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December 28 in history

168 sourced entries recorded on December 28, from 418 CE to 2025 CE. Every line is quoted from the revision it came from.

Events

  • 418Pope Boniface I succeeds Zosimus as the 42nd pope.source
  • 457Majorian is crowned emperor of the Western Roman Empire and recognized by Pope Leo I. His rule is accepted in Italy, Dalmatia and some territories in Northern Gaul.source
  • 893An earthquake destroys the city of Dvin in Armenia.source
  • 925In China, Guo Chongtao, military commander of the Later Tang dynasty that rules from what is now the Henan province, has his deputy commanders Wang Zongbi, Wang Zongxun and Wang Zongwo arreted and executed on accusations of disloyalty, after receiving permission from Prince Li Jiji, 13 days after their victory over the Former Shu kingdom.source
  • 1065Westminster Abbey is consecrated by King Edward the Confessor.source
  • 1321December 28 (Genko 1, 9th day of 12th month) – In Japan, Emperor Go-Daigo begins direct government as the cloistered rule of former Emperor Go-Uda ceases.source
  • 1367During the Red Turban Rebellions, Hu Mei captures Shaowu, while Xu Da and Chang Yuchun capture Jinan, bringing both under the Hongwu Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang's control.source
  • 1375King Edward III summons the English Parliament to assemble at Westminster on April 28, 1376.source
  • 1416China's Emperor Cheng Zu announces a fifth treasure voyage.source
  • 1418The Dauphin Charles, crown prince of France, reclaims the city of Tours from the Burgundians after a month-long siege.source
  • 1461General Skanderbeg of Albania recaptures the fortress of Trani for the Kingdom of Naples after finding the rebel leader Fuscia de Foxa and 16 other rebels outside the walls of the city.source
  • 1478In the Battle of Giornico, Swiss troops defeat the army of Duchy of Milan, leading to the cession of the Leventina District by Milan to the Canton of Uri.source
  • 1481The city of Zahara de la Sierra, now part of Spain, is captured by the Moorish Emir Abu'l-Hasan Ali of Granada in a surprise attack, leading to a counterattack by the Kingdom of Castile two months later.source
  • 1533Grijalva and his crew discover Isla de los Inocentes, probably San Benedicto Island.source
  • 1535James Atkenhead, the envoy of Scotland's King James V, leaves Scotland to travel to France to evaluate Mary of Bourbon, daughter of Charles, Duke of Vendôme, as a prospective queen consort. After the evaluation, and a personal visit by King James to France, the Scottish monarch decides to return to his plan to marry Madeline of Valois, daughter of King Francois of France.source
  • 1537The Ordonnance de Montpellier, establishing the first system in Europe for all writers to submit copies of their printed work to the government for review and maintenance in a library, is signed into law by King François I of France. The law provides that a book cannot be legally sold until a copy has been deposited in the royal library.source
  • 1547Sir John Luttrell of England, recently victorious over Scotland in the Battle of Pinkie, raids the Scottish port of Burntisland on the Firth of Forth, after his uncle Thomas Wyndham brings two Royal Navy warships. Luttrell and Wyndhamburn ships and buildings on the pier and capture Rossend Castlesource
  • 1547English soldier Sir John Luttrell, recently victorious in the Battle of Pinkie, raids Burntisland on the Firth of Forth, after Wyndham, his uncle, has brought his ships to the port; they burn ships and buildings on the pier and capture Rossend Castle.source
  • 1554Edinburgh burgh council resolves to produce a play written by William Lauder (poet), probably as a New Year's Day gift to Mary of Guise.source
  • 1567The King's secret marriage to Karin Månsdotter is revealed.source
  • 1568Ludwig III becomes the Duke of Württemberg in German Bavaria after the death of his father, Christoph.source
  • 1594The earliest known performance of William Shakespeare's play The Comedy of Errors takes place at Gray's Inn in London, and is played by the Lord Chamberlain's Men acting company. The production is held before members of the English court on Innocents' Day as part of the Gray's Inn Christmas festivities.source
  • 1598Issue in Edinburgh by William Schaw, Master of Work to the Crown of Scotland and General Warden of the master stonemasons, of the First Schaw Statutes, "The Statutis and ordinananceis to be obseruit by all the maister maoissounis within this realme", significant in the development of freemasonry.source
  • 1599issue at Holyroodhouse by William Schaw, Master of Work to the Crown of Scotland and General Warden of the master stonemasons, of the Second Schaw Statutes, significant in the history of freemasonry, particularly in relation to Lodge Mother Kilwinning. The earliest records of the Lodge of Edinburgh (Mary's Chapel) date from this year.source
  • 1612Galileo Galilei becomes the first astronomer to observe the planet Neptune when in conjunction with Jupiter. He mistakenly catalogues it as a fixed star, because of its extremely slow motion along the ecliptic. Neptune will not be truly recognized as a planet until 1846, about 234 years later, when Johann Gottfried Galle first sights it in the Berlin Observatory.source
  • 1643Dutch expedition to Valdivia: The failed Dutch expedition arrives back at Recife in Dutch Brazil.source
  • 1647King Charles of England promises a church reform. This agreement leads to the Second English Civil War.source
  • 1668Fritz Cronman arrives in Moscow as the Swedish Empire's ambassador to the Russian Empire, accompanied by a staff of 35 people.source
  • 1668The Swedish ambassador Fritz Cronman arrives in Moscow to represent the Swedish Empire at the court of the Russian Empire.source
  • 1673In China, General Wu Sangui begins the Revolt of the Three Feudatories, a rebellion against the Qing dynasty by killing the Governor of the Yunnan province, Zhu Guozhi. Within 10 days, he leads troops on an expedition to take over the neighboring Guizhou province and by 1676 controls 11 of China's provinces.source
  • 1694with the death of Queen Mary II (aged 32) from smallpox at Kensington Palace, King William III becomes sole monarch.source
  • 1694with the death of Queen Mary II, William III becomes sole monarch.source
  • 1700Laurence Hyde, 1st Earl of Rochester, Lord President of the Council in charge of the Privy Council, is appointed to the additional job of Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, the highest Crown official in charge of administration of Ireland.source
  • 1700Laurence Hyde, 1st Earl of Rochester is appointed Lord Lieutenant of Ireland.source
  • 1700Laurence Hyde, 1st Earl of Rochester, appointed Lord Lieutenant of Ireland.source
  • 1703Ahmed III succeeds the deposed Mustafa II as Ottoman Emperor.source
  • 1707Charles XII of Sweden and his coalition of troops begin crossing the first line of defense of the Russian Empire, the Vistula River, in their attempt to conquer Russia.source
  • 17448 January 1745 – War of the Austrian Succession: The Quadruple Alliance of Britain, Austria, Saxony-Poland and the United Netherlands is formed against Prussia.source
  • 1745For 5 days, fire destroys buildings in Istanbul.source
  • 1767Phraya Taksin, a minor provincial official in Siam (now Thailand), crowns himself as King of Siam, establishing the Siamese Thonburi Kingdom, taking the regnal name of Borommaracha IV and begins a 14-year reign of liberation and conquest; historically, he is known as "Taksin the Great".source
  • 1795Construction of Yonge Street, formerly recognized as the longest street in the world, begins in York, Upper Canada (modern-day Toronto).source
  • 1799The jail in Parramatta is lost to arson.source
  • 1821Sandycove lifeboat disaster – four lifeboatmen drown attempting to rescue Ellen of Liverpool.source
  • 1824In Australia, in what is now New South Wales, the Bathurst War comes to an end, with the defeat of the Wiradjuri indigenous nation and the peaceful surrender of their leader, Chief Windradyne, at a feast at Parramatta.source
  • 1828The province of Echigo, Japan, is hit by a 6.8 magnitude earthquake, killing more than 1,500 people.source
  • 1832John C. Calhoun becomes the first Vice President of the United States to resign.source
  • 1835The Second Seminole War, led by Seminole Chief Osceola breaks out in the U.S. state of Florida.source
  • 1835The Second Seminole War breaks out. Seminole fighter Osceola and his warriors attack government agent Thompson outside Fort King in central Florida.source
  • 1836The Colony of South Australia is founded by Captain John Hindmarsh.source
  • 1836Spain recognizes the independence of Mexico.source
  • 1836South Australia and Adelaide are founded.source
  • 1836Chile declares war on the Peruvian-Bolivian Confederation, starting the War of the Confederation.source
  • 1837Pastoral letter of Belgian bishops deprecates Catholic membership of masonic lodges.source
  • 1846Iowa is admitted as the 29th U.S. state.source
  • 1847Augustus Short, the first Anglican bishop of Adelaide, South Australia arrives from England.source
  • 1857Second Anglo-Chinese War: 2nd Battle of Canton – British and French forces begin an assault on the Qing dynasty Chinese city of Canton (Guangzhou).source
  • 1862December 26–29 – Battle of Chickasaw Bayou – Another victory for the Confederate Army, outnumbered two to one, results in six times as many Union casualties, defeating several assaults commanded by Union general William T. Sherman.source
  • 1870Juan Prim, Prime Minister of Spain, is shot by unknown assassins on leaving the Cortes. He dies two days later.source
  • 1879Tay Bridge disaster: The central part of the Tay Rail Bridge at Dundee, Scotland, collapses in a storm as a train passes over it, killing 75.source
  • 1881Virgil Earp is ambushed in Tombstone, Arizona, and loses the use of his left arm.source
  • 1882Newlands Mill chimney in Bradford collapses causing the loss of 54 lives, mostly young girls and boys.source
  • 188572 Indian lawyers, academics and journalists gather in Bombay to form the Congress Party.source
  • 1886Peder Sather, banker and philanthropist (born 1810)source
  • 1889The first interurban tram-train to emerge in the United States is the Newark and Granville Street Railway in Ohio.source
  • 1891Transvaal – Mozambique border near Komatipoort to Malelane, 33 mi.source
  • 1895Auguste and Louis Lumière make what is probably the first commercial public screening of projected moving picture films to a paying audience, at the Salon Indien du Grand Café in Paris.source
  • 1896Nippon Flower Mills (Nipun) was founded.source
  • 1897The play Cyrano de Bergerac, by Edmond Rostand, premieres in Paris.source
  • 1898The Swiss village of Airolo is buried in an avalanche.source
  • 1899The bodies of the officers and men killed on the 1898 explosion of the battleship USS Maine are reinterred at the Arlington National Cemetery.source
  • 1900The first steel produced by electrometallurgy (from an electric furnace) is delivered.source
  • 1907The last officially confirmed huia sighting is made.source
  • 1908The 7.1 Mw Messina earthquake shakes Southern Italy with a maximum Mercalli intensity of XI (Extreme), killing between 75,000 and 200,000.source
  • 1908A 7.1 magnitude earthquake hits in Sicily and Calabria, southern Italy. The cities of Messina and Reggio Calabria were almost completely destroyed and between 75,000 and 200,000 people died. Moments after the earthquake, a 12-meter (39-foot) tsunami struck nearby coasts, causing even more devastation.source
  • 1909The first manned heavier-than-air powered flight in South Africa is made at East London, by French aviator Albert Kimmerling, in a Voisin 1907 biplane.source
  • 1909The first manned heavier-than-air powered flight in South Africa is made by French aviator Albert Kimmerling by taking off from the Nahoon Racecourse at East London in a Voisin 1907 biplane.source
  • 1916Floods in Clermont, Queensland claimed more than 60 lives.source
  • 1918Sinn Féin enjoys a landslide victory of the Irish seats at the 1918 United Kingdom general election, winning 73 of the 105 seats in Ireland. In accordance with their manifesto, Sinn Féin members will not take their seats in the Palace of Westminster but will form the First Dáil in Dublin. Countess Constance Markievicz, while detained in Holloway Prison (London), becomes the first woman elected to (but does not take her seat in) the British House of Commons.source
  • 19181918 general election: Sinn Féin won a landslide victory in the election, winning 73 of the 105 seats in Ireland. The Irish Parliamentary Party was nearly wiped out. In accordance with their 1918 manifesto, Sinn Féin members did not take their seats in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom but formed instead Dáil Éireann (Irish parliament). Constance Markievicz, while detained in Holloway Prison in London, became the first woman elected to the Palace of Westminster, but she did not take her seat. On 30 December, the Irish Independent newspaper criticised her strongly.source
  • 1921The Banca Italiana di Sconto goes bust. The bank is granted a moratorium of one year to resolve its financial problems.source
  • 1929"Black Saturday" in Samoa: New Zealand colonial police kill 11 unarmed demonstrators, an event which leads the Mau movement to demand independence for Samoa.source
  • 1932The Cologne banker Kurt von Schröder, who is a close friend of Papen and a NSDAP member, meets with Adolf Hitler to tell him that Papen wants to set up a meeting to discuss how they can work together. Papen wants Nazi support to return to the Chancellorship while Hitler wants Papen to convince Hindenburg to appoint him Chancellor. Hitler agrees to meet Papen on January 3, 1933.source
  • 1934An American Airlines aircraft crashes in the Adirondack Mountains.source
  • 1935Pravda publishes a letter from Pavel Postyshev, who revives the New Year tree tradition in the Soviet Union.source
  • 1938The Sydney Mail ceases publication.source
  • 1942North Atlantic Convoy ON 154 is heavily attacked by U-boats, sinking 13 ships.source
  • 1955Kim Il Sung delivers his "Juche Speech", On Eliminating Dogmatism and Formalism and Establishing Juche in Ideological Work.source
  • 1963The launch of Television Malaysia by Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra Al-Haj.source
  • 19681968 Israeli raid on Lebanon: Commandos from the IDF's elite Sayeret Matkal destroy 13 civilian airplanes in the Beirut International Airport belonging to Middle East Airlines (MEA) in response to the attack on the Israeli airliner in Athens. There are no casualties reported.source
  • 1968Lior Ashkenazi, Israeli screen and stage actor.source
  • 1970The suspected killers of Pierre Laporte, Jacques and Paul Rose and Francis Sunard, are arrested near Montreal.source
  • 1970Burgos trials: Three Basques are sentenced to death, twelve others sentenced to imprisonment (terms from 12 to 62 years), and one is released.source
  • 1972The bones of Nazi Party official Martin Bormann are discovered in Berlin during construction work.source
  • 1973The Endangered Species Act is passed in the United States.source
  • 1976promulgation of the Constitution of the People's Socialist Republic of Albania.source
  • 1978Colour television was introduced by Radio Television Malaysia on RTM1source
  • 1980December 28–30. Council of Association of Polish Writers convenes in Warsaw, electing Józef Szczepański as president,source
  • 1981Rwandan parliamentary election, 1981source
  • 1981The first American test-tube baby, Elizabeth Jordan Carr, is born in Norfolk, Virginia.source
  • 1984A Soviet cruise missile plunges into Lake Inari in Finnish Lapland, known as the Lake Inari missile incident. Finnish authorities announce the fact in public on January 3, 1985.source
  • 1989The Ml Newcastle earthquake affected New South Wales, Australia with a maximum Mercalli intensity of VIII (Severe), leaving 13 people dead and 160 injured.source
  • 1993December 26–28 – Four separate grenade attacks occur in Davao City. The first one, during an evening mass at San Pedro Cathedral, kills 6–7 people and injures more than 130 others. In the following two days, three mosques are likewise attacked, injuring six in the second one.source
  • 1993Pakistan begins a campaign to eradicate polio.source
  • 2012Japanese supercentarian Jiroemon Kimura surpasses the final age of Danish-American supercentarian Christian Mortensen of 115 years, 252 days and becomes the oldest validated man in recorded history.source
  • 2014Indonesia AirAsia Flight 8501 from Surabaya, Indonesia, to Singapore crashes into the Java Sea just southwest of Borneo, killing all 162 people on board.source
  • 2016The chemical elements 113, 115, 117 and 118 are officially named Nihonium, Moscovium, Tennessine and Oganesson.source
  • 2022Two border crossings with Serbia are closed after protesters in Serbia block them to support the ethnic Serbs mounting barricades in northern Kosovo, refusing to recognize the country's independence.source
  • 20252025 Iranian protests: Major protests emerge in Iran following an intense inflation spike that saw a severe depreciation in the Iranian rial. These protests are accompanied with demands for an end to the Islamic republic.source

Births

  • 1047Sunjong, ruler of Goryeo (died 1083)source
  • 1164Emperor Rokujō of Japan (died 1176)source
  • 1434Antonio Grimani, Italian admiral (died 1523)source
  • 1461Louise of Savoy, Nun (died 1503)source
  • 1461Louise of Savoy (nun) (died 24 July 1503)source
  • 1510Nicholas Bacon, English politician (died 1579)source
  • 1535Martin Eisengrein, German theologian (died 1578)source
  • 1560Samuel Sandys, English politician (died 1623)source
  • 1618Catharina Hooft, noblewoman of the Dutch Golden Age (died 1691)source
  • 1623Elisabeth Augusta Lindenov, daughter of king Christian IV of Denmark and Kirsten Munk (died 1677)source
  • 1635Elizabeth Stuart, second daughter of King Charles I of England (died 1650)source
  • 1635Elizabeth Stuart, daughter of Charles I (died 1650)source
  • 1651Johann Krieger, German composer and organist (died 1735)source
  • 1665George FitzRoy, 1st Duke of Northumberland, English general (died 1716)source
  • 1719Charles Gravier, comte de Vergennes, French diplomat (died 1787)source
  • 1722Eliza Lucas, American agronomist (died 1793)source
  • 1731José de Viera y Clavijo, Spanish writersource
  • 1763John Molson, Canadian entrepreneur (died 1836)source
  • 1789Catharine Sedgwick, American novelist (died 1867)source
  • 1852Leonardo Torres Quevedo, Spanish engineer, one of pioneers of computing and the radio control, inventor of El Ajedrecista (The Chess Player) (died 1936)source
  • 1856Woodrow Wilson, 28th President of the United States, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (died 1924)source
  • 1879Billy Mitchell, U.S. general, military aviation pioneer (died 1936)source
  • 1899Edgar Neville, author and director (died 1976)source
  • 1903John von Neumann, Hungarian-born American mathematician (died 1957)source
  • 1922Stan Lee, American comics creator (died 2018)source
  • 1956Michael Farrugia, politiciansource

Deaths

  • 484The Visigoth king Euric dies and is succeeded by his son Alaric II. Euric has built a rampart to protect the city of Carcassonne southeast of Toulouse, on a bend of the Aude River.source
  • 925Wang Zongbi, general of Former Shusource
  • 1218Robert II, French nobleman (born 1154)source
  • 1297Hugh Aycelin, French priest and cardinal (born 1230)source
  • 1319Mattia de Nazarei, Italian abbess (born 1253)source
  • 1325Al-Allama al-Hilli, Persian theologian (born 1250)source
  • 1367Ashikaga Yoshiakira, Japanese shōgun (born 1330)source
  • 1394Maria Angelina Doukaina Palaiologina, basilissa of Epirus (born 1350)source
  • 1446Antipope Clement VIIIsource
  • 1491Bertoldo di Giovanni, Italian sculptor (born c. 1435)source
  • 1538Andrea Gritti, Doge of Venice (born 1455)source
  • 1547Konrad Peutinger, German humanist and antiquarian (born 1465)source
  • 1622Francis de Sales, Bishop of Geneva and saint (born 1567)source
  • 1622Francis de Sales, Catholic Bishop of Geneva (born 1567 in the Duchy of Savoy)source
  • 1624Charles of Austria, Bishop of Wroclaw, Prince-bishop of Wroclaw (born 1590)source
  • 1653Giovanni Battista Rinuccini, archbishop of Fermo (born 1592)source
  • 1679Peder Winstrup, clergy (born 1605)source
  • 1694Mary II, Queen of England, Scotland, and Ireland (born 1662)source
  • 1696Miguel de Molinos, Spanish priest, apostle of Quietism (born 1628)source
  • 1706Pierre Bayle, French philosopher and writer (born 1647)source
  • 1715William Carstares, Church of Scotland clergyman (born 1649)source
  • 1734Rob Roy MacGregor, Scottish clan chief (born 1671)source
  • 1767Emer de Vattel, Swiss philosopher (born 1714)source
  • 1795Eugenio Espejo, Ecuadorian scientist (born 1747)source
  • 1825James Wilkinson, American soldier, statesman (born 1757)source
  • 1829Jean-Baptiste Lamarck, French scientist (born 1744)source
  • 1862Joaquim Casimiro, composer and organist (born 1808).source
  • 1871John Henry Pratt, English clergyman, mathematician (born 1809)source
  • 1889Teresa Cristina of the Two Sicilies, Empress consort of Brazil (born 1822)source
  • 1937Maurice Ravel, French composer (Boléro) (born 1875)source
  • 1959Ante Pavelic, Croatian fascist leader and WWII war criminal (born 1889)source
  • 1992Actress Daniella Perez is murdered in Rio de Janeiro, after being stabbed 18 times with scissors by actor Guilherme de Pádua and his then-wife Paula Thomaz. The crime shocked Brazil, due to both the victim and the murderer being romantic partners in the telenovela De Corpo e Alma, which aired on TV Globo.source
  • 2002Georgi Rikov, Bulgarian linguist and scientist (born 1946)source
  • 2025Nine people, including five children, are killed in a knife attack in Richelieu, Commewijne District. The suspect is arrested but dies from suicide in police custody the next day.source