September 28 is the 271st day of the year (272nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 94 days remaining until the end of the year.
[edit] Events
- 48 BC – Pompey the Great is assassinated on the orders of King Ptolemy of Egypt after landing in Egypt.
- 235 – Pope Pontian resigns. He and Hippolytus, church leader of Rome, are exiled to the mines of Sardinia.
- 351 – Battle of Mursa Major: the Roman Emperor Constantius II defeats the usurper Magnentius.
- 365 – Roman usurper Procopius bribes two legions passing by Constantinople, and proclaims himself Roman emperor.
- 935 – Saint Wenceslas is murdered by his brother, Boleslaus I of Bohemia.
- 995 – Members of Slavník's dynasty – Spytimír, Pobraslav, Pořej and Čáslav are murdered by Boleslaus's son, Boleslaus II the Pious.
- 1066 – William the Bastard (as he was known at the time) invades England beginning the Norman Conquest.
- 1106 – The Battle of Tinchebrai – Henry I of England defeats his brother, Robert Curthose.
- 1238 – Muslim Valencia surrenders to the besieging King James I of Aragon the Conqueror.
- 1322 – Louis IV, Holy Roman Emperor defeats Frederick I of Austria in the Battle of Mühldorf.
- 1448 – Christian I is crowned king of Denmark.
- 1538 – Ottoman–Venetian War: The Ottoman Navy scores a decisive victory over a Holy League fleet in the Battle of Preveza.
- 1542 – Navigator Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo of Portugal arrives at what is now San Diego, California, United States.
- 1779 – American Revolution: Samuel Huntington is elected President of the Continental Congress, succeeding John Jay.
- 1781 – American forces backed by a French fleet begin the siege of Yorktown, Virginia, during the American Revolutionary War.
- 1787 – The newly completed United States Constitution is voted on by the U.S. Congress to be sent to the state legislatures for approval.
- 1791 – France becomes the first European country to emancipate its Jewish population.
- 1844 – Oscar I of Sweden-Norway is crowned king of Sweden.
- 1867 – Toronto becomes the capital of Ontario.
- 1867 – The United States takes control of Midway Island.
- 1868 – Battle of Alcolea causes Queen Isabella II of Spain to flee to France.
- 1889 – The first General Conference on Weights and Measures (CGPM) defines the length of a meter as the distance between two lines on a standard bar of an alloy of platinum with ten percent iridium, measured at the melting point of ice.
- 1871 – Brazilian Parliament passes the Law of the Free Womb, granting freedom to all new children born to slaves, the first major step in the eradication of slavery in Brazil.
- 1901 – Philippine-American War: Filipino guerrillas kill more than forty American soldiers in a surprise attack in the town of Balangiga on Samar Island.
- 1912 – The Ulster Covenant is signed by half a million Ultonians in opposition to the Third Irish Home Rule Bill.
- 1918 – World War I: The Fifth Battle of Ypres begins.
- 1919 – Race riots begin in Omaha, Nebraska, US.
- 1928 – The U.K. Parliament passes the Dangerous Drugs Act outlawing cannabis.
- 1928 – Sir Alexander Fleming notices a bacteria-killing mold growing in his laboratory, discovering what later became known as penicillin.
- 1939 – Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union agree on a division of Poland after their invasion during World War II.
- 1939 – Warsaw surrenders to Nazi Germany during World War II.
- 1944 – Soviet Army troops liberate Klooga concentration camp in Klooga, Estonia.
- 1950 – Indonesia joins the United Nations.
- 1951 – CBS makes the first color televisions available for sale to the general public, but the product is discontinued less than a month later.
- 1958 – France ratifies a new Constitution of France; the French Fifth Republic is then formed upon the formal adoption of the new constitution on October 4. Guinea rejects the new constitution, voting for independence instead.
- 1960 – Mali and Senegal join the United Nations.
- 1961 – A military coup in Damascus effectively ends the United Arab Republic, the union between Egypt and Syria.
- 1962 – The Paddington tram depot fire destroys 65 trams in Brisbane, Australia.
- 1971 – The Parliament of the United Kingdom passes the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 banning the medicinal use of cannabis.
- 1973 – The ITT Building in New York City is bombed in protest at ITT's alleged involvement in the September 11, 1973 coup d'état in Chile.
- 1975 – The Spaghetti House siege, in which nine people are taken hostage, takes place in London.
- 1994 – The car ferry MS Estonia sinks in Baltic Sea, killing 852 people.
- 1995 – Bob Denard and a group of mercenaries take the islands of Comoros in a coup.
- 1995 – Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat sign the Interim Agreement on the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.
- 1996 – Former president of Afghanistan Mohammad Najibullah is tortured and brutally murdered by the Taliban.
- 2000 – Al-Aqsa Intifada: Ariel Sharon visits Al Aqsa Mosque known to Jews as the Temple Mount in Jerusalem.
- 2008 – SpaceX launches the first private spacecraft, the Falcon 1 into orbit.
- 2009 – The military junta leading Guinea, headed by Captain Moussa Dadis Camara, raped, killed, and wounded protesters during a protest rally in a stadium called Stade du 28 Septembre.
[edit] Births
- 551 BC – Confucius, Chinese philosopher (d. 479)
- 1330 – Nicolas Flamel, French scrivener, manuscript-seller, and alchemist (d. 1418)
- 1493 – Agnolo Firenzuola, Italian poet (d. 1545)
- 1605 – Ismaël Bullialdus, French astronomer (d. 1694)
- 1667 – Asano Naganori, Japanese warlord (d. 1701)
- 1681 – Johann Mattheson, German composer (d. 1764)
- 1705 – Henry Fox, 1st Baron Holland, English statesman (d. 1774)
- 1705 – Johann Peter Kellner, German organist and composer (d. 1772)
- 1725 – Arthur Guinness, Irish brewer, founded Guinness (d. 1803)
- 1746 – Sir William Jones, English philologist (d. 1794)
- 1792 – Johann Georg Hiedler, Grandfather of Adolf Hitler (d. 1857)
- 1803 – Prosper Mérimée, French author (d. 1870)
- 1809 – Alvan Wentworth Chapman, American physician and botanist (d. 1899)
- 1819 – Narcís Monturiol i Estarriol, Catalan intellectual, artist and engineer, inventor of the first combustion engine-driven submarine, which was propelled by an early form of air-independent propulsion (d. 1885)
- 1821 – Jonathan Clarkson Gibbs, American politician (d. 1874)
- 1823 – Alexandre Cabanel, French painter (d. 1889)
- 1824 – Francis Turner Palgrave, British critic and poet (d. 1897)
- 1835 – Sai Baba of Shirdi (d. 1918)
- 1836 – Thomas Crapper, English inventor (d. 1910)
- 1841 – Georges Clemenceau, French politician (d. 1929)
- 1852 – Henri Moissan, French chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1907)
- 1856 – Kate Douglas Wiggin, American children's author (d. 1923)
- 1860 – Paul Ulrich Villard, the French chemist and physicist who discovered gamma rays (d. 1934)
- 1861 – Amélie of Orléans, queen of Portugal (d. 1951)
- 1867 – Hiranuma Kiichirō, Prime Minister of Japan (d. 1952)
- 1877 – Walter Thijssen, Dutch rower (d. 1943)
- 1877 – Albert Young, American welterweight boxer (d. 1940)
- 1878 – Joseph Ruddy, American freestyle swimmer and water polo player (d. 1962)
- 1881 – Pedro de Cordoba, American actor (d. 1950)
- 1887 – Avery Brundage, American athlete and sports official (d. 1975)
- 1889 – Jack Fournier, American baseball player (d. 1973)
- 1891 – Myrtle Gonzalez, American actress (d. 1918)
- 1893 – Giannis Skaribas, Greek writer and dramatist (d. 1984)
- 1898 – Carl Clauberg, Nazi concentration camp doctor (d. 1957)
- 1899 – Alice de Janzé, American heiress (d. 1941)
- 1900 – Joe Falcon, Cajun accordion player (d. 1965)
- 1901 – William S. Paley, American radio and television executive (d. 1990)
- 1901 – Ed Sullivan, American television show host (d. 1974)
- 1905 – Max Schmeling, German boxer (d. 2005)
- 1907 – Bhagat Singh, Indian Freedom Fighter (d. 1931)
- 1907 – Heikki Savolainen, Finnish gymnast (d. 1997)
- 1909 – Al Capp, American cartoonist (d. 1979)
- 1910 – Diosdado Macapagal, 9th President of the Philippines (d. 1997)
- 1910 – Wenceslao Vinzons, Filipino politician and resistance leader (d. 1942)
- 1913 – Warja Honegger-Lavater, Swiss artist and illustrator (d. 2007)
- 1915 – Ethel Rosenberg, Soviet spy, (d. 1953)
- 1916 – Peter Finch, English-born actor (d. 1977)
- 1916 – Olga Lepeshinskaya, Soviet ballerina (d. 2008)
- 1918 – Ángel Labruna, Argentinian football player and coach (d. 1983)
- 1918 – Arnold Stang, American comic actor (d. 2009)
- 1919 – Doris Singleton, American actress (d. 2012)
- 1923 – John Scott, 9th Duke of Buccleuch, British politician (d. 2007)
- 1923 – William Windom, American actor (d. 2012)
- 1923 – Tuli Kupferberg, American counterculture poet, author, cartoonist, pacifist anarchist, publisher and co-founder of the band The Fugs (d. 2010)
- 1924 – Marcello Mastroianni, Italian actor (d. 1996)
- 1924 – Rudolf Barshai, Soviet/Russian conductor and violist (d. 2010)
- 1925 – Seymour Cray, American computer scientist (d. 1996)
- 1925 – Cromwell Everson, South African composer (d. 1991)
- 1925 – Frank Latimore, American actor (d. 1998)
- 1926 – Jerry Clower, American comedian (d. 1998)
- 1928 – Koko Taylor, American blues musician, popularly known as the "Queen of the Blues" (d. 2009)
- 1929 – Lata Mangeshkar, Indian playback singer
- 1930 – Immanuel Wallerstein, American sociologist
- 1932 – Víctor Jara, Chilean folk singer and activist (d. 1973)
- 1933 – Miguel Berrocal, Spanish sculptor (d. 2006)
- 1933 – Johnny "Country" Mathis, American country singer (d. 2011)
- 1934 – Brigitte Bardot, French actress
- 1934 – Janet Munro, British actress (d. 1972)
- 1935 – Ronald Lacey, British actor (d. 1991)
- 1935 – Heather Sears, British actress (d. 1994)
- 1936 – Emmett Chapman, jazz musician best known as the inventor of the Chapman Stick
- 1937 – Alice Mahon, English politician and labor leader
- 1937 – Rod Roddy, American television announcer (d. 2003)
- 1938 – Ben E. King, American soul singer
- 1939 – Elbridge Bryant, American tenor (The Temptations) (d. 1975)
- 1939 – Stuart Kauffman, American biologist
- 1939 – Rudolph Walker, British actor
- 1941 – Edmund Stoiber, German politician
- 1942 – Marshall Bell, American actor
- 1942 – Pierre Clémenti, French actor (d. 1999)
- 1942 – Tim Maia, Brazilian singer (d. 1998)
- 1942 – Edward "Little Buster" Forehand, soul and blues musician (d. 2006)
- 1943 – Warren Lieberfarb, American media executive
- 1943 – Nick St. Nicholas, Canadian musician (Steppenwolf)
- 1943 – J. T. Walsh, American actor (d. 1998)
- 1944 – Marcia Muller, American author
- 1945 – Marielle Goitschel, French alpine skier
- 1945 – Manolis Rasoulis, Greek lyricist (d. 2011)
- 1945 – Fusako Shigenobu, Japanese Red Army Founder
- 1946 – Jeffrey Jones, American actor
- 1946 – Helen Shapiro, English singer
- 1947 – Bob Carr, Australian politician
- 1947 – Sheikh Hasina, Bangladeshi politician
- 1948 – Panagiotis Adraktas, Greek politician
- 1949 – Jim Henshaw, Canadian actor and writer
- 1950 – Laurie Lewis, American musician
- 1950 – John Sayles, American director and screenwriter
- 1951 – Wei Chen, Canadian journalist
- 1951 – Norton Buffalo, singer-songwriter, country and blues harmonica player, record producer (d. 2009)
- 1952 – Efthimis Kioumourtzoglou, Greek basketball coach
- 1952 – Sylvia Kristel, Dutch actress
- 1954 – Steve Largent, American football player and U.S. Congressman
- 1954 – George Lynch, American musician (Dokken, Lynch Mob)
- 1955 – Stéphane Dion, Canadian politician
- 1955 – Kenny Kirkland, piano & keyboard player, member of Buckshot LeFonque (d. 1998)
- 1957 – C. J. Chenier, Zydeco musician
- 1959 – Ron Fellows, Canadian race car driver
- 1959 – Steve Hytner, American actor
- 1959 – Dantes Tsitsi, Nauruan politician
- 1960 – Frank Hammerschlag, German footballer
- 1960 – Jennifer Rush, American pop singer
- 1961 – Quentin Kawananakoa, pretender to the throne of the Kingdom of Hawaii
- 1962 – Grant Fuhr, Canadian hockey player
- 1962 – Dietmar Schacht, German footballer
- 1962 – Chuck Taylor, American music journalist
- 1963 – Steve Blackman, American professional wrestler
- 1963 – Greg Weisman, American writer and animation producer.
- 1964 – Claudio Borghi, Argentine football manager (Colo-Colo)
- 1964 – Laura Cerón, American actress
- 1964 – Gregor Fisken, British racing driver and businessman
- 1964 – Janeane Garofalo, American actress and comedian
- 1964 – Paul Jewell, English football manager
- 1964 – Mārtiņš Roze, Latvian politician (d. 2012)
- 1965 – Jens Melzig, German footballer
- 1966 – Maria Canals Barrera, American actress, singer
- 1966 – Ginger Fish, American musician (Marilyn Manson)
- 1966 – Puri Jagannadh, Indian film director
- 1966 – Leilani Sarelle, American Actress
- 1967 – Mira Sorvino, American actress
- 1967 – Moon Unit Zappa, American singer and actress
- 1968 – Mika Häkkinen, Finnish race car driver
- 1968 – Rob Moroso, American NASCAR driver (d. 1990)
- 1968 – Naomi Watts, English-born Australian actress
- 1969 – Marcel Dost, Dutch decathlete
- 1969 – Mark Everett, American fugitive (d. 2008)
- 1969 – Ben Greenman, American author
- 1969 – Éric Lapointe, Canadian singer
- 1969 – Nico Vaesen, Belgian footballer
- 1970 – Kimiko Date-Krumm, Japanese tennis player
- 1970 – Mike DeJean, American baseball player
- 1970 – Gualter Salles, Brazilian racing driver
- 1971 – Joseph Arthur, American singer-songwriter
- 1971 – Alan Wright, English footballer
- 1971 – A. J. Croce, American singer-songwriter and piano player
- 1972 – Dita Von Teese, American burlesque artist
- 1973 – Jori Hulkkonen, Finnish electronic musician
- 1973 – Brian Rafalski, American ice hockey player
- 1974 – Marco Di Loreto, Italian footballer
- 1974 – Mariya Kiselyova, Russian swimmer
- 1974 – Joonas Kolkka, Finnish footballer
- 1974 – John Light, English actor
- 1974 – Shane Webcke, Australian rugby league footballer
- 1975 – Stuart Clark, Australian cricketer
- 1975 – Lenny Krayzelburg, American swimmer
- 1976 – Ali Asel, Kuwaiti footballer
- 1976 – Fedor Emelianenko, Russian mixed martial artist
- 1977 – Ireneusz Marcinkowski, Polish footballer
- 1977 – Se Ri Pak, Korean golfer
- 1978 – Bushido, German rapper
- 1979 – Bam Margera, American skateboarder
- 1981 – José Calderón, Spanish basketball player
- 1981 – Melissa Claire Egan, American actress
- 1981 – Gül Gölge, Turkish model and actress
- 1981 – Jorge Guagua, Ecuadorian footballer
- 1981 – Iracema Trevisan, Brazilian musician (CSS)
- 1982 – Aleksandr Anyukov, Russian footballer
- 1982 – Abhinav Bindra, Indian shooter
- 1982 – Ray Emery, Canadian hockey player
- 1982 – Ranbir Kapoor, Indian actor
- 1982 – Nolwenn Leroy, French singer
- 1982 – Emeka Okafor, American basketball player
- 1982 – Dustin Penner, Canadian hockey player
- 1982 – Anderson Varejão, Brazilian basketball player
- 1982 – St. Vincent, American multi-instrumentalist singer-songwriter
- 1983 – Stefan Moore, English footballer
- 1983 – John Schwalger, New Zealand rugby union footballer
- 1983 – Mary Kom, Indian Boxer
- 1984 – Melody Thornton, American singer and dancer (Pussycat Dolls)
- 1984 – Mathieu Valbuena, French footballer
- 1984 – Ryan Zimmerman, American baseball player
- 1985 – Alina Ibragimova, Russian violinist
- 1985 – Shindong, Korean Singer (Super Junior)
- 1986 – Andrés Guardado, Mexican footballer
- 1987 – Pierre Becken, German footballer
- 1987 – Hilary Duff, American actress and singer
- 1987 – Chloë Hanslip, English violinist
- 1988 – Marin Čilić, Croatian tennis player
- 1988 – Esmée Denters, Dutch singer
- 1988 – Aleks Vrteski, Australian soccer player
- 1989 – Mark Randall, English footballer
- 1990 – Kirsten Prout, Canadian actress
- 1992 – Skye McCole Bartusiak, American actress
- 1993 – Jodie Williams, British athlete
- 2000 – Frankie Jonas, American actor
[edit] Deaths
- 48 BC – Pompey the Great, Roman general and politician (b. 106 BC)
- 876 – Louis the German, King of Eastern Francia (b. 804)
- 935 – Wenceslaus I, Duke of Bohemia (b. 907)
- 1104 – Pedro I, king of Aragon and Navarre (b. 1068)
- 1197 – Henry VI, Holy Roman Emperor (b. 1165)
- 1429 – Cymburgis of Masovia, wife of Duke Ernest of Austria
- 1582 – George Buchanan, Scottish historian (b. 1506)
- 1618 – Joshua Sylvester, English poet (b. 1563)
- 1687 – Francis Turretin, Swiss theologian (b. 1623)
- 1694 – Gabriel Mouton, French scientist (b. 1618)
- 1702 – Robert Spencer, 2nd Earl of Sunderland, English statesman (b. 1640)
- 1742 – Jean Baptiste Massillon, French churchman (b. 1663)
- 1781 – William Henry Nassau de Zuylestein, 4th Earl of Rochford, British diplomat and statesman (b. 1717)
- 1829 – Nikolay Nikolayevich Raevsky, Russian general (b. 1771)
- 1844 – Pyotr Aleksandrovich Tolstoy, Russian general and statesman (b. 1769)
- 1873 – Émile Gaboriau, French writer and journalist (b. 1832)
- 1891 – Herman Melville, American novelist (b. 1819)
- 1895 – Louis Pasteur, French scientist (b. 1822)
- 1914 – Richard Sears, American businessman (b. 1863)
- 1915 – Saitō Hajime, Japanese samurai (b. 1844)
- 1918 – Georg Simmel, German sociologist and philosopher (b. 1858)
- 1918 – Freddie Stowers, American soldier (b. 1896)
- 1935 – William Kennedy Dickson, Scottish inventor (b. 1860)
- 1938 – Charles Duryea, American automobile manufacturer (b. 1861)
- 1943 – Sam Ruben, American chemist (b. 1913)
- 1949 – Chrysanthus, Greek orthodox Archbishop of Athens (b. 1881)
- 1953 – Edwin Hubble, American astronomer (b. 1889)
- 1956 – William Edward Boeing, American aviation manufacturer (b. 1881)
- 1957 – Luis Cluzeau Mortet, Uruguayan composer and musician (b. 1888)
- 1959 – Rudolf Caracciola, German race car driver (b. 1901)
- 1964 – Harpo Marx, American comedian and actor (b. 1888)
- 1966 – André Breton, French poet (b. 1896)
- 1970 – John Dos Passos, American novelist (b. 1896)
- 1970 – Gamal Abdel Nasser, Egyptian statesman (b. 1918)
- 1972 – Rory Storm, English singer-songwriter (b. 1938)
- 1978 – Pope John Paul I (b. 1912)
- 1979 – John Herbert Chapman, Canadian physicist (b. 1921)
- 1981 – Rómulo Betancourt, Venezuelan politician (b. 1908)
- 1982 – Mabel Albertson, American actress (b. 1901)
- 1989 – Ferdinand Marcos, Filipino politician (b. 1917)
- 1991 – Miles Davis, American jazz trumpeter (b. 1926)
- 1993 – Peter De Vries, American novelist (b. 1910)
- 1993 – Fraser MacPherson, Canadian jazz saxophonist (b. 1928)
- 1993 – Alexander A. Drabik, American soldier (b. 1910)
- 1994 – Urmas Alender, Estonian singer and musician (b. 1953)
- 1994 – José Francisco Ruiz Massieu, Mexican politician (b. 1946)
- 1994 – Harry Saltzman, American film producer (b. 1915)
- 1996 – Mohammad Najibullah, Afghanistani president (b. 1947)
- 1999 – Escott Reid, Canadian diplomat (b. 1905)
- 2000 – Pierre Trudeau, 15th Prime Minister of Canada (b. 1919)
- 2002 – Patsy Mink, American politician (b. 1927)
- 2002 – Hartland Molson, Canadian businessman, politician, and sports executive (b. 1907)
- 2003 – Althea Gibson, American tennis player (b. 1927)
- 2003 – Elia Kazan, Greek-born American film director (b. 1909)
- 2003 – George Odlum, Saint Lucian politician (b. 1934)
- 2004 – Geoffrey Beene, American fashion designer (b. 1924)
- 2004 – Scott Muni, American disc jockey (b. 1930)
- 2005 – Constance Baker Motley, American judge (b. 1921)
- 2007 – René Desmaison, French mountaineer (b. 1930)
- 2007 – Wally Parks, American car racing executive (b. 1913)
- 2009 – Ulf Larsson, Swedish actor (b. 1956)
- 2009 – Guillermo Endara, Panamanian politician (b. 1936)
- 2010 – Kurt Albert, German mountaineer (b. 1954)
- 2010 – Dolores Wilson, American opera singer (b. 1928)
[edit] Holidays and observances
