December 28

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.

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