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. [edit] 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 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 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.
- 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 – NASA successfully launches the Ares I-X mission, to test its new rocket for the Constellation program.
[edit] 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)
- 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 – 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)
- 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
- 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
- 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
- 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 – Keiron Cunningham, Welsh rugby league player
- 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
- 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
[edit] 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)
- 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)
- 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)
[edit] Holidays and observances [edit] External links
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