28 September

Events

• 48 BC - Pompey the Great is assassinated on orders of King Ptolemy of Egypt after landing in Egypt. May have occurred September 29, records unclear.
• 1066 - William the Conqueror invades England: Battle of Hastings
• 1106 - The Battle of Tinchebrai - Henry I of England defeats his brother, Robert Curthose
• 1542 - Navigator Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo of Portugal arrives as what is now San Diego
• 1708 - Peter the Great defeats the Swedes at the Battle of Lesnaya
• 1781 - American forces backed by a French fleet begin the siege of Yorktown Heights, Virginia during the American Revolutionary War.
• 1787 - The just completed United States Constitution is voted on by the US Congress to be sent to the State legislatures for approval.
• 1821 - Mexico signs its final Declaration of Independence.
• 1867 - Toronto, Ontario becomes the capital of Canada
• 1868 - Battle of Alcolea, causes Queen Isabella II of Spain to flee to France
• 1871 - Brazil passes law freeing future children of slaves
• 1934 - Ocean liner RMS Queen Mary launched at Clydebank
• 1939 - Germany and the Soviet Union agree on a division of Poland after their invasion during World War II
• 1944 - Battle of Arnhem - Germans defeat British airborne at Arnhem, Netherlands
• 1958 - Guinea votes for independence from France
• 1961 - Syria withdraws from the United Arab Republic
• 1973 - ITT Building in New York City bombed to protest ITT's involvement in the September 11 Coup in Chile.
• 1994 - The car ferry MS Estonia sinks in Baltic Sea, killing 852.
• 2000 - Former Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau dies

Births

• 1746 - Sir William Jones, linguist
• 1803 - Prosper Mérimée, author († 1870)
• 1841 - Georges Clemenceau, French politician († 1929)
• 1887 - Avery Brundage, Olympic Games president († 1975)
• 1901 - Ed Sullivan, TV show host († 1974)
• 1901 - William S. Paley, television pioneer († 1990)
• 1905 - Max Schmeling, boxer
• 1909 - Al Capp, cartoonist († 1979)
• 1915 - Ethel Rosenberg, spy († 1953)
• 1916 - Peter Finch, actor († 1977)
• 1924 - Marcello Mastroianni, actor († 1996)
• 1925 - Seymour Cray, computer scientist († 1996)
• 1926 - Jerry Clower, country music entertainer
• 1934 - Brigitte Bardot, actress
• 1935 - KoKo Taylor, jazz singer
• 1937 - Rod Roddy, television announcer († 2003)
• 1938 - Ben E. King, singer, songwriter
• 1947 - Jeffrey Jones, actor
• 1950 - John Sayles, director, screenwriter
• 1952 - Sylvia Kristel, actress
• 1964 - Janeane Garofalo, actress, comedian
• 1968 - Naomi Watts, actress
• 1967 - Moon Unit Zappa, singer, actress
• 1967 - Mira Sorvino, actress
• 1970 - Isabelle Brasseur, figure skating champion
• 1972 - Gwyneth Paltrow, actress

Deaths

• 1891 - Herman Melville, novelist
• 1895 - Louis Pasteur, scientist
• 1902 - Emile Zola, novelist and critic
• 1964 - Harpo Marx, comedian and actor
• 1970 - John Dos Passos, novelist.
• 1970 - Gamal Abdal Nasser, first president of Egypt
• 1978 - Pope John Paul I
• 1989 - Ferdinand Marcos, former president of the Philippines
• 1991 - Miles Davis, musician
• 2000 - Pierre Elliott Trudeau, 80, fifteenth Prime Minister of Canada
• 2003 - Althea Gibson, African-American tennis pioneer
• 2003 - Yukichi Chuganji, 114 years
• 2003 - Elia Kazan, movie and theatre director

Holidays and observances

See also: January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December - more historical anniversaries

Referenced By