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On this day: January 28

January 28 is the 28th day of the year (28th in leap years), with 337 days left until the end of the year (338 in a leap year).

 

Events on January 28

  • 98 On the death of Nerva, Trajan is declared Roman emperor in Cologne, the seat of his government in lower Germany. Wikipedia
  • 814 The death of Charlemagne, the first Holy Roman Emperor, brings about the accession of his son Louis the Pious as ruler of the Frankish Empire. Wikipedia
  • 1521 Charles V and the estates of the Holy Roman Empire met at the Diet of Worms to discuss Martin Luther and the effects of the Protestant Reformation. Wikipedia
  • 1521 The Diet of Worms begins, lasting until May 25. Wikipedia
  • 1547 Nine-year-old Edward VI, the first English monarch to be raised as a Protestant, became king. Wikipedia
  • 1671 Original city of Panama (founded in 1519) is destroyed by a fire when privateer Henry Morgan sacks and sets fire to it. The site of the previously devastated city is still in ruins (see Panama Viejo). Wikipedia
  • 1724 The Russian Academy of Sciences is founded in St. Petersburg, Russia, by Peter the Great, and implemented by Senate decree. It is called the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences until 1917. Wikipedia
  • 1813 Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice is first published in the United Kingdom. Wikipedia
  • 1846 The Battle of Aliwal, India, is won by British troops commanded by Sir Harry Smith. Wikipedia
  • 1851 Northwestern University becomes the first chartered university in Illinois. Wikipedia
  • 1878 Yale Daily News becomes the first independent daily college newspaper in the United States. Wikipedia
  • 1909 United States troops leave Cuba, with the exception of Guantanamo Bay Naval Base, after being there since the Spanish–American War. Wikipedia
  • 1918 Finnish Civil War: The Red Guard rebels seize control of the capital, Helsinki; members of the Senate of Finland go underground. Wikipedia
  • 1922 The largest recorded snowstorm in the history of Washington, D.C., collapsed the Knickerbocker Theatre (damage pictured), killing 98 people. Wikipedia
  • 1933 The name Pakistan is coined by Choudhry Rahmat Ali Khan and is accepted by Indian Muslims who then thereby adopted it further for the Pakistan Movement seeking independence. Wikipedia
  • 1935 Iceland becomes the first Western country to legalize therapeutic abortion. Wikipedia
  • 1941 World War II: About three hours after Thai bombers raided Sisophon, a ceasefire paused hostilities in the Franco-Thai War. Wikipedia
  • 1945 World War II: Supplies begin to reach the Republic of China over the newly reopened Burma Road. Wikipedia
  • 1956 Elvis Presley makes his first national television appearance. Wikipedia
  • 1981 U.S. president Ronald Reagan lifted price controls from petroleum products, contributing to the 1980s oil glut. Wikipedia
  • 1981 Ronald Reagan lifts remaining domestic petroleum price and allocation controls in the United States, helping to end the 1979 energy crisis and begin the 1980s oil glut. Wikipedia
  • 1982 US Army General James L. Dozier is rescued by Italian anti-terrorism forces from captivity by the Red Brigades. Wikipedia
  • 1984 Tropical Storm Domoina makes landfall in southern Mozambique, eventually causing 214 deaths and some of the most severe flooding so far recorded in the region. Wikipedia
  • 1985 Supergroup USA for Africa (United Support of Artists for Africa) records the hit single We Are the World, to help raise funds for Ethiopian famine relief. Wikipedia
  • 2002 TAME Flight 120, a Boeing 727-100, crashes in the Andes mountains in southern Colombia, killing 94. Wikipedia
  • 2026 A Learjet 45 crashes on approach to Baramati Airport in Maharashtra, killing all six occupants including the Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra, Ajit Pawar. Wikipedia

Born on January 28

  • 598 Taizong, emperor of the Tang dynasty (died 649) Wikipedia
  • 1457 Henry VII, king of England (died 1509) Wikipedia
  • 1600 Clement IX, pope of the Catholic Church (died 1669) Wikipedia
  • 1717 Mustafa III, Ottoman sultan (died 1774) Wikipedia
  • 1784 George Hamilton-Gordon, 4th Earl of Aberdeen, Scottish politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (died 1860) Wikipedia
  • 1853 José Martí, Cuban journalist, poet, and theorist (died 1895) Wikipedia
  • 1873 Colette, French novelist and journalist (died 1954) Wikipedia
  • 1887 Arthur Rubinstein, Polish-American pianist and educator (died 1982) Wikipedia
  • 1903 Kathleen Lonsdale, Irish crystallographer and 1st female FRS (died 1971) Wikipedia
  • 1912 Jackson Pollock, American painter (died 1956) Wikipedia
  • 1922 Robert W. Holley, American biochemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1993) Wikipedia
  • 1936 Ismail Kadare, Albanian novelist, poet, essayist, and playwright (died 2024) Wikipedia
  • 1936 Alan Alda, American actor, director, and writer Wikipedia
  • 1938 Tomas Lindahl, Swedish-English biologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate Wikipedia
  • 1940 Carlos Slim, Mexican businessman and philanthropist, founded Grupo Carso Wikipedia
  • 1950 Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, Bahraini king Wikipedia
  • 1955 Nicolas Sarkozy, French lawyer and politician, 23rd President of France Wikipedia
  • 1955 Vinod Khosla, Indian-American businessman, co-founded Sun Microsystems Wikipedia
  • 1978 Gianluigi Buffon, Italian footballer Wikipedia
  • 1978 Jamie Carragher, English footballer and sportscaster Wikipedia
  • 1980 Yasuhito Endō, Japanese footballer Wikipedia
  • 1981 Elijah Wood, American actor and producer Wikipedia

Died on January 28

  • 724 Yazid II, Umayyad caliph (born 687) Wikipedia
  • 814 Charlemagne, Holy Roman emperor (born 742) Wikipedia
  • 1547 Henry VIII, king of England (born 1491) Wikipedia
  • 1621 Pope Paul V (born 1550) Wikipedia
  • 1687 Johannes Hevelius, Polish astronomer and politician (born 1611) Wikipedia
  • 1859 F. J. Robinson, 1st Viscount Goderich, English politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (born 1782) Wikipedia
  • 1939 W. B. Yeats, Irish poet and playwright, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1865) Wikipedia
  • 1948 Hans Aumeier, German SS officer (born 1906) Wikipedia
  • 1960 Zora Neale Hurston, American novelist, short story writer, and folklorist (born 1891) Wikipedia
  • 1996 Joseph Brodsky, Russian-American poet and essayist, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1940) Wikipedia
  • 1996 Jerry Siegel, American author and illustrator, co-created Superman (born 1914) Wikipedia
  • 2002 Astrid Lindgren, Swedish author and screenwriter (born 1907) Wikipedia
  • 2015 Yves Chauvin, French chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1930) Wikipedia
  • 2026 Ajit Pawar, Indian politician, former Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra (born 1959) Wikipedia

Holidays and observances

The events, births, deaths and observances above are from the English Wikipedia article “January 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.