What happened on December 28? There are more than 241 events that were made this day in history. Here are the important historical events, facts, and some myths about this day.
Interesting Facts & Myths About December 28
December 28 is the 363rd day of the year 2024. There are 3 days remaining until the end of this year. The day of the week is Saturday. This day falls under the 52nd week of the year 2024.
On this day in Energy, Texas 76452 sunrise will occur at 07:31 AM and sunset will occur at 05:39 PM (local time).
The zodiac sign of a person born on this day is Capricorn. The modern birthstone for this month is Turquoise while the mystical birthstone is Onyx.
According to the Chinese calendar, there are 32 days remaining before the start of the next Chinese New Year (January 29, 2025).
Is your birthday coming up in two days? Are you not curious to find out who is sharing your special day? Discover all the April 28 famous birthdays. There are fun facts about that day that you must know. (Sponsored link)
Historical Events For December 28
- 893An earthquake destroys the city of Dvin, Armenia.
- 1065Westminster Abbey is consecrated.
- 1308The reign of Emperor Hanazono, emperor of Japan, begins.
- 1612Galileo Galilei becomes the first astronomer to observe the planet Neptune, although he mistakenly catalogued it as a fixed star.
- 1768King Taksin’s coronation achieved through conquest as a king of Thailand and established Thonburi as a capital.
- 1795Construction of Yonge Street, formerly recognized as the longest street in the world, begins in York, Upper Canada (present-day Toronto, Ontario).
- 1832John C. Calhoun becomes the first Vice President of the United States to resign.
- 1835Osceola leads his Seminole warriors in Florida into the Second Seminole War against the United States Army.
- 1836South Australia and Adelaide are founded.
- 1836Spain recognizes the independence of Mexico.
- 1846Iowa is admitted as the 29th U.S. state.
- 1867United States claims Midway Atoll, the first territory annexed outside Continental limits.
- 1879The Tay Bridge Disaster: The central part of the Tay Rail Bridge in Dundee, Scotland collapses as a train passes over it, killing 75.
- 1885Indian National Congress a political party of India is founded in Bombay, British India.
- 1895The Lumière brothers perform for their first paying audience at the Grand Cafe in Boulevard des Capucines, marking the debut of the cinema.
- 1895Wilhelm Röntgen publishes a paper detailing his discovery of a new type of radiation, which later will be known as x-rays.
- 1908A magnitude 7.2 earthquake rocks Messina, Sicily killing over 75,000.
- 1912The first municipally owned streetcars take to the streets in San Francisco, California.
- 1918Constance Markievicz while detained in Holloway prison, became the first woman to be elected MP to the British House of Commons.
- 1935Pravda publishes a letter by Pavel Postyshev, who revives New Year tree tradition in the Soviet Union.
- 1943World War II – After eight days of brutal house-to-house fighting, the battle of Ortona concludes with the victory of the 1st Canadian Infantry Division over the German 1st Parachute Division and the capture of the Italian town of Ortona.
- 1944Maurice Richard becomes the first player to score 8 points in one game of NHL ice hockey.
- 1948The DC-3 airliner NC16002 disappears 50 miles south of Miami, Florida.
- 1956Chin Peng, David Marshall and Tunku Abdul Rahman meet in Baling to try and resolve the Malayan Emergency situation.
- 1958“Greatest Game Ever Played” – Baltimore Colts defeat the New York Giants in the first ever National Football League sudden death overtime game at New York’s Yankee Stadium.
- 1972Kim Il-sung, already Prime Minister of North Korea and General Secretary of the Workers’ Party of Korea, became the first President of North Korea.
- 1973The Endangered Species Act is passed in the United States.
- 1974Senegalese marxist group Reenu-Rew founds the political movement And-Jëf at a clandestine congress.
- 1978With the crew investigating a problem with the landing gear, United Airlines Flight 173 runs out of fuel and crashes in Portland, Oregon, killing 10. As a result, United Airlines instituted the industry’s first crew resource management program.
- 1989A magnitude 5.6 earthquake hits Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia, killing 13 people.
- 2000U.S. retail giant Montgomery Ward announces it is going out of business after 128 years.
- 2008War in Somalia: The militaries of Somalia’s Transitional Federal Government and Ethiopian troops capture Mogadishu unopposed.
- 200943 people die in a suicide bombing in Karachi, Pakistan, where Shia Muslims are observing the Day of Ashura.
- 2010Arab Spring: Popular protests begin in Algeria against the government.
Who Were Born On December 28?
- 1164Emperor Rokujō of Japan (d. 1176)
- 1522Margaret of Austria, regent of the Netherlands (d. 1583)
- 1619Antoine Furetière, French writer (d. 1688)
- 1635Princess Elizabeth of England (d. 1650)
- 1655Charles Cornwallis, 3rd Baron Cornwallis, First Lord of the British Admiralty (d. 1698)
- 1665George FitzRoy, 1st Duke of Northumberland, British general (d. 1716)
- 1763John Molson, English-born Canadian brewer (d. 1836)
- 1842Calixa Lavallée, French-Canadian composer (O Canada) (d. 1891)
- 1856Woodrow Wilson, 28th President of the United States, Nobel laureate, and 34th Governor of New Jersey (d. 1924)
- 1866Szymon Askenazy, Polish historian and diplomat (d. 1935)
- 1879Billy Mitchell, American military aviation pioneer (d. 1936)
- 1882Arthur Stanley Eddington, British astronomer (d. 1944)
- 1888Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau, German film director (d. 1931)
- 1898Carl-Gustaf Rossby, Swedish meteorologist (d. 1957)
- 1898Shigematsu Sakaibara, Japanese admiral (d. 1947)
- 1899Eugeniusz Bodo, Polish actor (d. 1943)
- 1902Mortimer Adler, American philosopher (d. 2001)
- 1902Shen Congwen, Chinese writer (d. 1988)
- 1903Earl Hines, American musician (d. 1983)
- 1903John von Neumann, Hungarian-born mathematician (d. 1957)
- 1905Cliff Arquette, American actor (d. 1974)
- 1908Lew Ayres, American actor (d. 1996)
- 1910Billy Williams, American singer (d. 1972)
- 1913Lou Jacobi, Canadian actor (d. 2009)
- 1914Bernard Youens, English actor (d. 1984)
- 1914Bidia Dandaron, Buddhist author and teacher in the USSR (d. 1974)
- 1915Pops Staples, American musician (The Staple Singers) (d. 2000)
- 1921Johnny Otis, American musician
- 1922Stan Lee, American comic book writer
- 1924Milton Obote, President of Uganda (d. 2005)
- 1925Hildegard Knef, German actress (d. 2002)
- 1928Moe Koffman, Canadian musician (d. 2001)
- 1929Brian Redhead, British journalist (d. 1994)
- 1929Terry Sawchuk, Canadian hockey player (d. 1970)
- 1931Guy Debord, French writer (d. 1994)
- 1932Dhirubhai Ambani, Indian businessman (d. 2002)
- 1932Dorsey Burnette, American singer (d. 1979)
- 1932Harry Howell, Canadian hockey player
- 1932Manuel Puig, Argentine writer (d. 1990)
- 1932Nichelle Nichols, American actress and singer
- 1932Roy Hattersley, British politician
- 1933John Y. Brown, Jr., American politician and 55th Governor of Kentucky
- 1934Dame Maggie Smith, British actress
- 1934Rudi Faßnacht, German football manager (d. 2000)
- 1934Yujiro Ishihara, Japanese actor (d. 1987)
- 1936Jacques Mesrine, French criminal (d. 1979)
- 1936Lawrence Schiller, American journalist
- 1937Ratan Tata, Indian industrialist
- 1938Dick Sudhalter, American jazz musician (d. 2008)
- 1938Lagumot Harris, Nauruan politician and former President (d. 1999)
- 1939Philip Anschutz, American businessman
- 1940A. K. Antony, Defence Minister of Government of India
- 1940Don Francisco, Chilean television host
- 1942Roger Swerts, Belgian cyclist
- 1943David Peterson, Canadian politician
- 1943Juan Luis Cipriani Thorne, Peruvian cardinal
- 1943Keith Floyd, British chef (d. 2009)
- 1943Richard Whiteley, British television presenter (d. 2005)
- 1944Johnny Isakson, American politician
- 1944Kary Mullis, American chemist, Nobel laureate
- 1945Birendra of Nepal (d. 2001)
- 1946Edgar Winter, American musician
- 1946Mike Beebe, American politician and 45th Governor of Arkansas
- 1946Pierre Falardeau, Quebec film director
- 1946Tim Johnson, American politician, senior senator from South Dakota
- 1947Aurelio Rodríguez, Mexican baseball player (d. 2000)
- 1948Mary Weiss, American Singer (The Shangri-Las)
- 1950Øivind Blunck, Norwegian comedian and actor
- 1950Alex Chilton, American musician (The Box Tops, Big Star) (d. 2010)
- 1950Hugh McDonald, American musician (Bon Jovi)
- 1950Rainer Maria Latzke, German mural artist
- 1951Ian Buruma, Anglo-Dutch scholar and writer on Japan and the Far East
- 1952Arun Jaitley, Indian Politician
- 1953Charlie Pierce, American writer
- 1953Richard Clayderman, French pianist
- 1953Tatsumi Fujinami, Japanese professional wrestler
- 1954Denzel Washington, American actor
- 1954Gayle King, American magazine editor
- 1954Lanny Poffo, American professional wrestler
- 1955Liu Xiaobo, Chinese human rights activist, Nobel laureate
- 1956Nigel Kennedy, British violinist
- 1957Anne Sargeant, Australian netballer
- 1958Twila Paris, American singer
- 1959Ana Torroja, Spanish singer (Mecano)
- 1960James Caan, British-Pakistani entrepreneur
- 1960Melvin Turpin, American basketball player (d. 2010)
- 1960Ray Bourque, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1961Kent Nielsen, Danish footballer and football coach
- 1962Choi Soo Jong, South Korean actor
- 1962Melissa R. Kelly, former Maryland politician
- 1962Michel Petrucciani, French pianist (d. 1999)
- 1962Niel van der Watt, South African composer
- 1962Rachel Z, American pianist
- 1964Maite Zúñiga, Spanish athlete
- 1965Allar Levandi, Estonian Nordic combined skier
- 1967Chris Ware, American cartoonist
- 1969Linus Torvalds, Finnish computer programmer
- 1970Elaine Hendrix, American actress
- 1970Francesca Le, American porn star
- 1971Benny Agbayani, American baseball player
- 1971Frank Sepe, American bodybuilder
- 1971William Gates, American basketball player
- 1972Adam Vinatieri, American football player
- 1972Patrick Rafter, Australian tennis player
- 1972Roberto Palacios, Peruvian footballer
- 1973Alex Dimitriades, Australian actor
- 1973Herborg Kråkevik, Norwegian singer and actress
- 1973Seth Meyers, American actor
- 1974Jason Ridge, American porn actor
- 1974Rob Niedermayer, Canadian-born ice-hockey player
- 1975B.J. Ryan, American baseball player
- 1976Igor Žiković, Croatian footballer
- 1977Shane Elford, Australian rugby league player
- 1978Chris Coyne, Australian footballer
- 1978John Legend, American musician
- 1979Bill Hall, American baseball player
- 1979Bree Williamson, Canadian actress
- 1979James Blake, American tennis player
- 1979Noomi Rapace, Swedish actress
- 1979Senna Guemmour, German Singer (Monrose)
- 1980Lomana LuaLua, Congo footballer
- 1980Vanessa Ferlito, American actress
- 1981Elizabeth Jordan Carr, first American test-tube baby
- 1981Frank Turner, English Singer-Songwriter
- 1981Khalid Boulahrouz, Dutch footballer
- 1981Mika Väyrynen, Finnish footballer
- 1981Narsha, Korean pop singer
- 1981Sienna Miller, British actress
- 1982Cedric Benson, American football player
- 1982Desiree Ortíz, Venezuelan model and television host
- 1982Ferry Rotinsulu, Indonesian footballer
- 1982François Gourmet, Belgian decathlete
- 1982Kevin Pereira, American television host
- 1983Mike He, Taiwanese actor
- 1984Alex Lloyd, British racing driver
- 1984Leroy Lita, English footballer
- 1985Kamani Hill, American footballer
- 1985Taryn Terrell, American wrestler/model
- 1986Tom Huddlestone, English footballer
- 1986Victoria Atkin, English actress
- 1987Thomas Dekker, American actor
- 1989Mackenzie Rosman, American actress
- 1990David Archuleta, American Idol runner-up, American singer
- 2001Madison De La Garza, American child actress
- 2002Kelsey Smith-Briggs, American murder victim (d. 2005)
Who Died On December 28?
- 300Theonas, Patriarch of Alexandria
- 1367Ashikaga Yoshiakira, Japanese shogun (b. 1330)
- 1446Antipope Clement VIII
- 1503Piero di Lorenzo de' Medici, ruler of Florence (b. 1471)
- 1558Hermann Finck, German composer (b. 1527)
- 1622Francis de Sales, Bishop of Geneva and saint (b. 1567)
- 1663Francesco Maria Grimaldi, Italian mathematician and physicist (b. 1618)
- 1671Johann Friedrich Gronovius, German classical scholar (b. 1611)
- 1694Queen Mary II of England (b. 1662), of the joint monarchy William and Mary
- 1703Mustafa II, Ottoman Sultan (b. 1664)
- 1706Pierre Bayle, French philosopher (b. 1647)
- 1708Joseph Pitton de Tournefort, French botanist (b. 1656)
- 1715William Carstares, Scottish minister (b. 1649)
- 1734Robert Roy MacGregor, Scottish folk hero (b. 1671)
- 1736Antonio Caldara, Italian composer (b. 1670)
- 1795Eugenio Espejo, Ecuadorian scientist (b. 1747)
- 1859Thomas Macaulay, British poet (b. 1800)
- 1872James Van Ness, Mayor of San Francisco (1855–1856) (b. 1808)
- 1897Rev. William Corby, American Catholic priest (b. 1833)
- 1900Alexandre de Serpa Pinto, Portuguese explorer (b. 1846)
- 1916Eduard Strauss, Austrian composer (b. 1835)
- 1917Alfred Edwin McKay, Canadian World War One flying ace (b. 1892)
- 1918Olavo Bilac, Brazilian poet (b. 1865)
- 1919Johannes Rydberg, Swedish physicist (b. 1854)
- 1924Léon Bakst, Russian artist (b. 1866)
- 1932Jack Blackham, Australian cricketer (b. 1854)
- 1937Maurice Ravel, French composer (b. 1875)
- 1938Florence Lawrence, Canadian actress (b. 1886)
- 1943Steve Evans, American baseball player (b. 1885)
- 1945Theodore Dreiser, American author (b. 1871)
- 1947King Victor Emmanuel III of Italy (b. 1869)
- 1949Jack Lovelock, New Zealand athlete (b. 1910)
- 1952Fletcher Henderson, American musician (b. 1897)
- 1959Ante Pavelić, leader of Nazi Germany puppet Independent State of Croatia (b. 1889)
- 1962Kathleen Clifford, American actress (b. 1887)
- 1963Paul Hindemith, German composer (b. 1895)
- 1967Katharine McCormick, American women’s rights activist (b. 1875)
- 1971Max Steiner, Austrian-born American film music composer (b. 1888)
- 1976Freddie King, American musician (b. 1934)
- 1976Katharine Byron, American politician (b. 1903)
- 1981Allan Dwan, Canadian-born film director (b. 1885)
- 1983Dennis Wilson, American musician (The Beach Boys) (b. 1944)
- 1983Jimmy Demaret, American golfer (b. 1910)
- 1983William Demarest, American actor (b. 1892)
- 1984Sam Peckinpah, American film director (b. 1925)
- 1986Jan Nieuwenhuys, Dutch painter (b. 1922)
- 1989Hermann Oberth, German physicist (b. 1894)
- 1991Cassandra Harris, Australian actress (b. 1952)
- 1992Sal Maglie, American baseball player (b. 1917)
- 1993William L. Shirer, American journalist (b. 1904)
- 1994Jean-Louis Lévesque, French Canadian entrepreneur (b. 1911)
- 1999Clayton Moore, American actor (b. 1914)
- 2001Samuel A. Goldblith, American food scientist (b. 1919)
- 2001William X. Kienzle, American novelist (b. 1928)
- 2003Benjamin Hacker, American admiral (b. 1935)
- 2004Jerry Orbach, American actor (b. 1935)
- 2004Susan Sontag, American writer (b. 1933)
- 2006Jamal Karimi-Rad, Iranian Minister of Justice (b. 1956)
- 2007Aidin Nikkhah Bahrami, Iran national basketball team player (b. 1982)
- 2008Irene Lieblich, Polish-born painter (b. 1923)
- 2009James Owen “The Rev” Sullivan, American musician drummer and back-up vocalist of Avenged Sevenfold (b. 1981)
- 2010Billy Taylor, American musician (b. 1921)
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