January 28

Events

• 1521 - Diet of Worms begins, lasting until May 25.
• 1547 - 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 - Russiann expedition led by Fabian Gottlieb von Bellingshausen and Mikhail Petrovich Lazarev approaches the Antarctic coast.
• 1846 - Battle of Aliwal, India won by British troops commanded by Sir Harry Smith.
• 1855 - The first locomotive runs from the Atlantic to the 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 U.S. Congress creates the United States Coast Guard.
• 1916 - Louis D. Brandeis becomes the first Jew appointed to the United States Supreme Court.
• 1917 - United States ends search for Pancho Villa.
• 1918 - Finnish Civil War: 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.
• 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 explodes just after takeoff killing all seven astronauts onboard.
• 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: Lord Hutton publishes his report into the death of UN weapons inspector Dr. David Kelly.
  

  Births

• 1600 - Pope Clement IX (d. 1669)
• 1611 - Johannes Hevelius, atronomer (d. 1687)
• 1706 - John Baskerville, printer, typefounder (d. 1775)
• 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 'Chinese' Gordon, British soldier and administrator (d. 1885)
• 1841 - Henry Morton Stanley, explorer, journalist (d. 1904)
• 1853 - José Martí, revolutionary (d. 1895)
• 1857 - William Seward Burroughs, inventor of the calculator (d. 1898)
• 1873 - Colette, writer (d. 1954)
• 1879 - Francis Picabia, painter, poet (d. 1953)
• 1880 - Herbert Strudwick, champion Surrey and England wicket-keeper (d. 1970).
• 1884 - Auguste Piccard, physicist (d. 1962)
• 1887 - Arthur Rubinstein, Polish pianist, conductor (d. 1982)
• 1890 - Robert Stroud, the "Birdman of Alcatraz" (d. 1963)
• 1892 - Ernst Lubitsch, film director (d. 1947)
• 1900 - Heinrich Kesten, author (d. 1996)
• 1910 - John Banner, Austrian actor (d. 1973)
• 1912 - Jackson Pollock, painter, initiator of Dripping painting (d. 1956)
• 1919 - Francis S. Gabreski, American flying ace (d. 2002)
• 1923 - Ivo Robić, singer - Croatia, Mister Morgen (d. 2001)
• 1927 - Hiroshi Teshigahara, director (d. 2001)
• 1929 - Claes Oldenburg, Swedish-American artist
• 1929 - Acker Bilk, musician
• 1933 - Susan Sontag, essayist, novelist, activist (d. 2004)
• 1935 - David Lodge, author
• 1936 - Alan Alda, American actor, writer and director
• 1944 - John Tavener, English composer
• 1945 - Marthe Keller, actress
• 1948 - Charles Taylor, former leader of Liberia
• 1948 - Mikhail Baryshnikov, Russian dancer
• 1950 - Barbi Benton, actress
• 1960 - Robert von Dassanowsky, cultural historian, writer, producer
• 1962 - Meister Eduard Gröller, visualizer
• 1962 - Sam Phillips, singer
• 1968 - Sarah McLachlan, singer/songwriter
• 1968 - Rakim, rapper
• 1968 - DJ Muggs, musician (Cypress Hill)
• 1969 - Kathryn Morris, American actress
• 1974 - Tony Delk, basketball player
• 1976 - Mark Madsen, NBA basketball player
• 1977 - Daunte Culpepper, American football quarterback
• 1977 - Joey Fatone, singer (*NSYNC)
• 1978 - Gianluigi Buffon, Italian football star
• 1979 - Pixie (glamour model)
• 1980 - Nick Carter, singer (Backstreet Boys)
• 1981 - Elijah Wood, American actor
  

  Deaths

• 814 - Charlemagne (b. 742)
• 1547 - King Henry VIII of England (b. 1491)
• 1596 - Sir Francis Drake, explorer, soldier (b. ca. 1540)
• 1599 - Cristofano Malvezzi, Italian composer.
• 1621 - Pope Paul V (b. 1550)
• 1687 - Johannes Hevelius, astronomer (b. 1611)
• 1754 - Ludvig Holberg, historian and writer (b. 1684)
• 1903 - Augusta Holmčs, French composer
• 1912 - Gustave de Molinari, Belgian economist
• 1939 - William Butler Yeats, writer (b. 1865)
• 1949 - Jean-Pierre Wimille, race car driver (b. 1908)
• 1953 - James Scullin, ninth Prime Minister of Australia (b. 1876)
• 1960 - Zora Neale Hurston, author (b. 1891)
• 1965 - Maxime Weygand, soldier (b. 1867)
• 1965 - Tich Freeman, record breaking Kent leg spinner (b. 1888)
• 1971 - Donald Winnicott, British psychoanalyst (b. 1896)
• 1973 - John Banner, Austrian actor
• 1977:
• *Freddie Prinze, actor (b. 1954)
• *Burt Mustin, American actor
• 1983 - Frank Forde, fifteenth Prime Minister of Australia (b. 1890)
• 1986 - Crew of Space Shuttle Challenger:
• *Francis R. Scobee (b. 1939)
• *Michael J. Smith (b. 1945)
• *Judith Resnik (b. 1949)
• *Ellison Onizuka (b. 1946)
• *Ronald McNair (b. 1950)
• *Greg Jarvis (b. 1944)
• *Christa McAuliffe (b. 1948)
• 1988 - Klaus Fuchs, German physicist
• 1991 - Red Grange, American football player
• 1994 - Hal Smith, American actor and voice-over actor
• 1996:
• *Jerry Siegel, cartoonist, creator of Superman (b. 1914)
• *Joseph Brodsky, poet (b. 1940)
• 2001 - Curt Blefary, Major League Baseball player (b. 1943)
• 2002 - Astrid Lindgren, author (b. 1907)
• 2004:
• *Don Cholito, radio host, hosted the longest running uninterrupted radio show (b. 1923)
• *Elroy Hirsch, American football player
• *Lloyd M. Bucher, US Navy officer
• 2005 - Jim Capaldi, singer and songwriter (b. 1944)
• 2005 - Karen Lancaume, pornographic actress (b. 1973)
  

  Holidays and observances

• Catholicism - Feast day of St. Thomas Aquinas

  External links

• BBC: On This Day