August 28 August 28 is the 240th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (241st in leap years), with 125 days remaining. Events 400-1899 Wednesday, August 28, 475 - The German general Orestes forces western Roman Emperor Julius Nepos to flee his capital of Ravenna and appoints Romulus Augustus in his place. Sunday, August 28, 489 - Theoderic, king of the Ostrogoths defeats Odoacer at the Battle of Isonzo, forcing his way into Italy. Sunday, August 21, 1521 - The Turks occupy Belgrade Saturday, August 28, 1565 - St. Augustine, Florida, established. It is the oldest surviving European settlement in the United States. Friday, August 28, 1609 - Henry Hudson discovers Delaware Bay. Wednesday, August 28, 1619 - Ferdinand II is elected emperor of the Holy Roman Empire. 1830 - The Tom Thumb starts the first railway service in the United States. 1833 - Slavery is abolished throughout the British Empire. 1845 - Scientific American magazine publishes first issue 1849 - After a siege of over one month, Venice, which had declared itself independent, surrenders to Austria. 1850 - Richard Wagner's opera Lohengrin premieres. 1862 - Second Battle of Bull Run- also known as the battle of Second Manassas 1867 - The United States occupies Midway Island. 1879 - Cetshwayo, last king of the Zulus, is captured by the British. 1884 - First known photograph of a tornado is made. 1900-1999 1913 - Queen Wilhelmina opens the Peace Palace in The Hague. 1914 - The British fleet beats the German fleet in the so-called Battle of Heligoland Bight (actually a comparatively minor engagement). 1916 - Germany declares war on Romania. 1916 - Italy declares war on Germany. 1917 - Ten suffragists are arrested when picketing the White House. 1937 - Toyota Motors becomes an independent company 1943 - In Denmark, a general strike against the Nazi occupation is started. 1944 - Marseille and Toulon are liberated. 1955 - Black Mississippi boy Emmett Till is murdered for whistling to a white woman and calling her baby. 1963 - During a 200,000-person civil rights rally in at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., Martin Luther King, Jr. gives his famous I have a dream speech. 1968 - Riots in Chicago, Illinois during the Democratic National Convention 1972 - During the Olympic Games of Munich, Mark Spitz gets his first of seven gold medals in swimming events. 1975 - Missionary Armand Doll is imprisoned in Mozambique by Marxist extremists. 1979 - An IRA bomb explodes on the Great Market in Brussels. 1981 - The National Centers for Disease Control announce a high incidence of Pneumocystis and Kaposi's sarcoma in gay men. Soon, these will be recognized as symptoms of an immune disorder, which will be called AIDS. 1986 - Stage of siege declared in Bolivia. 1986 - US Navy officer Jerry A. Whitworth is sentenced to 365 years imprisonment for espionage for the Soviet Union. 1988 - At an air show in Ramstein, West Germany, three stunt fighters collide; 69 people die. 1990 - Iraq declares Kuwait to be a province of Iraq. 1990 - The Plainfield Tornado: An F5 tornado hit in Plainfield, Illinois and Joliet, Illinois killing 28 people. 1993 - A dam breaks in Qinghai, China. 223 die. 1993 - 76 die in an airplane crash in Tajikistan. 1993 - Ong Teng Cheong elected president of Singapore 1994 - First gay pride march in Japan. 1995 - A mortar shell kills 38 people in Sarajevo, Bosnia. The NATO action against Bosnian Serbs was a reaction to this incident. 1996 - Britain's Prince Charles, Prince of Wales and Diana, Princess of Wales are divorced. 1998 - Pakistan's National Assembly passes a constitutional amendment to make the "Quran and Sunnah" the "supreme law" but the bill was defeated in the Senate. 2000-2099 2001 - Dutch prime minister Wim Kok announces that he will not be available for another term as PvdA party leader or prime minister after the 2002 elections. Births 1700-1899 1749 - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, German writer, scientist (d. 1832) 1774 - Elizabeth Ann Seton, first American-born Catholic saint (d. 1821) 1786 - Pavloec, author 1814 - Sheridan le Fanu, writer (d. 1873) 1828 - Leo Tolstoy, Russian writer (d. 1910) 1894 - Karl Böhm, Austrian conductor (d. 1981) 1897 - Charles Boyer, French actor (d. 1978) 1900-1999 1903 - Bruno Bettelheim, psychologist (d. 1990) 1904 - Secondo Campini, Italian jet pioneer (d. 1980) 1906 - John Betjeman, poet (d. 1984) 1908 - Roger Tory Peterson, ornithologist, illustrator 1911 - Joseph Luns, Dutch politician (d. 2002) 1913 - Robertson Davies, novelist, playwright (d. 1995) 1913 - Richard Tucker, American tenor (d. 1975) 1917 - Jack Kirby, comic book artist (d. 1994) 1924 - Janet Frame, author 1925 - Donald O'Connor, singer, dancer, actor 1929 - Istvan Kertesz, Hungarian conductor (d. 1973) 1930 - Ben Gazzara, actor 1931 - John Shirley-Quirk, English bass-baritone 1938 - Maurizio Costanzo, Italian television anchorman 1943 - Lou Piniella, baseball manager 1947 - Liza Wang, actress (to be included) 1951 - Benji Durden, Olympic marathon 1953 - Gates McFadden, actress 1957 - Daniel Stern, actor 1958 - Scott Hamilton, Olympic Games gold medal winning figure skater 1960 - Emma Samms, actress 1961 - Kim Appleby, singer (Mel & Kim) 1965 - Shania Twain, singer 1968 - Billy Boyd, Scottish actor, played Pippin in the Lord of the Rings 1969 - Jason Priestley, actor 1971 - Janet Evans, Olympic swimmer 1980 - Eric Schomburg, author 1981 - Martin Erat, NHL hockey player 1982 - LeAnn Rimes, singer Deaths 400-1899 430 - Augustine of Hippo 1481 - Afonso V, king of Portugal 1818 - Jean Baptiste Point du Sable, founder of Chicago 1839 - William Smith, geologist 1900-1999 1900 - Henry Sidgwick, philosopher 1919 - Louis Botha, Boer leader 1943 - King Boris III of Bulgaria 1959 - Bohuslav Martinu, composer 1965 - Giulio Racah, physicist (b. 1909) 1985 - Ruth Gordon, actress 1987 - John Huston, movie director 1990 - Willy Vandersteen, cartoonist 1993 - William Stafford, poet and essayist 1995 - Michael Ende, writer Holidays and observances Hong Kong: Liberation Day (1945) Many Christian churches: feast day of Saint Augustine of Hippo. Software Freedom Day August 27 - August 29 - July 28 - September 28 -- listing of all days FAVORITE ARTICLES: History of the World    History of the United States    History of Europe    Ancient History    History    Military History    World War I    Bombing of Dresden    California    US Constitution    Frank Sinatra    Boston    Marbury v. Madison This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License at http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html You may copy and modify it as long as the entire work (including additions) remains under this license. You must provide a link to http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html To view or edit this article at Wikipedia go to http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/August_28