October 28

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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 (Όχι=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, 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 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 Stefanović, 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 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 - 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")

External links

• »BBC: On This Day
• »On This Day in Canada