March 28

Historic Events

2025

An earthquake strikes close to Mandalay, Myanmar with a magnitude of 7.7, killing over 5400 people. ›

2020

The region of Uusimaa (with the capital city Helsinki) is temporarily isolated from the rest of Finland due to increased COVID-19 infections. ›

2006

At least one million union members, students and unemployed take to the streets in France in protest at the government's proposed First Employment Contract law. ›

2005

An earthquake shakes northern Sumatra with a magnitude of 8.6 and killing over 1000 people. ›

2003

In a friendly fire incident, two American A-10 Thunderbolt II aircraft attack British tanks participating in the 2003 invasion of Iraq, killing one soldier. ›

2001

Athens International Airport Eleftherios Venizelos begins operation. ›

1999

Kosovo War: Serb paramilitary and military forces kill at least 130 Kosovo Albanians in Izbica. ›

1994

In South Africa, African National Congress security guards kill dozens of Inkatha Freedom Party protesters. ›

1990

United States President George H. W. Bush posthumously awards Jesse Owens the Congressional Gold Medal. ›

1979

A coolant leak at the Three Mile Island's Unit 2 nuclear reactor outside Harrisburg, Pennsylvania leads to the core overheating and a partial meltdown. ›

1979

The British House of Commons passes a vote of no confidence against James Callaghan's government by one vote, precipitating a general election. ›

1978

The US Supreme Court hands down 5–3 decision in Stump v. Sparkman, a controversial case involving involuntary sterilization and judicial immunity. ›

1970

An earthquake strikes western Turkey at about 23:05 local time, killing 1,086 and injuring at least 1,200. ›

1969

Greek poet and Nobel Prize laureate Giorgos Seferis makes a famous statement on the BBC World Service opposing the junta in Greece. ›

1968

Brazilian high school student Edson Luís de Lima Souto is killed by military police at a student protest. ›

1965

An Mw 7.4 earthquake in Chile sets off a series of tailings dam failures, burying the town of El Cobre and killing at least 500 people. ›

1963

Civil rights movement: Over one hundred high school students conduct a sit-in protest in Rome, Georgia. ›

1961

ČSA Flight 511 crashes in Igensdorf, Germany, killing 52. ›

1959

The State Council of the People's Republic of China dissolves the government of Tibet. ›

1946

Cold War: The United States Department of State releases the Acheson–Lilienthal Report, outlining a plan for the international control of nuclear power. ›

1942

World War II: A British combined force permanently disables the Louis Joubert Lock in Saint-Nazaire in order to keep the German battleship Tirpitz away from the mid-ocean convoy lanes. ›

1941

World War II: First day of the Battle of Cape Matapan in Greece between the navies of the United Kingdom and Australia, and the Royal Italian navy. ›

1939

Spanish Civil War: Generalissimo Francisco Franco conquers Madrid after a three-year siege. ›

1933

The Imperial Airways biplane City of Liverpool is believed to be the first airliner lost to sabotage when a passenger sets a fire on board. ›

1920

Palm Sunday tornado outbreak of 1920 affects the Great Lakes region and Deep South states. ›

1918

General John J. Pershing, during World War I, cancels 42nd 'Rainbow' Division's orders to Rolampont for further training and diverted it to the occupy the Baccarat sector. Rainbow Division becomes "the first American division to take over an entire sector on its own, which it held longer than any other American division-occupied sector alone for a period of three months". ›

1918

Finnish Civil War: On the so-called "Bloody Maundy Thursday of Tampere", the Whites force the Reds to attack the city center, where the city's fiercest battles being fought in Kalevankangas with large casualties on both sides. During the same day, an explosion at the Red headquarters of Tampere kills several commanders. ›

1910

Henri Fabre becomes the first person to fly a seaplane, the Fabre Hydravion, after taking off from water runway Étang le Barre, near Marseille. ›

1862

American Civil War: In the Battle of Glorieta Pass, Union forces stop the Confederate invasion of the New Mexico Territory. The battle began on March 26. ›

1860

First Taranaki War: The Battle of Waireka begins. ›

1854

Crimean War: France and Britain declare war on Russia. ›

1842

First concert of the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Otto Nicolai. ›

1814

War of 1812: In the Battle of Valparaíso, two American naval vessels are captured by two Royal Navy vessels. ›

1809

Peninsular War: France defeats Spain in the Battle of Medellín. ›

1802

Heinrich Wilhelm Matthäus Olbers discovers 2 Pallas, the second asteroid ever to be discovered. ›

1801

Treaty of Florence is signed, ending the war between the French Republic and the Kingdom of Naples. ›

1795

Partitions of Poland: The Duchy of Courland and Semigallia, a northern fief of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, ceases to exist and becomes part of Imperial Russia. ›

1776

Juan Bautista de Anza finds the site for the Presidio of San Francisco. ›

1745

War of the Austrian Succession: In the Battle of Vilshofen, Austrian forces defeat French forces. ›

1566

The foundation stone of Valletta, Malta's capital city, is laid by Jean Parisot de Valette, Grand Master of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta. ›

1065

The Great German Pilgrimage, which had been under attack by Bedouin bandits for three days, is rescued by the Fatimid governor of Ramla. ›

364

Roman Emperor Valentinian I appoints his brother Flavius Valens co-emperor. ›

193

After assassinating the Roman Emperor Pertinax, his Praetorian Guards auction off the throne to Didius Julianus. ›

37

Roman emperor Caligula accepts the titles of the Principate, bestowed on him by the Senate. ›