On this day: May 28

Events on May 28

• 585 BC According to the Greek historian Herodotus, a solar eclipse, accurately predicted by Thales of Miletus, abruptly ended the Battle of Halys between the Lydians and the Medes. Wikipedia
• 585 BC A solar eclipse occurs, as predicted by the Greek philosopher and scientist Thales, while Alyattes is battling Cyaxares in the Battle of the Eclipse, leading to a truce. This is one of the cardinal dates from which other dates can be calculated. It is also the earliest event of which the precise date is known. Wikipedia
• 1588 The Spanish Armada, with 130 ships and 30,000 men, sets sail from Lisbon, Portugal, heading for the English Channel. (It will take until May 30 for all ships to leave port.) Wikipedia
• 1754 French and Indian War: Led by 22-year-old George Washington, a company of Virginia colonial militiamen ambushed a force of 35 Canadiens at the Battle of Jumonville Glen. Wikipedia
• 1754 French and Indian War: In the first engagement of the war, Virginia militia under the 22-year-old Lieutenant colonel George Washington defeat a French reconnaissance party in the Battle of Jumonville Glen in what is now Fayette County in southwestern Pennsylvania. Wikipedia
• 1802 In Guadeloupe, 400 rebellious slaves, led by Louis Delgrès, blow themselves up rather than submit to Napoleon's troops. Wikipedia
• 1830 U.S. president Andrew Jackson signed the Indian Removal Act into law, authorizing him to negotiate with Native Americans for their removal from their ancestral homelands. Wikipedia
• 1830 U.S. President Andrew Jackson signs the Indian Removal Act which denies Native Americans their land rights and forcibly relocates them. Wikipedia
• 1892 In San Francisco, John Muir organizes the Sierra Club. Wikipedia
• 1926 The 28 May 1926 coup d'état: Ditadura Nacional is established in Portugal to suppress the unrest of the First Republic. Wikipedia
• 1936 Alan Turing submits On Computable Numbers for publication. Wikipedia
• 1940 Second World War: Belgium surrendered to Nazi Germany, ending the Battle of Belgium. Wikipedia
• 1940 World War II: Belgium surrenders to Nazi Germany to end the Battle of Belgium. Wikipedia
• 1948 Daniel François Malan is elected as Prime Minister of South Africa. He later goes on to implement Apartheid. Wikipedia
• 1958 Cuban Revolution: Fidel Castro's 26th of July Movement, heavily reinforced by Frank Pais Militia, overwhelm an army post in El Uvero. Wikipedia
• 1961 Peter Benenson's article The Forgotten Prisoners is published in several internationally read newspapers. This will later be thought of as the founding of the human rights organization Amnesty International. Wikipedia
• 1974 Northern Ireland's power-sharing Sunningdale Agreement collapses following a general strike by loyalists. Wikipedia
• 1975 Fifteen West African countries sign the Treaty of Lagos, creating the Economic Community of West African States. Wikipedia
• 1987 An 18-year-old West German pilot, Mathias Rust, evades Soviet Union air defences and lands a private plane in Red Square in Moscow, Russia. Wikipedia
• 1991 The capital city of Addis Ababa falls to the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front, ending both the Derg regime in Ethiopia and the Ethiopian Civil War. Wikipedia
• 1995 The 7.0 Mw Neftegorsk earthquake shakes the former Russian settlement of Neftegorsk with a maximum Mercalli intensity of IX (Violent). Total damage was $64.1–300 million, with 1,989 deaths and 750 injured. The settlement was not rebuilt. Wikipedia
• 1996 U.S. President Bill Clinton's former business partners in the Whitewater land deal, Jim McDougal and Susan McDougal, and the Governor of Arkansas, Jim Guy Tucker, are convicted of fraud. Wikipedia
• 1999 In Milan, Italy, after 22 years of restoration work, Leonardo da Vinci's masterpiece The Last Supper is put back on display. Wikipedia
• 2004 The Iraqi Governing Council chooses Ayad Allawi, a longtime anti-Saddam Hussein exile, as prime minister of Iraq's interim government. Wikipedia
• 2008 The first meeting of the Constituent Assembly of Nepal formally declares Nepal a republic, ending the 240-year reign of the Shah dynasty. Wikipedia
• 2011 Malta votes on the introduction of divorce; the proposal was approved by 53% of voters, resulting in a law allowing divorce under certain conditions being enacted later in the year. Wikipedia

Born on May 28

• 1759 William Pitt the Younger, English lawyer and politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (died 1806) Wikipedia
• 1764 Edward Livingston, American jurist and politician, 11th United States Secretary of State (died 1836) Wikipedia
• 1779 Thomas Moore, Irish poet and composer (died 1852) Wikipedia
• 1807 Louis Agassiz, Swiss-American paleontologist and geologist (died 1873) Wikipedia
• 1853 Carl Larsson, Swedish painter and author (died 1919) Wikipedia
• 1879 Milutin Milanković, Serbian mathematician, astronomer, and geophysicist (died 1958) Wikipedia
• 1884 Edvard Beneš, Czech academic and politician, 2nd and 4th President of Czechoslovakia (died 1948) Wikipedia
• 1888 Jim Thorpe, American decathlete, football player, and coach (died 1953) Wikipedia
• 1908 Ian Fleming, English journalist and author, created James Bond (died 1964) Wikipedia
• 1912 Patrick White, Australian novelist, poet, and playwright, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1990) Wikipedia
• 1923 György Ligeti, Hungarian-Austrian composer and educator (died 2006) Wikipedia
• 1925 Bülent Ecevit, Turkish journalist, scholar, and politician, 16th Prime Minister of Turkey (died 2006) Wikipedia
• 1931 Carroll Baker, American actress Wikipedia
• 1938 Jerry West, American basketball player, coach, and executive (died 2024) Wikipedia
• 1942 Stanley B. Prusiner, American neurologist and biochemist, Nobel Prize laureate Wikipedia
• 1944 Rudy Giuliani, American lawyer and politician, 107th mayor of New York City Wikipedia
• 1968 Kylie Minogue, Australian singer-songwriter, producer, and actress Wikipedia
• 1971 Marco Rubio, American lawyer and politician Wikipedia
• 1985 Carey Mulligan, English actress Wikipedia
• 1990 Kyle Walker, English footballer Wikipedia
• 1994 John Stones, English footballer Wikipedia
• 2000 Phil Foden, English footballer Wikipedia

Died on May 28

• 1747 Luc de Clapiers, marquis de Vauvenargues, French author (born 1715) Wikipedia
• 1787 Leopold Mozart, Austrian violinist, composer, and conductor (born 1719) Wikipedia
• 1805 Luigi Boccherini, Italian cellist and composer (born 1743) Wikipedia
• 1843 Noah Webster, American lexicographer (born 1758) Wikipedia
• 1849 Anne Brontë, English novelist and poet (born 1820) Wikipedia
• 1878 John Russell, 1st Earl Russell, English politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (born 1792) Wikipedia
• 1916 Ivan Franko, Ukrainian economist, journalist, and poet (born 1856) Wikipedia
• 1937 Alfred Adler, Austrian-Scottish ophthalmologist and psychologist (born 1870) Wikipedia
• 1971 Audie Murphy, American soldier and actor, Medal of Honor recipient (born 1925) Wikipedia
• 1972 Edward VIII of the United Kingdom (born 1894) Wikipedia
• 2003 Ilya Prigogine, Russian-Belgian chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1917) Wikipedia
• 2010 Gary Coleman, American actor (born 1968) Wikipedia
• 2014 Maya Angelou, American memoirist and poet (born 1928) Wikipedia
• 2018 Jens Christian Skou, Danish medical doctor and Nobel Prize laureate (born 1918) Wikipedia

Holidays and observances

• Armed Forces Day (Croatia) Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Bernard of Menthon Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Germain of Paris Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: John Calvin (Episcopal Church) Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Blessed Lanfranc Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Blessed Margaret Pole Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Blessed Maria Bagnesi Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Blessed Thomas Ford Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Ubaldesca Taccini Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: William of Gellone Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: May 28 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics) Wikipedia
• Downfall of the Derg (Ethiopia) Wikipedia
• Flag Day (Philippines) Wikipedia
• Menstrual Hygiene Day Wikipedia
• Republic Day (Nepal) Wikipedia
• TDFR Republic Day, celebrates the declaration of independence of the First Republic of Armenia and the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic from the Transcaucasian Democratic Federative Republic in 1918. (Azerbaijan and Armenia) Wikipedia
• Youm-e-Takbir (Pakistan) Wikipedia

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