feast of the Holy Innocents, also known as Childermas, commemorating the Massacre of the Innocents on order of King Herod the Great. In Spain and Latin American countries the festival is celebrated in a manner similar to April Fool s Day.
Abel is commemorated on this day in the Coptic Church
The third day of Kwanzaa is celebrated among African-Americans.
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