Title: January 28 Content: ==Events== === Up to 1900 === * 98 - Trajan becomes Emperor of the Roman Empire. * 814 - Holy Roman Emperor Charlemagne dies. * 1393 - King Charles VI of France narrowly escapes death when several dancers' costumes catch fire during a masquerade ball. * 1521 - The Diet of Worms begins. * 1547 – As a nine-year-old, Edward VI becomes King of England, following the death of his father, King Henry VIII of England. * 1573 - Articles of the Warsaw Confederation are signed, sanctioning freedom of religion in Poland. * 1624 – Thomas Warner founds a colony on Saint Kitts. * 1724 – The Russian Academy of the Sciences is founded by Tsar Peter I of Russia. * 1754 – Horace Walpole coins the word serendipity in a letter to Horace Mann. * 1813 – Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen is first published. * 1820 – A Russian expedition led by Fabian Gottlieb von Bellingshausen first sights the Antarctic continent. * 1821 - Bellingshausen's Antarctic expedition discovers an island just off the coast of Antarctica, which later becomes known as Alexander Island. * 1841 – James Clark Ross' Antarctic expedition discovers the Ross Ice Shelf. * 1846 - The Battle of Aliwal in India is won by British forces under Harry Smith. * 1855 – In Panama, a locomotive travels from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean for the first time. * 1870 - After leaving Halifax, Nova Scotia, British passenger steamer City of Boston disappears without trace in the North Atlantic Ocean, along with the 191 people on board. * 1871 - Franco-Prussian War: The Siege of Paris ends in a French defeat and an armistice. * 1878 - The Yale Daily News becomes the first daily (meaning it is published every day) college newspaper in the United States. * 1878 - The first telephone box opens in New Haven, Connecticut. * 1887 – The world's largest snowflakes are recorded at Fort Keogh, Montana. * 1887 – Building of the Eiffel Tower begins. * 1896 – Walter Arnold of East Peckham, Kent is the first person convicted of a speeding offence. * 1900 - The DFB, German Football Federation, is founded. === 1901 2000 === * 1908 - Some members of the Portuguese Republican Party fail in their attempted coup against the dictatorship of Joao Franco. * 1909 - US troops leave Cuba, except for Guantanamo Bay Naval Base, having been there since 1898. * 1915 - An Act of Congress creates the United States Coast Guard. * 1917 - City-owned streetcars take to the streets of San Francisco for the first time. * 1918 – Finnish Civil War: Rebels seize Helsinki. * 1922 – The Knickerbocker Storm causes Washington, DC's biggest snowfall. * 1932 - Japanese forces attack Shanghai. * 1933 – Choudhary Rahmat Ali Khan chooses the name "Pakistan" on this date. Today it is one of the official national holidays of the 'Islamic Republic'. * 1933 – Kurt von Schleicher resigns as Chancellor of Germany and suggests to Paul von Hindenburg to name Adolf Hitler as the next Chancellor. * 1934 – The first ski tow in the United States begins operation in Vermont. * 1935 – Iceland legalises abortion. * 1938 - Rudolf Caracciola sets the World Land Speed Record on a public road, with 432.7 kilometers per hour (268.9 miles per hour). * 1941 - French-Thai War: A Japanese-mediated armistice goes into effect. * 1945 - World War II: Supplies begin to reach the Republic of China over the newly re-opened Burma Road. * 1956 - Elvis Presley makes his first appearance on US television. * 1958 – The Lego company patents its now-famous toy bricks. * 1958 - The last episode of British radio show The Goon Show is broadcast. * 1959 – Thailand adopts a new constitution. * 1964 - An unarmed United States Air Force T-39 Sabreliner on a training misiion is shot down over Erfurt, then-East Germany, by a Soviet MiG-19. * 1965 – The design for the current Flag of Canada is chosen in an Act of Parliament. * 1977 – The Great Lakes Blizzard (snowstorm), lasting until February 1, affects parts of upstate New York. * 1979 - Pope John Paul II visits Mexico. * 1980 - The ship USCGC Blackthorn collides with the tanker Capricorn off Tampa, Florida, killing 23 people. * 1982 - United States Army general James L. Dozier is rescued by Italian anti-terrorist forces. * 1984 - Tropical Storm Domoina makes landfall in Mozambique, where it causes widespread flooding and kills 214 people. * 1985 - Supergroup USA for Africa records the hit single We Are the World to help raise funds for Ethiopian famine relief. * 1986 – The Space Shuttle Challenger breaks up 73 seconds after lift off at Cape Canaveral, Florida, killing all 7 astronauts on board. * 1987 - Mikhail Gorbachev, in a speech, sets out plans for liberal reforms, including Perestroika and Glasnost. === From 2001 === * 2002 – TAME Flight 120, a Boeing 727-100, crashes in the Colombian Andes, killing 92 people. * 2006 – At the Katowice International Fair in Poland, the roof of one of the buildings collapses, killing 65 people. * 2011 – 2011 Egyptian protests: Hundreds of thousands of people take to the streets in Egypt, in protest against Hosni Mubarak, who cuts internet access on the same day. * 2013 - Three days before her 75th birthday, Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands announces her intention to give up the throne on April 30 of the same year, when Willem-Alexander, Prince of Orange becomes the Netherlands' first king since 1890. * 2014 - After strong protests, Ukraine withdraws a controversial anti-protest law introduced over a week earlier. * 2014 - The United Nations Court in The Hague defines the maritime border between Peru and Chile. * 2017 - Serena Williams wins her 23rd Grand Slam tennis Singles title at the Australian Open, surpassing Steffi Graf's Open Era record of 22. * 2018 - Roger Federer wins his 20th Grand Slam singles tennis title, at the Australian Open. ==Births== === Up to 1850 === * 1225 – Saint Thomas of Aquinas (d. 1274). * 1312 - Joan II of Navarre (d. 1349). * 1453 - Simonetta Vespucci, Italian Renaissance figure (d. 1476). * 1457 – King Henry VII of England (d. 1509). * 1507 - Ferrante Gonzaga, Viceroy of Sicily (d. 1557). * 1533 - Paul Luther, German physician and son of Martin Luther (d. 1593). * 1540 - Ludolph von Ceulen, German mathematician (d. 1610). * 1582 - 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 and Mayor of Gdansk (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 writer and printmaker (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). * 1768 – King Frederick VI of Denmark and Norway (d. 1669). * 1784 – George Hamilton-Gordon, 4th Earl of Aberdeen, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (d. 1860). * 1806 - William Aitken, Jr., Governor of South Carolina (d. 1887). * 1807 - Robert McClure, Irish seafarer and explorer (d. 1873). * 1809 - Theodor Benfey, German philologist (d. 1881). * 1815 - Andrew Jackson Hamilton, 12th Governor of Texas (d. 1875). * 1818 - George S. Boutwell, 20th Governor of Massachusetts and 28th United States Secretary of the Treasury (d. 1905). * 1822 – Alexander Mackenzie, 2nd Prime Minister of Canada (d. 1892). * 1833 – Charles George Gordon, British general (d. 1885). * 1838 - James Craig Watson, American astronomer (d. 1880). * 1841 – Henry Morton Stanley, Welsh- born explorer, journalist and colonialist (d. 1904). === 1851 1900 === * 1853 - Jose Marti, Cuban revolutionary (d. 1891). * 1853 - Vladimir Solovyov, Russian philosopher (d. 1890). * 1858 - Tannatt William Edgworth David, Welsh- born Australian geologist and explorer (d. 1934). * 1858 - Stoyan Danev, Prime minister of Bulgaria (d. 1949). * 1863 - Ernest William Christmas, Australian painter (d. 1918). * 1864 - Charles W. Nash, American automobile entrepreneur (d. 1948). * 1864 - Herbert Akroyd Stuart, English inventor (d. 1927). * 1865 – Kaarlo Juho Stahlberg, 1st President of Finland (d. 1952). * 1865 - Lala Lajpat Rai, Indian freedom fighter (d. 1928). * 1872 - Otto Braun, Prussian politician (d. 1955). * 1873 – Sidonie-Gabrielle Colette, French writer (d. 1954). * 1875 - Julian Carrillo, Mexican composer, conductor, violinist and music theorist (d. 1965). * 1884 – Auguste Piccard, Swiss scientist (d. 1962). * 1884 – Jean Piccard, Swiss scientist (d. 1963). * 1886 – Marthe Bibesco, Romanian writer (d. 1973). * 1886 - Hidetsugu Yagi, Japanese electrical engineer (d. 1976). * 1887 - Arthur Rubinstein, Polish pianist (d. 1982). * 1889 - Ramon Iglesias i Navarri, Catalan Bishop of Urgel, Spanish Co-Prince Andorra (d. 1972). * 1890 - Robert Stroud, American convict, "Birdman of Alcatraz" (d. 1963) * 1891 – Bill Doak, American baseball player (d. 1954). * 1892 – Ernst Lubitsch, German director (d. 1947). * 1897 - Valentin Kataev, Soviet dramatist (d. 1986). === 1901 1950 === * 1902 - Alfred H. Barr, Jr., American art historian (d. 1981). * 1909 – John Thomson, Scottish footballer (d. 1931). * 1910 – John Banner, Austrian-born actor (d. 1973). * 1911 - Johan van Hulst, Dutch politician (d. 2018). * 1912 – Jackson Pollock, American painter (d. 1956). * 1918 - Sandro Puppo, Italian footballer (d. 1986). * 1919 - Francis Gobreski, American fighter pilot (d. 2002). * 1922 – Robert W. Holley, American biochemist (d. 1993). * 1923 – Richard Herrmann, German footballer (d. 1962). * 1924 - Marcel Broodthaers, Belgian artist (d. 1976). * 1926 - Abdul-Karim Mousavi Ardebili, former Interim President of Iran (d. 2016). * 1926 - Harry L. Ettlinger, German-American engineer (d. 2018). * 1927 - Hiroshi Teshigahara, Japanese director (d. 2001). * 1927 - Per Oscarsson, Swedish actor (d. 2010). * 1929 – Acker Bilk, English jazz clarinettist (d. 2014). * 1929 - Edith M. Flanigen, American chemist. * 1929 – Claes Oldenburg, Swedish-American artist. * 1930 – Kurt Biedenkopf, German politician. * 1930 - Jasraj, Indian classical singer (d. 2020). * 1930 - Roy Clarke, English television scriptwriter. * 1934 - Juan Manuel Bordeu, Argentine racing driver (d. 1990). * 1935 – David Lodge, British writer. * 1936 – Alan Alda, American actor, director and writer. * 1936 - Waldyr Boccardo, Brazilian basketball player (d. 2018). * 1936 – Ismail Kadare, Albanian writer. * 1937 - Donald Crothers, American academic and educator (d. 2014). * 1938 - Tomas Lindahl, Swedish biologist and geneticist. * 1938 - Leonid Zhabotinsky, Ukrainian weightlifter (d. 2016). * 1939 - John M. Fabian, American pilot and astronaut. * 1940 – Carlos Slim, Mexican businessman. * 1941 - Joel Crothers, American actor (d. 1985). * 1941 - King Tubby, Jamaican musician (d. 1989). * 1942 - Sjoukje Dijkstra, Dutch figure skater. * 1943 - Paul Henderson, Canadian ice hockey player. * 1943 – Dick Taylor, British musician. * 1944 – Susan Howard, American actress. * 1944 – John Tavener, English composer (d. 2013). * 1945 - Marthe Keller, Swiss actress. * 1945 - Robert Wyatt, English musician. * 1947 - Jeanne Shaheen, American politician, United States Senator for New Hampshire * 1948 – Charles Taylor, former President of Liberia. * 1948 – Heinz Flohe, German footballer (d. 2013). * 1949 - Mike Moore, 32nd Prime Minister of New Zealand. * 1949 - Thomas Downey, American politician. * 1949 - Gregg Popovich, American basketball coach (d. 2022). * 1950 - David C. Hilmers, American astronaut. * 1950 – Hamad Ibn Isa al Khalifah, King of Bahrain. === 1951 1975 === * 1951 - Leonid Kadeniuk, Ukrainian cosmonaut (d. 2018). * 1953 - Richard Anconina, French actor. * 1954 - Bruno Metsu, French footballer and coach (d. 2013) * 1954 - Robin Smith, Canadian voice actor * 1955 – Nicolas Sarkozy, former President of France. * 1955 - Vinod Khosla, Indian-American businessman, co-founded Sun Microsystems. * 1957 - Frank Skinner, English comedian. * 1957 - Nick Price, Zimbabwean golfer. * 1961 – Arnaldur Indridason, Icelandic writer. * 1961 - Normand Rochefort, Canadian ice hockey player. * 1962 - Joan McAlpine, Scottish politician. * 1964 - Dave McPherson, Scottish footballer * 1964 - Juergen Teller, German artist and photographer. * 1966 - Andrea Berg, German singer. * 1968 – Sarah McLachlan, Canadian singer/songwriter * 1968 – DJ Muggs, American musician * 1969 - Kathryn Morris, American actress. * 1971 - Anthony Hamilton, American singer * 1972 - Nicky Southall, English footballer and manager * 1974 – Magglio Ordóñez, Venezuelan baseball player * 1975 - Lee Latchford-Evans, English singer (Steps) === From 1976 === * 1976 - Lee Ingleby, English actor. * 1976 - Rick Ross, American rapper. * 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 - Ali Boulala, Swedish skateboarder * 1980 – Nick Carter, American singer (Backstreet Boys) * 1980 – Yasuhito Endo, Japanese footballer * 1980 - Michael Hastings, American journalist (d. 2013) * 1981 – Elijah Wood, American actor * 1984 - Andre Iguodala, American basketball player * 1984 - Anne Panter, English field hockey player * 1985 - Daniel Carcillo, Canadian ice hockey player * 1985 - Arnold Mvuemba, French footballer * 1985 - Libby Trickett, Australian swimmer * 1985 - J. Cole, American rapper * 1985 - Andras Kallay-Saunders, American-Hungarian singer * 1986 - Shruti Haasan, Indian actress * 1986 – Jessica Ennis-Hill, British athlete * 1989 - Siem de Jong, Dutch footballer * 1991 - Calum Worthy, Canadian actor * 1991 - Carl Klingberg, Swedish ice hockey player * 1992 - Andrei Savchenko, Russian footballer * 1993 - Richmond Boakye, Ghanaian footballer * 1993 - John Anthony Brooks, German-American soccer player * 1993 - Will Poulter, English actor * 1998 – Ariel Winter, American actress and singer ==Deaths== === Up to 1950 === * 592 - Guntram, King of the Franks (b. 532) * 814 – Charlemagne, King of the Franks (b. early 700s) * 1271 – Isabella of Aragon, Queen of France (b. 1247) * 1443 - Robert Le Masson, Chancellor of France * 1547 – Henry VIII of England (b. 1491) * 1596 – Francis Drake, English naval officer, explorer and pirate (b. 1540) * 1613 - Thomas Bodley, English diplomat and library founder (b. 1545) * 1621 – Pope Paul V (b. 1550) * 1672 - Pierre Seguier, Chancellor of France (b. 1588) * 1687 – Johannes Hevelius, Polish astronomer and Mayor of Gdansk (b. 1611) * 1697 - John Fenwick, English conspirator * 1754 - Ludvig Holberg, Norwegian historian and writer (b. 1684) * 1859 – Frederick John Robinson, 1st Viscount Goderich, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (b. 1782) * 1859 - Carl Adolph Agardh, Swedish botanist (b. 1785) * 1864 - Emile Chappeyron, English engineer and physicist (b. 1799) * 1912 - Gustave de Molinari, Belgian economist (b. 1819) * 1918 – John McCrae, Canadian poet (b. 1872) * 1924 - Teofilo Braga, Portuguese statesman (b. 1843) * 1928 - Vicente Blasco Ibanez, Spanish writer (b. 1867) * 1936 - Oscar K. Allen, Governor of Louisiana (b. 1882) * 1937 - Anastasios Metaxas, Greek architect and shooter (b. 1862) * 1938 - Bernd Rosemeyer, German racing driver (b. 1909) * 1939 – William Butler Yeats, Irish writer (b. 1865) * 1947 - Reynaldo Hahn, Venezuelan-French composer, conductor and critic (b. 1875) * 1949 - Jean-Pierre Wimille, French racing driver (b. 1908) * 1950 - Nicolai Luzin, Russian mathematician (b. 1883) === 1951 2000 === * 1951 – Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim, President of Finland (b. 1867) * 1953 – Derek Bentley, British victim of a miscarriage of justice (b. 1933) (hanged) * 1953 – James Scullin, Prime Minister of Australia (b. 1876) * 1953 - Neyzen Tefvik, Turkish poet and satirist (b. 1879) * 1956 - Marie Juchacz, German social reformer (b. 1883) * 1959 - Walter Beall, American baseball (b. 1899) * 1960 - Zora Neale Hurston, American writer (b. 1891) * 1963 – Jean Piccard, Swiss scientist (b. 1884) * 1963 - John Farrow, Australian screenwriter and director (b. 1904) * 1965 - Maxime Weygand, French military (b. 1867) * 1973 – John Banner, Austrian-born actor (b. 1910) * 1975 – Ola Raknes, Norwegian psychoanalyst and philologist (b. 1887) * 1976 - Marcel Broodthaers, Belgian artist (b. 1924) * 1983 – Frank Forde, shortest-serving Prime Minister of Australia (b. 1890) * 1983 – Billy Fury, British singer (b. 1940) * 1985 - Alfredo Foni, Italian footballer (b. 1911) * 1986 - Deaths in the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster: **Greg Jarvis, American astronaut (b. 1944) **Christa McAuliffe, American teacher and astronaut (b. 1948) **Ronald McNair, American astronaut (b. 1950) **Ellison Onizuka, American astronaut (b. 1946) **Judith Resnik, American astronaut (b. 1949) **Francis R. Scobee, American astronaut (b. 1939) **Michael J. Smith, American astronaut (b. 1949) * 1988 – Klaus Fuchs, German atomic spy (b. 1911) * 1989 - Choekyi Gyaltsen, 10th Panchen Lama, Tibetan religious leader (b. 1938) * 1991 – Red Grange, American football player (b. 1903) * 1993 - Helen Sawyer Hogg, Canadian astronomer (b. 1905) * 1994 - Hal Smith, American actor (b. 1916) * 1996 – Joseph Brodsky, Russian poet (b. 1940) * 1996 – Jerry Siegel, American cartoonist (b. 1914) * 1998 - Shotaro Ishinomori, Japanese writer (b. 1938) * 1999 - Torgny Torgnysson Segerstedt, Swedish sociologist and philosopher (b. 1908) === From 2001 === * 2002 – Astrid Lindgren, Swedish writer (b. 1907) * 2005 – Jim Capaldi, British musician (b. 1944) * 2007 – Karel Svoboda, Czech composer (b. 1938) * 2008 – Christodoulos I, Archbishop of Athens (b. 1939) * 2008 – Marie Takvam, Norwegian writer (b. 1926) * 2009 – Billy Powell, American musician (Lynyrd Skynyrd) (b. 1952) * 2009 - Glenn Davis, American athlete (b. 1934) * 2011 - Margaret Price, Welsh soprano (b. 1941) * 2014 - Jorge Obeid, Argentine politician (b. 1947) * 2014 - Dwight Gustafson, American composer and conductor (b. 1930) * 2015 - Yves Chauvin, French chemist (b. 1930) * 2015 - Suraj Abdurrahman, Nigerian army officer (b. 1954) * 2016 - Buddy Cianci, American politician (b. 1941) * 2016 - Paul Kantner, American rock musician (b. 1941) * 2016 - Signe Toly Anderson, American singer (b. 1941) * 2016 - Yisroel Belsky, American rabbi (b. 1938) * 2017 - Christopher Bland, British businessman (b. 1938) * 2017 - Many Clouds, British racehorse (b. 2007) * 2017 - Geoff Nicholls, British musician (b. 1948) * 2017 - Lennart Nilsson, Swedish cinematographer (b. 1922) * 2017 - Alexander Tikhanovich, Belarusian singer (b. 1952) * 2017 - Bobby Freeman, American singer-songwriter and record producer (b. 1940) * 2017 - Guitar Gable, American singer-songwriter and record producer (b. 1937) * 2017 - Sang Chul Lee, Russian-born Canadian Christian minister (b. 1924) * 2017 - John N. Mather, American mathematician (b. 1942) * 2017 - Bharati Mukherjee, American writer (b. 1940) * 2017 - Richard Portman, American sound engineer (b. 1934) * 2017 - Thomas Joseph Simpson, Canadian World War II veteran (b. 1921) * 2017 - Dan Spiegle, American comic book artist (b. 1920) * 2017 - Darryl Sutton, Australian rules footballer (b. 1952) * 2017 - Stuart Timmons, American historian and activist (b. 1957) * 2018 - Dharmasena Pathiraja, Sri Lankan movie director and screenwriter (b. 1943) * 2018 - Coco Schumann, German jazz guitarist (b. 1924) * 2018 - Gene Sharp, American political scientist (b. 1928) * 2019 - Jurrie Koolhof, Dutch footballer (b. 1960) * 2019 - Mourad Medelci, Algerian politician (b. 1943) * 2019 - Pepe Smith, Filipino rock guitarist (b. 1947) == Observances == * Army Day (Armenia) * EU Data Privacy Day * Unofficial Day commemorating Charlemagne in some Christian groups. Category:Days of the year