December 28

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MMXI

December 28 in recent years

2010 (Tuesday)

2009 (Monday)

2008 (Sunday)

2007 (Friday)

2006 (Thursday)

2005 (Wednesday)

2004 (Tuesday)

2003 (Sunday)

2002 (Saturday)

2001 (Friday)

December 28 is the 362nd day of the year (363rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are three days remaining until the end of the year.

Events

• 1065 – Westminster Abbey is consecrated.
• 1308 – The reign of Emperor Hanazono, emperor of Japan, begins.
• 1612 – Galileo Galilei becomes the first astronomer to observe the planet Neptune, although he mistakenly catalogued it as a fixed star.
• 1768 – King Taksin's coronation achieved through conquest as a king of Thailand and established Thonburi as a capital.
• 1795 – Construction of Yonge Street, formerly recognized as the longest street in the world, begins in York, Upper Canada (present-day Toronto, Ontario).
• 1832 – John C. Calhoun becomes the first Vice President of the United States to resign.
• 1835 – Osceola leads his Seminole warriors in Florida into the Second Seminole War against the United States Army.
• 1836 – South Australia and Adelaide are founded.
• 1836 – Spain recognizes the independence of Mexico.
• 1846 – Iowa is admitted as the 29th U.S. state.
• 1867 – United States claims Midway Atoll, the first territory annexed outside Continental limits.
• 1879 – The Tay Bridge Disaster: The central part of the Tay Rail Bridge in Dundee, Scotland collapses as a train passes over it, killing 75.
• 1885 – Indian National Congress a political party of India is founded in Bombay, British India.
• 1895 – The Lumière brothers perform for their first paying audience at the Grand Cafe in Boulevard des Capucines, marking the debut of the cinema.
• 1895 – Wilhelm Röntgen publishes a paper detailing his discovery of a new type of radiation, which later will be known as x-rays.
• 1908 – A magnitude 7.2 earthquake rocks Messina, Sicily killing over 75,000.
• 1912 – The first municipally owned streetcars take to the streets in San Francisco, California.
• 1918 – Constance Markievicz while detained in Holloway prison, became the first woman to be elected MP to the British House of Commons.
• 1935 – Pravda publishes a letter by Pavel Postyshev, who revives New Year tree tradition in the Soviet Union.
• 1943 – World 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.
• 1944 – Maurice Richard becomes the first player to score 8 points in one game of NHL ice hockey.
• 1945 – The United States Congress officially recognizes the Pledge of Allegiance.
• 1948 – The DC-3 airliner NC16002 disappears 50 miles south of Miami, Florida.
• 1950 – The Peak District becomes the United Kingdom's first National Park.
• 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.
• 1973 – The Endangered Species Act is passed in the United States.
• 1974 – Senegalese marxist group Reenu-Rew founds the political movement And-Jëf at a clandestine congress.
• 1978 – With 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.
• 1989 – A magnitude 5.6 earthquake hits Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia, killing 13 people.
• 1990 – Probotector for the NES is released.
• 2000 – U.S. retail giant Montgomery Ward announces it is going out of business after 128 years.
• 2009 – 43 people die in a suicide bombing in Karachi, Pakistan, where Shia Muslims are observing the Day of Ashura.

Births

• 1164 – Emperor Rokujō of Japan (d. 1176)
• 1522 – Margaret of Austria, regent of the Netherlands (d. 1583)
• 1619 – Antoine Furetière, French writer (d. 1688)
• 1635 – Princess Elizabeth of England (d. 1650)
• 1655 – Charles Cornwallis, 3rd Baron Cornwallis, First Lord of the British Admiralty (d. 1698)
• 1665 – George FitzRoy, 1st Duke of Northumberland, British general (d. 1716)
• 1763 – John Molson, English-born Canadian brewer (d. 1836)
• 1778 – Franciszek Ksawery Drucki-Lubecki, Polish politician (d. 1846)
• 1842 – Calixa Lavallée, French-Canadian composer (O Canada) (d. 1891)
• 1856 – Woodrow Wilson, 28th President of the United States, Nobel laureate, and 34th Governor of New Jersey (d. 1924)
• 1866 – Szymon Askenazy, Polish historian and diplomat (d. 1935)
• 1879 – Billy Mitchell, American military aviation pioneer (d. 1936)
• 1882 – Arthur Stanley Eddington, British astronomer (d. 1944)
• 1888 – Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau, German film director (d. 1931)
• 1898 – Carl-Gustaf Rossby, Swedish meteorologist (d. 1957)
• 1898 – Shigematsu Sakaibara, Japanese admiral (d. 1947)
• 1899 – Eugeniusz Bodo, Polish actor (d. 1943)
• 1902 – Mortimer Adler, American philosopher (d. 2001)
• 1902 – Shen Congwen, Chinese writer (d. 1988)
• 1903 – Earl Hines, American musician (d. 1983)
• 1903 – John von Neumann, Hungarian-born mathematician (d. 1957)
• 1905 – Cliff Arquette, American actor (d. 1974)
• 1908 – Lew Ayres, American actor (d. 1996)
• 1910 – Billy Williams, American singer (d. 1972)
• 1913 – Lou Jacobi, Canadian actor (d. 2009)
• 1914 – Bernard Youens, English actor (d. 1984)
• 1914 – Bidia Dandaron, Buddhist author and teacher in the USSR (d. 1974)
• 1915 – Pops Staples, American musician (The Staple Singers) (d. 2000)
• 1921 – Johnny Otis, American musician
• 1922 – Stan Lee, American comic book writer
• 1924 – Milton Obote, President of Uganda (d. 2005)
• 1925 – Hildegard Knef, German actress (d. 2002)
• 1928 – Moe Koffman, Canadian musician (d. 2001)
• 1929 – Brian Redhead, British journalist (d. 1994)
• 1929 – Terry Sawchuk, Canadian hockey player (d. 1970)
• 1931 – Guy Debord, French writer (d. 1994)
• 1932 – Dhirubhai Ambani, Indian businessman (d. 2002)
• 1932 – Dorsey Burnette, American singer (d. 1979)
• 1932 – Roy Hattersley, British politician
• 1932 – Harry Howell, Canadian hockey player
• 1932 – Nichelle Nichols, American actress and singer
• 1932 – Manuel Puig, Argentine writer (d. 1990)
• 1933 – John Y. Brown, Jr., American politician and 55th Governor of Kentucky
• 1934 – Rudi Faßnacht, German football manager (d. 2000)
• 1934 – Yujiro Ishihara, Japanese actor (d. 1987)
• 1934 – Dame Maggie Smith, British actress
• 1936 – Jacques Mesrine, French criminal (d. 1979)
• 1936 – Lawrence Schiller, American journalist
• 1937 – Ratan Tata, Indian industrialist
• 1938 – Lagumot Harris, Nauruan politician and former President (d. 1999)
• 1938 – Dick Sudhalter, American jazz musician (d. 2008)
• 1939 – Philip Anschutz, American businessman
• 1940 – Don Francisco, Chilean television host
• 1942 – Roger Swerts, Belgian cyclist
• 1943 – Keith Floyd, British chef (d. 2009)
• 1943 – David Peterson, Canadian politician
• 1943 – Juan Luis Cipriani Thorne, Peruvian cardinal
• 1943 – Richard Whiteley, British television presenter (d. 2005)
• 1944 – Johnny Isakson, American politician
• 1944 – Kary Mullis, American chemist, Nobel laureate
• 1945 – Birendra of Nepal (d. 2001)
• 1946 – Edgar Winter, American musician
• 1946 – Mike Beebe, American politician and 45th Governor of Arkansas
• 1946 – Pierre Falardeau, Quebec film director
• 1946 – Tim Johnson, American politician, senior senator from South Dakota
• 1947 – Aurelio Rodríguez, Mexican baseball player (d. 2000)
• 1948 – Mary Weiss, American Singer (The Shangri-Las)
• 1950 – Øivind Blunck, Norwegian comedian and actor
• 1950 – Alex Chilton, American musician (The Box Tops, Big Star) (d. 2010)
• 1950 – Rainer Maria Latzke, German mural artist
• 1950 – Hugh McDonald, American musician (Bon Jovi)
• 1951 – Ian Buruma, Anglo-Dutch scholar and writer on Japan and the Far East
• 1952 – Arun Jaitley, Indian Politician
• 1953 – Richard Clayderman, French pianist
• 1953 – Tatsumi Fujinami, Japanese professional wrestler
• 1953 – Charlie Pierce, American writer
• 1954 – Gayle King, American magazine editor
• 1954 – Lanny Poffo, American professional wrestler
• 1954 – Denzel Washington, American actor
• 1955 – Liu Xiaobo, Chinese human rights activist, Nobel laureate
• 1956 – Nigel Kennedy, British violinist
• 1957 – Anne Sargeant, Australian netballer
• 1958 – Twila Paris, American singer
• 1959 – Ana Torroja, Spanish singer (Mecano)
• 1960 – Raymond Bourque, Canadian hockey player
• 1960 – James Caan, British-Pakistani entrepreneur
• 1960 – Melvin Turpin, American basketball player (d. 2010)
• 1961 – Kent Nielsen, Danish footballer and football coach
• 1962 – Melissa R. Kelly, former Maryland politician
• 1962 – Michel Petrucciani, French pianist (d. 1999)
• 1962 – Choi Soo Jong, South Korean actor
• 1962 – Niel van der Watt, South African composer
• 1962 – Rachel Z, American pianist
• 1964 – Maite Zúñiga, Spanish athlete
• 1965 – Allar Levandi, Estonian Nordic combined skier
• 1967 – Chris Ware, American cartoonist
• 1969 – Linus Torvalds, Finnish computer programmer
• 1970 – Elaine Hendrix, American actress
• 1970 – Francesca Le, American porn star
• 1971 – Benny Agbayani, American baseball player
• 1971 – Frank Sepe, American bodybuilder
• 1971 – William Gates, American basketball player
• 1972 – Roberto Palacios, Peruvian footballer
• 1972 – Patrick Rafter, Australian tennis player
• 1972 – Adam Vinatieri, American football player
• 1973 – Alex Dimitriades, Australian actor
• 1973 – Herborg Kråkevik, Norwegian singer and actress
• 1973 – Seth Meyers, American actor
• 1974 – Rob Niedermayer, Canadian-born ice-hockey player
• 1974 – Jason Ridge, American porn actor
• 1975 – B.J. Ryan, American baseball player
• 1976 – Igor Žiković, Croatian footballer
• 1977 – Shane Elford, Australian rugby league player
• 1978 – Chris Coyne, Australian footballer
• 1978 – John Legend, American musician
• 1979 – James Blake, American tennis player
• 1979 – Bill Hall, American baseball player
• 1979 – Senna Guemmour, German Singer (Monrose)
• 1979 – Noomi Rapace, Swedish actress
• 1979 – Bree Williamson, Canadian actress
• 1980 – Vanessa Ferlito, American actress
• 1980 – Lomana LuaLua, Congo footballer
• 1981 – Khalid Boulahrouz, Dutch footballer
• 1981 – Elizabeth Jordan Carr, first American test-tube baby
• 1981 – Sienna Miller, British actress
• 1981 – Frank Turner, English Singer-Songwriter
• 1981 – Mika Väyrynen, Finnish footballer
• 1981 – Narsha, Korean pop singer (Brown Eyed Girls)
• 1982 – Cedric Benson, American football player
• 1982 – Desiree Ortíz, Venezuelan model and television host
• 1982 – Ferry Rotinsulu, Indonesian footballer
• 1982 – François Gourmet, Belgian decathlete
• 1982 – Kevin Pereira, American television host
• 1983 – Mike He, Taiwanese actor
• 1984 – Leroy Lita, English footballer
• 1984 – Alex Lloyd, British racing driver
• 1985 – Kamani Hill, American footballer
• 1985 – Taryn Terrell, American wrestler/model
• 1986 – Tom Huddlestone, English footballer
• 1987 – Thomas Dekker, American actor
• 1989 – Mackenzie Rosman, American actress
• 1989 – Mohammad Jahanzaib, The Great Chussar
• 1990 – David Archuleta, American Idol runner-up, American singer
• 1995 – Sean Rielly
• 2001 – Madison De La Garza, American child actress
• 2002 – Kelsey Smith-Briggs, American murder victim (d. 2005)
• 1996 – Kyle

Deaths

• 300 – Theonas, Patriarch of Alexandria
• 1367 – Ashikaga Yoshiakira, Japanese shogun (b. 1330)
• 1446 – Antipope Clement VIII
• 1503 – Piero di Lorenzo de' Medici, ruler of Florence (b. 1471)
• 1558 – Hermann Finck, German composer (b. 1527)
• 1622 – Francis de Sales, Bishop of Geneva and saint (b. 1567)
• 1663 – Francesco Maria Grimaldi, Italian mathematician and physicist (b. 1618)
• 1671 – Johann Friedrich Gronovius, German classical scholar (b. 1611)
• 1694 – Queen Mary II of England (b. 1662), of the joint monarchy William and Mary
• 1703 – Mustafa II, Ottoman Sultan (b. 1664)
• 1706 – Pierre Bayle, French philosopher (b. 1647)
• 1708 – Joseph Pitton de Tournefort, French botanist (b. 1656)
• 1715 – William Carstares, Scottish minister (b. 1649)
• 1734 – Robert Roy MacGregor, Scottish folk hero (b. 1671)
• 1736 – Antonio Caldara, Italian composer (b. 1670)
• 1795 – Eugenio Espejo, Ecuadorian scientist (b. 1747)
• 1859 – Thomas Macaulay, British poet (b. 1800)
• 1872 – James Van Ness, Mayor of San Francisco (1855–1856) (b. 1808)
• 1897 – Rev. William Corby, American Catholic priest (b. 1833)
• 1900 – Alexandre de Serpa Pinto, Portuguese explorer (b. 1846)
• 1916 – Eduard Strauss, Austrian composer (b. 1835)
• 1917 – Alfred Edwin McKay, Canadian World War One flying ace (b. 1892)
• 1918 – Olavo Bilac, Brazilian poet (b. 1865)
• 1919 – Johannes Rydberg, Swedish physicist (b. 1854)
• 1924 – Léon Bakst, Russian artist (b. 1866)
• 1932 – Jack Blackham, Australian cricketer (b. 1854)
• 1937 – Maurice Ravel, French composer (b. 1875)
• 1938 – Florence Lawrence, Canadian actress (b. 1886)
• 1943 – Steve Evans, American baseball player (b. 1885)
• 1945 – Theodore Dreiser, American author (b. 1871)
• 1947 – King Victor Emmanuel III of Italy (b. 1869)
• 1949 – Jack Lovelock, New Zealand athlete (b. 1910)
• 1952 – Fletcher Henderson, American musician (b. 1897)
• 1959 – Ante Pavelić, leader of Nazi Germany puppet Independent State of Croatia (b. 1889)
• 1962 – Kathleen Clifford, American actress (b. 1887)
• 1963 – Paul Hindemith, German composer (b. 1895)
• 1967 – Katharine McCormick, American women's rights activist (b. 1875)
• 1971 – Max Steiner, Austrian-born American film music composer (b. 1888)
• 1976 – Katharine Byron, American politician (b. 1903)
• 1976 – Freddie King, American musician (b. 1934)
• 1981 – Allan Dwan, Canadian-born film director (b. 1885)
• 1983 – William Demarest, American actor (b. 1892)
• 1983 – Jimmy Demaret, American golfer (b. 1910)
• 1983 – Dennis Wilson, American musician (The Beach Boys) (b. 1944)
• 1984 – Sam Peckinpah, American film director (b. 1925)
• 1986 – Jan Nieuwenhuys, Dutch painter (b. 1922)
• 1989 – Hermann Oberth, German physicist (b. 1894)
• 1991 – Cassandra Harris, Australian actress (b. 1952)
• 1992 – Sal Maglie, American baseball player (b. 1917)
• 1993 – William L. Shirer, American journalist (b. 1904)
• 1994 – Jean-Louis Lévesque, French Canadian entrepreneur (b. 1911)
• 1999 – Clayton Moore, American actor (b. 1914)
• 2001 – Samuel A. Goldblith, American food scientist (b. 1919)
• 2001 – William X. Kienzle, American novelist (b. 1928)
• 2003 – Benjamin Hacker, American admiral (b. 1935)
• 2004 – Jerry Orbach, American actor (b. 1935)
• 2004 – Susan Sontag, American writer (b. 1933)
• 2006 – Jamal Karimi-Rad, Iranian Minister of Justice (b. 1956)
• 2007 – Aidin Nikkhah Bahrami, Iran national basketball team player (b. 1982)
• 2008 – Irene Lieblich, Polish-born painter (b. 1923)
• 2009 – James Owen "The Rev" Sullivan, American musician drummer and back-up vocalist of Avenged Sevenfold (b. 1981)
• 2010 – Billy Taylor, American musician (b. 1921)

Holidays and observances

• Christian Feast Day:
  • Abel (Coptic Church)
  • Caterina Volpicelli
  • Feast of the Holy Innocents or Childermas. In Spain and Latin American countries the festival is celebrated with pranks (inocentadas), similar to April Fools' Day. (Roman Catholic Church, Church of England, Lutheran Church)

• King Taksin Memorial Day (Thailand)
• Proclamation Day, celebration started on the day following Christmas. (South Australia)
• The fourth day of Christmas. (Western Christianity)

External links

• BBC: On This Day
• The New York Times: On This Day
• On This Day in Canada

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