On this day: October 28

Events on October 28

• 97 Roman emperor Nerva is forced by the Praetorian Guard to adopt general Marcus Ulpius Trajanus as his heir and successor. Wikipedia
• 312 Civil wars of the Tetrarchy: Constantine the Great defeated Maxentius at the Battle of the Milvian Bridge in Rome. Wikipedia
• 1420 Beijing is officially designated the capital of the Ming dynasty when the Forbidden City is completed. Wikipedia
• 1449 Christian I is crowned king of Denmark. Wikipedia
• 1453 Ladislaus the Posthumous was crowned King of Bohemia, although George of Poděbrady remained in control of the government. Wikipedia
• 1520 Ferdinand Magellan reaches the Pacific Ocean. Wikipedia
• 1640 The Treaty of Ripon was agreed, ending the Second Bishops' War and forcing Charles I to summon the Long Parliament, ultimately leading to the First English Civil War. Wikipedia
• 1664 The Duke of York and Albany's Maritime Regiment of Foot, the forerunner to the Royal Marines, was established at the grounds of the Honourable Artillery Company in London. Wikipedia
• 1707 The Hōei earthquake ruptured all segments of the Nankai megathrust simultaneously – the only earthquake recorded to have done so. Wikipedia
• 1726 The novel Gulliver's Travels written by Jonathan Swift is published. Wikipedia
• 1776 American Revolutionary War: As George Washington's Continental Army retreated northward from New York City, the British Army captured the village of White Plains. Wikipedia
• 1835 In the first major engagement of the Texas Revolution, the Texian Army repelled a Mexican attack at the grounds of Mission Concepcion south of Downtown San Antonio. Wikipedia
• 1886 In New York Harbor, U.S. president Grover Cleveland dedicated the Statue of Liberty, a gift from France commemorating the Declaration of Independence. Wikipedia
• 1919 The U.S. Congress passed the Volstead Act over president Woodrow Wilson's veto, reinforcing Prohibition in the United States. Wikipedia
• 1922 Italian fascists led by Benito Mussolini march on Rome and take over the Italian government. Wikipedia
• 1925 The funerary mask of Tutankhamun, possibly originally made for Queen Neferneferuaten, was uncovered for the first time in approximately 3,250 years. Wikipedia
• 1928 Indonesian composer Wage Rudolf Supratman introduced "Indonesia Raya", now the country's national anthem. Wikipedia
• 1940 World War II: Italy invaded Greece after Greek prime minister Ioannis Metaxas rejected Benito Mussolini's ultimatum demanding the cession of Greek territory. Wikipedia
• 1956 Hungarian Revolution: A de facto ceasefire comes into effect between armed revolutionaries and Soviet troops, who begin to withdraw from Budapest. Communist officials and facilities come under attack by revolutionaries. Wikipedia
• 1962 The Cuban Missile Crisis ends and Premier Nikita Khrushchev orders the removal of Soviet missiles from Cuba. Wikipedia
• 1965 In St. Louis, Missouri, U.S., the 630-foot (190 m)-tall steel catenary Gateway Arch was completed. Wikipedia
• 1965 Pope Paul VI promulgates Nostra aetate, by which the Roman Catholic Church officially recognizes the legitimacy of non-Christian faiths. Wikipedia
• 1971 Prospero, the first British satellite launched on a British rocket, lifted off from Launch Area 5B in Woomera, South Australia. Wikipedia
• 1992 Hans-Adam II threatened to dismiss the Landtag of Liechtenstein over disagreements on the date of a referendum for the country's accession to the EEA. Wikipedia
• 2007 In the Argentine general election, Cristina Fernández de Kirchner became the first woman to be elected president of Argentina. Wikipedia
• 2013 The first terrorist attack in Beijing's recent history took place when members of the Turkistan Islamic Party drove a vehicle into a crowd, killing five people and injuring thirty-eight others. Wikipedia

Born on October 28

• 1017 Henry III, Holy Roman Emperor (died 1056) Wikipedia
• 1466 Erasmus, Dutch philosopher (died 1536) Wikipedia
• 1815 Ľudovít Štúr, Slovak philologist and politician (died 1856) Wikipedia
• 1860 Kanō Jigorō, Japanese martial artist (died 1938) Wikipedia
• 1902 Elsa Lanchester, English-American actress and singer (died 1986) Wikipedia
• 1903 Evelyn Waugh, English journalist, author, and critic (died 1966) Wikipedia
• 1909 Francis Bacon, Irish painter and illustrator (died 1992) Wikipedia
• 1914 Jonas Salk, American biologist and physician (died 1995) Wikipedia
• 1914 Richard Laurence Millington Synge, English biochemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1994) Wikipedia
• 1930 Bernie Ecclestone, English businessman Wikipedia
• 1933 Garrincha, Brazilian footballer (died 1983) Wikipedia
• 1949 Caitlyn Jenner, American decathlete and actress Wikipedia
• 1955 Bill Gates, American businessman and philanthropist, co-founded Microsoft Wikipedia
• 1955 Indra Nooyi, Indian-American businesswoman Wikipedia
• 1956 Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Iranian engineer and politician, 6th President of Iran Wikipedia
• 1967 Julia Roberts, American actress and producer Wikipedia
• 1974 Joaquin Phoenix, American actor and producer Wikipedia
• 1978 Gwendoline Christie, English actress Wikipedia
• 1981 Milan Baroš, Czech footballer Wikipedia
• 1982 Matt Smith, English actor and director Wikipedia
• 1984 Obafemi Martins, Nigerian footballer Wikipedia
• 1987 Frank Ocean, American singer-songwriter Wikipedia

Died on October 28

• 312 Maxentius, Roman emperor (born 278) Wikipedia
• 1412 Margaret I of Denmark (born 1353) Wikipedia
• 1627 Jahangir, Mughal Emperor of India (born 1569) Wikipedia
• 1703 John Wallis, English mathematician and cryptographer (born 1616) Wikipedia
• 1704 John Locke, English physician and philosopher (born 1632) Wikipedia
• 1740 Anna of Russia (born 1693) Wikipedia
• 1818 Abigail Adams, American writer and second First Lady of the United States (born 1744) Wikipedia
• 1900 Max Müller, German philologist and orientalist (born 1823) Wikipedia
• 1929 Bernhard von Bülow, German soldier and politician, Chancellor of Germany (born 1849) Wikipedia
• 1998 Ted Hughes, English poet and playwright (born 1930) Wikipedia
• 2005 Richard Smalley, American chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1943) Wikipedia
• 2013 Tadeusz Mazowiecki, Polish journalist and politician, Prime Minister of Poland (born 1927) Wikipedia
• 2022 Jerry Lee Lewis, American singer-songwriter and pianist (born 1935) Wikipedia
• 2023 Matthew Perry, American-Canadian actor (born 1969) Wikipedia

Holidays and observances

• Christian feast day: Abdias of Babylon Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Abgar V of Edessa (Eastern Orthodox Church) Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Eadsige Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Faro Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Fidelis of Como (Roman Catholic Church) Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Firmilian Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Godwin of Stavelot Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Job of Pochayiv (repose) (Eastern Orthodox Church) Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: The Apostles Simon and Jude (Western Christianity) Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Lord of Miracles (Lima) Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: October 28 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics) Wikipedia
• Day of the Establishment of an Independent Czecho-Slovak State, celebrates the independence of Czechoslovakia from Austria-Hungary in 1918. (Czech Republic and Slovakia) Wikipedia
• International Animation Day (ASIFA) Wikipedia
• Ohi Day (Greece, Cyprus and the Greek communities), a national day in Greece. Wikipedia
• Prefectural Earthquake Disaster Prevention Day (Gifu Prefecture) Wikipedia
• Youth Pledge Day or Hari Sumpah Pemuda (Indonesia) Wikipedia
• Anniversary of the liberation of Ukraine from the Nazis, celebrating the liberation from Nazi German troops of the territory of current Ukraine Wikipedia

Sources

• Wikipedia — “October 28” — events, births, deaths and observances (text under CC BY-SA 4.0) (checked 2026-10-15)
• Wikipedia — “Selected anniversaries/October 28” — the anniversaries editors chose for the date and the article each one is about (checked 2026-10-15)
• Wikidata — in how many language editions each entry's own article exists, used to fill the lists (CC0) (checked 2026-10-15)
• vacanza/holidays (open-source holiday rules, MIT licence) — holiday rules used to build the lists (checked 2026-10-15)

The events, births, deaths and observances above are from the English Wikipedia article “October 28” and the articles it links to (authors and history), retrieved 2026-10-15 through the Wikimedia “On this day” feed. They are licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0; this selection is shared under the same licence. Every anniversary that Wikipedia's editors selected for October 28 stays on the list; the remaining places, up to 26 events, 22 births and 14 deaths, go to the entries whose own article — about the event itself, or else the person or thing it is about — appears in the most language editions (counted from Wikidata); an article about a person or thing, which covers far more than one day, counts half. An entry with no article of its own counts, also at half, by the least covered article it links, and one that links only places counts for nothing. Each list runs by year, and the wording is unchanged apart from removing references to pictures, audio and video.