January 28

Events

1521 - Diet of Worms begins, lasting until May 25.

1547 - Edward VI of England|Edward VI becomes King, and the first Protestant ruler of England.

1573 - Articles of Warsaw Confederation are signed, sanctioning religious freedom in Poland

1788 - The first penal colony is founded at Botany Bay, Australia.

1820 - Imperial Russia|Russian expedition led by Fabian Gottlieb von Bellingshausen and Mikhail Petrovich Lazarev approaches the Antarctica|Antarctic coast.

1846 - Battle of Aliwal, India won by British troops commanded by Sir Harry Smith.

1855 - The first locomotive runs from the Atlantic Ocean|Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean|Pacific on the Panama Railway.

1871 - Franco-Prussian War: France surrenders, ending the war.

1878 - ''The Yale News'' becomes the first daily, college newspaper in the United States.

1887 - In a snowstorm at Fort Keogh, Montana, USA, the world's largest snowflakes are reported, being 15 inches (38cm) wide and 8 inches (20cm) thick.

1902 - The Carnegie Institution is founded in Washington, DC with a $10 million gift from Andrew Carnegie.

1909 - United States troops leave Cuba after being there since the Spanish-American War.

1915 - An act of the Congress of the United States|U.S. Congress creates the United States Coast Guard.

1916 - Louis D. Brandeis becomes the first Jew appointed to the Supreme Court of the United States|United States Supreme Court.

1917 - United States ends search for Pancho Villa.

1918 - Finnish Civil War: Rebellion|Rebels seized control of the capital, Helsinki, and members of the Senate of Finland go underground.

1921 - A symbolic Tomb of the Unknown Soldier is installed beneath the Arc de Triomphe in Paris to honour the unknown dead of World War I.

1932 - World War II: Japan occupies Shanghai.

1935 - Iceland becomes the first country to legalize abortion.

1938 - The first ski tow in America begins operation in Vermont.

1938 - The World Land Speed Record on a public road is broken by driver Rudolf Caracciola in the Mercedes-Benz W195

1945 - World War II: Supplies begin to reach China over the newly reopened Burma Road.

1946 - ''Bluenose'', Canada's greatest sailing ship, founders on a Haitian reef.

1958 - Charles Starkweather and Caril Ann Fugate begin their murder spree with the killings of her parents and infant sister.

1973 - ''Barnaby Jones'' premieres on CBS.

1982 - US Army general James L. Dozier is rescued by Italian anti-terrorism forces after 42 days of captivity under the Red Brigades.

1986 - Space Shuttle Challenger breaks apart 73 seconds after liftoff killing all seven astronauts onboard. Failure blamed on leaking Solid Rocket Booster.

1990 - Super Bowl XXIV: The San Francisco 49ers are crowned "Team of the 1980s" by defeating the Denver Broncos, 55-10.

1994 - The first trial of accused murderer Lyle Menendez ends in a mistrial. He and his brother Erik are later found guilty and sentenced to life in prison without parole.

1996 - Super Bowl XXX: The Dallas Cowboys win their fifth Super Bowl title by defeating the Pittsburgh Steelers, 27-17.

1997 - Arista Records founder Clive Davis receives a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

1998 - Ford Motor Company announces the buyout of Volvo for $6.45 billion.

1998 - Gunmen hold at least 400 children and teachers hostage for several hours at an elementary school in Manila, Philippines.

2001 - Super Bowl XXXV: The Baltimore Ravens defeat the New York Giants, 34-7.

2002 - An Ecuadoran airline Boeing 727-100 crashes in the Andes mountains in southern Colombia killing 92.

2004 - September Dossier: James Brian Edward Hutton|Lord Hutton publishes his Hutton Inquiry|report into the death of UN weapons inspector Dr. David Kelly.

Births

1457 - King Henry VII of England (d. 1509)

1540 - Ludolph van Ceulen, German mathematician (d. 1610)

1582 - John Barclay (1582-1621)|John Barclay, Scottish writer (d. 1621)

1600 - Pope Clement IX (d. 1669)

1608 - Giovanni Alfonso Borelli, Italian physiologist and physicist (d. 1679)

1611 - Johannes Hevelius, Polish astronomer (d. 1687)

1622 - Adrien Auzout, French astronomer (d. 1691)

1701 - Charles Marie de La Condamine, French mathematician and geographer (d. 1774)

1706 - John Baskerville, English printer (d. 1775)

1712 - Tokugawa Ieshige, Japanese shogun (d. 1761)

1717 - Mustafa III, Ottoman Sultan (d. 1774)

1719 - Johann Elias Schlegel, German critic and poet (d. 1749)

1755 - Samuel Thomas von Sömmering, German physician (d. 1830)

1784 - George Hamilton Gordon Aberdeen, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (d. 1860)

1822 - Alexander Mackenzie, second Prime Minister of Canada (d. 1892)

1833 - Charles George Gordon|Charles George 'Chinese' Gordon, British soldier and administrator (d. 1885)

1841 - Henry Morton Stanley, Welsh-born explorer and journalist (d. 1904)

1853 - José Martí, Cuban revolutionary (d. 1895)

1857 - William Seward Burroughs, American inventor (d. 1898)

1873 - Colette, French writer (d. 1954)

1874 - Vsevolod Meyerhold, Russian theatre director (d. 1940)

1879 - Francis Picabia, French-born painter and poet (d. 1953)

1880 - Herbert Strudwick, English cricketer (d. 1970)

1884 - Auguste Piccard, Swiss physicist (d. 1962)

1886 - Marthe Bibesco, Romanian writer (d. 1973)

1887 - Arthur Rubinstein, Polish pianist and conductor (d. 1982)

1890 - Robert Stroud, American convict, the Birdman of Alcatraz (d. 1963)

1892 - Ernst Lubitsch, German-born film director (d. 1947)

1897 - Valentin Kataev, Russian writer (d. 1986)

1910 - John Banner, Austrian actor (d. 1973)

1910 - Arnold Moss, American character actor (d. 1989)

1912 - Jackson Pollock, American painter (d. 1956)

1922 - Robert W. Holley, American biochemist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (d. 1993)

1923 - Ivo Robić, Croatian singer (d. 2001)

1927 - Hiroshi Teshigahara, Japanese director (d. 2001)

1929 - Acker Bilk, English jazz clarinetist

1929 - Claes Oldenburg, Swedish-American artist

1933 - Susan Sontag, American writer and activist (d. 2004)

1935 - David Lodge (author)|David Lodge, English author

1936 - Alan Alda, American actor, writer, and director

1936 - Ismail Kadare, Albanian writer

1941 - Joel Crothers, American actor (d. 1985)

1944 - John Tavener, English composer

1945 - Robert Wyatt, English musician

1948 - Mikhail Baryshnikov, Russian dancer

1948 - Charles Taylor, leader of Liberia

1950 - Barbi Benton, American actress

1951 - Leonid Kadeniuk, Ukrainian cosmonaut

1954 - Rick Warren. Pastor, Author of The Purpose Driven Life

1960 - Robert von Dassanowsky, American cultural historian, writer, and producer

1962 - Sam Phillips (singer)|Sam Phillips, American singer

1968 - Sarah McLachlan, Canadian singer and songwriter

1968 - DJ Muggs, American musician (Cypress Hill)

1968 - Rakim, American rapper

1969 - Kathryn Morris, American actress

1974 - Tony Delk, American basketball player

1976 - Mark Madsen, American basketball player

1976 - Jarrod Montague, American drummer (Taproot)

1977 - Daunte Culpepper, American football player

1977 - Joey Fatone, American singer (

NSYNC)

1978 - Gianluigi Buffon, Italian footballer

1978 - Jamie Carragher, English footballer

1978 - Papa Bouba Diop, Senegalese footballer

1979 - Pixie (glamour model)|Pixie, English model

1980 - Nick Carter (singer)|Nick Carter, American singer (Backstreet Boys)

1981 - Rick Razzano, American football player

1981 - Elijah Wood, American actor

Deaths

814 - Charlemagne (b. 742)

1061 - Duke Spytihněv II of Bohemia (b. 1031)

1271 - Isabella of Aragon, queen of Philip III of France (b. 1247)

1443 - Robert le Maçon, Chancellor of France

1547 - King Henry VIII of England (b. 1491)

1596 - Sir Francis Drake, English explorer and soldier (b. ca. 1540)

1599 - Cristofano Malvezzi, Italian composer (b. 1547)

1613 - Thomas Bodley, English diplomat and library founder (b. 1545)

1621 - Pope Paul V (b. 1550)

1681 - Richard Allestree, English royalist churchman (b. 1619)

1672 - Pierre Séguier, Chancellor of France (b. 1588)

1687 - Johannes Hevelius, Polish astronomer (b. 1611)

1697 - John Fenwick, English conspirator

1725 (O.S.) - Tsar Peter I of Russia, (b. 1672)

1754 - Ludvig Holberg, Norwegian historian and writer (b. 1684)

1903 - Augusta Holmès, French composer (b. 1847)

1912 - Gustave de Molinari, Belgian economist (b. 1819)

1935 - Mikhail Ippolitov-Ivanov, Russian composer (b. 1859)

1939 - William Butler Yeats, Irish writer, Nobel Prize in Literature|Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1865)

1949 - Jean-Pierre Wimille, French race car driver (b. 1908)

1953 - James Scullin, ninth Prime Minister of Australia (b. 1876)

1960 - Zora Neale Hurston, American author (b. 1891)

1965 - Tich Freeman, English cricketer (b. 1888)

1965 - Maxime Weygand, French soldier (b. 1867)

1971 - Donald Winnicott, British psychoanalyst (b. 1896)

1973 - John Banner, Austrian actor (b. 1910)

1977 - Freddie Prinze, American actor (b. 1954)

1983 - Frank Forde, fifteenth Prime Minister of Australia (b. 1890)

1986 - Crew of Space Shuttle Challenger:

Greg Jarvis (b. 1944)

Christa McAuliffe (b. 1948)

Ronald McNair (b. 1950)

Ellison Onizuka (b. 1946)

Judith Resnik (b. 1949)

Dick Scobee|Francis R. Scobee (b. 1939)

Michael J. Smith (b. 1945)

1988 - Klaus Fuchs, German physicist (b. 1911)

1991 - Red Grange, American football player (b. 1903)

1994 - Hal Smith (actor)|Hal Smith, American actor (b. 1916)

1996 - Joseph Brodsky, Russian-born poet, Nobel Prize in Literature|Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1940)

1996 - Jerry Siegel, American cartoonist (b. 1914)

1999 - , Swedish sociologist and philosopher (b. 1908)

2001 - Curt Blefary, baseball player (b. 1943)

2002 - Astrid Lindgren, Swedish author (b. 1907)

2004 - Lloyd M. Bucher, US Navy officer (b. 1927)

2004 - Don Cholito, Puerto Rican radio host (b. 1923)

2004 - Elroy Hirsch, American football player (b. 1923)

2005 - Jim Capaldi, English singer and songwriter (b. 1944)

2005 - Karen Lancaume, French actress (suicide) (b. 1973)

Holidays and observances

Catholicism - Feast day of Thomas Aquinas|St. Thomas Aquinas

External links

http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/january/28 ---- January 27 - January 29 - December 28 - February 28 — Historical anniversaries|listing of all days