On this day in History - Oct. 28

• 0306- Maxentius is proclaimed Roman emperor.
• 0312 - Battle of Milvian Bridge: Constantine the Great defeats the forces of Maxentius.
• 1017 - Henry III was born. Roman Catholic German emperor, 1046-56
• 1225 - Jien dies (b. 1155). Japanese poet and historian
• 1412 - Margaret I of Denmark dies (b. 1353). Queen of Haakon VI of Norway
• 1485 - Rodolphus Agricola dies (b. 1443). Dutch humanist.
• 1492 - Christopher Columbus lands in Cuba.
• 1510 - St. Francis Borgia was born (d. 1572). Spanish duke and Jesuit priest
• 1516 - Battle of Yaunis Khan: Turkish forces under the Grand Vizier Sinan Pasha defeat the Mameluks near Gaza.
• 1520 - Pier Gerlofs Donia dies. Frisian pirate and freedom fighter
• 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.
• 1568 - Ashikaga Yoshihide dies (b. 1539). Japanese shogun.
• 1585 - Cornelius Jansen was born (d. 1638). French bishop and religious reformer.
• 1627 - Jahangir dies (b. 1569). Mughal Emperor of India.
• 1628 - The Siege of La Rochelle, which had been ongoing for 14 months, ends with Huguenot surrender
• 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.
• 1639 - Stefano Landi dies (b. 1587). Italian composer.
• 1646 - William Dobson dies (b. 1610). English painter.
• 1661 - Agustín Moreto y Cavana died (b. 1518). Spanish playwright.
• 1664 - The Duke of York and Albany's Maritime Regiment of Foot later to be known as the Royal Marines is established.
• 1676 - Jean Desmarets dies (b. 1595). French writer.
• 1691 - Peder Tordenskjold was born (d.1720). Norwegian naval hero
• 1703 - Antoine Deparcieux was born (d. 1768). French mathematician.
• 1703 - John Wallis died (b. 1616). English mathematician.
• 1704 - John Locke died (b. 1632). English philosopher.
• 1708 - Prince George of Denmark died (b. 1653). Consort of Queen Anne of England
• 1716 - Stephen Fox died (b. 1627). English politician.
• 1718 - Ignacije Szentmartony was born (d. 1793). Croatian geographer
• 1740 - Ivan VI becomes czar of Russia
• 1740 - Anna Ivanova Romanova dies (b. 1693). Empress of Russia (1730-40)
• 1746 - Peruvian cities of Lima and Callao demolished by earthquake, 18,000 die
• 1754 - Friedrich von Hagedorn dies (b. 1708). German poet.
• 1755 - Joseph Bodin de Boismortier dies (b. 1689). French composer.
• 1763 - Heinrich, count von Brühl dies (b. 1700). German statesman.
• 1768 - Michel Blavet died (b. 1700). French flutist.
• 1776 - American Revolutionary War: Battle of White Plains - British forces arrive at White Plains, attack and capture Chatterton Hill from the Americans.
• 1792 - Paul Möhring dies (b. 1710). German physician and scientist
• 1793 - Eliphalet Remington was born (d. 1861). American firearms manufacturer.
• 1794 - John Smeaton dies (b . 1724). English civil engineer
• 1800 - Artemas Ward dies (b. 1727). American politician and soldier
• 1804 - Pierre François Verhulst was born (d. 1849). Belgian mathematician.
• 1806 - Charlotte Turner Smith dies (b. 1749). English poet and novelist.
• 1818 - Abigail Adams dies (b. 1744). First Lady of the United States
• 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.
• 1841 - Johan August Arfwedson dies (b. 1792). Swedish chemist.
• 1841 - Nasce José Fontana, iniciador do movimento operário em Portugal.
• 1846 - Georges Auguste Escoffier was born (d. 1935). French chef.
• 1848 - The first railroad in Spain - between Barcelona and Mataró - is opened.
• 1857 - Louis Eugène Cavaignac dies (b. 1802). French soldier and politician.
• 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.
• 1868 - Thomas Edison applied for his first patent, the electric vote recorder.
• 1875 - Gilbert Hovey Grosvenor was born (d. 1966). American geographer and editor (National Geographic Society).
• 1877 - Joe Adams was born (d. 1952). Baseball player.
• 1877 - Robert Swinhoe died (b. 1835). British naturalist.
• 1879 - Marie Roch Louis Reybaud died (b. 1799). French writer.
• 1885 - Velimir Khlebnikov was born (d. 1922). Russian poet
• 1886 - In New York Harbor, US President Grover Cleveland dedicates the Statue of Liberty.
• 1892 - Dink Johnson was born (d. 1954). American musician
• 1894 – Américo de Oliveira Durão was born in Coruche (d. in Lisbon, 7 Mar 1969). Portuguese dramatist and poet.
• 1896 - Howard Hanson was born (d. 1981). American composer
• 1897 - Hercules Robinson dies (b. 1824). British colonial administrator.
• 1899 - Ottmar Mergenthaler dies (b. 1854). German-born inventor
• 1900 - Max Müller dies (b. 1823). German-born orientalist
• 1902 - Elsa Lanchester was born (d. 1986). British-born actress.
• 1903 - Evelyn Waugh was born (d. 1966). English writer.
• 1907 - Edith Head was born (d. 1981). American costum designer.
• 1907 - John Hewitt was born (d. 1987). Northern Irish poet.
• 1908 - Arturo Frondizi was born (d. 1995). President of Argentina
• 1909 - Francis Bacon was born (d. 1992). Irish painter.
• 1909 – Antonio Ruy de Noronha was born in Mozambique (d. 25 Dec 1943). Portuguese journalist and poet
• 1912 - Richard Doll was born (d. 2005). English epidemiologist.
• 1914 - The single largest one-day percentage decline of the Dow Jones Industrial Average in the recorded history of the New York stock market.
• 1914 - Jonas Salk was born (d. 1995). American medical scientist
• 1914 - Richard Laurence Millington Synge was born (d. 1994). English chemist, Nobel Prize laureate
• 1914 - Glenn Robert Davis was born (d. 1988). U.S. Congressman,
• 1915 - Paul Jarrico was born (d. 1997). American screenwriter.
• 1916 - Oswald Boelcke dies (b. 1891). German pilot
• 1916 - Cleveland Abbe dies (b. 1838). American meteorologist
• 1917 - Prince Christian of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg died (b. 1831)
• 1918 - Ulisse Dini died (b. 1845). Italian mathematician
• 1918 - Czechoslovakia gains its independence from Austria-Hungary.
• 1918 - New Polish government in Western Galicia (Central Europe).
• 1919 - Prohibition begins: The U.S. Congress passes the Volstead Act over President Woodrow Wilson's veto.
• 1920 - Natércia Freire was born in Benavente (d. 2004). Portuguese poetess.
• 1922 - March on Rome: Italian fascists led by Benito Mussolini march
  on Rome and take over the Italian government with the assistance of the Catholic Church; pope Pius XI declares that "Mussolini is a man sent by divine providence."
• 1922 - Gershon Kingsley was born. German composer
• 1922 - Simon Muzenda was born (d. 2003). Zimbabwean politician
• 1924 - Tony de Matos was born. Portuguese singer.
• 1926 - Bowie Kuhn was born. Commissioner of Major League Baseball
• 1927 - Dame Cleo Laine was born. British jazz/scat singer
• 1928 - Ion Mihai Pacepa was born. Romanian general
• 1929 - Joan Plowright was born. British actress
• 1929 - Marcel Bozzuffi was born (d. 1988). French actor (d. 1988)
• 1929 - John Hollander was born. American poet
• 1929 - Bernhard von Bülow dies (b. 1849). Chancellor of Germany
• 1930 - Bernie Ecclestone was born. English racing official
• 1932 - Suzy Parker was born (d. 2003). American actress
• 1933 - Garrincha was born (d. 1983).Brazilian football player.
• 1936 - Charlie Daniels was born. American musician.
• 1936 - Curtis Lee was born. American singer
• 1936 - US President Franklin Roosevelt rededicates the Statue of Liberty on
  its 50th anniversary.
• 1937 - Charlie Daniels was born. American musician
• 1938 - Anne Perry was born. English-born novelist
• 1939 - Jane Alexander was born. American actress
• 1939 - Miroslav Cerar was born. Yugoslav gymnast
• 1940 - World War II: Italy invades Greece through Albanian and is the selected anniversary of Greece's entry into World War II. It is celebrated
  in Greece as "OXI" Day.
• 1940 - Susan Harris was born. American TV writer and producer
• 1941 - Holocaust in Kaunas, Lithuania: German SS forces arrange the massacre of more than 9,000 Jews of Kaunas ghetto. All Jews, men, women, children at 6 am, assembled on the big Demokratu square to be shot and buried later into the gigantic ditches.
• 1941 - John Hallam was born. Irish actor
• 1942 - Holocaust: 2,000 Jewish children and 6,000 Jewish adults from Cracow are deported by Germans to Belzec death camp.
• 1942 - Holocaust: SS directive orders all Jewish children's mittens and stockings to be sent from the death camps to the SS families.
• 1942 - The Alaska Highway is completed through Canada to Fairbanks, Alaska.
• 1942 - Kees Verkerk was born. Dutch speed skater
• 1943 - Conny Froboess was born. German singer
• 1943 - The Philadelphia Experiment supposedly occured.
• 1944 - Dennis Franz was born. American actor
• 1944 - Anton Schlecker was born. German billionaire
• 1944 - Coluche was born (d. 1986). French comedian and actor.
• 1945 - Wayne Fontana, English singer (The Mindbenders)
• 1946 - Wim Jansen was born. Dutch football player and coach
• 1948 - Telma Hopkins was born.American singer (Tony Orlando and Dawn)
• 1948 - Swiss chemist Paul Müller is awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his discovery of the insecticidal properties of DDT.
• 1948 - Flag of Israel is adopted
• 1949 - Georges Bidault becomes Prime Minister of France
• 1949 - Bruce Jenner was born. American athlete
• 1950 - The Jack Benny Show, starring Jack Benny, premiers (it ran for 15 years).
• 1950 - Sihem Bensedrine was born. Tunisian human rights activist
• 1952 - Annie Potts was born. American actress
• 1952 - Billy Hughes dies (b. 1862). Seventh Prime Minister of Australia
• 1953 - Pierre Boivin was born. French Canadian businessman and National Hockey League executive (Montreal Canadiens)
• 1954 - Ernest Hemingway wins Nobel prize for literature.
• 1954 - The modern Kingdom of the Netherlands is re-founded as a federal monarchy.
• 1955 - Bill Gates was born. American software pioneer.
• 1956 - Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was born. President of Iran
• 1957 - Ernst Gräfenberg dies (b. 1881). German physican and scientist
• 1958 - Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli becomes Pope and takes the name Pope John XXIII.
• 1959 - Camilo Cienfuegos dies (b. 1932). Cuban revolutionary
• 1962 - Y.A. Tittle of the New York Giants became the third quarterback in NFL history to throw seven touchdown passes in one game.
• 1962 - Cuban Missile Crisis: Soviet Union leader Nikita Khrushchev announces that he had ordered the removal of Soviet missile bases in Cuba.
• 1962 - Daphne Zuniga was born. American actress
• 1963 - Verónica Gamba was born in Buenos Aires. Playmate, November, 1983
• 1963 - Eros Ramazzotti was born. Italian pop musician, songwriter, Adesso Te
• 1963 - Lauren Holly was born. American actress
• 1965 - Jami Gertz was born. American actress
• 1965 - French foreign minister Couve de Murville travels to Moscow.
• 1965 - Nostra Aetate, the "Declaration on the Relation of the Church with Non-Christian Religions" of the Second Vatican Council, was promulgated by Pope Paul VI; it absolves the Jews of the alleged killing of Jesus, reversing Innocent III's declaration from 760 years ago. In short, Pope Paul VI announces that ecumenical council has decided that Jews are not collectively responsible for the killing of Christ.
• 1965 - In St. Louis, Missouri, the 630-foot-tall parabolic (catenarian) steel Gateway Arch is completed.
• 1965 - Earl Bostic died (b. 1913). American saxophonist
• 1966 - Steve Atwater was born. American football player
• 1967 - Julia Roberts was born in Smyrna, Georgia. American actress Mystic Pizza, Pretty Woman
• 1967 - John Romero was born. American video game designer
• 1967 - Sophie, Hereditary Princess of Liechtenstein was born.
• 1968 - Ben Harper was born. American musician
• 1970 - The land speed record set by Gary Gabelich in a rocket powered automobile called the Blue Flame, fueled with natural gas.
• 1972 - Terrell Davis was born. American football player
• 1973 - Sergio Tofano dies (b. 1883). Italian actor
• 1973 - Taha Hussein dies (b. 1889). Egyptian writer
• 1974 - Joaquin Phoenix was born. Puerto Rican-born actor
• 1974 - Dayanara Torres was born. Puerto Rican model and former Miss Universe
• 1975 - Georges Carpentier dies (b. 1894). French boxer
• 1976 - John D. Ehrlichman, former domestic policy adviser of President Nixon and convicted Watergate felon, arrives at the Swift Trail Camp minimum-security facility in southeastern Arizona.
• 1976 - Karl Tremblay was born. Québécois singer (Les Cowboys Fringants)
• 1977 - Lara Antunes was born. Miss Portugal 1997 , model
• 1977 - Miguel Mihura dies (b. 21 Jun 1905). Spanish dramatist, humourist and writer.
• 1979 - Aki Hakala was born. The drummer of The Rasmus
• 1980 - Alan Smith was born. English football player
• 1980 - Christy Hemme was born. American female professioonal "wrestler"
• 1981 - The heavy metal band Metallica is founded in San Francisco.
• 1981 - Milan Baros was born. Czech football player.
• 1982 - Felipe González torna-se o primeiro primeiro-ministro socialista em Espanha, após ter obtido grande maioria eleitoral.
• 1984 - 14th New York City Women's Marathon won by Grete Waitz in 2:29:30
• 1984 - 15th New York City Marathon won by Orlando Pizzolato in 2:14:53
• 1986 - The centennial of the Statue of Liberty's dedication is celebrated in New York Harbor.
• 1986 - Jeremy Bamber is found guilty of the murder of his parents, sister and twin nephews and is given five life sentences.
• 1986 - John Braine dies (b. 1922). English novelist
• 1987 - André Masson dies (b. 04 Jan 1896). French Surrealist painter, sculptor, draftsman, printmaker, illustrator, stage designer, and writer.
• 1988 - Pietro Annigoni dies (b. 7 Jun 1910). Italian painter.
• 1988 - Abortion: 48 hours after announcing it was abandoning RU-486, French manufacturer Roussel Uclaf states that it would resume distribution of the drug, bowing to pressure from the government of France.
• 1996 - Morey Amsterdam dies (b. 1908). American actor and comedian
• 1997 - The bulls come running back as the Dow Jones Industrial Average gains a record 337.17 points to close at 7,498.32. The massive rally comes a day after a 554 point drop. One billion shares are traded on the New York Stock Exchange for the first time ever.
• 1998 - An Air China jetliner is hijacked by disgruntled pilot Yuan Bin and flown to Taiwan. After landing the plane safely, Yuan Bin was arrested.
• 1998 - Ted Hughes dies (b. 1930). English poet
• 2000 - Lída Baarová dies (b. 1914). Czech actress.
• 2000 - Carlos Guastavino dies (b. 1912). Argentine composer
• 2001 - Gerard Hengeveld dies (b. 1910). Dutch composer
• 2002 - Margaret Booth dies (b. 1898). American film editor
• 2002 - Erling Persson dies (b. 1917). Swedish entrepreneur
• 2004 - Jimmy McLarnin dies (b. 1907). Irish-born boxer
• 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.
• 2005 - Eugene K. Bird dies (b. 1926). German prison director.
• 2005 - Bob Broeg dies (b. 1918). American sports writer.
• 2005 - Raymond Hains dies (b. 1926). French artist.
• 2005 - Tony Jackson dies (b. 1942). American basketball player.
• 2005 - Fernando Quejas dies (b. 1922). Cape Verdean singer and musician
• 2005 - Richard Smalley dies (b. 1943). American chemist, Nobel Prize laureate.
• 2005 - Ljuba Tadić dies (b. 1929). Serbian actor.
• Feast day of Saint Jude the Thaddaeus (also known as Saint Thaddaeus)
• Feast day of Saint Simon the Canaanite
• Greece - Oxi (No) Day
• Czech Republic - Independence Day (Founding Day)
• Dia do Funcionário Público