On this day: December 28

Events on December 28

• 893 An earthquake destroys the city of Dvin, Armenia. Wikipedia
• 1612 Galileo Galilei became the first person to observe the planet Neptune, although he mistakenly catalogued it as a fixed star. Wikipedia
• 1768 King Taksin's coronation achieved through conquest as a king of Thailand and established Thonburi as a capital. Wikipedia
• 1795 Construction of Yonge Street, formerly recognized as the longest street in the world, begins in York, Upper Canada (present-day Toronto). Wikipedia
• 1835 Osceola leads his Seminole warriors in Florida into the Second Seminole War against the United States Army. Wikipedia
• 1836 South Australia and Adelaide are founded. Wikipedia
• 1846 Iowa is admitted as the 29th U.S. state. Wikipedia
• 1862 American Civil War: Union forces defeated a Confederate cavalry unit in the Van Buren raid, capturing three steamboats, Confederate troops, and various supplies. Wikipedia
• 1895 Wilhelm Röntgen publishes a paper detailing his discovery of a new type of radiation, which later will be known as x-rays. Wikipedia
• 1908 An earthquake registering 7.1 Mw struck near Messina, which, along with the subsequent tsunami, killed at least 75,000 people in southern Italy. Wikipedia
• 1912 The first municipally owned streetcars take to the streets in San Francisco. Wikipedia
• 1925 The Tokyo Grand Sumo Association became the All Japan Sumo Association at the instigation of Prince-Regent Hirohito, laying the foundations for the world's sole professional sumo association. Wikipedia
• 1941 World War II: Operation Anthropoid, the plot to assassinate high-ranking Nazi officer Reinhard Heydrich, commences. Wikipedia
• 1943 World War II: After eight days of brutal house-to-house fighting, the 1st Canadian Infantry Division captured the Italian town of Ortona. Wikipedia
• 1948 The DC-3 airliner NC16002 disappears 80 kilometres (50 mi) south of Miami. Wikipedia
• 1964 Vietnam War: Viet Cong regiments penetrated the eastern perimeters of the village of Bình Giã, beginning the Battle of Binh Gia. Wikipedia
• 1972 The last scheduled day for induction into the military by the Selective Service System. Due to the fact that President Richard Nixon declared this day a national day of mourning due to former President Harry S Truman's death, approximately 300 men were not able to report due to most Federal offices being closed. Since the draft was not resumed in 1973, they were never drafted. Wikipedia
• 1973 The United States Endangered Species Act is signed into law by President Richard Nixon. Wikipedia
• 2006 War in Somalia: The militaries of Somalia's Transitional Federal Government and Ethiopian troops capture Mogadishu unopposed. Wikipedia
• 2009 A suicide bomber attacked a Shia procession commemorating the day of Ashura in Karachi, Pakistan, causing 43 deaths. Wikipedia
• 2009 Forty-three people die in a suicide bombing in Karachi, Pakistan, where Shia Muslims are observing the Day of Ashura. Wikipedia
• 2014 The passenger ferry Norman Atlantic caught fire in the Adriatic Sea, killing an estimated 28 people. Wikipedia
• 2014 Nine people die and another 19 are reported missing, when the MS Norman Atlantic catches fire in the Strait of Otranto, in the Adriatic Sea, in Italian waters. Wikipedia
• 2018 Netflix released Black Mirror: Bandersnatch, its first interactive content for adults. Wikipedia
• 2019 A truck bomb is detonated in Mogadishu, Somalia, killing at least 85 people and injuring over 140 more. The militant group Al-Shabaab claims responsibility. Wikipedia
• 2025 Unrest in the form of mass protests erupt across Iran, the largest uprising in the country since the Iranian Revolution. Wikipedia

Born on December 28

• 1856 Woodrow Wilson, American historian and politician, 28th President of the United States, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1924) Wikipedia
• 1882 Arthur Eddington, English astronomer, physicist, and mathematician (died 1944) Wikipedia
• 1882 Lili Elbe, Danish model and painter (died 1931) Wikipedia
• 1888 F. W. Murnau, German-American director, producer, and screenwriter (died 1931) Wikipedia
• 1903 John von Neumann, Hungarian-American mathematician and physicist (died 1957) Wikipedia
• 1922 Stan Lee, American publisher, producer, and actor (died 2018) Wikipedia
• 1924 Girma Wolde-Giorgis, Ethiopian politician; President of Ethiopia (died 2018) Wikipedia
• 1925 Milton Obote, Ugandan engineer and politician, 2nd President of Uganda (died 2005) Wikipedia
• 1931 Guy Debord, French theorist and author (died 1994) Wikipedia
• 1932 Dhirubhai Ambani, Indian businessman, founded Reliance Industries (died 2002) Wikipedia
• 1934 Maggie Smith, English actress (died 2024) Wikipedia
• 1937 Ratan Tata, Indian businessman and philanthropist (died 2024) Wikipedia
• 1944 Kary Mullis, American biochemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 2019) Wikipedia
• 1945 Birendra, King of Nepal (died 2001) Wikipedia
• 1953 Richard Clayderman, French pianist Wikipedia
• 1954 Denzel Washington, American actor, director, and producer Wikipedia
• 1955 Liu Xiaobo, Chinese author, academic, and activist, Nobel Prize laureate (died 2017) Wikipedia
• 1969 Linus Torvalds, Finnish-American computer programmer, developed Linux kernel Wikipedia
• 1978 John Legend, American singer-songwriter, pianist, and actor Wikipedia
• 1979 Noomi Rapace, Swedish actress Wikipedia
• 1981 Sienna Miller, American-British actress and fashion designer Wikipedia
• 1981 Khalid Boulahrouz, Dutch footballer Wikipedia

Died on December 28

• 925 Wang Zongbi, general of the Chinese state of Former Shu Wikipedia
• 1326 Sir David II Strathbogie, Earl of Atholl, Constable of Scotland, and Chief Warden of Northumberland Wikipedia
• 1622 Francis de Sales, French bishop and saint (born 1567) Wikipedia
• 1694 Mary II of England (born 1662) Wikipedia
• 1706 Pierre Bayle, French philosopher and author (born 1647) Wikipedia
• 1859 Thomas Babington Macaulay, 1st Baron Macaulay, English historian and politician, Secretary at War (born 1800) Wikipedia
• 1937 Maurice Ravel, French pianist and composer (born 1875) Wikipedia
• 1945 Theodore Dreiser, American novelist and journalist (born 1871) Wikipedia
• 1947 Victor Emmanuel III of Italy (born 1869) Wikipedia
• 1959 Ante Pavelić, Croatian fascist dictator during World War II (born 1889) Wikipedia
• 2004 Susan Sontag, American novelist, essayist, critic, and playwright (born 1933) Wikipedia
• 2016 Debbie Reynolds, American actress, singer and dancer (born 1932) Wikipedia
• 2024 Charles Dolan, American businessman, founded Cablevision and HBO (born 1926) Wikipedia
• 2025 Brigitte Bardot, French actress, singer and activist (born 1934) Wikipedia

Holidays and observances

• Christian feast day: Abel (Coptic Church) Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Caterina Volpicelli Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Feast of the Holy Innocents or Childermas; in Spain and Latin American countries the festival is celebrated with pranks (inocentadas), similar to April Fools' Day (Catholic Church, Church of England, Lutheran Church), and its related observances: Els Enfarinats (Ibi, Spain) Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Simon the Athonite Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: December 28 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics) Wikipedia
• King Taksin Memorial Day (Thailand) Wikipedia
• Proclamation Day (South Australia), celebration started on the day following Christmas (South Australia) Wikipedia
• Republic Day (South Sudan) Wikipedia
• The fourth of the Twelve Days of Christmas (Western Christianity) Wikipedia

The events, births, deaths and observances above are from the English Wikipedia article “December 28” and the articles it links to (authors and history), retrieved 2026-10-09 through the Wikimedia “On this day” feed. They are licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0; this selection is shared under the same licence. We picked the 26 events, 22 births and 14 deaths with the widest coverage across Wikipedia's language editions (counted from Wikidata) and sorted them by year; the wording is unchanged apart from removing references to pictures.