Today in history...
May 28, 2009
* 585 BC – A solar eclipse occurs, as predicted by 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.
* 1503 – James IV of Scotland and Margaret Tudor are married according to a Papal Bull by Pope Alexander VI. A Treaty of Everlasting Peace between Scotland and England signed on that occasion results in a peace that lasts ten years.
* 1533 – The Archbishop of Canterbury Thomas Cranmer declares the marriage of King Henry VIII of England to Anne Boleyn valid.
* 1588 – The Spanish Armada, with 130 ships and 30,000 men, sets sail from Lisbon heading for the English Channel. (It will take until May 30 for all ships to leave port).
* 1644 – Bolton Massacre by Royalist troops under the command of the Earl of Derby.
* 1754 – French and Indian War: in the first engagement of the war, Virginia militia under 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.
* 1774 – American Revolutionary War: the first Continental Congress convenes.
* 1830 – President Andrew Jackson signs The Indian Removal Act which relocates Native Americans.
* 1859 – Big Ben is drawn on a carriage pulled by 16 horses from Whitechapel Bell Foundry to the Palace of Westminster.
* 1863 – American Civil War: The 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry, the first African American regiment, leaves Boston, Massachusetts, to fight for the Union.
* 1892 – In San Francisco, California, John Muir organizes the Sierra Club.
* 1905 – Russo-Japanese War: The Battle of Tsushima ends with the destruction of the Russian Baltic Fleet by Admiral Togo Heihachiro and the Imperial Japanese Navy.
* 1918 – The Democratic Republic of Armenia and the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic declare their independence.
* 1926 – 28th May 1926 coup d'état: Ditadura Nacional is established in Portugal to suppress the unrest of the First Republic.
* 1930 – The Chrysler Building in New York City officially opens.
* 1934 – Near Callander, Ontario, the Dionne quintuplets are born to Ovila and Elzire Dionne, and later become the first quintuplets to survive infancy.
* 1934 – The Glyndebourne festival in England is inaugurated.
* 1936 – Alan Turing submits On Computable Numbers for publication.
* 1937 – The Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, California, is officially opened by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in Washington, D.C., who pushes a button signaling the start of vehicle traffic over the span.
* 1937 – Neville Chamberlain becomes British Prime Minister.
* 1940 – World War II: Belgium surrenders to Germany.
* 1940 – World War II: Norwegian, French, Polish and British forces recapture Narvik. This is the first allied infantry victory of the War.
* 1942 – World War II: in retaliation for the assassination of Reinhard Heydrich, Nazis in Czechoslovakia kill over 1800 people.
* 1952 – Memphis Kiddie Park opens in Brooklyn, Ohio. The park's Little Dipper roller coaster would become the oldest operating steel roller coaster in North America.
* 1952 – The women of Greece are given the right to vote.
* 1955 – Henry Bolte becomes Premier of the state of Victoria.
* 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.
* 1964 – The Palestine Liberation Organization is formed.
* 1970 – The formerly united Free University of Brussels officially splits into two separate entities, the French-speaking Université Libre de Bruxelles and the Dutch-speaking Vrije Universiteit Brussel.
* 1974 – Northern Ireland's power-sharing Sunningdale Agreement collapses following a general strike by loyalists.
* 1975 – Fifteen West African countries sign the Treaty of Lagos, creating the Economic Community of West African States.
* 1977 – In Southgate, Kentucky, the Beverly Hills Supper Club is engulfed in fire, killing 165 people inside.
* 1977 - Resident sasquatch Erich Springinsguth born.
* 1978 – Second round of the presidential elections in Upper Volta. The election is won by incumbent Sangoulé Lamizana.
* 1979 – Constantine Karamanlis signs the full treaty of the accession of Greece with the European Economic Community.
* 1982 – Falklands War: British forces defeat the Argentines at the Battle of Goose Green.
* 1987 – 19-year-old West German pilot Mathias Rust evades Soviet Union air defenses and lands a private plane in Red Square in Moscow. He is immediately detained and is not released until August 3, 1988.
* 1987 – A robot probe finds the wreckage of the USS Monitor near Cape Hatteras, North Carolina.
* 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.
* 1995 – The Russian town of Neftegorsk is hit by a 7.6 magnitude earthquake that kills at least 2,000 people, ⅔ of total population.
* 1996 – U.S. President Bill Clinton's former business partners in the Whitewater land deal, James McDougal and Susan McDougal, and Arkansas Governor Jim Guy Tucker, are convicted of fraud.
* 1998 – Nuclear testing: Pakistan responds to a series of nuclear tests by India with five of its own, prompting the United States, Japan, and other nations to impose economic sanctions.
* 1999 – In Milan, Italy, after 22 years of restoration work, Leonardo da Vinci's masterpiece "The Last Supper" is put back on display.
* 1999 – Two Swedish police officers are murdered with their own fire arms by the bank robbers Jackie Arklöv and Tony Olsson after a car chase.
* 2002 – NATO declares Russia a limited partner in the Western alliance.
* 2002 – The Mars Odyssey finds signs of large ice deposits on the planet Mars.
* 2003 – Peter Hollingworth becomes the first Governor-General of Australia to resign his office as a result of criticism of his conduct.
* 2004 – The Iraqi Governing Council chooses Ayad Allawi, a longtime anti-Saddam Hussein exile, as prime minister of Iraq's interim government.
* 2008 – The first meeting of the Constituent Assembly of Nepal formally declares Nepal a republic, ending the 240-year reign of the Shah dynasty.
Birthdays today...
* 1140 – Xin Qiji, Chinese poet (d. 1207)
* 1371 – John the Fearless, Duke of Burgundy (d. 1419)
* 1524 – Selim II, Ottoman Sultan (d. 1574)
* 1582 – William Fiennes, 1st Viscount Saye and Sele, English statesman (d. 1662)
* 1588 – Pierre Seguier, Chancellor of France (d. 1672)
* 1641 – Janez Vajkard Valvasor, Slovenian polymath (d. 1693)
* 1660 – King George I of Great Britain (d. 1727)
* 1676 – Jacopo Riccati, Italian mathematician (d. 1754)
* 1692 – Joseph Butler, English philosopher (d. 1752)
* 1738 – Joseph-Ignace Guillotin, French physician (d. 1814)
* 1759 – William Pitt the Younger, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (d. 1806)
* 1779 – Thomas Moore, Irish poet (d. 1852)
* 1807 – Louis Agassiz, Swiss-born zoologist and geologist (d. 1873)
* 1818 – P.G.T. Beauregard, American Confederate general (d. 1893)
* 1836 – Alexander Mitscherlich, German chemist (d. 1918)
* 1837 – George Ashlin, Irish architect (d. 1921)
* 1837 – Tony Pastor, American vaudeville performer (d. 1908)
* 1853 – Carl Larsson, Swedish painter (d. 1919)
* 1858 – Carl Rickard Nyberg, Swedish inventor (d. 1939)
* 1872 – Marian Smoluchowski, Polish physicist (d. 1917)
* 1878 – Paul Pelliot, French sinologist (d. 1945)
* 1883 – Vinayak Damodar Savarkar, Indian activist (d. 1966)
* 1883 – Clough Williams-Ellis, Welsh architect (d. 1978)
* 1884 – Edvard Beneš, Czech politician (d. 1948)
* 1886 – Santo Trafficante, Sr., Sicilian-born American mobster (d. 1954)
* 1888 – Jim Thorpe, American athlete (d. 1953)
* 1888 – Kaarel Eenpalu, Estonian Prime Minister (d. 1942)
* 1889 – Richard Réti, Austrian-Czech chess grandmaster (d. 1929)
* 1892 – Sepp Dietrich, German SS officer (d. 1966)
* 1900 – Tommy Ladnier, American musician (d. 1939)
* 1908 – Ian Fleming, English author (d. 1964)
* 1909 – Red Horner, Canadian hockey player (d. 2005)
* 1910 – T-Bone Walker, American singer (d. 1975)
* 1910 – Lady Rachel Kempson, English actress (d. 2003)
* 1911 – Thora Hird, British actress (d. 2003)
* 1911 – Fritz Hochwälder, Austrian author (d. 1986)
* 1912 – Patrick White, Australian writer, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1990)
* 1912 – Herman Johannes, Indonesian scientist and politician (d. 1992)
* 1914 – W. G. G. Duncan Smith, British World War II pilot (d. 1996)
* 1915 – Joseph Greenberg, American linguist (d. 2001)
* 1916 – Walker Percy, American author (d. 1990)
* 1917 – Papa John Creech, American musician (d. 1994)
* 1918 – Johnny Wayne, Canadian comedian (Wayne and Shuster) (d. 1990)
* 1921 – Heinz G. Konsalik, German author (d. 1999)
* 1922 – Lou Duva, American boxing trainer
* 1923 – György Ligeti, Hungarian composer (d. 2006)
* 1923 – Nandamuri Taraka Rama Rao, Indian actor and politician (d. 1998)
* 1925 – Bülent Ecevit, Prime Minister of Turkey (d. 2006)
* 1925 – Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, German baritone
* 1931 – Carroll Baker, American actress
* 1934 – Annette Dionne, Dionne quintuplets
* 1934 – Cecile Dionne, Dionne quintuplets
* 1934 – Emilie Dionne, Dionne quintuplets (d. 1954)
* 1934 – Marie Dionne, Dionne quintuplets (d. 1970)
* 1934 – Yvonne Dionne, Dionne quintuplets(d. 2001)
* 1936 – Betty Shabazz, American civil rights activist (d. 1997)
* 1936 – Claude Forget, French-Canadian politician
* 1938 – Jerry West, American basketball player
* 1938 – Prince Buster, Jamaican musician
* 1941 – Beth Howland, American actress
* 1942 – Stanley B. Prusiner, American scientist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
* 1943 – Terry Crisp, Canadian hockey coach
* 1943 – Elena Souliotis, Greek soprano (d. 2004)
* 1944 – Rudy Giuliani, 107th Mayor of New York City
* 1944 – Gladys Knight, American singer and actress
* 1944 – Patricia Quinn, Northern Irish actress
* 1944 – Gary Stewart, American singer (d. 2003)
* 1944 – Billy Vera, American actor and musician
* 1944 – Faith Brown, British actress
* 1945 – John Fogerty, American musician (Creedence Clearwater Revival)
* 1945 – Hunter "Patch" Adams, American doctor
* 1945 – John N. Bambacus, American politician
* 1946 – Satchidanandan, Indian poet
* 1946 – Skip Jutze, American baseball player
* 1947 – Sondra Locke, American actress
* 1947 – Zahi Hawass, Egyptian Egyptologist
* 1947 – Lynn Johnston, Canadian cartoonist
* 1949 – Wendy O. Williams, American musician (The Plasmatics) (d. 1998)
* 1950 – Ian Bradley, British writer and academic
* 1950 – Jim Harris, American professional wrestler
* 1952 – Russell J. Wintner, American film executive
* 1953 – Arto Lindsay, American guitarist and singer
* 1954 – John Tory, Canadian politician
* 1954 – Youri Egorov, Soviet classical pianist (d. 1988)
* 1955 – John McGeoch, Scottish musician (Siouxsie and the Banshees) (d. 2004)
* 1955 – Mark Howe, American ice hockey player
* 1956 – Julie Peasgood, British actress
* 1956 – Jerry Douglas, American dobro player
* 1956 – Markus Höttinger, Austrian racing driver (d. 1980)
* 1957 – Kirk Gibson, American baseball player
* 1957 – Ben Howland, American college basketball coach
* 1959 – John Morgan, British etiquette expert (d. 2000)
* 1960 – Mark Sanford, 115th Governor of South Carolina & former Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from South Carolina
* 1962 – Roland Gift, English musician (Fine Young Cannibals)
* 1962 – Brandon Cruz, American actor
* 1962 – James Michael Tyler, American actor
* 1963 – Houman Younessi, Iranian-born scientist
* 1963 – Gavin Harrison, British drummer (Porcupine Tree)
* 1964 – Jeff Fenech, Australian boxer
* 1964 – Christa Miller, American actress
* 1964 – David Baddiel, British comedian and television presenter
* 1964 – Phil Vassar, American country music singer
* 1965 – Chris Ballew, American musician
* 1967 – Glen Rice, American basketball player
* 1968 – Kylie Minogue, Australian actress and singer
* 1969 – Mike DiFelice, American baseball player
* 1969 – Justin Kirk, American actor
* 1970 – Morgan Fox, Canadian model and 1990 Playboy playmate
* 1970 – Ian Cashmore, English actor and paranormal investigator
* 1970 – Glenn Quinn, Irish actor (d. 2002)
* 1971 – Isabelle Carré, French actress
* 1971 – Ekaterina Gordeeva, Russian figure skater
* 1971 – Lisa Lopes, American singer (TLC) (d. 2002)
* 1971 – Glenn Ross, Northern Irish strongman
* 1971 – Monika Schnarre, Canadian model
* 1971 – Brad Sugars, Australian entrepreneur
* 1972 – Michael Boogerd, Dutch cyclist
* 1972 – Guidoni Junior Doriva, Brazilian footballer
* 1974 – Alicia Minshew, American actress
* 1975 – Charmaine Sheh, Hong Kong actress
* 1976 – Liam O'Brien, American voice actor
* 1976 – Alexei Nemov, Russian gymnast
* 1976 – Glenn Morrison, Rugby League Player
* 1977 – Jeremy Borash, American professional wrestling announcer
* 1977 – Elisabeth Hasselbeck, American television panelist (The View)
* 1977 - Erich Springinsguth, big bastard, aka Sasquatch
* 1979 – Jesse Bradford, American actor
* 1979 – Ronald Curry, American football player
* 1979 – Joeri Jansen, Belgian athlete
* 1979 – Monica Keena, American actress
* 1980 – Mark Feehily, Irish musician (Westlife)
* 1980 – Miguel Pérez, Spanish footballer
* 1981 – Adam Green, American singer and songwriter
* 1981 – Daniel Cabrera, Dominican baseball player
* 1982 – Alexa Davalos, American actress
* 1982 – Jhonny Peralta, Dominican baseball player
* 1983 – Steve Cronin, American soccer goalkeeper
* 1983 – Humberto Sanchez, Dominican baseball player
* 1984 – Beth Allen, New Zealand actress
* 1985 – Colbie Caillat, American folk singer-songwriter
* 1986 – Charles N'Zogbia, French footballer
* 1986 – Joseph Cross, American actor
* 1986 – Michael Oher, American football player at Ole Miss
* 1986 – Berrick Barnes, Australian Rugby player
* 1988 – David Perron, Canadian ice hockey player
Famous deaths...
* 576 – Saint Germain of Paris (b. 496)
* 1357 – King Afonso IV of Portugal (b. 1291)
* 1556 – Saitō Dōsan, Japanese daimyo
* 1672 – John Trevor, English politician (b. 1626)
* 1747 – Luc de Clapiers, marquis de Vauvenargues, French writer (b. 1715)
* 1750 – Emperor Sakuramachi of Japan (b. 1720)
* 1787 – Leopold Mozart, Austrian composer (b. 1719)
* 1805 – Luigi Boccherini, Italian composer (b. 1743)
* 1808 – Richard Hurd, English Bishop of Worcester and writer (b. 1720)
* 1811 – Henry Dundas, British minister (b. 1742)
* 1816 – Ras Wolde Selassie, Ethiopian warlord
* 1828 – Daikokuya Kōdayū, Japanese castaway (b. 1751)
* 1843 – Noah Webster, American author, politician, and lexicographer (b. 1758)
* 1849 – Anne Brontë, English author (b. 1820)
* 1864 – Simion Bărnuţiu, Romanian philosopher and liberal politician (b. 1808)
* 1878 – John Russell, 1st Earl Russell, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (b. 1792)
* 1916 – Ivan Franko, Ukrainian writer (b. 1856)
* 1927 – Boris Kustodiev, Russian painter (b. 1878)
* 1937 – Alfred Adler, Austrian psychologist (b. 1870)
* 1940 – Prince Frederick Charles of Hesse (b. 1868)
* 1947 – August Eigruber, Austrian war criminal (b. 1907)
* 1948 – Unity Mitford, English fascist sympathizer (b. 1914)
* 1953 – Hori Tatsuo, Japanese writer (b. 1904)
* 1968 – Fyodor Matveyevich Okhlopkov, Yakut-born Soviet sniper (b. 1908)
* 1971 – Audie Murphy, American actor and war hero (b. 1924)
* 1971 – Jean Vilar, French actor (b. 1912)
* 1972 – King Edward VIII of the United Kingdom (b. 1894)
* 1975 – Ezzard Charles, Heavyweight champion (b. 1921)
* 1976 – Steffan Danielsen, Faroese painter (b. 1922)
* 1978 – Arthur Brough, English actor (b. 1905)
* 1980 – Rolf Nevanlinna, Finnish mathematician (b. 1895)
* 1981 – Stefan Cardinal Wyszyński, Archbishop of Warsaw (b. 1901)
* 1982 – Lt Col 'H'. Jones VC, British soldier (Falklands War) (b. 1940)
* 1983 – Erastus Corning 2nd, 72nd Mayor of Albany, New York (b. 1909)
* 1984 – Eric Morecambe, British comedian (Morecambe and Wise) (b. 1926)
* 1988 – Sy Oliver, Jazz trumpeter, composer and bandleader (b. 1910)
* 1993 – Billy Conn, American boxer and actor (b. 1917)
* 1994 – Julius Boros, American golfer (b. 1920)
* 1994 – Ely Jacques Kahn, Jr., American writer (b. 1916)
* 1998 – Phil Hartman, Canadian actor, comedian (b. 1948)
* 2001 – Francisco Varela, Chilean biologist and philosopher (b. 1946)
* 2001 – Joe Moakley, Former Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Massachusetts (b. 1927)
* 2002 – Jean Berger, German-born composer (b. 1909)
* 2003 – Oleg Makarov, cosmonaut (b. 1933)
* 2003 – Ilya Prigogine, Russian-born physicist and chemist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry (b. 1917)
* 2003 – Martha Scott, American actress (b. 1912)
* 2004 – Umberto Agnelli, Swiss-born automobile executive (b. 1934)
* 2006 – Thorleif Schjelderup, Norwegian author and ski jumper (b. 1920)
* 2007 – Marquise Hill, American football player (b. 1982)
* 2007 – Toshikatsu Matsuoka, Japanese politician (b. 1945)
* 2008 – Robert Justman, American television producer (b. 1926)
Holidays and observances...
* Azerbaijan and Armenia: Republic Day (both 1918).
* Ethiopia: Downfall of the Derg Day
* Philippines: National Flag Day
Have a great Thursday.
~Brian
