March 28

March 28 is the 87th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (88th in Leap years). There are 278 days remaining.

Events

• 193 – Roman Emperor Pertinax was assassinated by Praetorian Guards, who then sold the throne in an auction to Didius Julianus.
• 845 – Paris is sacked by Viking raiders, probably under Ragnar Lodbrok, who collects a huge ransom in exchange for leaving.
• 1776 – Juan Bautista de Anza finds the site for the Presidio of San Francisco.
• 1795 – Partitions of Poland: The Duchy of Courland, a northern fief of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, ceased to exist and became part of Imperial Russia.
• 1802 – Heinrich Wilhelm Matthäus Olbers discovered 2 Pallas, the second asteroid known to man.
• 1809 – Battle of Medelin
• 1834 – The United States Senate censures President Andrew Jackson for his actions in defunding the Second Bank of the United States.
• 1854 – Crimean War: United Kingdom and France declare war on Russia.
• 1860 – First Taranaki War: The Battle of Waireka broke out.
• 1862 – American Civil War: Battle of Glorieta Pass – In New Mexico, Union forces succeed in stopping the Confederate invasion of New Mexico territory. The battle began on March 26.
• 1910 – Henri Fabre becomes the first person to fly a seaplane after taking off from a water runway near Martigues, France.
• 1920 – Actors Douglas Fairbanks and Mary Pickford marry.
• 1930 – Constantinople and Angora change their names to Istanbul and Ankara.
• 1939 – Spanish Civil War: Generalissimo Francisco Franco conquers Madrid
• 1941 – World War II: Battle of Cape Matapan – In the Mediterranean Sea, British Admiral Andrew Browne Cunningham leads the Royal Navy in the destruction of three major Italian battleships and two destroyers.
• 1942 – World War II: In occupied France, British naval forces raid the German-occupied port of St. Nazaire.
• 1946 – Cold War: The United States State Department releases the Acheson-Lilienthal Report, outlining a plan for the international control of nuclear power.
• 1947 – The last episode of the Buck Rogers in the 25th Century airs on radio.
• 1964 – The first pirate radio station, Radio Caroline, is established.
• 1978 – US Supreme Court hands down 5–3 decision in Stump v. Sparkman, 435 U.S. 349, a controversial case involving involuntary sterilization and judicial immunity.
• 1979 – In Pennsylvania, a pump in the reactor cooling system fails at Three Mile Island, resulting in the evaporation of some contaminated water causing a nuclear meltdown.
• 1990 – President George H. W. Bush posthumously awards Jesse Owens the Congressional Gold Medal.
• 1994 – In South Africa, Zulus and African National Congress supporters battle in central Johannesburg resulting in eighteen deaths.
• 2002 – The exhibit "The Italians: Three Centuries of Italian Art" opens at the National Gallery of Australia.
• 2005 – The 2005 Sumatran earthquake rocks Indonesia, and at magnitude 8.7 is the second strongest earthquake since 1965.

Births

• 1472 – Fra Bartolommeo, Italian artist (d. 1517)
• 1515 – Saint Teresa of Avila, Spanish Carmelite nun and poet (d. 1582)
• 1569 – Ranuccio I Farnese, Duke of Parma (d. 1622)
• 1609 – King Frederick III of Denmark (d. 1670)
• 1760 – Thomas Clarkson, American abolitionist
• 1819 – Sir Joseph Bazalgette, civil engineer (d. 1891)
• 1862 – Aristide Briand, politician, winner of the Nobel Prize in peace 1926 (d. 1932)
• 1868 – Maxim Gorky, Russian author (d. 1936)
• 1871 – Willem Mengelberg, Dutch conductor (d. 1951)
• 1890 – Paul Whiteman, bandleader (d. 1967)
• 1895 – Spencer W. Kimball, president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (d. 1985)
• 1897 – Sepp Herberger, football coach (d. 1977)
• 1899 – Harold B. Lee, president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (d. 1973)
• 1902 – Dame Flora Robson, actress (d. 1984)
• 1903 – Rudolf Serkin, Austrian pianist (d. 1991)
• 1903 – Charles Starrett, American actor (d. 1986)
• 1904 – Werner Bahlsen, biscuit manufacturer (d. 1985)
• 1905 – Marlin Perkins, naturalist and television host (d. 1986)
• 1907 – Irving "Swifty" Lazar, Hollywood agent (d. 1993)
• 1909 – Nelson Algren, American writer (d. 1981)
• 1910 – Jimmie Dodd, television actor (d. 1964)
• 1910 – Queen Ingrid of Denmark (d. 2000)
• 1914 – Edmund Muskie, American politician (d. 1996)
• 1915 – Jay Livingston, American composer and songwriter (d. 2001)
• 1921 – Dirk Bogarde, actor (d. 1999)
• 1924 – Freddie Bartholomew, actor (d. 1992)
• 1928 – Zbigniew Brzezinski, U.S. National Security Advisor
• 1935 – Michael Parkinson, British broadcaster and talk show host
• 1936 – Mario Vargas Llosa, author and politician
• 1941 – Jim Turner, American football player
• 1942 – Neil Kinnock, British statesman
• 1942 – Mike Newell, British film director
• 1942 – Jerry Sloan, American basketball coach
• 1943 – Conchata Ferrell, American actress
• 1944 – Rick Barry, basketball player
• 1944 – Ken Howard, American actor
• 1948 – Dianne Weist, actress
• 1951 – Karen Kain, Canadian ballerina
• 1953 – Melchior Ndadaye, first President of Burundi (d. 1993)
• 1955 – Reba McEntire, American country music singer and actress
• 1958 – Curt Hennig, American professional wrestler (d. 2003)
• 1960 – Chris Barrie, British comedy actor and impressionist
• 1962 – Jure Franko, Slovenian alpine skier
• 1968 – Iris Chang, author (d. 2004)
• 1970 – Vince Vaughn, actor
• 1971 – Mr. Cheeks, rapper
• 1974 – Mark King, English snooker player
• 1975 – Richard Kelly, film director
• 1977 – Devon, film actress
• 1981 – Julia Stiles, actress

Deaths

• 193 – Pertinax, Roman Emperor (assassination) (b. 126)
• 1285 – Pope Martin IV (b. c. 1210)
• 1794 – Marquis de Condorcet, mathematician, philosopher, and political scientist (b. 1743)
• 1868 – James Thomas Brudenell, 7th Earl of Cardigan, British military leader (b. 1797)
• 1870 – George Henry Thomas, American general (b. 1816)
• 1881 – Modest Mussorgsky, Russian composer (b. 1839)
• 1910 – David Josiah Brewer, U.S. Supreme Court justice (b. 1837)
• 1941 – Virginia Woolf, English writer (b. 1882)
• 1943 – Sergei Rachmaninoff, Russian composer and pianist (b. 1873)
• 1953 – Jim Thorpe, athlete (b. 1887)
• 1958 – W.C. Handy, blues composer (b. 1873)
• 1969 – Dwight D. Eisenhower, U.S. general, 34th President of the United States (b. 1890)
• 1979 – Emmett Kelly, clown (b. 1898)
• 1980 – Dick Haymes, singer
• 1985 – Marc Chagall, Russian-born painter (b. 1887)
• 1987 – Maria von Trapp, Austrian-born singer
• 1987 – Patrick Troughton, British actor
• 1995 – Hugh O'Connor, American actor
• 2000 – Anthony Powell, British novelist (b. 1905)
• 2001 – Moe Koffman, Canadian jazz musician
• 2004 – Art James, American game show host
• 2004 – Peter Ustinov, British actor

External links

• BBC: On This Day

March 27 – March 29 – February 28 – April 28 — listing of all days