What Happened on March 28th in History
30 historical events on this date
First Taranaki War: The Battle of Waireka begins.
The First Taranaki War was an armed conflict over land ownership and sovereignty that took place between Māori and the Colony of New Zealand in the Taranaki region of New Zealand's North Island from...
American Civil War: In the Battle of Glorieta Pass, Union forces stop the Confederate invasion of the New Mexico Territory. The battle began on March 26.
The American Civil War was a civil war in the United States between the Union and the Confederacy, which was formed in 1861 by states that had seceded from the Union to preserve slavery in the...
Henri Fabre becomes the first person to fly a seaplane, the Fabre Hydravion, after taking off from water runway Étang le Barre, near Marseille.
Henri Fabre was a French aviator and the inventor of the first successful seaplane, the Fabre Hydravion.
General John J. Pershing, during World War I, cancels 42nd 'Rainbow' Division's orders to Rolampont for further training and diverted it to the occupy the Baccarat sector. Rainbow Division becomes "the first American division to take over an entire sector on its own, which it held longer than any other American division-occupied sector alone for a period of three months".
In the United States military, a general is the most senior general-grade officer; it is the highest achievable commissioned officer rank that may be attained in the United States Armed Forces, with...
Finnish Civil War: On the so-called "Bloody Maundy Thursday of Tampere", the Whites force the Reds to attack the city center, where the city's fiercest battles being fought in Kalevankangas with large casualties on both sides. During the same day, an explosion at the Red headquarters of Tampere kills several commanders.
The Finnish Civil War was a civil war in 1918 fought for the leadership and control of recently independent Finland between White Finland and the Finnish Socialist Workers' Republic. The clashes...
Palm Sunday tornado outbreak of 1920 affects the Great Lakes region and Deep South states.
On March 28, 1920, a large outbreak of at least 37 tornadoes, 31 of which were significant, took place across the Midwestern and Southern United States. The tornadoes left at least 153 dead and at...
The Imperial Airways biplane City of Liverpool is believed to be the first airliner lost to sabotage when a passenger sets a fire on board.
Imperial Airways was an early British commercial long-range airline, operating from 1924 to 1939 and principally serving the British Empire routes to South Africa, India, Australia and the Far East,...
Spanish Civil War: Generalissimo Francisco Franco conquers Madrid after a three-year siege.
The Spanish Civil War was fought from 1936 to 1939 between the Republicans and the Nationalist rebels. Republicans loyal to the left-leaning Popular Front government of the Second Spanish Republic...
World War II: First day of the Battle of Cape Matapan in Greece between the navies of the United Kingdom and Australia, and the Royal Italian navy.
World War II, or the Second World War, was a global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies and the Axis powers. Nearly all of the world's countries participated. Tanks and aircraft played major...
World War II: A British combined force permanently disables the Louis Joubert Lock in Saint-Nazaire in order to keep the German battleship Tirpitz away from the mid-ocean convoy lanes.
Combined Operations Headquarters was a department of the British War Office set up during Second World War to harass the Germans on the European continent by means of raids carried out by use of...
Cold War: The United States Department of State releases the Acheson–Lilienthal Report, outlining a plan for the international control of nuclear power.
The Cold War was a period of international geopolitical rivalry between the United States (US) and the Soviet Union (USSR) and their respective allies, the capitalist Western Bloc and communist...
The State Council of the People's Republic of China dissolves the government of Tibet.
The State Council of the People's Republic of China, synonymous with Central People's Government, is the supreme administrative organ of the country's unified state apparatus and the executive organ...
ČSA Flight 511 crashes in Igensdorf, Germany, killing 52.
Czechoslovak Airlines (ČSA) Flight 511 was a flight operated by an Ilyushin Il-18 that crashed in Igensdorf near Nuremberg on 28 March 1961 while flying across West Germany.
Civil rights movement: Over one hundred high school students conduct a sit-in protest in Rome, Georgia.
The civil rights movement was a social movement in the United States from 1954 to 1968 which aimed to abolish legalized racial segregation, discrimination, and disenfranchisement in the country,...
An Mw 7.4 earthquake in Chile sets off a series of tailings dam failures, burying the town of El Cobre and killing at least 500 people.
The 1965 La Ligua earthquake struck near La Ligua in Aconcagua Province, Chile, about 140 km (87 mi) from the capital Santiago on Sunday, March 28 at 12:33 local time. The moment magnitude (Mw )...
Brazilian high school student Edson Luís de Lima Souto is killed by military police at a student protest.
Edson Luís de Lima Souto was a Brazilian teenage student killed by the military police of Rio de Janeiro after a confrontation in the restaurant Calabouço, in downtown Rio de Janeiro. Edson was one...
Greek poet and Nobel Prize laureate Giorgos Seferis makes a famous statement on the BBC World Service opposing the junta in Greece.
The Nobel Prize in Literature, here meaning for Literature, is a Swedish literature prize that is awarded annually to an author from any country who has, in the words of Alfred Nobel, "in the field...
An earthquake strikes western Turkey at about 23:05 local time, killing 1,086 and injuring at least 1,200.
The 1970 Gediz earthquake, also known as the 1970 Kütahya-Gediz earthquake struck western Turkey on 28 March at about 23:02 local time with an estimated magnitude of 7.2 on the Mw scale.
The US Supreme Court hands down 5–3 decision in Stump v. Sparkman, a controversial case involving involuntary sterilization and judicial immunity.
The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over...
A coolant leak at the Three Mile Island's Unit 2 nuclear reactor outside Harrisburg, Pennsylvania leads to the core overheating and a partial meltdown.
Three Mile Island Nuclear Generating Station, is a shut-down nuclear power plant on Three Mile Island in Pennsylvania, US, on the Susquehanna River just south of Harrisburg. It has two separate...
The British House of Commons passes a vote of no confidence against James Callaghan's government by one vote, precipitating a general election.
The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the upper house, the House of Lords, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. The House of...
United States President George H. W. Bush posthumously awards Jesse Owens the Congressional Gold Medal.
George Herbert Walker Bush was the 41st president of the United States, serving from 1989 to 1993. Bush was Ronald Reagan's vice president from 1981 to 1989. He was the father of George W. Bush, the...
In South Africa, African National Congress security guards kill dozens of Inkatha Freedom Party protesters.
The African National Congress (ANC) is a political party in South Africa. It originated as a liberation movement known for its opposition to apartheid and has governed the country since 1994, when...
Kosovo War: Serb paramilitary and military forces kill at least 130 Kosovo Albanians in Izbica.
The Kosovo War was an armed conflict in Kosovo that lasted from 28 February 1998 until 11 June 1999. It was fought between the forces of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (FRY), which controlled...
Athens International Airport Eleftherios Venizelos begins operation.
Athens International Airport Eleftherios Venizelos, commonly initialised as AIA, is the largest international airport in Greece, serving the city of Athens and region of Attica. It began operation...
In a friendly fire incident, two American A-10 Thunderbolt II aircraft attack British tanks participating in the 2003 invasion of Iraq, killing one soldier.
In military terminology, friendly fire or fratricide is an attack by belligerent or neutral forces on friendly troops while attempting to attack enemy or hostile targets. Examples include...
An earthquake shakes northern Sumatra with a magnitude of 8.6 and killing over 1000 people.
The 2005 Nias–Simeulue earthquake occurred on 28 March off the west coast of northern Sumatra, Indonesia in the subduction zone of the Sunda megathrust. At least 915 people were killed, mostly on...
At least one million union members, students and unemployed take to the streets in France in protest at the government's proposed First Employment Contract law.
Nationwide protests occurred in France from February to April 2006 in opposition to a measure set to deregulate labour. Young people were the primary participants in the protests as the bill would...
The region of Uusimaa (with the capital city Helsinki) is temporarily isolated from the rest of Finland due to increased COVID-19 infections.
Uusimaa is a region of Finland. It borders the regions of Southwest Finland, Kanta-Häme, Päijät-Häme, and Kymenlaakso. Finland's capital and largest city, Helsinki, along with its surrounding...
An earthquake strikes close to Mandalay, Myanmar with a magnitude of 7.7, killing over 5400 people.
On 28 March 2025, at 12:50:52 MMT, a moment magnitude (Mw ) 7.7–7.9 earthquake struck the Sagaing Region of Myanmar, with an epicenter close to Mandalay, the country's second-largest city. The...