December 28Birthdays & History

On this day: December 28 in history

Oldest first. Tap a year to see it on the World Chronicle timeline.

1. 418A papal election begins, resulting in the election of Pope Boniface I.Europe
2. 457Majorian is acclaimed as Western Roman emperor.Europe
3. 484Alaric II succeeds his father Euric and becomes king of the Visigoths. He establishes his capital at Aire-sur-l'Adour (Southern Gaul).Europe
4. 893An earthquake destroys the city of Dvin, Armenia.Europe
5. 1065Edward the Confessor's Romanesque monastic church at Westminster Abbey is consecrated.Europe
6. 1308The reign of Emperor Hanazono of Japan begins.Asia
7. 1659The Marathas defeat the Adilshahi forces in the Battle of Kolhapur.Asia
8. 1768King Taksin's coronation achieved through conquest as a king of Thailand and established Thonburi as a capital.Asia
9. 1795Construction of Yonge Street, formerly recognized as the longest street in the world, begins in York, Upper Canada (present-day Toronto).North America
10. 1832John C. Calhoun becomes the first Vice President of the United States to resign. He resigned after being elected Senator from South Carolina.North America
11. 1835Osceola leads his Seminole warriors in Florida into the Second Seminole War against the United States Army.North America
12. 1836South Australia and Adelaide are founded.Oceania
13. 1836Spain recognizes the independence of Mexico with the signing of the Santa María–Calatrava Treaty.EuropeLatin America
14. 1846Iowa is admitted as the 29th U.S. state.North America
15. 1879Tay Bridge disaster: The central part of the Tay Rail Bridge in Dundee, Scotland, United Kingdom collapses as a train passes over it, killing 75.Europe
16. 1885The Indian National Congress is founded in Bombay Presidency, British India.AsiaNorth AmericaEurope
17. 1895Wilhelm Röntgen publishes a paper detailing his discovery of a new type of radiation, which later will be known as x-rays.Europe
18. 1895The Lumière brothers perform for their first paying audience at the Grand Cafe in Boulevard des Capucines.Europe
19. 1902The Syracuse Athletic Club defeat the New York Philadelphians, 5–0, in the first indoor professional football game, which was held at Madison Square Garden.North America
20. 1908The 7.1 Mw Messina earthquake shakes Southern Italy with a maximum Mercalli intensity of XI (Extreme), killing between about 80,000.Europe
21. 1912The first municipally owned streetcars take to the streets in San Francisco.North America
22. 1918Constance Markievicz, while detained in Holloway prison, becomes the first woman to be elected Member of Parliament (MP) to the British House of Commons.Europe
23. 1941World War II: Operation Anthropoid, the plot to assassinate high-ranking Nazi officer Reinhard Heydrich, commences.Europe
24. 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.North AmericaEurope
25. 1943Soviet authorities launch Operation Ulussy, beginning the deportation of the Kalmyk nation to Siberia and Central Asia.EuropeAsia
26. 1944Maurice Richard becomes the first player to score eight points in one game of NHL ice hockey.North America
27. 1948The DC-3 airliner NC16002 disappears 80 kilometres (50 mi) south of Miami.North America
28. 1956Chin Peng, David Marshall and Tunku Abdul Rahman meet in Baling, Malaya to try to resolve the Malayan Emergency situation.Asia
29. 1958"Greatest Game Ever Played": The Baltimore Colts defeat the New York Giants in the first ever National Football League sudden death overtime game at New York's Yankee Stadium to win the NFL Championship.North America
30. 1967American businesswoman Muriel Siebert becomes the first woman to own a seat on the New York Stock Exchange.North America
31. 1972The last scheduled day for induction into the military by the Selective Service System. Due to the fact that President Richard Nixon declared this day a national day of mourning due to former President Harry S Truman's death, approximately 300 men were not able to report due to most Federal offices being closed. Since the draft was not resumed in 1973, they were never drafted.North America
32. 1973The United States Endangered Species Act is signed into law by President Richard Nixon.North America
33. 1978United Airlines Flight 173 crashes in a residential neighborhood near Portland International Airport, killing 10 people.North America
34. 1989A magnitude 5.6 earthquake hits Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia, killing 13 people.EuropeOceania
35. 2006War in Somalia: The militaries of Somalia's Transitional Federal Government and Ethiopian troops capture Mogadishu unopposed.Africa
36. 2009Forty-three people die in a suicide bombing in Karachi, Pakistan, where Shia Muslims are observing the Day of Ashura.Asia
37. 2014Nine people die and another 19 are reported missing, when the MS Norman Atlantic catches fire in the Strait of Otranto, in the Adriatic Sea, in Italian waters.Europe
38. 2014Indonesia AirAsia Flight 8501 crashes into the Karimata Strait en route from Surabaya to Singapore, killing all 162 people aboard.Asia
39. 2019A truck bomb is detonated in Mogadishu, Somalia, killing at least 85 people and injuring over 140 more. The militant group Al-Shabaab claims responsibility.Africa
40. 2025Unrest in the form of mass protests erupt across Iran, the largest uprising in the country since the Iranian Revolution.Middle East

Source: Wikipedia "December 28" / CC BY-SA 4.0