October 28

Wednesday 28, 1998:

An Air China jetliner is hijacked by disgruntled pilot Yuan Bin and flown to Taiwan. After landing the plane safely, Yuan Bin was arrested.

Tuesday 28, 1997:

The bulls come running back as the Dow Jones Industrial Average gains a record 337.17 points to close at 7,498.32. The massive rally comes a day after a 554 point drop. One billion shares are traded on the New York Stock Exchange for the first time ever.

Friday 28, 1988:

Abortion: 48 hours after announcing it was abandoning RU-486, French manufacturer Roussel Uclaf states that it would resume distribution of the drug, bowing to pressure from the government of France.

Tuesday 28, 1986:

Jeremy Bamber is found guilty of the murder of his parents, sister and twin nephews and is given five life sentences.

Thursday 28, 1976:

John D. Ehrlichman, former domestic policy adviser of President Nixon and convicted Watergate felon, arrives at the Swift Trail Camp minimum-security facility in southeastern Arizona.

Wednesday 28, 1970:

Land speed record set by Gary Gabelich in a rocket powered automobile called the Blue Flame

Thursday 28, 1965:

In St. Louis, Missouri, the 630-foot-tall parabolic (catenarian) steel Gateway Arch is completed.

Sunday 28, 1962:

Cuban Missile Crisis: Soviet Union leader Nikita Khrushchev announces that he had ordered the removal of Soviet missile bases in Cuba.

Tuesday 28, 1958:

Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli becomes Pope and takes the name Pope John XXIII.

Saturday 28, 1950:

The Jack Benny Show, starring Jack Benny, premiers (it ran for 15 years).

Friday 28, 1949:

Georges Bidault becomes Prime Minister of France

Thursday 28, 1948:

Swiss chemist Paul Müller is awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his discovery of the insecticidal properties of DDT.

Thursday 28, 1943:

The Philadelphia Experiment supposedly occured.

Wednesday 28, 1942:

The Alaska Highway is completed.

Monday 28, 1940:

World War II: Italy invades Greece.

Wednesday 28, 1936:

US President Franklin Roosevelt rededicates the Statue of Liberty on its 50th anniversary.

Saturday 28, 1922:

March on Rome: Italian fascists led by Benito Mussolini march on Rome and take over the Italian government with the assistance of the Catholic Church; pope Pius XI declares that "Mussolini is a man sent by divine providence."

Tuesday 28, 1919:

Prohibition begins: The U.S. Congress passes the Volstead Act over President Woodrow Wilson's veto.

Monday 28, 1918:

New Polish government in Western Galicia (Central Europe).

Thursday 28, 1886:

In New York Harbor, US President Grover Cleveland dedicates the Statue of Liberty.

Wednesday 28, 1868:

Thomas Edison applied for his first patent, the electric vote recorder.

Friday 28, 1864:

Union forces under General Ulysses S. Grant withdraw from Fair Oaks, Virginia, after failing to breach the Confederate defenses around Richmond, Virginia.

Monday 28, 1776:

British forces arrive at White Plains, attack and capture Chatterton Hill from the Americans.

Wednesday 28, 1531:

Battle of Amba Sel: Imam Ahmad ibn Ibrihim al-Ghazi again defeats the army of Lebna Dengel, Emperor of Ethiopia. The southern part of Ethiopia falls under Imam Ahmad's control.

Saturday 28, 1516:

Battle of Yaunis Khan: Turkish forces under the Grand Vizier Sinan Pasha defeat the Mameluks near Gaza.

Friday 28, 1492:

Christopher Columbus lands in Cuba.

Monday 28, 312:

Battle of Milvian Bridge: Constantine the Great defeats the forces of Maxentius.

Sunday 28, 306:

Maxentius is proclaimed Roman emperor.

More on October, 28

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