December, 28th in History

[Spiritus Temporis]

Events

Thursday 28, 2000:
U.S. retail giant Montgomery Ward announces it is going out of business after 128 years.

Tuesday 28, 1999:
Saparmurat Niyazov was proclaimed President for Life in Turkmenistan.

Monday 28, 1998:
Claudia Benton of West University Place, Texas is murdered in her home by Angel Maturino Resendiz. This is Angel's third victim in his third incident.

Thursday 28, 1995:
CompuServe sets a precedent by blocking access to sex-oriented newsgroups after being pressured by German prosecutors.

Saturday 28, 1991:
Sonic the Hedgehog Game Gear version is released in Japan.

Thursday 28, 1989:
1989 -A magnitude 5.6 earthquake hits Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia, killing 13 people.

Friday 28, 1984:
The final telecast of soap opera The Edge of Night (which started from 1956 to 1975 on CBS) on ABC due to TV stations dropping the show in favor of syndicated programming, losing sponsorship, and low ratings.

Monday 28, 1981:
The HBO pay cable television service expanded its schedule offering to 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Saturday 28, 1974:
Senegalese marxist group Reenu-Rew founds the political movement And-Jëf at a clandestine congress.

Friday 28, 1973:
Alexander Solzhenitsyn publishes Gulag Archipelago.

Thursday 28, 1950:
The Peak District becomes the United Kingdom's first National Park.

Friday 28, 1945:
The U.S. Congress officially recognizes the Pledge of Allegiance

Monday 28, 1908:
An earthquake rocks Messina, Sicily killing over 75,000.

Sunday 28, 1902:
The first indoor professional American football game is played in New York City at Madison Square Garden.

Tuesday 28, 1897:
The play Cyrano de Bergerac, by Edmond Rostand, premieres in Paris.

Saturday 28, 1895:
The Lumiere brothers have their first paying audience at the Grand Cafe in Boulevard des Capucines -- this date is commonly considered the debut of the cinema.

Sunday 28, 1879:
The Tay Bridge Disaster: The central part of the Tay Rail Bridge in Dundee, Scotland collapses as a train passed over it, killing 75.

Monday 28, 1846:
Iowa is admitted as the 29th U.S. state.

Wednesday 28, 1836:
Spain recognizes independence of Mexico.

Monday 28, 1835:
Osceola led his Seminole warriors in Florida into the Second Seminole War against the U.S. Army.

Friday 28, 1832:
John C. Calhoun becomes the first Vice President of the United States to resign.

Friday 28, 1612:
Galileo Galilei was the first astronomer to observe the planet Neptune when it was in conjunction with Jupiter, yet he mistakenly catalogued it as a fixed star because of its extremely slow motion along the ecliptic at that time. Neptune was not truly discovered until 1846, about 234 years after Galileo first sighted it with his telescope.

Friday 28, 1308:
The reign of Emperor Hanazono, emperor of Japan, begins.

Thursday 28, 1065:
Westminster Abbey is consecrated.

Friday 28, 418:
St. Boniface I becomes Pope.

Source: http://www.spiritus-temporis.com/28-december/on-this-day.html


People born on December 28

1982:
Cedric Benson, American football player (b: December 28, 1982) (Biography of Cedric Benson)

1978:
John Legend, American singer, songwriter, and pianist (b: December 28, 1978) (Biography of John Legend)

1972:
Patrick Rafter, Australian tennis player (b: December 28, 1972) (Biography of Patrick Rafter)

1971:
Frank Sepe, American bodybuilder and model (b: December 28, 1971) (Biography of Frank Sepe)

1969:
Linus Torvalds, Finnish computer programmer (b: December 28, 1969) (Biography of Linus Torvalds)

1967:
Chris Ware, American cartoonist (b: December 28, 1967) (Biography of Chris Ware)

1956:
Nigel Kennedy, English violinist (b: December 28, 1956) (Biography of Nigel Kennedy)

1954:
Denzel Washington, American actor (b: December 28, 1954) (Biography of Denzel Washington)

1953:
Richard Clayderman, French pianist (b: December 28, 1953) (Biography of Richard Clayderman)

1947:
Aurelio Rodríguez, baseball player (b: December 28, 1947 ; d: September 23, 2000) (Biography of Aurelio Rodríguez)

1946:
Edgar Winter, American musician (b: December 28, 1946) (Biography of Edgar Winter)

1943:
Richard Whiteley, British television presenter (b: December 28, 1943 ; d: June 26, 2005) (Biography of Richard Whiteley)

1934:
Maggie Smith, English actress (b: December 28, 1934) (Biography of Maggie Smith)

1933:
Nichelle Nichols, American actress and singer (b: December 28, 1933) (Biography of Nichelle Nichols)

1932:
Dhirubhai Ambani, Indian businessman (b: December 28, 1932 ; d: July 6, 2002) (Biography of Dhirubhai Ambani)
Manuel Puig, Argentine writer (b: December 28, 1932 ; d: July 22, 1990) (Biography of Manuel Puig)
Roy Hattersley, British politician (b: December 28, 1932) (Biography of Roy Hattersley)

1931:
Guy Debord, French philosopher (b: December 28, 1931 ; d: November 30, 1994) (Biography of Guy Debord)

1929:
Brian Redhead, English journalist and broadcaster (b: December 28, 1929 ; d: January 23, 1994) (Biography of Brian Redhead)

1925:
Hildegard Knef, German actress, singer and writer (b: December 28, 1925 ; d: February 1, 2002) (Biography of Hildegard Knef)

1922:
Stan Lee, American comic book writer (b: December 28, 1922) (Biography of Stan Lee)

1908:
Lew Ayres, American actor (b: December 28, 1908 ; d: December 30, 1996) (Biography of Lew Ayres)

1905:
Cliff Arquette, American actor and comedian (b: December 28, 1905 ; d: September 23, 1974) (Biography of Cliff Arquette)

1903:
John von Neumann, Hungarian-born mathematician (b: December 28, 1903 ; d: February 8, 1957) (Biography of John von Neumann)
Earl "Fatha" Hines, American musician (b: December 28, 1903 ; d: April 22, 1983) (Biography of Earl Hines)

1902:
Mortimer Adler, American philosopher (b: December 28, 1902 ; d: June 28, 2001) (Biography of Mortimer Adler)

1899:
Eugeniusz Bodo, Polish actor (b: December 28, 1899 ; d: October 7, 1943) (Biography of Eugeniusz Bodo)

1888:
Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau, German film director (b: December 28, 1888) (Biography of F. W. Murnau)

1882:
Arthur Eddington, English astronomer and physicist (b: December 28, 1882) (Biography of Arthur Eddington)

1879:
Billy Mitchell, American military aviation pioneer (b: December 28, 1879 ; d: February 19, 1936) (Biography of Billy Mitchell)

1856:
Woodrow Wilson, 28th President of the United States (b: December 28, 1856 ; d: February 3, 1924) (Biography of Woodrow Wilson)

1665:
George FitzRoy, 1st Duke of Northumberland, English general (b: December 28, 1665 ; d: June 28, 1716) (Biography of George FitzRoy, 1st Duke of Northumberland)

1655:
Charles Cornwallis, 3rd Baron Cornwallis, First Lord of the British Admiralty (b: December 28, 1655 ; d: April 29, 1698) (Biography of Charles Cornwallis, 3rd Baron Cornwallis)

1619:
Antoine Furetière, French writer (b: December 28, 1619 ; d: May 14, 1688) (Biography of Antoine Furetière)

1522:
Margaret of Austria, regent of the Netherlands (b: December 28, 1522 ; d: January 18, 1583) (Biography of Margaret of Austria (1522-1583))

Source: http://www.spiritus-temporis.com/28-december/births.html

[Spiritus Temporis]

They left us on December 28

2004:
Susan Sontag, American writer and activist (b: January 28, 1933 ; d: December 28, 2004) (Biography of Susan Sontag)
Jerry Orbach, American actor (b: October 20, 1935 ; d: December 28, 2004) (Biography of Jerry Orbach)

2003:
Benjamin Hacker, American naval aviator (b: September 19, 1935 ; d: December 28, 2003) (Biography of Benjamin Thurman Hacker)

2001:
William X. Kienzle (d: December 28, 2001) (Biography of William X. Kienzle)

1999:
Clayton Moore, American actor (b: September 14, 1914 ; d: December 28, 1999) (Biography of Clayton Moore)

1998:
Claudia Benton (d: December 28, 1998) (Biography of Claudia Benton)

1991:
Cassandra Harris Australian actress (b: December 15, 1952 ; d: December 28, 1991) (Biography of Cassandra Harris)

1989:
Hermann Oberth, German physicist (b: June 25, 1894 ; d: December 28, 1989) (Biography of Hermann Oberth)

1986:
Andrei Tarkovsky, Russian film director (b: April 4, 1932 ; d: December 28, 1986) (Biography of Andrei Tarkovsky)

1984:
Sam Peckinpah, American director (b: February 21, 1925 ; d: December 28, 1984) (Biography of Sam Peckinpah)

1983:
William Demarest, American actor (b: February 27, 1892 ; d: December 28, 1983) (Biography of William Demarest)
Dennis Wilson, American musician (The Beach Boys) (b: December 4, 1944 ; d: December 28, 1983) (Biography of Dennis Wilson)
Jimmy Demaret (d: December 28, 1983) (Biography of Jimmy Demaret)

1981:
Allan Dwan, Canadian-born American film director (b: April 3, 1885 ; d: December 28, 1981) (Biography of Allan Dwan)

1967:
Katharine McCormick, American women's rights activist (b: August 27, 1875 ; d: December 28, 1967) (Biography of Katharine McCormick)

1963:
Paul Hindemith, German composer (b: November 16, 1895 ; d: December 28, 1963) (Biography of Paul Hindemith)

1952:
Fletcher Henderson, American musician (b: December 18, 1897 ; d: December 28, 1952) (Biography of Fletcher Henderson)

1949:
Jack Lovelock, New Zealand athlete (b: January 5, 1910 ; d: December 28, 1949) (Biography of Jack Lovelock)

1947:
King Victor Emmanuel III of Italy (b: November 11, 1869 ; d: December 28, 1947) (Biography of Victor Emmanuel III of Italy)

1945:
Theodore Dreiser, American author (b: August 27, 1871 ; d: December 28, 1945) (Biography of Theodore Dreiser)

1938:
Florence Lawrence, Canadian actress (b: January 2, 1886 ; d: December 28, 1938) (Biography of Florence Lawrence)

1937:
Maurice Ravel, French composer (b: March 7, 1875 ; d: December 28, 1937) (Biography of Maurice Ravel)

1918:
Olavo Bilac, Brazilian poet (b: December 16, 1865 ; d: December 28, 1918) (Biography of Olavo Bilac)

1916:
Eduard Strauss, Austrian composer (b: March 15, 1835 ; d: December 28, 1916) (Biography of Eduard Strauss)

1900:
Alexandre Alberto da Rocha de Serpa Pinto (d: December 28, 1900) (Biography of Alexandre Alberto da Rocha de Serpa Pinto)

1859:
Thomas Macaulay (d: December 28, 1859) (Biography of Thomas Macaulay)

1829:
Jean-Baptiste Lamarck, French scientist (b: August 1, 1744 ; d: December 28, 1829) (Biography of Jean-Baptiste Lamarck)

1736:
Antonio Caldara (d: December 28, 1736) (Biography of Antonio Caldara)

1734:
Robert Roy MacGregor, Scottish folk hero (b: March 7, 1671 ; d: December 28, 1734) (Biography of Robert Roy MacGregor)

1715:
William Carstares, Scottish minister (b: February 11, 1649 ; d: December 28, 1715) (Biography of William Carstares)

1708:
Joseph Pitton de Tournefort, French botanist (b: June 5, 1656 ; d: December 28, 1708) (Biography of Joseph Pitton de Tournefort)

1706:
Pierre Bayle, French philosopher (b: November 18, 1647 ; d: December 28, 1706) (Biography of Pierre Bayle)

1703:
Mustafa II, Ottoman Sultan (d, 1703) (b: February 6, 1664 ; d: December 28, 1703) (Biography of Mustafa II)

1694:
Queen Mary II of England (b: April 30, 1662 ; d: December 28, 1694) (Biography of Mary II of England)

1671:
Johann Friedrich Gronovius, German classical scholar (b: September 8, 1611 ; d: December 28, 1671) (Biography of Johann Friedrich Gronovius)

1663:
Francesco Maria Grimaldi, Italian mathematician and physicist (b: April 2, 1618 ; d: December 28, 1663) (Biography of Francesco Maria Grimaldi)

1622:
Francis de Sales, Bishop of Geneva and saint (b: August 21, 1567 ; d: December 28, 1622) (Biography of Francis de Sales)

1558:
Hermann Finck, German composer (b: March 21, 1527 ; d: December 28, 1558) (Biography of Hermann Finck)

1503:
Piero di Lorenzo de' Medici, ruler of Florence (b: February 15, 1471 ; d: December 28, 1503) (Biography of Piero di Lorenzo de' Medici)

1367:
Ashikaga Yoshiakira, Japanese shogun (b: July 4, 1330 ; d: December 28, 1367) (Biography of Ashikaga Yoshiakira)

Source: http://www.spiritus-temporis.com/28-december/deaths.html