August 28

August 28 is the 240th day of the year (241st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 125 days remaining until the end of the year.

Events

Up to 1900

489 – Theodoric the Great, King of the Ostrogoths, defeats Odoacer at the Battle of Isonzo, forcing his way into present–day Italy.
663 – Silla–Tang armies crush the Baekje restoration attempt and force Yamato Japan to withdraw from Korea in the Battle of Baekgang.
1189 – Third Crusade: The Crusaders begin the Siege of Acre, present–day Lebanon, under Guy of Lusignan.
1521 – Ottoman Turks occupy Belgrade.
1524 – The Kaqchikel Maya rebel against their former Spanish allies during the Spanish conquest of Guatemala.
1565 – Pedro Menendez de Aviles sights land near St. Augustine, Florida, which becomes the oldest–continuously occupied European–established city in the continental United States.
1609 – Henry Hudson reaches Delaware Bay.
1619 – Ferdinand II is elected Holy Roman Emperor.
1640 – Second Bishop's War: Charles I of England's army loses to a Scottish Covenanter force at the Battle of Newburn.
1709 – Meidingnu Pamheiba is crowned King of Manipur.
1789 – William Herschel discovers Enceladus, a moon of Saturn.
1845 – The first edition of the Scientific American magazine is published.
1850 – Richard Wagner's Lohengrin Romantic opera is first performed in Weimar, under direction of Franz Liszt.
1861 – American Civil War: The Union Army successfully extends its blockage strategy by capturing the Confederate forts on North Carolina's Center Banks.
1862 – American Civil War: Second Battle of Bull Run.
1867 – The United States annexes the Midway Islands in the Pacific Ocean.
1879 – Cetshwayo, the last king of the Zulus is captured by the British.
1898 – Caleb Bradham invents the carbonated soft drink that will become known as Pepsi Cola.

1901 – 2000

1909 – A military coup d'état against the government of Dimitrios Rallis in Greece begins.
1913 – The Peace Palace in The Hague is inaugurated.
1914 – World War I: The Royal Navy defeats the German fleet at the First Battle of Heligoland Bight.
1916 – World War I: Germany declares war on Romania. On the same day, Italy declares war on Germany.
1917 – Ten suffragettes (campaigners for women's right to vote) are arrested after a protest outside the White House in Washington, DC.
1924 – The Georgian opposition stages the August Uprising against the Soviet Union.
1931 – France and the Soviet Union sign a treaty of non–aggression.
1937 – Toyota Motors becomes an independent company.
1943 – World War II: A general strike in Denmark against the occupiers begins.
1944 – World War II: Marseille and Toulon are liberated.
1953 – Nippon TV broadcasts Japan's first television programme.
1955 – African American teenager Emmett Till is murdered in Mississippi.
1963 – March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom: Martin Luther King, Jr. makes his famous I Have a Dream speech, calling for Civil Rights and equal opportunities.
1963 – The Evergreen Point Bridge, the longest floating bridge in the world, opens between Seattle and Medina in Washington state, United States.
1964 – The Philadelphia race riot begins.
1968 – Riots occur in Chicago, Illinois during the Democratic Party's National Convention.
1971 – A fire on the Greek ferry Heleanna kills 26 people.
1972 – Mark Spitz wins the first two of his total of seven gold medals at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich.
1973 – Puebla, Veracruz and Oaxaca in Mexico are struck by an earthquake, killing 1,200 people.
1979 – An IRA bomb explodes at the Grote Markt, Brussels, Belgium.
1984 – In Amstetten, Austria, Josef Fritzl locks up his daughter Elisabeth in a cellar behind his house. She would remain imprisoned there for over 23 years until April 26, 2008.
1988 – Ramstein airshow disaster: Three aircraft of the Frecce Tricolore demonstration team collide, with the wreckage falling into the crowd, killing 75 people and injuring 346.
1990 – Iraq declares Kuwait its newest province.
1990 – A Force 5 tornado strikes the Illinois cities of Plainfield and Joliet, killing 29 people.
1991 – Ukraine declares its independence from the Soviet Union.
1996 – Charles, Prince of Wales and Diana, Princess of Wales officially divorce.

From 2001

2003 – A power blackout in southeastern England affects 500,000 people.
2005 – Hurricane Katrina begins to make landfall in Louisiana and Mississippi.
2007 – Abdullah Gül becomes President of Turkey.
2008 – Barack Obama accepts the Democrats' nomination for President of the United States, becoming the first African American to do so.
2014 – Recep Tayyip Erdogan becomes President of Turkey.

Births

Up to 1900

933 – Richard I of Normandy (d. 996)
1025 – Emperor Go-Reizei of Japan (d. 1068)
1582 – Taichang Emperor of the Ming Dynasty of China (d. 1620)
1592 – George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham, English diplomat (d. 1627)
1676 – Louise of Mecklenburg, Queen Consort of Denmark (d. 1721)
1714 – Duke Anthony Ulrich of Brunswick (d. 1774)
1728 – John Stark, American general (d. 1822)
1739 – Agostino Accorintoni, Italian composer (d. 1818)
1749 – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, German writer and scientist (d. 1832)
1774 – Elizabeth Ann Seton, first American–born saint (d. 1821)
1801 – Antoine Augustin Cournot, French mathematician and philosopher (d. 1877)
1814 – Sheridan Le Fanu, Irish writer (d. 1873)
1827 – Grand Duchess Catherine Mikhailovna of Russia (d. 1874)
1828 – Leo Tolstoy, Russian writer (d. 1910) (September 9 in Gregorian calendar)
1831 – Lucy Webb Hayes, First Lady of the United States (d. 1889)
1833 – Edward Burne-Jones, English painter (d. 1898)
1837 – Francis, Duke of Teck, German–British nobleman (d. 1900)
1840 – Alexander Cameron Sim, Scottish pharmacist and businessman (d. 1900)
1853 – Vladimir Shukhov, Russian engineer (d. 1939)
1853 – Franz I, Prince of Liechtenstein (d. 1938)
1859 – Matilda Howell, American archer (d. 1938)
1859 – Vittorio Sella, Italian mountaineer and photographer (d. 1943)
1867 – Umberto Giordano, Italian composer (d. 1948)
1878 – George Whipple, American doctor (d. 1976)
1884 – Peter Fraser, Prime Minister of New Zealand (d. 1950)
1885 – Vance Palmer, Australian author, playwright and critic (d. 1959)
1887 – August Kippasto, Estonian–Australian wrestler (d. 1973)
1888 – Edward H. Griffith, American director (d. 1975)
1896 – Firaq Gorakhpuri, Indian author, poet and critic (d. 1982)
1898 – Charlie Grimm, American baseball player, manager and sportscaster (d. 1983)
1899 – Chang Myon, 4th Vice President of South Korea, 2nd, 7th Prime Minister (d. 1966)
1899 – Charles Boyer, French actor (d. 1978)
1899 – Andrei Platonov, Russian author (d. 1951)
1899 – James Wong Howe, Chinese–American cinematographer (d. 1976)

1901 – 1950

1903 – Bruno Bettelheim, American psychologist (d. 1990)
1904 – Anton Yugov, 35th Prime Minister of Bulgaria (d. 1991)
1906 – John Betjeman, English poet (d. 1984)
1910 – Tjalling Koopmans, Dutch economist (d. 1985)
1911 – Joseph Luns, Dutch Secretary–General of NATO (d. 2002)
1913 – Robertson Davies, Canadian writer (d. 1995)
1916 – Jack Vance, American writer (d. 2013)
1917 – Jack Kirby, American comic artist (d. 1994)
1919 – Godfrey Hounsfield, English electrical engineer (d. 2004)
1921 – Lidia Gueiler Tejada, President of Bolivia (d. 2011)
1921 – Nancy Kulp, American actress (d. 1991)
1921 – Mariano Rajoy Sobredo, Spanish judge (d. 2018)
1921 – Fernando Fernan Gomez, Peruvian–Spanish writer, actor and director (d. 2007)
1923 – Guenter Wendt, German–born NASA engineer (d. 2010)
1924 – Janet Frame, New Zealand writer (d. 2004)
1924 – Peggy Ryan, American actress and dancer (d. 2004)
1924 – Zalman Schachter-Shalomi, Polish–American rabbi (d. 2014)
1928 – Vilayat Khan, Indian sitarist and composer (d. 2004)
1930 – Windsor Davies, English actor
1930 – Ben Gazzara, American actor, singer and director (d. 2012)
1931 – Cristina Deutekom, Dutch operatic soprano (d. 2014)
1931 – Ola L. Mize, American general (d. 2014)
1931 – John Shirley-Quirk, English bass–baritone (d. 2014)
1931 – Shunichiro Okano, Japanese footballer (d. 2017)
1932 – Andy Bathgate, Canadian ice hockey player, coach and manager (d. 2016)
1933 – Philip French, English film critic (d. 2015)
1936 – Don Denkinger, American baseball player and umpire
1938 – Paul Martin Jr., former Prime Minister of Canada
1939 – John Kingman, English mathematician
1940 – William Cohen, American lawyer and politician
1940 – Ken Jenkins, American actor
1942 – Sterling Morrison, American singer and guitarist (The Velvet Underground) (d. 1995)
1942 – José Eduardo dos Santos, former President of Angola
1943 – David Soul, American actor
1943 – Surayud Chulanont, former Prime Minister of Thailand
1943 – Shuja Khanzada, Pakistani politician (d. 2015)
1943 – Lou Piniella, American baseball manager
1947 – Emlyn Hughes, English footballer (d. 2004)
1949 – Hugh Cornwell, English musician (The Stranglers)

1951 – 1975

1951 – Dave Hlubek, American musician and songwriter (d. 2017)
1951 – Wayne Osmond, American singer
1952 – Wendelin Wiedeking, German businessman
1952 – Rita Dove, American poet
1953 – Ditmar Jakobs, German footballer
1954 – George M. Church, American geneticist, chemist and engineer
1957 – Ai Weiwei, Chinese artist and political activist
1957 – Ivo Josipovic, former President of Croatia
1957 – Manuel Preciado Rebolledo, Spanish footballer and coach (d. 2012)
1957 – Daniel Stern, American actor
1958 – Scott Hamilton, American figure skater
1959 – Brian Thompson, American actor
1960 – Emma Samms, English actress
1961 – Jennifer Coolidge, American actress
1961 – Rona Fairhead, former Chair of the BBC Trust
1961 – Kim Appleby, British singer
1962 – John Gebbia, American businessman
1963 – Lucjan Avgustini, Albanian bishop (d. 2016)
1964 – Kaj Leo Johannesen, 12th Prime Minister of the Faroe Islands
1965 – Satoshi Tajiri, Japanese, creator of Pokémon
1965 – Shania Twain, Canadian–American singer
1965 – Amanda Tapping, English–Canadian actress, director and producer
1966 – Julen Lopetegui, Spanish football manager
1967 – Greg Clark, English politician
1968 – Billy Boyd, Scottish actor
1969 – Jack Black, American actor and musician
1969 – Jason Priestley, Canadian–American actor
1969 – Mary McCartney, English photographer and actress
1971 – Janet Evans, American swimmer
1971 – Alex Polizzi, English hotelier and television presenter
1972 – Omayra Sanchez, Colombian volcanic eruption victim (d. 1985)
1973 – J. August Richards, American actor
1974 – Carsten Jancker, German footballer

From 1976

1976 – Federico Magallanes, Uruguayan footballer
1978 – Jess Margera, American drummer
1980 – Carly Pope, Canadian actress
1980 – Rachel Khoo, English chef, writer and broadcaster
1981 – Kezia Dugdale, Scottish politician
1981 – Daniel Gygax, Swiss footballer
1982 – LeAnn Rimes, American singer
1982 – Thiago Motta, Italian footballer
1983 – Luke McAlister, New Zealand rugby player
1983 – Christian Pander, German footballer
1983 – Lilli Schwarzkopf, German athlete
1984 – Sarah Roemer, American actress
1984 – Paula Fernandes, Brazilian singer
1985 – Masahiko Inoha, Japanese footballer
1986 – Florence Welch, English singer (Florence and the Machine)
1986 – Gilad Shalit, Israeli soldier
1986 – Tommy Hanson, American baseball player (d. 2015)
1987 – Katie Green, English model
1987 – Daigo Nishi, Japanese footballer
1987 – Caleb Moore, American snowmobile racer (d. 2013)
1989 – César Azpilicueta, Spanish footballer
1989 – Valtteri Bottas, Finnish Formula One racing driver
1989 – Jo Kwon, South Korean singer
1989 – Cassadee Pope, American singer and songwriter
1989 – Jamie Murphy, Scottish footballer
1990 – Bojan Krkic, Serbian–Spanish footballer
1991 – Kyle Massey, American actor and rapper
1991 – Andreja Pejic, Bosnian–Australian model
1992 – Sora Amamija, Japanese voice actress and singer
1994 – Felix Jaehn, German DJ and producer
1994 – Junior Malanda, Belgian footballer (d. 2015)
1999 – Prince Nikolai of Denmark
2003 – Quvenzhané Wallis, American actress

Deaths

Up to 1900

388 – Magnus Maximus, Roman Emperor (b. 335)
430 – Augustine of Hippo, saint and theologian (b. 354)
476 – Orestes, Roman politician
632 – Fatimah, daughter of the Prophet Muhammad (b. 605)
876 – Louis the German, Frankish King (b. 804)
1027 – Richard II, Duke of Normandy (b. 963)
1481 – King Afonso IV of Portugal (b. 1432)
1645 – Hugo Grotius, Dutch philosopher (b. 1583)
1654 – Axel Oxenstierna, Lord High Chancellor of Sweden (b. 1583)
1757 – David Hartley, English philosopher (b. 1705)
1784 – Junipero Serra, Spanish–American missionary (b. 1713)
1805 – Alexander Carlyle, Scottish church leader and author (b. 1722)
1818 – Jean Baptiste Point du Sable, American founder of Chicago (b. 1750)
1888 – Julius Krohn, Finnish poet and journalist (b. 1835)
1900 – Henry Sidgwick, English economist and philosopher (b. 1838)

1901 – 2000

1903 – Frederick Law Olmsted, American landscape architect (b. 1822)
1933 – Helen Dunbar, American actress (b. 1863)
1934 – Edgeworth David, Welsh–Australian geologist and explorer (b. 1858)
1942 – Belisario Porras Barahona, President of Panama (b. 1856)
1943 – King Boris III of Bulgaria (b. 1894)
1943 – George Underwood, American runner (b. 1884)
1955 – Emmett Till, American Civil Rights Movement icon (b. 1941) (murdered)
1959 – Bohuslav Martinů, Czech composer (b. 1890)
1965 – Giulio Racah, Italian–Israeli physicist and mathematician (b. 1909)
1972 – Prince William of Gloucester (b. 1941)
1976 – Anissa Jones, American actress (b. 1958)
1978 – Robert Shaw, English actor, screenwriter and producer (b. 1927)
1981 – Béla Guttman, Hungarian footballer (b. 1900)
1984 – Muhammad Naguib, 1st President of Egypt (b. 1901)
1985 – Ruth Gordon, American actress (b. 1896)
1987 – John Huston, American movie director (b. 1906)
1988 – Jean Marchand, Canadian union leader and politician (b. 1918)
1990 – Willy Vandersteen, Belgian comic writer (b. 1913)
1995 – Michael Ende, German writer (b. 1929)

From 2001

2005 – Hans Clarin, German actor (b. 1929)
2006 – Melvin Schwartz, American physicist (b. 1932)
2006 – William F. Quinn, 1st State Governor of Hawaii (b. 1919)
2006 – Ed Benedict, American animator (b. 1912)
2007 – Antonio Puerta, Spanish footballer (b. 1984)
2007 – Miyoshi Umeki, Japanese–American actress and singer (b. 1929)
2008 – Phil Hill, American racing driver (b. 1927)
2009 – Adam Goldstein, American drummer, DJ and producer (b. 1973)
2010 – Sinan Hasani, President of Yugoslavian (b. 1922)
2012 – Said Afandi al-Chirkawi, Russian spiritual leader (b. 1937)
2013 – Murray Gershenz, American actor (b. 1922)
2014 – Bill Kerr, South African–Australian actor and comedian (b. 1922)
2014 – Glenn Cornick, English guitarist (b. 1947)
2014 – Fernando Zunzunegui, Spanish footballer (b. 1943)
2014 – Jack Kraft, American basketball coach (b. 1921)
2014 – John Anthony Walker, American naval officer (b. 1937)
2014 – Roberto Cairo, Spanish actor (b. 1963)
2015 – Al Arbour, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1932)
2015 – Teresa Gorman, English politician (b. 1931)
2015 – Nelson Shanks, American painter (b. 1937)
2016 – Mr. Fuji, American professional wrestler (b. 1934)
2016 – Juan Gabriel, Mexican singer-songwriter (b. 1950)
2016 – Mohammad Shafi Qureshi, Indian politician, Governor of West Bengal (b. 1929)
2016 – Binyamin Ben-Eliezer, Israeli politician (b. 1936)
2017 – Senarath Attanayake, Sri Lankan lawyer and politician (b. 1966)
2017 – Mireille Darc, French actress and model (b. 1938)
2017 – Tsutomu Hata, former Prime Minister of Japan (b. 1935)
2017 – David Torrence, Peruvian–American runner (b. 1985)
2018 – Silvano Campeggi, Italian film poster designer (b. 1923)
2018 – Josep Fontana, Spanish historian and academic (b. 1931)
2018 – Gary Friedrich, American comic book writer (b. 1943)

Observances

Christian Feast Day of Assumption (Orthodox Church)