March 28

2024 Calendar

March 28 is the 87th day of the year (88th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 278 days remaining until the end of the year.

Events

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.

Births

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

Deaths

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)