March 28

### Up to 1900

- 37 – Roman Emperor Caligula accepts the titles of the Principate, entitled to him by the Senate.
- 193 – Roman Emperor Pertinax was assassinated by Praetorian Guards, who then sold the throne in an auction to Didius Julianus.
- 364 – Roman Emperor Valentinian I appoints his brother Flavius Valens as co–Emperor.
- 845 – Paris is sacked by Viking raiders, probably under Ragnar Lodbrok, who collects a huge ransom in exchange for leaving.
- 1566 – The foundation stone is laid for Valletta, Malta, by Jean Parisot de Valette, Grand Master of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta.
- 1776 – Juan Bautista de Anza sails into San Francisco Bay and claims the nearby land for Spain.
- 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 discovers 2 Pallas, the second asteroid known to man.
- 1809 – Battle of Medellin, Colombia.
- 1814 – The Royal Navy defeats the United States Navy in the Battle of Valparaiso, Chile.
- 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.
- 1871 – The Paris Commune is officially created in Paris.
- 1883 – Tonkin Campaign: French victory in the Battle of Gia Cuc.
- 1889 – The Yngsjö murder occurs in Sweden, as Anna Mansdotter and her son are arrested for the crime.

### 1901 – 2000

- 1910 – Henri Fabre becomes the first person to fly a seaplane after taking off from a water runway near Martigues, France.
- 1913 – Guatemala becomes a signatory to the Buenos Aires Convention.
- 1915 – British passenger steamship _Falaba_ is sunk by a German U-boat off Wales, killing 104 people, including the first American to die as a direct result of World War I.
- 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.
- 1951 – First Indochina War: Battle of Mao Khe.
- 1959 – The State Council of the People's Republic of China dissolves the Government of Tibet.
- 1964 – The first British offshore pirate radio station, Radio Caroline, is established.
- 1964 – Tsunamis from the previous day's Good Friday earthquake strike along western coasts of North America, killing 107 people in Alaska, 11 in California and 4 in Oregon.
- 1965 – An earthquake causes a dam to break near the town of El Cobre, Chile, which is flooded, killing over 200 people.
- 1969 – Greek poet Giorgos Seferis makes his famous statement on the BBC World Service against the ruling junta in Greece.
- 1970 – An earthquake of magnitude 7.2 hits Gediz, Turkey, killing 1,086 people.
- 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.
- 1979 – The British House of Commons passes a vote of no confidence against Prime Minister James Callaghan's Labour Party government. A new election on May 3 results in Margaret Thatcher being elected Prime Minister.
- 1990 – President George H. W. Bush posthumously gives Jesse Owens the Congressional Gold Medal.
- 1994 – In South Africa, Zulus and African National Congress supporters battle in central Johannesburg resulting in eighteen deaths.
- 1997 – A rock fall in Afghanistan kills 380 people.
- 1999 – Kosovo War: Serbian paramilitary and military forces kill 146 Kosovo Albanians in the Izbica Massacre.
- 1999 – A magnitude 6.6 earthquake hits southwestern China and northern India, killing 100 people.

### From 2001

- 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. It kills around 1,300 people, mainly on the island of Nias.
- 2006 – Strikes take place in France, in protest at the government proposition First Employment Contract. On the same day, strikes are also held across the United Kingdom.
- 2014 – It is announced that former Prime Minister of Norway Jens Stoltenberg will succeed Anders Fogh Rasmussen as Secretary–General of NATO on October 1 of the same year.
- 2017 – The Scottish Parliament, by a majority of 69 to 59, approves plans to hold a second referendum on Scottish independence.
- 2018 – It is revealed that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un travelled to Beijing to meet with Chinese leader Xi Jinping for talks.
- 2018 – A fire at a police station's cells in Valencia, Venezuela kills 78 people.

### Up to 1900

- 1472 – Fra Bartolommeo, Italian artist (d. 1517)
- 1496 – Mary Tudor, Queen of France (d. 1533)
- 1515 – Teresa of Avila, Spanish saint (d. 1582)
- 1522 – Albert the Warlike, Prince of Bayreuth (d. 1577)
- 1569 – Ranuccio I Farnese, Duke of Parma (d. 1622)
- 1592 – John Amos Comenius, Bohemian philosopher and theologian (d. 1670)
- 1613 – Empress Dowager Xiaozhuang of the Qing Dynasty of China (d. 1688)
- 1743 – Yekaterina Vorontsova-Dashkova, major figure in the Russian Enlightenment (d. 1810)
- 1749 – Pierre-Simon Laplace, French mathematician, physicist and astronomer (d. 1827)
- 1750 – Francisco de Miranda, Venezuelan revolutionary (d. 1816)
- 1760 – Thomas Clarkson, British abolitionist (d. 1846)
- 1773 – Henri Gatien Bertrand, French general (d. 1844)
- 1793 – Henry Schoolcraft, American explorer and ethnologist (d. 1864)
- 1811 – Saint John Nepomucene Neumann, Bohemian–born American bishop and Roman Catholic saint (d. 1860)
- 1815 – Arsène Houssaye, French novelist (d. 1896)
- 1818 – Wade Hampton III, Governor of South Carolina (d. 1902)
- 1819 – Joseph Bazalgette, English engineer (d. 1891)
- 1832 – Henry D. Washburn, American politician, general and explorer (d. 1871)
- 1840 – Emin Pasha, Ottoman–German naturalist and politician (d. 1892)
- 1847 – Gyula Farkas, Hungarian mathematician and physicist (d. 1930)
- 1851 – Bernardino Machado, President and Prime Minister of Portugal (d. 1944)
- 1862 – Aristide Briand, Prime Minister of France (d. 1932)
- 1868 – Maxim Gorky, Russian writer (d. 1936)
- 1878 – Herbert H. Lehman, Governor of New York (d. 1963)
- 1890 – Paul Whiteman, American bandleader and composer (d. 1967)
- 1892 – Corneille Heymans, Belgian doctor, won the 1938 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (d. 1968)
- 1894 – Ernst Lindemann, German captain (d. 1941)
- 1895 – Christian Herter, Governor of Massachusetts and United States Secretary of State (d. 1966)
- 1895 – Spencer W. Kimball, American Mormon leader (d. 1985)
- 1897 – Sepp Herberger, German football coach (d. 1977)
- 1899 – August Anheuser Busch, Jr., American brewer (d. 1989)
- 1899 – Harold B. Lee, American religious figure (d. 1973)

### 1901 – 1950

- 1903 – Rudolf Serkin, Austrian pianist (d. 1991)
- 1910 – Ingrid of Sweden, Queen Consort of Denmark (d. 2000)
- 1911 – J. L. Austin, British philosopher (d. 1960)
- 1912 – Marina Raskova, Soviet pilot (d. 1943)
- 1913 – Kazuo Taoka, Japanese crime boss (d. 1981)
- 1913 – Toko Shinoda, Japanese artist
- 1914 – Bohumil Hrabal, Czech writer (d. 1997)
- 1914 – Edmund Muskie, American politician, Governor of Maine and United States Secretary of State (d. 1996)
- 1917 – Claude Bertrand, Canadian neurosurgeon (d. 2014)
- 1921 – Dirk Bogarde, English actor (d. 1999)
- 1921 – Herschel Grynszpan, German–Jewish refugee and assassin (d. 1942)
- 1922 – Neville Bonner, Australian politician (d. 1999)
- 1922 – Theo Albrecht, German businessman (Aldi Nord) (d. 2010)
- 1923 – Paul C. Donnelly, American scientist and engineer (d. 2014)
- 1925 – Innokenty Smoktunovsky, Soviet–Russian actor (d. 1994)
- 1926 – Cayetana Fitz-James Stuart, 18th Duchess of Alba, Spanish noblewoman (d. 2014)
- 1926 – Yvon Taillandier, French artist, author and critic (d. 2018)
- 1927 – Theo Colborn, American zoologist (d. 2014)
- 1927 – Marianne Fredriksson, Swedish writer (d. 2007)
- 1928 – Zbigniew Brzezinski, Polish–American political scientist (d. 2017)
- 1928 – Alexander Grothendieck, German–French mathematician (d. 2014)
- 1930 – Jerome Isaac Friedman, American physicist
- 1930 – Robert Ashley, American composer
- 1931 – Anatoly Lein, Soviet–Russian–born American chess player (d. 2018)
- 1933 – Frank Murkowski, American politician, former Governor of Alaska
- 1933 – Juan Sandoval Íñiguez, Archbishop of Guadalajara, Mexico
- 1935 – Frank Judd, Baron Judd, British politician
- 1935 – Michael Parkinson, British broadcaster
- 1936 – Mario Vargas Llosa, Peruvian writer and politician
- 1936 – Amancio Ortega, Spanish businessman
- 1936 – Zdenek Sverak, Czech actor
- 1940 – Luis Cubilla, Uruguayan footballer (d. 2013)
- 1941 – Alf Clausen, American orchestra conductor
- 1942 – Daniel Dennett, American philosopher
- 1942 – Neil Kinnock, British politician, former leader of the Labour Party
- 1942 – Mike Newell, British director
- 1942 – Kitanofuji Katsuaki, Japanese sumo wrestler
- 1942 – Conrad Schumann, East German border guard (d. 1998)
- 1942 – Jerry Sloan, American basketball player and coach
- 1943 – Richard Eyre, English director, producer and screenwriter
- 1944 – Rick Barry, American basketball player
- 1944 – Ken Howard, American actor (d. 2016)
- 1945 – Rodrigo Duterte, President of the Philippines
- 1946 – Alejandro Toledo, former President of Peru
- 1946 – Wubbo Ockels, Dutch physicist and astronaut (d. 2014)
- 1946 – Henry Paulson, American politician
- 1948 – Dianne Wiest, American actress
- 1948 – John Evan, British musician (Jethro Tull)
- 1949 – Josephine Chaplin, American actress
- 1949 – Kevin Lloyd, British actor (d. 1998)

### 1951 – 1975

- 1952 – Tony Brise, English racing driver (d. 1975)
- 1953 – Melchior Ndadaye, Burundian politician (d. 1993)
- 1955 – Reba McEntire, American singer and actress
- 1955 – John Alderdice, Baron Alderdice, Northern Irish politician
- 1956 – Evelin Jahl, German athlete
- 1956 – April Margera, American television personality
- 1959 – Laura Chinchilla, former President of Costa Rica
- 1960 – José Antonio Alonso, Spanish politician (d. 2017)
- 1960 – José Maria Neves, Prime Minister of Cape Verde
- 1961 – Orla Brady, Irish actress
- 1961 – Byron Scott, American basketball player and coach
- 1962 – Jure Franko, Slovenian skier
- 1963 – Nina Ananiashvili, Georgian prima ballerina
- 1966 – Cheryl James, American rapper and actress
- 1967 – John Ziegler, American radio host
- 1968 – Nasser Hussain, English cricketer
- 1968 – Tim Lovejoy, English television presenter
- 1969 – Ilke Wyludda, German discus thrower
- 1969 – Laurie Brett, Scottish actress
- 1970 – Michelle Gildernew, Northern Irish politician
- 1970 – Vince Vaughn, American actor
- 1971 – Sayeeda Warsi, Baroness Warsi, British solicitor and politician
- 1972 – Nick Frost, British actor
- 1973 – Eddie Fatu, Samoan–American professional wrestler (d. 2009)
- 1973 – Scott Mills, British radio presenter
- 1975 – Kate Gosselin, American television personality
- 1975 – Ivan Helguera, Spanish footballer
- 1975 – Richard Kelly, American director and screenwriter

### From 1976

- 1976 – Dave Keuning, American guitarist (The Killers)
- 1976 – Stephen Gethins, Scottish politician
- 1977 – Erik Rasmussen, American ice hockey player
- 1979 – Crystal Cox, American athlete
- 1980 – Albert Streit, German footballer
- 1981 – Julia Stiles, American actress
- 1982 – Luis Tejada, Panamanian footballer
- 1984 – Christopher Samba, Congolese footballer
- 1984 – Nikki Sanderson, British actress and model
- 1985 – Stanislas Wawrinka, Swiss tennis player
- 1986 – Lady Gaga, American singer
- 1986 – Bowe Bergdahl, American sergeant
- 1986 – Amaia Salamanca, Spanish actress
- 1988 – Lacey Turner, English actress
- 1989 – David Goodwillie, Scottish footballer
- 1990 – Luca Marrone, Italian footballer
- 1990 – Ekaterina Bobrova, Russian ice dancer
- 1991 – Marie-Philip Poulin, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1991 – Amy Bruckner, American actress and singer
- 1991 – Hoya, South Korean singer and actor
- 1992 – Sergi Gomez, Spanish footballer
- 1994 – Jackson Wang, South Korean singer, dancer and model
- 1995 – Jonathan Drouin, Canadian ice hockey player

### Up to 1900

- 193 – Pertinax, Roman Emperor (b. 126)
- 1072 – Ordulf, Duke of Saxony
- 1239 – Emperor Go-Toba of Japan (b. 1180)
- 1241 – King Valdemar II of Denmark (b. 1170)
- 1552 – Guru Angad Dev, Indian Sikh Guru (b. 1504)
- 1584 – Tsar Ivan IV of Russia (Ivan the Terrible) (b. 1530)
- 1687 – Constantijn Huygens, Dutch poet and composer (b. 1596)
- 1794 – Marquis de Condorcet, French mathematician and philosopher (b. 1743)
- 1818 – Antonio Capuzzi, Italian violinist and composer (b. 1755)
- 1850 – Gerard Brandon, Governor of Mississippi (b. 1788)
- 1866 – Solomon Foot, American lawyer and politician (b. 1802)
- 1881 – Modest Mussorgsky, Russian composer (b. 1839)
- 1884 – Prince Leopold, Duke of Albany (b. 1853)

### 1901 – 2000

- 1908 – Hermann Clemenz, Estonian chess player (b. 1846)
- 1928 – Nathan Stubblefield, American inventor (b. 1860)
- 1929 – Katharine Lee Bates, American poet and songwriter (b. 1859)
- 1929 – Lomar Gouin, 13th Premier of Quebec (b. 1861)
- 1934 – Mahmoud Mokhtar, Egyptian sculptor (b. 1891)
- 1937 – Karol Szymanowksi, Polish pianist and composer (b. 1882)
- 1941 – Virginia Woolf, English feminist writer (b. 1882)
- 1942 – Miguel Hernandez, Spanish poet (b. 1910)
- 1943 – Sergei Rachmaninoff, Russian composer and pianist (b. 1873)
- 1953 – Jim Thorpe, American athlete (b. 1887)
- 1958 – W. C. Handy, American blues musician and composer (b. 1873)
- 1965 – Clemence Dane, British novelist and playwright (b. 1888)
- 1969 – Dwight D. Eisenhower, 34th President of the United States (b. 1890)
- 1974 – Arthur Crudup, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1905)
- 1974 – Dorothy Fields, American librettist and lyricist (b. 1905)
- 1975 – Ernst Fraenkel, German–American jurist (b. 1898)
- 1977 – Eric Shipton, British explorer and mountain climber (b. 1907)
- 1979 – Emmett Kelly, American clown (b. 1898)
- 1980 – Dick Haymes, Argentine–American actor and singer (b. 1918)
- 1982 – William Giauque, Canadian chemist (b. 1895)
- 1985 – Marc Chagall, Russian–born painter (b. 1887)
- 1987 – Maria von Trapp, Austrian singer (b. 1905)
- 1987 – Patrick Troughton, British actor (b. 1920)
- 1994 – Eugene Ionescu, Romanian–born playwright (b. 1909)
- 1996 – Shin Kanemaru, Japanese politician (b. 1914)
- 2000 – Anthony Powell, British novelist (b. 1905)

### From 2001

- 2004 – Peter Ustinov, British actor (b. 1921)
- 2006 – Caspar Weinberger, American politician (b. 1917)
- 2009 – Janet Jagan, American–born President of Guyana (b. 1920)
- 2010 – Herb Ellis, American musician (b. 1921)
- 2010 – June Havoc, Canadian–American actress (b. 1912)
- 2011 – Wenche Foss, Norwegian actress (b. 1917)
- 2012 – Alexander Arutunian, Armenian composer (b. 1920)
- 2012 – Earl Scruggs, American musician (b. 1924)
- 2013 – Richard Griffiths, British actor (b. 1947)
- 2013 – Boris Strel, Slovenian skier (b. 1959)
- 2014 – Jeremiah Denton, American politician and admiral (b. 1924)
- 2014 – Edwin Kagin, American lawyer (b. 1940)
- 2014 – Lorenzo Semple Jr., American screenwriter (b. 1923)
- 2015 – Miroslav Ondricek, Czech cinematographer (b. 1934)
- 2015 – Gene Saks, American director (b. 1921)
- 2015 – Richard L. Bare, American director, producer and screenwriter (b. 1913)
- 2016 – Daan Myngheer, Belgian cyclist (b. 1993)
- 2016 – James Noble, American actor (b. 1922)
- 2017 – Infanta Alicia, Duchess of Calabria (b. 1917)
- 2017 – Ahmed Kathrada, South African anti–Apartheid activist and politician (b. 1929)
- 2017 – Christine Kaufmann, Austrian–German actress (b. 1945)
- 2017 – William McPherson, American journalist, author and critic (b. 1933)
- 2017 – Janine Sutto, French–born Canadian actress (b. 1921)
- 2017 – Enn Vetemaa, Estonian writer (b. 1936)
- 2018 – Peter Munk, Hungarian–born Canadian businessman (b. 1927)
- 2018 – Eugène Van Roosbroeck, Belgian racing cyclist (b. 1928)

## Observances

- Serfs Emancipation Day (Tibet)
- Teachers' Day (Czech Republic of Slovakia)