138 things happened on 28 October, from AD 97 to 2023. UK stories come first, then the rest of the world.
1971 · 55 years ago
Prospero lifted off from Woomera in South Australia on a British rocket called Black Arrow. It was the first British satellite to be launched successfully by a British rocket. Prospero carried experiments to study how space affects communications satellites. …
UK history first: stories from England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
UK story
The Duke of York and Albany's Maritime Regiment of Foot was set up at the grounds of the Honourable Artillery Company in London. The Royal Marines trace their beginnings back to this regiment. Marines are soldiers who serve as part of a navy, and the Royal Marines are one of the fighting arms of the Royal Navy. They even provide players for the navy's military bands.
UK story
Prospero lifted off from Woomera in South Australia on a British rocket called Black Arrow. It was the first British satellite to be launched successfully by a British rocket. Prospero carried experiments to study how space affects communications satellites. It worked until 1973, and it was then contacted once a year for more than 25 years.
UK story
The Treaty of Ripon was agreed, ending the Second Bishops' War and forcing Charles I to summon the Long Parliament, ultimately leading to the First English Civil War.
UK story
American Revolutionary War: As George Washington's Continental Army retreated northward from New York City, the British Army captured the village of White Plains.
Beijing officially became the capital of China's Ming dynasty when the Forbidden City was completed. The Forbidden City is a vast palace complex in the centre of Beijing. It was home to 24 emperors and was the centre of power in China for over 500 years, until 1924. It is the largest royal palace complex still standing anywhere in the world.
On his first voyage across the Atlantic, Christopher Columbus landed on the island of Cuba. He guessed that it might be Japan. Columbus was an Italian explorer who sailed for the king and queen of Spain. His four voyages led Europeans to learn about the Americas, which they called the New World.
The Massachusetts Bay Colony was an English settlement on the east coast of North America. Its leaders voted to set up a college to teach religion. In 1639 it was named Harvard College, after its first benefactor, a Puritan clergyman called John Harvard. Now Harvard University, it is the oldest place of higher learning in the United States.
Gulliver's Travels, a novel by the Irish writer Jonathan Swift, was published. It tells of the voyages of Lemuel Gulliver, including his visit to the made-up island of Lilliput. The book pokes fun at human nature and at travellers' tall tales. It became one of the most famous classics of English literature and has been turned into plays and films.
US President Grover Cleveland dedicated the Statue of Liberty, which stands on Liberty Island in New York Harbor. The giant copper-covered statue of a robed and crowned woman was a gift from the people of France. It marked the American Declaration of Independence. French sculptor Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi designed it, and Gustave Eiffel built its metal framework.
The gold mask of Tutankhamun was uncovered, seen for the first time in about 3,250 years. Tutankhamun was a pharaoh who ruled ancient Egypt from 1332 to 1323 BC. His tomb in the Valley of the Kings had been discovered by the British archaeologist Howard Carter. The famous mask is now on show at the Grand Egyptian Museum in Cairo.
The Cuban Missile Crisis ended when Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev ordered Soviet missiles to be removed from Cuba. For 13 days, the United States and the Soviet Union had been locked in a tense stand-off. America had placed nuclear missiles in the United Kingdom, Italy and Turkey, and the Soviet Union had answered by placing missiles in Cuba. It is often seen as the closest the Cold War came to a nuclear war.
The Gateway Arch in St Louis, Missouri, was completed. It is 192 metres tall, covered in stainless steel, and the tallest arch in the world. Its shape is based on a catenary, the curve a chain makes when it hangs from both ends. Known as the Gateway to the West, it was built as a monument to the westward spread of the United States.
Roman emperor Nerva is forced by the Praetorian Guard to adopt general Marcus Ulpius Trajanus as his heir and successor.
Maxentius is proclaimed Roman emperor.
Civil wars of the Tetrarchy: Constantine the Great defeated Maxentius at the Battle of the Milvian Bridge in Rome.
The Byzantine Empire recovers Antioch from Arab rule.
The lower town of Smyrna is captured by Latin Christians in response to Aydınid piracy during the Smyrniote crusades.
Christian I is crowned king of Denmark.
Ladislaus the Posthumous was crowned King of Bohemia, although George of Poděbrady remained in control of the government.
Second Ottoman–Mamluk War: Mamluks fail to stop the Ottoman advance towards Egypt at the Battle of Yaunis Khan.
Ferdinand Magellan reaches the Pacific Ocean.
Abyssinian–Adal war: The Adal Sultanate seizes southern Ethiopia.
The Universidad Santo Tomás de Aquino is founded in what is now the Dominican Republic.
French Wars of Religion: The Siege of La Rochelle ends with the surrender of the Huguenots after fourteen months.
The Hōei earthquake ruptured all segments of the Nankai megathrust simultaneously – the only earthquake recorded to have done so.
In the first major engagement of the Texas Revolution, the Texian Army repelled a Mexican attack at the grounds of Mission Concepcion south of Downtown San Antonio.
The United Tribes of New Zealand are established with the signature of the Declaration of Independence.
American Civil War: A Union attack on the Confederate capital of Richmond is repulsed.
The Mino–Owari earthquake, the largest inland earthquake in Japan's history, occurs.
World War I: Czech politicians peacefully take over the city of Prague, thus establishing the First Czechoslovak Republic.
World War I: A new Polish government in western Galicia is established, triggering the Polish–Ukrainian War.
The U.S. Congress passed the Volstead Act over president Woodrow Wilson's veto, reinforcing Prohibition in the United States.
Italian fascists led by Benito Mussolini march on Rome and take over the Italian government.
Indonesian composer Wage Rudolf Supratman introduced "Indonesia Raya", now the country's national anthem.
World War II: Italy invaded Greece after Greek prime minister Ioannis Metaxas rejected Benito Mussolini's ultimatum demanding the cession of Greek territory.
The Alaska Highway first connects Alaska to the North American railway network at Dawson Creek in Canada.
Paul Hermann Müller is awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his discovery of the insecticidal properties of DDT.
Hungarian Revolution: A de facto ceasefire comes into effect between armed revolutionaries and Soviet troops, who begin to withdraw from Budapest. Communist officials and facilities come under attack by revolutionaries.
John XXIII is elected Pope.
Pope Paul VI promulgates Nostra aetate, by which the Roman Catholic Church officially recognizes the legitimacy of non-Christian faiths.
The Spanish general election begins fourteen years of rule by the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party.
Georgia holds its only free election under Soviet rule.
Hans-Adam II threatened to dismiss the Landtag of Liechtenstein over disagreements on the date of a referendum for the country's accession to the EEA.
In the Argentine general election, Cristina Fernández de Kirchner became the first woman to be elected president of Argentina.
NASA successfully launches the Ares I-X mission, the only rocket launch for its short-lived Constellation program.
US President Barack Obama signs the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act.
A rocket carrying NASA's Cygnus CRS Orb-3 resupply mission to the International Space Station explodes seconds after taking off from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport in Wallops Island, Virginia.
Jair Bolsonaro is elected president of Brazil with 57 million votes, with Workers' Party candidate Fernando Haddad as the runner-up. It is the first time in 16 years that a Workers' Party candidate is not elected president.
The 2023 Rugby World Cup final is held at the Stade de France in Saint-Denis, France. It saw South Africa defeat New Zealand 12 to 11, claiming their fourth Webb Ellis Cup, becoming the first nation to do so.
Every answer is somewhere on this page. Have a go, then check!
In which year did this happen: “The regiment that became the Royal Marines is formed in London”?
C: 1664. 1664 — that’s 362 years ago. Find it on the page
In which year did this happen: “Prospero becomes the first British satellite on a British rocket”?
B: 1971. 1971 — that’s 55 years ago. Find it on the page
Which of these happened first?
B: Christopher Columbus lands in Cuba. 1971: Prospero becomes the first British satellite on a British rocket · 1492: Christopher Columbus lands in Cuba · 1664: The regiment that became the Royal Marines is formed in London Find it on the page
“Richard Synge” happened in 1914. How many years ago was that?
B: 112 years. 2026 − 1914 = 112. Find it on the page
Famous people whose birthday is 28 October.
UK story
Richard Synge was an English biochemist, born in 1914. Working with Archer Martin, he invented partition chromatography, a way of separating out the different substances in a mixture. The two scientists shared the 1952 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for this invention. The Nobel Prizes were set up by the will of Alfred Nobel to reward outstanding work.
Well-known people who died on 28 October.
Festivals, holidays and saints’ days celebrated on 28 October somewhere in the world.
International Animation Day celebrates the art of animation, the making of moving pictures from drawings, models or computer images. It was set up in 2002 by ASIFA, the International Animated Film Association. ASIFA was founded in 1960 to promote animation, and famous animators such as Canada's Norman McLaren helped start it. It now has more than 30 branches around the world.
Content note: these entries mention things like war, violence, deaths, disasters or crime. They are part of history, but they can be upsetting. Grown-ups and teachers: you may want to read them first. They come straight from Wikipedia and have not been rewritten for children.
Stories with a heading have been written for young readers by A Day in the Past, using the linked articles as sources. Other entries show text from Wikipedia’s “October 28” page and its “On this day” feed, written by Wikipedia contributors and shared under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 licence. Each “Read more” link goes to the article an entry is based on. Photos are credited under each picture. Spotted a mistake? Please tell us.