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Today October 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
306 – Maxentius is proclaimed Roman Emperor.
312 – Battle of Milvian Bridge: Constantine I defeats Maxentius, becoming the sole Roman Emperor.
1061 – Empress Agnes, acting as Regent for her son, brings about the election of Bishop Cadalus, the antipope Honorius II
1516 – Battle of Yaunis Khan: Turkish forces under the Grand Vizier Sinan Pasha defeat the Mameluks near Gaza.
1531 – Battle of Amba Sel: Imam Ahmad ibn Ibrihim al-Ghazi again defeats the army of Lebna Dengel, Emperor of Ethiopia. The southern part of Ethiopia falls under Imam Ahmad s control.
1538 – The first university in the New World, the Universidad Santo Tomás de Aquino, is established.
1628 – The Siege of La Rochelle, which had been lasted for 14 months, ends with the surrender of the Huguenots.
1636 – A vote of the Great and General Court of the Massachusetts Bay Colony establishes the first college in what would become the United States, today known as Harvard University.
1664 – The Duke of York and Albany s Maritime Regiment of Foot, later to be known as the Royal Marines, is established.
1775 – American Revolutionary War: A British proclamation forbids residents from leaving Boston.
1776 – American Revolutionary War: Battle of White Plains – British Army forces arrive at White Plains, attack and capture Chatterton Hill from the Americans.
1834 – The Battle of Pinjarra occurs in the Swan River Colony in present-day Pinjarra, Western Australia. Between 14 and 40 Aborigines are killed by British colonists.
1848 – The first railroad in Spain – between Barcelona and Mataró – is opened.
1864 – American Civil War: Second Battle of Fair Oaks ends – Union forces under General Ulysses S. Grant withdraw from Fair Oaks, Virginia, after failing to breach the Confederate defenses around Richmond, Virginia.
1886 – In New York Harbor, President Grover Cleveland dedicates the Statue of Liberty.
1891 – The Mino-Owari Earthquake, the largest earthquake in Japan s history, strikes Gifu Prefecture.
1893 – Tchaikovsky s Symphony No. 6 in B Minor, Pathétique, receives its premiere performance in St. Petersburg, only nine days before the composer s death.
1918 – World War I: Czechoslovakia is granted independence from Austria-Hungary marking the beginning of independent Czechoslovak state, after 300 years.
1918 – New Polish government in Western Galicia (Central Europe) is established.
1919 – The U.S. Congress passes the Volstead Act over President Woodrow Wilson s veto, paving the way for Prohibition to begin the following January.
1922 – March on Rome: Italian fascists led by Benito Mussolini march on Rome and take over the Italian government.
1929 – Black Monday, a day in the Wall Street Crash of 1929, which also saw major stock market upheaval.
1936 – US President Franklin D. Roosevelt rededicates the Statue of Liberty on its 50th anniversary.
1940 – World War II: Italy invades Greece through Albania, marking Greece s entry into World War II. It is celebrated in Greece as Okhi Day (???=No) Day.
1942 – The Alaska Highway (Alcan Highway) is completed through Canada to Fairbanks, Alaska.
1948 – Swiss chemist Paul Müller is awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his discovery of the insecticidal properties of DDT.
1954 – The modern Kingdom of the Netherlands is re-founded as a federal monarchy.
1959 – The Buffalo Bills oficially enter the American Football League. They would later become a present day National Football League team as part of the AFL-NFL Merger.
1962 – Cuban Missile Crisis: Soviet Union leader Nikita Khrushchev announces that he had ordered the removal of Soviet missile bases in Cuba.
1964 – Vietnam War: U.S. officials deny any involvement in bombing North Vietnam.
1965 – Nostra Aetate, the Declaration on the Relation of the Church with Non-Christian Religions of the Second Vatican Council, is promulgated by Pope Paul VI; it absolves the Jews of the alleged killing of Jesus, reversing Innocent III s 760 year-old declaration.
1970 – Gary Gabelich sets a land speed record in a rocket-powered automobile called the Blue Flame, fueled with natural gas.
1971 – Britain launches its first (and as of 2007, only) satellite, Prospero, into low Earth orbit atop a Black Arrow carrier rocket.
1982 – Spanish Socialist Workers Party (PSOE) wins elections, leading to first Socialist government in Spain after death of Franco. Felipe Gonzalez becomes Prime Minister-elect.
1985 – Sandinista Daniel Ortega becomes president of Nicaragua and makes peace overtures to the United States; American policy continues to support the Contras in their revolt against the Nicaraguan government.
1986 – The centenary of the dedication of the Statue of Liberty is celebrated in New York Harbor.
1998 – An Air China (Mainland China) jetliner is hijacked by disgruntled pilot Yuan Bin and flown to Taiwan.
2005 – Plame affair: Lewis Libby, Vice-president Dick Cheney s chief of staff, is indicted in the Valerie Plame case. Libby resigns later that day.
2006 – Funeral service takes place for those executed at Bykivnia forest, outside Kiev, Ukraine. 817 Ukrainian civilians (out of some 100,000) executed by Bolsheviks at Bykivnia in 1930s – early 1940s are reburied.
Births
1510 – Francis Borgia, Spanish duke and Jesuit priest (d. 1572)
1585 – Cornelius Jansen, Dutch bishop (d. 1638)
1667 – Maria Anna of Neuburg, second wife of Charles II of Spain (d. 1740)
1691 – Peder Tordenskjold, Norwegian naval hero (d. 1720)
1697 – Canaletto, Italian artist (d. 1768)
1703 – Antoine Deparcieux, French mathematician (d. 1768)
1718 – Ignacije Szentmartony, Croatian Jesuit missionary (d. 1793)
1767 – Marie Sophie of Hesse-Kassel (or Hesse-Cassel), queen of Denmark and Norway (d. 1852)
1793 – Eliphalet Remington, American firearms manufacturer (d. 1861)
1804 – Pierre François Verhulst, Belgian mathematician (d. 1849)
1818 – Ivan Turgenev, Russian writer (d. 1883)
1837 – Tokugawa Yoshinobu, Japan s last shogun (d. 1913)
1845 – Zygmunt Florenty Wróblewski, Polish physicist (d. 1888)
1846 – Georges Auguste Escoffier, French chef (d. 1935)
1864 – Adolfo Camarillo, prominent land owner, horse breeder, and rancher (d. 1958)
1875 – Gilbert Hovey Grosvenor, American geographer and editor (d. 1966)
1877 – Joe Adams, American baseball player (d. 1952)
1879 – Channing H. Cox, 49th Governor of Massachusetts (d. 1968)
1881 – Bruno Söderström, Swedish athlete (d. 1969)
1881 – Vin Coutie, Australian footballer
1884 – William Douglas Cook, founder of Eastwoodhill Arboretum and Pukeiti, (New Zealand) (d. 1967)
1885 – Velimir Khlebnikov, Russian poet (d. 1922)
1889 – Juliette Béliveau, Quebec comedian (d. 1975)
1891 – Ormer Locklear, American movie stunt pilot (d. 1920)
1892 – Dink Johnson, American musician (d. 1954)
1896 – Howard Hanson, American composer (d. 1981)
1897 – Edith Head, American costume designer (d. 1981)
1901 – Eileen Shanahan, Irish Poet (d. 1979)
1902 – Elsa Lanchester, British-born actress (d. 1986)
1903 – Evelyn Waugh, English writer (d. 1966)
1907 – John Harold Hewitt, Northern Irish poet (d. 1987)
1908 – Arturo Frondizi, President of Argentina (d. 1995)
1909 – Francis Bacon, Anglo-Irish painter (d. 1992)
1912 – Richard Doll, English epidemiologist (d. 2005)
1914 – Jonas Salk, American medical scientist (d. 1995)
1914 – Richard Laurence Millington Synge, Nobel laureate (d. 1994)
1914 – Glenn Robert Davis, U.S. Congressman (d. 1988)
1917 – Jack Soo, American actor (d. 1979)
1922 – Gershon Kingsley, German composer
1922 – Butch van Breda Kolff, American basketball coach (d. 2007)
1922 – Simon Muzenda, Zimbabwe politician (d. 2003)
1924 – Antonio Creus, Spanish racecar driver (d. 1996)
1925 – Ian Hamilton Finlay, Scottish poet, writer, artist and gardener (d. 2006)
1926 – Bowie Kuhn, American Commissioner of Baseball (d. 2007)
1927 – Dame Cleo Laine, British singer
1928 – Ion Mihai Pacepa, Romanian general
1929 – Joan Plowright, British actress
1929 – Marcel Bozzuffi, French actor (d. 1988)
1929 – John Hollander, American poet
1930 – Bernie Ecclestone, English motorsports impresario (F1)
1932 – Suzy Parker, American actress (d. 2003)
1932 – Spyros Kyprianou, a President of Cyprus
1933 – Garrincha, Brazilian footballer (d. 1983)
1935 – Alan Clarke, British film director
1936 – Charlie Daniels, American musician
1936 – Carl Davis, American-born musical conductor and composer
1937 – Lenny Wilkens, American basketball player and coach
1938 – David Dimbleby, English television commentator
1938 – Anne Perry, English-born novelist
1939 – Jane Alexander, American actress
1939 – Miroslav Cerar, Yugoslav gymnast
1940 – Susan Harris, American television writer and producer
1941 – John Hallam, Irish actor (d. 2006)
1941 – Hank Marvin, English guitarist
1941 – Curtis Lee, American singer
1942 – Kees Verkerk, Dutch speed skater
1943 – Conny Froboess, German singer
1943 – Charo López, Spanish actress
1944 – Dennis Franz, American actor
1944 – Anton Schlecker, German billionaire
1944 – Coluche, French comedian and actor (d. 1986)
1945 – Elton Dean, English musician (Soft Machine) (d. 2006)
1945 – Wayne Fontana, British singer (The Mindbenders)
1946 – Wim Jansen, Dutch footballer and coach
1946 – John Hewson, Australian politician
1948 – Telma Hopkins, American singer and actress (Tony Orlando and Dawn)
1949 – Bruce Jenner, American athlete
1949 – Tracy Reed, American actress
1950 – Sihem Bensedrine, Tunisian human rights activist
1950 – Ludo Delcroix, Belgian cyclist
1952 – Annie Potts, American actress
1953 – Pierre Boivin, Canadian businessman and hockey executive
1955 – Bill Gates, American software executive
1956 – Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, President of Iran
1956 – Dave Wyndorf, American singer (Monster Magnet)
1957 – Stephen Morris, British musician (Joy Division and New Order)
1960 – Landon Curt Noll, Astronomer, Cryptographer and Mathematician: youngest to hold the world record for the largest known prime 3 times
1958 – William Reid, Scottish musician (The Jesus and Mary Chain)
1962 – Daphne Zuniga, American actress
1962 – Scotty Nguyen, professional poker player
1962 – Erik Thorstvedt, Norwegian footballer
1963 – Lauren Holly, American actress
1963 – James Miller, the Fan Man (d. 2002)
1963 – Eros Ramazzotti, Italian singer
1965 – Jami Gertz, American actress
1965 – Luigi Miraglia, Italian Latinist
1966 – Steve Atwater, American football player
1966 – Andy Richter, American comedian and actor
1966 – Aris Spiliotopoulos, Greek politician
1967 – Julia Roberts, American actress
1967 – John Romero, American video game designer
1967 – Sophie, Hereditary Princess of Liechtenstein
1967 – Kevin Macdonald, Scottish film director
1968 – Marc Lièvremont, French rugby union footballer and coach
1969 – Ben Harper, American musician
1969 – Javier Grillo-Marxuach, Puerto Rican screenwriter and producer
1972 – Terrell Davis, American football player
1972 – Brad Paisley, American musician
1973 – Alvin Burke, Jr., American professional wrestler
1974 – Joaquin Phoenix, Puerto Rican actor
1974 – Vicente Moreno, Spanish footballer
1974 – Braden Looper, American baseball player
1974 – Dejan Stefanovic, Serbian footballer
1974 – Dayanara Torres, Puerto Rican actress and beauty queen
1976 – Karl Tremblay, Canadian singer (Les Cowboys Fringants)
1976 – Keiron Cunningham, Welsh rugby league player
1978 – Marta Etura, Spanish actress
1978 – Justin Guarini, American singer
1979 – Aki Hakala, Finnish drummer (The Rasmus)
1979 – Martin Škoula, Czech ice hockey player
1980 – Alan Smith, English footballer
1980 – Christy Hemme, American professional wrestler
1980 – Kanzi, American literate bonobo
1980 – Dimitri Liakopoulos, Greek actor
1981 – Milan Baroš, Czech footballer
1981 – Solomon Andargachew, Ethiopian footballer
1982 – Jeremy Bonderman, American baseball player
1982 – Mai Kuraki, Japanese singer
1982 – Anthony Lerew, American baseball player
1983 – Jarrett Jack, American basketball player
1984 – Obafemi Martins, Nigerian footballer
1984 – Amanda Paige, American model
1994 – Naelee Rae, American actress
1996 – Jasmine Jessica Anthony, American actress
Deaths
312 – Maxentius, Roman emperor (b. c.278)
1225 – Jien, Japanese poet and historian (b. 1155)
1312 – Elisabeth of Tirol, German queen
1412 – Margaret I of Denmark, wife of Haakon VI of Norway (b. 1353)
1485 – Rodolphus Agricola, Dutch humanist (b. 1443)
1520 – Pier Gerlofs Donia, Frisian pirate and freedom fighter
1568 – Ashikaga Yoshihide, Japanese shogun (b. 1539)
1627 – Jahangir, Mughal Emperor of India (b. 1569)
1639 – Stefano Landi, Italian composer (b. 1587)
1646 – William Dobson, English painter (b. 1610)
1661 – Agustín Moreto y Cavana, Spanish playwright (b. 1518)
1676 – Jean Desmarets, French writer (b. 1595)
1703 – John Wallis, English mathematician (b. 1616)
1704 – John Locke, English philosopher (b. 1632)
1708 – Prince George of Denmark, Consort of Queen Anne of England (b. 1653)
1716 – Stephen Fox, British politician (b. 1627)
1740 – Empress Anna of Russia (b. 1693)
1754 – Friedrich von Hagedorn, German poet (b. 1708)
1755 – Joseph Bodin de Boismortier, French composer (b. 1689)
1763 – Heinrich, count von Brühl, German statesman (b. 1700)
1768 – Michel Blavet, French flutist (b. 1700)
1792 – Paul Möhring, German physician and scientist (b. 1710)
1792 – John Smeaton, British civil engineer (b. 1724)
1800 – Artemas Ward, American politician and soldier (b. 1727)
1806 – Charlotte Turner Smith, British poet and novelist (b. 1749)
1818 – Abigail Adams, First Lady of the United States (b. 1744)
1841 – Johan August Arfwedson, Swedish chemist (b. 1792)
1857 – Louis Eugène Cavaignac, French soldier and politician (b. 1802)
1877 – Robert Swinhoe, British naturalist (b. 1835)
1879 – Marie Roch Louis Reybaud, French writer (b. 1799)
1899 – Ottmar Mergenthaler, German-born inventor (tuberculosis) (b. 1854)
1900 – Max Müller, German-born orientalist (b. 1823)
1914 – Richard Heuberger, Austrian composer, music critic and teacher (b. 1850)
1916 – Cleveland Abbe, American meteorologist (b. 1838)
1916 – Oswald Boelcke, German pilot (b. 1891)
1917 – Prince Christian of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg (b. 1831)
1918 – Ulisse Dini, Italian mathematician (b. 1845)
1929 – Bernhard von Bülow, Chancellor of Germany (b. 1849)
1939 – Alice Brady, American actress (b. 1892)
1952 – Billy Hughes, seventh Prime Minister of Australia (b. 1862)
1957 – Ernst Gräfenberg, German physician and scientist (b. 1881)
1959 – Camilo Cienfuegos, Cuban revolutionary (b. 1932)
1965 – Earl Bostic, American saxophonist (b. 1913)
1969 – Constance Dowling, American actress (b. 1920)
1973 – Taha Hussein, Egyptian writer (b. 1889)
1973 – Sergio Tofano, Italian actor (b. 1883)
1975 – Georges Carpentier, French boxer (b. 1894)
1975 – Oliver Nelson, American jazz composer and arranger (b. 1932)
1986 – John Braine, British novelist (b. 1922)
1987 – André Masson, French artist (b. 1896)
1997 – Paul Jarrico, American screenwriter (b. 1915)
1998 – Ted Hughes, British poet (b. 1930)
2000 – Lída Baarová, Czech actress (b. 1914)
2000 – Andujar Cedeno, Dominican baseball player for the Houston Astros (b. 1969)
2000 – Carlos Guastavino, Argentine composer (b. 1912)
2001 – Gerard Hengeveld, Dutch composer (b. 1910)
2002 – Margaret Booth, American film editor (b. 1898)
2002 – Erling Persson, Swedish entrepreneur (b. 1917)
2004 – Jimmy McLarnin, Northern Irish-born boxer (b. 1907)
2005 – Eugene K. Bird, German prison director (b. 1926)
2005 – Bob Broeg, American sports writer (b. 1918)
2005 – Raymond Hains, French artist (b. 1926)
2005 – Tony Jackson, American basketball player (b. 1942)
2005 – Fernando Quejas, Cape Verdean singer and musician (b. 1922)
2005 – Richard Smalley, American chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1943)
2005 – Ljuba Tadic, Serbian actor (b. 1929)
2006 – Red Auerbach, American basketball coach and executive (b. 1917)
2006 – Trevor Berbick, Jamaican boxer (b. 1955)
2006 – Marijohn Wilkin, American songwriter (b. 1920)
2007 – Porter Wagoner, American country singer (b. 1927)
Holidays and observances
Czech Republic – Independence Day (from Austria-Hungary, 1918)
Slovakia – Day of the Establishment of an Independent Czecho-Slovak State (independence from Austria-Hungary, 1918)
Greece – Okhi (No) Day (marking the refusal of Greece to submit to Italy and the Axis Powers, 1940)
Gifu Prefecture, Japan – Prefectural Earthquake Disaster Prevention Day
October 28 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
Christian feast days
Lord of Miracles – Peruvian catholic festivity
Abdias of Babylon
Abgar V of Edessa
St. Eadsin
St. Fidelis of Como
Saint Faro
Saint Godwin
Saint Job of Pochayiv
Saint Jude (a.k.a Saint Thaddaeus or of James)
St. Simon the Zealot (erroneously a.k.a. the Canaanite)
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