On this day: November 28

Events on November 28

• 1443 Skanderbeg and his forces liberate Kruja in central Albania and raise the Albanian flag. Wikipedia
• 1443 Having deserted the Ottoman army, Skanderbeg arrived in the Albanian city of Krujë and, using a forged letter from Sultan Murad II to the governor of Krujë, became lord of the city. Wikipedia
• 1520 After 38 days, an expedition under the command of Ferdinand Magellan completes the first passage through the Strait of Magellan and enters the Pacific Ocean. Wikipedia
• 1582 In Stratford-upon-Avon, William Shakespeare and Anne Hathaway pay a £40 (equivalent to £13,818 in 2025) bond in lieu of posting wedding banns, which enables them to marry immediately. Wikipedia
• 1798 Trade between the United States and modern-day Uruguay begins when John Leamy's frigate John arrives in Montevideo. Wikipedia
• 1811 Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 5 premiered at the Gewandhaus in Leipzig. Wikipedia
• 1811 Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 5 in E-flat major, Op. 73, premieres at the Gewandhaus in Leipzig. Wikipedia
• 1862 Notts County F.C. is founded in Nottingham, England, making it the oldest professional Association football club in the world. Wikipedia
• 1905 Irish nationalist Arthur Griffith founds Sinn Féin as a political party with the main aim of establishing a dual monarchy in Ireland. Wikipedia
• 1912 Albania declares its independence from the Ottoman Empire. Wikipedia
• 1912 At the All-Albanian Congress, the Assembly of Vlorë was constituted, which declared the independence of the Albanian Vilayet from the Ottoman Empire. Wikipedia
• 1914 World War I: Following a war-induced closure in July, the New York Stock Exchange re-opens for bond trading. Wikipedia
• 1917 The Estonian Provincial Assembly declares itself the sovereign power of Estonia. Wikipedia
• 1920 FIDAC (The Interallied Federation of War Veterans Organisations), the first international organization of war veterans is established in Paris, France. Wikipedia
• 1942 In Boston, Massachusetts, a fire in the Cocoanut Grove nightclub kills 492 people. Wikipedia
• 1943 World War II: Tehran Conference: U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and Soviet Premier Joseph Stalin meet in Tehran, Iran, to discuss war strategy. Wikipedia
• 1958 First successful flight of SM-65 Atlas; the first operational intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), developed by the United States and the first member of the Atlas rocket family. Wikipedia
• 1958 Chad, the Republic of the Congo, and Gabon become autonomous republics within the French Community. Wikipedia
• 1960 Mauritania becomes independent of France. Wikipedia
• 1964 Mariner program: NASA launches the Mariner 4 probe toward Mars. Wikipedia
• 1965 Vietnam War: In response to U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson's call for "more flags" in Vietnam, Philippine President-elect Ferdinand Marcos announces he will send troops to help fight in South Vietnam. Wikipedia
• 1966 Michel Micombero overthrows the monarchy of Burundi and makes himself the first president. Wikipedia
• 1975 Timor-Leste declares its independence from Portugal. Wikipedia
• 1989 Cold War: Velvet Revolution: In the face of protests, the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia announces it will give up its monopoly on political power. Wikipedia
• 1990 British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher resigns as leader of the Conservative Party and, therefore, as Prime Minister. She is succeeded in both positions by John Major. Wikipedia
• 1991 South Ossetia declares independence from Georgia. Wikipedia

Born on November 28

• 1118 Manuel I Komnenos, Byzantine emperor (died 1180) Wikipedia
• 1489 Margaret Tudor, Queen of Scotland, wife of James IV of Scotland, daughter of Henry VII of England (died 1541) Wikipedia
• 1628 John Bunyan, English preacher, theologian, and author (died 1688) Wikipedia
• 1632 Jean-Baptiste Lully, Italian-French composer and manager (died 1687) Wikipedia
• 1757 William Blake, English poet and painter (died 1827) Wikipedia
• 1785 Victor de Broglie, French lawyer and politician, 9th Prime Minister of France (died 1870) Wikipedia
• 1820 Friedrich Engels, German-English philosopher, economist, and journalist (died 1895) Wikipedia
• 1829 Anton Rubinstein, Russian pianist, composer, and conductor (died 1894) Wikipedia
• 1857 Alfonso XII of Spain (died 1885) Wikipedia
• 1880 Alexander Blok, Russian poet and playwright (died 1921) Wikipedia
• 1881 Stefan Zweig, Austrian author, playwright, and journalist (died 1942) Wikipedia
• 1887 Ernst Röhm, German soldier and politician (died 1934) Wikipedia
• 1907 Alberto Moravia, Italian journalist and author (died 1990) Wikipedia
• 1908 Claude Lévi-Strauss, Belgian-French anthropologist and ethnologist (died 2009) Wikipedia
• 1923 Gloria Grahame, American actress (died 1981) Wikipedia
• 1950 Russell Alan Hulse, American physicist and astronomer, Nobel Prize laureate Wikipedia
• 1950 Ed Harris, American actor and producer Wikipedia
• 1961 Alfonso Cuarón, Mexican director, producer, and screenwriter Wikipedia
• 1962 Jon Stewart, American comedian, actor, and television host Wikipedia
• 1967 Anna Nicole Smith, American model, actress, and television personality (died 2007) Wikipedia
• 1984 Mary Elizabeth Winstead, American actress and producer Wikipedia
• 1987 Karen Gillan, Scottish actress Wikipedia

Died on November 28

• 741 Pope Gregory III Wikipedia
• 939 Lady Ma, Chinese noblewoman (born 890) Wikipedia
• 1680 Gian Lorenzo Bernini, Italian sculptor and painter (born 1598) Wikipedia
• 1680 Athanasius Kircher, German priest, philologist, and scholar (born 1601) Wikipedia
• 1694 Matsuo Bashō, Japanese poet and scholar (born 1644) Wikipedia
• 1859 Washington Irving, American short story writer, essayist, biographer, historian (born 1783) Wikipedia
• 1893 Talbot Baines Reed, English author (born 1852) Wikipedia
• 1921 ʻAbdu'l-Bahá, Head of the Baháʼí Faith (born 1844) Wikipedia
• 1939 James Naismith, Canadian-American physician and educator, created basketball (born 1861) Wikipedia
• 1954 Enrico Fermi, Italian-American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1901) Wikipedia
• 1962 Wilhelmina of the Netherlands (born 1880) Wikipedia
• 1968 Enid Blyton, English author and poet (born 1897) Wikipedia
• 1994 Jeffrey Dahmer, American serial killer (born 1960) Wikipedia
• 2010 Leslie Nielsen, Canadian-American actor and producer (born 1926) Wikipedia

Holidays and observances

• Independence Day, celebrating the independence of Albania from Turkey in 1912, the first Albanian flag raise by Skanderbeg in 1443, and for the new parliamentary constitution in 1998. Wikipedia
• Bedfordshire day is celebrated in the county of Bedfordshire to celebrate the birth of John Bunyan Wikipedia
• Bukovina Day (Romania) Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Acacius, Hirenarchus, and companions, of Sebaste Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Catherine Labouré Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Feast of the Holy Sovereigns (Episcopal Diocese of Hawaii) Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Herman of Alaska, the anniversary of his actual death. Eastern Orthodox Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: James of the Marches Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Kamehameha and Emma (Episcopal Church (USA)) Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Our Lady of Kibeho Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Pope Gregory III Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Rufus (no. 8) Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Stephen the Younger Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: November 28 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics) Wikipedia
• Heroes' Day (Sri Lanka) Wikipedia
• Hōonkō (Japan) Wikipedia
• Independence Day (Mauritania), celebrate the independence of Mauritania from France in 1960. Wikipedia
• Independence Day (Panama), celebrate the independence of Panama from Spain in 1821. Wikipedia
• Navy Day (Iran) Wikipedia
• Proclamation of Independence Day (Timor-Leste), celebrating the declaration of independence of the Democratic Republic of East Timor from Portugal in 1975. Wikipedia
• Republic Day (Burundi) Wikipedia
• Republic Day (Chad) Wikipedia

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