August 28

August 28 is the 240th day of the year (241st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar; 125 days remain until the end of the year.

Events

Pre-1600

• 410 – The Sack of Rome ends as the Visigoths under Alaric I leave the city after three days of looting.
• 475 – Orestes forces Western Roman Emperor Julius Nepos to flee his capital at Ravenna and proclaims his own son Romulus Augustulus as emperor.
• 1521 – The Ottoman Empire captures Belgrade.
• 1565 – The Spanish establish the first European settlement in the present-day United States at St. Augustine, Florida.

1601–1900

• 1609 – Henry Hudson discovers Delaware Bay.
• 1640 – The Second Bishops' War begins as a Scottish Covenanter army defeats the English at the Battle of Newburn.
• 1833 – The Slavery Abolition Act 1833 receives Royal Assent, abolishing slavery throughout most of the British Empire.
• 1845 – The first issue of Scientific American magazine is published.
• 1849 – After a month-long siege, Venice, which had declared itself independent as the Republic of San Marco, surrenders to Austria.
• 1898 – American pharmacist Caleb Bradham names his carbonated soft drink "Pepsi-Cola".

1901–present

• 1913 – The Peace Palace in The Hague is officially opened.
• 1916 – World War I: Germany declares war on Romania.
• 1937 – Toyota Motors becomes an independent company.
• 1963 – The March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom takes place, where Martin Luther King Jr. delivers his historic "I Have a Dream" speech at the Lincoln Memorial.
• 1988 – The Ramstein air show disaster occurs in Germany, resulting in the deaths of 70 people and injuring over 300.
• 1990 – Iraq declares Kuwait to be its newest province.
• 1996 – Charles, Prince of Wales, and Diana, Princess of Wales, officially divorce.
• 2005 – Hurricane Katrina makes its second landfall in the United States, devastating the Gulf Coast, particularly New Orleans, and causing over 1,800 fatalities.
• 2014 – The World Health Organization declares the Ebola virus epidemic in West Africa an international public health emergency.

Births

Pre-1600

• 1025 – Emperor Go-Reizei of Japan (d. 1068).
• 1476 – Kanō Motonobu, Japanese painter (d. 1559).
• 1582 – Taichang Emperor of the Ming dynasty (d. 1620).

1601–1900

• 1749 – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, German writer, poet, and polymath (d. 1832).
• 1801 – Antoine Augustin Cournot, French mathematician and philosopher (d. 1877).
• 1814 – Sheridan Le Fanu, Irish writer of Gothic tales and mystery novels (d. 1873).
• 1828 – George H. Pendleton, American lawyer and politician (d. 1889).
• 1894 – Karl Böhm, Austrian conductor and director (d. 1981).

1901–present

• 1919 – Godfrey Hounsfield, English electrical engineer and Nobel laureate (d. 2004).
• 1925 – Donald O'Connor, American actor, singer, and dancer (d. 2003).
• 1938 – Paul Martin, Canadian lawyer and politician, 21st Prime Minister of Canada.
• 1940 – Tom Baker, English actor, best known for his role as the Fourth Doctor in Doctor Who.
• 1957 – Ai Weiwei, Chinese conceptual artist and activist.
• 1962 – David Fincher, American film director and producer.
• 1965 – Shania Twain, Canadian singer-songwriter.
• 1969 – Jack Black, American actor, comedian, and musician.
• 1982 – LeAnn Rimes, American singer-songwriter and actress.
• 1990 – Bojan Krkić, Spanish professional footballer.
• 1997 – Huang Xuxi, Chinese singer and actress.

Deaths

Pre-1600

• 430 – Augustine of Hippo, North African bishop, theologian, and saint (b. 354).
• 476 – Flavius Orestes, Roman general and politician.
• 876 – Louis the German, King of East Francia (b. 804).
• 1231 – Eleanor, Fair Maid of Brittany (b. 1184).
• 1476 – John II, Duke of Alençon (b. 1409).

1601–1900

• 1645 – Hugo Grotius, Dutch jurist and philosopher (b. 1583).
• 1839 – William Smith, English geologist and cartographer (b. 1769).
• 1853 – Godfrey, Baron von Knigge, German writer (b. 1752).

1901–present

• 1943 – Boris III of Bulgaria (b. 1894).
• 1976 – Anissa Jones, American child actress (b. 1958).
• 1984 – Muhammad Naguib, Egyptian general and politician, 1st President of Egypt (b. 1901).
• 1987 – John Huston, American film director, screenwriter, and actor (b. 1906).
• 2006 – Melvin Schwartz, American physicist and Nobel laureate (b. 1932).
• 2007 – Francisco Umbral, Spanish novelist and journalist (b. 1932).
• 2020 – Chadwick Boseman, American actor and playwright (b. 1976).

Holidays and observances

• Christian feast day:

* Augustine of Hippo (Roman Catholic Church, Anglican Communion)
* Hermes of Rome

• Assumption of Mary (Eastern Orthodox Church on the Julian calendar, corresponding to August 15 on the Gregorian calendar).
• National Red Wine Day (United States).
• Radio Day (Taiwan).