On this day: September 28

Events on September 28

• 48 BC Pompey was killed by Lucius Septimius at Pelusium in Egypt. Wikipedia
• 235 Pope Pontian resigned after being exiled to Sardinia, becoming the first pope to relinquish the position. Wikipedia
• 351 The Eastern Roman armies under Constantius II defeated those of the usurper Magnentius at the Battle of Mursa Major. Wikipedia
• 1066 William the Conqueror and his fleet of around 600 ships landed at Pevensey, Sussex, beginning the Norman conquest of England. Wikipedia
• 1106 In the Battle of Tinchebray in Normandy, the invading King Henry I of England captured his brother Robert Curthose. Wikipedia
• 1538 Ottoman–Venetian War: The Ottoman Navy scores a decisive victory over a Holy League fleet in the Battle of Preveza. Wikipedia
• 1781 American Revolutionary War: French and American forces backed by a French fleet begin the siege of Yorktown. Wikipedia
• 1821 The Declaration of Independence of the Mexican Empire from Spain was drafted in the National Palace in Mexico City. Wikipedia
• 1901 Philippine–American War: Filipino guerrillas killed more than forty American soldiers in a surprise attack on the town of Balangiga on the island of Samar. Wikipedia
• 1924 A team of U.S. Army Air Service aviators landed in Seattle, Washington, to complete the first aerial circumnavigation of the world. Wikipedia
• 1928 Scottish biologist and pharmacologist Alexander Fleming discovered penicillin when he noticed a bacteria-killing mould growing in his laboratory. Wikipedia
• 1939 World War II: Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union agree on a division of Poland. Wikipedia
• 1939 World War II: The siege of Warsaw comes to an end. Wikipedia
• 1958 Fernando Rios, a Mexican tour guide in New Orleans, was killed in an instance of gay bashing. Wikipedia
• 1963 Whaam!, now considered one of Roy Lichtenstein's most important works, debuted at an exhibition held at the Leo Castelli Gallery, New York City. Wikipedia
• 1972 Against the backdrop of the Cold War, the Canadian ice hockey team defeated the Soviet team in the Summit Series. Wikipedia
• 1973 The ITT Building in New York City is bombed in protest at ITT's alleged involvement in the coup d'état in Chile. Wikipedia
• 1975 An attempted robbery of Spaghetti House, a restaurant in Knightsbridge, London, turned into a six-day hostage situation. Wikipedia
• 1978 Pope John Paul I died only 33 days after his papal election due to an apparent myocardial infarction, resulting in the first year of three popes since 1605. Wikipedia
• 1994 The cruise ferry MS Estonia sinks in the Baltic Sea, killing 852 people. Wikipedia
• 2006 Typhoon Xangsane passed Manila on its way to causing more than 300 deaths, mostly in the Phillippines and Vietnam. Wikipedia
• 2009 A protest held by 50,000 people in Conakry, Guinea, was forcefully disrupted by the military junta, resulting in at least 157 deaths and over 1,200 injuries. Wikipedia
• 2012 War in Somalia: Somali National Army forces and their AMISOM and Raskamboni allies launched an offensive against Al-Shabaab in the latter's last major stronghold of Kismayo. Wikipedia
• 2014 The 2014 Hong Kong protests begin in response to restrictive political reforms imposed by the NPC in Beijing. Wikipedia
• 2018 The 7.5 Mw 2018 Sulawesi earthquake, which triggered a large tsunami, leaves 4,340 dead and 10,679 injured. Wikipedia
• 2023 The Sycamore Gap tree in Northumberland, England, was illegally felled. Wikipedia

Born on September 28

• 551 BC Confucius, Chinese teacher, editor, politician, and philosopher of the Spring and Autumn period of Chinese history. (died 479 BC) Wikipedia
• 1746 William Jones, English-Welsh philologist and scholar (died 1794) Wikipedia
• 1803 Prosper Mérimée, French archaeologist, historian, and author (died 1870) Wikipedia
• 1841 Georges Clemenceau, French journalist, physician, and politician, 85th Prime Minister of France (died 1929) Wikipedia
• 1852 Henri Moissan, French chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1907) Wikipedia
• 1907 Bhagat Singh, Indian activist (died 1931) Wikipedia
• 1916 Peter Finch, English-Australian actor (died 1977) Wikipedia
• 1924 Marcello Mastroianni, Italian-French actor and singer (died 1996) Wikipedia
• 1929 Lata Mangeshkar, Indian playback singer and composer (died 2022) Wikipedia
• 1932 Víctor Jara, Chilean singer-songwriter, poet, and director (died 1973) Wikipedia
• 1934 Brigitte Bardot, French actress and animal rights activist (died 2025) Wikipedia
• 1938 Ben E. King, American singer-songwriter and producer (died 2015) Wikipedia
• 1947 Sheikh Hasina, Bangladeshi politician, 10th Prime Minister of Bangladesh Wikipedia
• 1952 Sylvia Kristel, Dutch model and actress (died 2012) Wikipedia
• 1967 Mira Sorvino, American actress Wikipedia
• 1968 Naomi Watts, English-Australian actress and producer Wikipedia
• 1968 Mika Häkkinen, Finnish race car driver Wikipedia
• 1972 Dita Von Teese, American model and dancer Wikipedia
• 1982 Ranbir Kapoor, Indian actor and director Wikipedia
• 1984 Mathieu Valbuena, French footballer Wikipedia
• 1987 Hilary Duff, American singer-songwriter and actress Wikipedia
• 1988 Marin Čilić, Croatian tennis player Wikipedia

Died on September 28

• 48 BC Pompey, Roman general and politician (born 106 BC) Wikipedia
• 1891 Herman Melville, American author and poet (born 1819) Wikipedia
• 1895 Louis Pasteur, French chemist and microbiologist (born 1822) Wikipedia
• 1918 Georg Simmel, German sociologist and philosopher (born 1858) Wikipedia
• 1953 Edwin Hubble, American astronomer and scholar (born 1889) Wikipedia
• 1966 André Breton, French author and poet (born 1896) Wikipedia
• 1970 Gamal Abdel Nasser, Egyptian colonel and politician, 2nd President of Egypt (born 1918) Wikipedia
• 1978 Pope John Paul I (born 1912) Wikipedia
• 1989 Ferdinand Marcos, Filipino lawyer and politician, 10th President of the Philippines (born 1917) Wikipedia
• 1991 Miles Davis, American trumpet player, composer, and bandleader (born 1926) Wikipedia
• 2000 Pierre Trudeau, Canadian journalist, lawyer, and politician, 15th Prime Minister of Canada (born 1919) Wikipedia
• 2003 Elia Kazan, American director, producer, and screenwriter (born 1909) Wikipedia
• 2016 Shimon Peres, Polish-Israeli statesman and politician, 9th President of Israel (born 1923) Wikipedia
• 2024 Kris Kristofferson, American singer, songwriter, and actor (born 1936) Wikipedia

Holidays and observances

• Christian feast day: Aaron of Auxerre Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Amalia Abad Casasempere Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Annemund Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Chariton the Confessor Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Conval Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Eustochium Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Exuperius Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Faustus of Riez Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Leoba Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Lorenzo Ruiz Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Nykyta Budka Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Paternus of Auch Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Richard Rolle, Walter Hilton and Margery Kempe (Episcopal Church (USA)) Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Simón de Rojas Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Wenceslas Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: September 28 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics). Wikipedia
• Czech Statehood Day (Czech Republic) Wikipedia
• Freedom from Hunger Day Wikipedia
• International Day for Universal Access to Information Wikipedia
• National Day of Awareness and Unity against Child Pornography (Philippines) Wikipedia
• Teachers' Day (Taiwan and Chinese-Filipino schools in the Philippines), ceremonies dedicated to Confucius are also observed. Wikipedia
• World Rabies Day (International) Wikipedia

Sources

• Wikipedia — “September 28” — events, births, deaths and observances (text under CC BY-SA 4.0) (checked 2026-10-15)
• Wikipedia — “Selected anniversaries/September 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 “September 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 September 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.