March 28Birthdays & History

On this day: March 28 in history

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

1. 37Roman emperor Caligula accepts the titles of the Principate, bestowed on him by the Senate.Europe
2. 193After assassinating the Roman Emperor Pertinax, his Praetorian Guards auction off the throne to Didius Julianus.Europe
3. 364Roman Emperor Valentinian I appoints his brother Flavius Valens co-emperor.Europe
4. 1065The Great German Pilgrimage, which had been under attack by Bedouin bandits for three days, is rescued by the Fatimid governor of Ramla.Europe
5. 1566The foundation stone of Valletta, Malta's capital city, is laid by Jean Parisot de Valette, Grand Master of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta.Europe
6. 1745War of the Austrian Succession: In the Battle of Vilshofen, Austrian forces defeat French forces.Europe
7. 1776Juan Bautista de Anza finds the site for the Presidio of San Francisco.North America
8. 1795Partitions of Poland: The Duchy of Courland and Semigallia, a northern fief of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, ceases to exist and becomes part of Imperial Russia.Europe
9. 1801Treaty of Florence is signed, ending the war between the French Republic and the Kingdom of Naples.Europe
10. 1802Heinrich Wilhelm Matthäus Olbers discovers 2 Pallas, the second asteroid ever to be discovered.Europe
11. 1809Peninsular War: France defeats Spain in the Battle of Medellín.Europe
12. 1814War of 1812: In the Battle of Valparaíso, two American naval vessels are captured by two Royal Navy vessels.North America
13. 1842First concert of the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Otto Nicolai.Europe
14. 1854Crimean War: France and Britain declare war on Russia.Europe
15. 1860First Taranaki War: The Battle of Waireka begins.Oceania
16. 1862American Civil War: In the Battle of Glorieta Pass, Union forces stop the Confederate invasion of the New Mexico Territory. The battle began on March 26.North AmericaLatin America
17. 1910Henri Fabre becomes the first person to fly a seaplane, the Fabre Hydravion, after taking off from water runway Étang le Barre, near Marseille.Europe
18. 1918Finnish Civil War: On the so-called "Bloody Maundy Thursday of Tampere", the Whites force the Reds to attack the city center, where the city's fiercest battles being fought in Kalevankangas with large casualties on both sides. During the same day, an explosion at the Red headquarters of Tampere kills several commanders.Europe
19. 1918General John J. Pershing, during World War I, cancels 42nd 'Rainbow' Division's orders to Rolampont for further training and diverted it to the occupy the Baccarat sector. Rainbow Division becomes "the first American division to take over an entire sector on its own, which it held longer than any other American division-occupied sector alone for a period of three months".North America
20. 1920Palm Sunday tornado outbreak of 1920 affects the Great Lakes region and Deep South states.North America
21. 1933The Imperial Airways biplane City of Liverpool is believed to be the first airliner lost to sabotage when a passenger sets a fire on board.Europe
22. 1939Spanish Civil War: Generalissimo Francisco Franco conquers Madrid after a three-year siege.Europe
23. 1941World War II: First day of the Battle of Cape Matapan in Greece between the navies of the United Kingdom and Australia, and the Royal Italian navy.EuropeOceania
24. 1942World War II: A British combined force permanently disables the Louis Joubert Lock in Saint-Nazaire in order to keep the German battleship Tirpitz away from the mid-ocean convoy lanes.Europe
25. 1946Cold War: The United States Department of State releases the Acheson–Lilienthal Report, outlining a plan for the international control of nuclear power.North America
26. 1959The State Council of the People's Republic of China dissolves the government of Tibet.Asia
27. 1961ČSA Flight 511 crashes in Igensdorf, Germany, killing 52.Europe
28. 1963Civil rights movement: Over one hundred high school students conduct a sit-in protest in Rome, Georgia.Europe
29. 1965An Mw 7.4 earthquake in Chile sets off a series of tailings dam failures, burying the town of El Cobre and killing at least 500 people.Latin America
30. 1968Brazilian high school student Edson Luís de Lima Souto is killed by military police at a student protest.Latin America
31. 1969Greek poet and Nobel Prize laureate Giorgos Seferis makes a famous statement on the BBC World Service opposing the junta in Greece.Europe
32. 1970An earthquake strikes western Turkey at about 23:05 local time, killing 1,086 and injuring at least 1,200.Middle East
33. 1978The US Supreme Court hands down 5–3 decision in Stump v. Sparkman, a controversial case involving involuntary sterilization and judicial immunity.North America
34. 1979The British House of Commons passes a vote of no confidence against James Callaghan's government by one vote, precipitating a general election.Europe
35. 1979A coolant leak at the Three Mile Island's Unit 2 nuclear reactor outside Harrisburg, Pennsylvania leads to the core overheating and a partial meltdown.North America
36. 1990United States President George H. W. Bush posthumously awards Jesse Owens the Congressional Gold Medal.North America
37. 1994In South Africa, African National Congress security guards kill dozens of Inkatha Freedom Party protesters.AfricaNorth America
38. 1999Kosovo War: Serb paramilitary and military forces kill at least 130 Kosovo Albanians in Izbica.Europe
39. 2001Athens International Airport Eleftherios Venizelos begins operation.Europe
40. 2003In a friendly fire incident, two American A-10 Thunderbolt II aircraft attack British tanks participating in the 2003 invasion of Iraq, killing one soldier.North AmericaEuropeMiddle East
41. 2005An earthquake shakes northern Sumatra with a magnitude of 8.6 and killing over 1000 people.Asia
42. 2006At least one million union members, students and unemployed take to the streets in France in protest at the government's proposed First Employment Contract law.Europe
43. 2020The region of Uusimaa (with the capital city Helsinki) is temporarily isolated from the rest of Finland due to increased COVID-19 infections.Europe
44. 2025An earthquake strikes close to Mandalay, Myanmar with a magnitude of 7.7, killing over 5400 people.Asia

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