December 28 - Events

Events

• 1065 – Westminster Abbey is consecrated.
• 1308 – The reign of Emperor Hanazono, emperor of Japan, begins.
• 1612 – Galileo Galilei becomes the first astronomer to observe the planet Neptune, although he mistakenly catalogued it as a fixed star.
• 1768 – King Taksin's coronation achieved through conquest as a king of Thailand and establishedThonburi as a capital.
• 1795 – Construction of Yonge Street, formerly recognized as the longest street in the world, begins inYork, Upper Canada (present-day Toronto, Ontario).
• 1832 – John C. Calhoun becomes the first Vice President of the United States to resign.
• 1835 – Osceola leads his Seminole warriors in Florida into the Second Seminole War against the United States Army.
• 1836 – South Australia and Adelaide are founded.
• 1836 – Spain recognizes the independence of Mexico.
• 1846 – Iowa is admitted as the 29th U.S. state.
• 1867 – United States claims Midway Atoll, the first territory annexed outside Continental limits.
• 1879 – The Tay Bridge Disaster: The central part of the Tay Rail Bridge in Dundee, Scotland collapses as a train passes over it, killing 75.
• 1885 – Indian National Congress a political party of India is founded in Bombay, British India.
• 1895 – The Lumière brothers perform for their first paying audience at the Grand Cafe in Boulevard des Capucines, marking the debut of the cinema.
• 1895 – Wilhelm Röntgen publishes a paper detailing his discovery of a new type of radiation, which later will be known as x-rays.
• 1908 – A magnitude 7.2 earthquake rocks Messina, Sicily killing over 75,000.
• 1912 – The first municipally owned streetcars take to the streets in San Francisco, California.
• 1918 – Constance Markiewicz while detained in Holloway prison, became the first woman to be elected MP to the British House of Commons.
• 1935 – Pravda publishes a letter by Pavel Postyshev, who revives New Year tree tradition in the Soviet Union.
• 1943 – World War II – After eight days of brutal house-to-house fighting, the battle of Ortona concludes with the victory of the1st Canadian Infantry Division over the German 1st Parachute Division and the capture of the Italian town of Ortona.
• 1944 – Maurice Richard becomes the first player to score 8 points in one game of NHL ice hockey.
• 1945 – The United States Congress officially recognizes the Pledge of Allegiance.
• 1948 – The DC-3 airliner NC16002 disappears 50 miles south of Miami, Florida.
• 1950 – The Peak District becomes the United Kingdom's first National Park.
• 1958 – "Greatest Game Ever Played" – Baltimore Colts defeat the New York Giants in the first ever National Football League sudden death overtime game at New York's Yankee Stadium.
• 1973 – The Endangered Species Act is passed in the United States.
• 1974 – Senegalese marxist group Reenu-Rew founds the political movement And-Jëf at a clandestine congress.
• 1978 – With the crew investigating a problem with the landing gear, United Airlines Flight 173 runs out of fuel and crashes in Portland,Oregon, killing 10. As a result, United Airlines instituted the industry's first crew resource management program.
• 1989 – A magnitude 5.6 earthquake hits Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia, killing 13 people.
• 2000 – U.S. retail giant Montgomery Ward announces it is going out of business after 128 years.
• 2009 – 43 people die in a suicide bombing in Karachi, Pakistan, where Shia Muslims were observing the Day of Ashura.