October 28

October 28 is the 301st day of the year (302nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 64 days remaining until the end of the year.

Events

Poster in Kendall Square, Cambridge, Massachusetts, predicting that the Rapture would take place on October 28, 1992.

• 97 – Emperor Nerva is forced by the Praetorian Guard, to adopt general Marcus Ulpius Trajanus as his heir and successor.
• 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 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.
• 1707 – The 1707 Hōei earthquake causes more than 5,000 deaths in Honshu, Shikoku and Kyūshū, Japan
• 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 is fought 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.
• 1885 – First porcelain toilet is built
• 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 première 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 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 – U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt rededicates the Statue of Liberty on its 50th anniversary.
• 1940 – World War II: Greece rejects Italy's ultimatum. Italy invades Greece through Albania, marking Greece's entry into World War II.
• 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.
• 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 responsibility for the death 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 satellite, Prospero, into low Earth orbit atop a Black Arrow carrier rocket.
• 1982 – Spanish Socialist Workers' Party 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 vows to continue the transformation to socialism and alliance with the Soviet Union and Cuba; 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.
• 1995 – 289 people are killed and 265 injured in Baku Metro fire, the deadliest subway disaster.
• 1998 – An Air 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.
• 2007 – Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner becomes the first woman elected President of Argentina.
• 2009 – The 28 October 2009 Peshawar bombing kills 117 and wounds 213.
• 2009 – NASA successfully launches the Ares I-X mission, the only rocket launch for its later-cancelled Constellation program.

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)
• 1839 – Edward P. Allen, United States congressman from Michigan (d. 1909)
• 1845 – Zygmunt Florenty Wróblewski, Polish physicist (d. 1888)
• 1846 – Georges Auguste Escoffier, French chef (d. 1935)
• 1854 – Jean-Marie Guyau, French philosopher and poet (d. 1888)
• 1860 – Jigoro Kano, Japanese martial artist and creator of Judo (d. 1938).
• 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, 49^th 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 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)
• 1913 – Douglas Seale, English actor (d. 1999)
• 1914 – Glenn Robert Davis, U.S. Congressman (d. 1988)
• 1914 – Jonas Salk, American biologist and physician (d. 1995)
• 1914 – Richard Laurence Millington Synge, Nobel laureate (d. 1994)
• 1917 – Jack Soo, American actor (d. 1979)
• 1921 – Azumafuji Kin'ichi, Japanese sumo wrestler (the 40^th Yokozuna) and professional wrestler (d. 1973)
• 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
• 1927 – Roza Makagonova, Russian actress (d. 1995)
• 1928 – Ion Mihai Pacepa, Romanian general
• 1928 – Iry LeJeune, Cajun musician (d. 1955)
• 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 (d. 1990)
• 1936 – Charlie Daniels, American musician
• 1936 – Carl Davis, American-born musical conductor and composer
• 1937 – Lenny Wilkens, American basketball player and coach
• 1938 – Dave Budd, American basketball player
• 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
• 1953 – Desmond Child, American songwriter
• 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)
• 1957 – Zach Wamp, American politician
• 1958 – William Reid, Scottish musician (The Jesus and Mary Chain)
• 1958 – Ashok Chavan, Indian politician
• 1959 – Randy Wittman, American basketball player
• 1960 – Landon Curt Noll, Astronomer, Cryptographer and Mathematician: youngest to hold the world record for the largest known prime 3 times
• 1960 – Mark Derwin, American actor
• 1962 – Daphne Zuniga, American actress
• 1962 – Scotty Nguyen, Vietnamese-American 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
• 1963 – Sheryl Underwood, American actress and Zeta Phi Beta President
• 1965 – Jami Gertz, American actress
• 1966 – Steve Atwater, American football player
• 1966 – Andy Richter, American comedian and actor
• 1966 – Aris Spiliotopoulos, Greek politician
• 1967 – Julia Roberts, American actress
• 1967 – Monica Chan, Hong Kong actress and winner of 1989 Miss Hong Kong Pageant
• 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, American actor
• 1974 – Vicente Moreno, Spanish footballer
• 1974 – Braden Looper, American baseball player
• 1974 – Dejan Stefanović, Serbian footballer
• 1974 – Dayanara Torres, Puerto Rican actress and beauty queen
• 1976 – Keiron Cunningham, Welsh rugby league player
• 1977 – Lauren Woodland, American actress
• 1978 – Marta Etura, Spanish actress
• 1978 – Justin Guarini, American singer
• 1979 – Martin Škoula, Czech ice hockey player
• 1980 – Christy Hemme, American professional wrestler
• 1980 – Kanzi, American literate bonobo
• 1980 – Dimitri Liakopoulos, Greek actor
• 1980 – Alan Smith, English footballer
• 1981 – Solomon Andargachew, Ethiopian footballer
• 1981 – Milan Baroš, Czech footballer
• 1981 – Nate McLouth, American baseball player
• 1981 – Nick Montgomery, English footballer
• 1982 – Jeremy Bonderman, American baseball player
• 1982 – Mai Kuraki, Japanese singer
• 1982 – Anthony Lerew, American baseball player
• 1982 – Matt Smith, English actor
• 1983 – Jarrett Jack, American basketball player
• 1984 – Jefferson Farfán, Peruvian footballer
• 1984 – Amanda Paige, American model
• 1984 – Obafemi Martins, Nigerian footballer
• 1986 – Anthony Griffith, English footballer
• 1988 – Devon Murray, Irish singer and actor

Deaths

• 312 – Maxentius, Roman emperor (b. c.278)
• 1225 – Jien, Japanese poet and historian (b. 1155)
• 1312 – Elisabeth of Tirol, German queen (b. 1262)
• 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 (b. 1480)
• 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 (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)
• 1970 – Baby Huey, American soul singer (b. 1944)
• 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)
• 1989 – Henry Hall, British bandleader (b. 1898)
• 1990 – Erich Göstl German War Hero (b 1925)
• 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 Tadić, 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 – Jimmy Makulis, Greek singer (b. 1935)
• 2007 – Porter Wagoner, American country singer (b. 1927)

Holidays and observances

• Christian feast day:
  • Abdias of Babylon
  • Abgar V of Edessa (Eastern Orthodox Church)
  • Eadsige
  • Fidelis of Como (Roman Catholic Church)
  • Faro
  • Godwin of Stavelot
  • Job of Pochayiv (repose) (Eastern Orthodox Church)
  • Jude the Apostle (Western Christianity)
  • Lord of Miracles (Lima)
  • Simon the Zealot (Western Christianity)
  • October 28 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
• Day of the Establishment of an Independent Czecho-Slovak State, celebrates the independence of Czechoslovakia from Austria-Hungary in 1918.(Slovakia)
• Independence Day, celebrates the independence of Czechoslovakia from Austria-Hungary in 1918.
• Ochi Day (Greece, Cyprus and the Greek communities)
• Prefectural Earthquake Disaster Prevention Day (Gifu Prefecture)

External links

• BBC: On This Day
• The New York Times: On This Day
• On This Day in Canada