Historical Events on January 28

  • 1547: King Henry VIII dies. Edward VI – his 9-year old son – becomes the new monarch.
  • 1573: Freedom of religion is sanctioned in Poland through the Articles of the Warsaw Confederation.
  • 1624: The first Caribbean British colony is found on Saint Kitts Island by Sir Thomas Warner.
  • 1724: Petersburg Academy is founded by Peter the Great.
  • 1754: Serendipity is coined by Sir Horace Walpole in a letter to his friend.
  • 1813: The first publication of Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen in the United Kingdom happens on this day.
  • 1851: The first chartered university in the state of Illinois is Northwestern University, which is founded on this day.
  • 1902: Thanks to a $10 million dollar gift from Andrew Carnegie, the Carnegie Institution of Washington is founded in the city of Washington, D.C.
  • 1909: With the exception of the troops stationed at Guantanamo Bay Naval Base, most U.S troops leave Cuba by this date. American troops have been in the country since the Spanish-American War.
  • 1915: The U.S Coast Guard is established as a branch of the U.S Armed Forces when the United States Congress passes an act that establishes it as a separate military branch.
  • 1922: The roof of the Knickerbocker Theater in Washington, D.C collapses due to heavy snowfall. This results in the greatest loss of life experienced in the city.
  • 1932: The Japanese Imperial Army attacks Shanghai.

Famous Birthdays on January 28

  • Welsh-American explorer and journalist, Henry Morton Stanley is born in 1841.
  • Russian philosopher and poet, Vladimir Solovyov is born in 1853.
  • Australian-American painter Ernest William Christmas is born in 1863.
  • French novelist, journalist and performer, Colette is born in 1873.
  • American painter Jackson Pollock is born in 1912.
  • American biochemist and Nobel Prize laureate, Robert W. Holley is born in 1922.
  • American actor Elijah Wood is born in 1971.
  • American actress Ariel Winter is born in 1998.