Directory

1928 CE

The discovery of penicillin by Alexander Fleming revolutionizes medicine as the first true antibiotic; the Kellogg–Briand Pact sees major powers renounce war as national policy, reflecting interwar idealism; the 1928 Summer Olympics in Amsterdam mark the first women’s track and field events; the Huanggutun incident assassinates warlord Zhang Zuolin, aiding Nationalist consolidation in China; the 1928 Okeechobee hurricane kills thousands in Florida and the Caribbean; and Steamboat Willie debuts Mickey Mouse, launching a new era in animation and pop culture.

Geopolitics & Diplomacy

  • February 20 – The Japanese general election produces a hung parliament.source
  • May 7 – Passage of the Representation of the People Act in the United Kingdom lowers the voting age for women from 30 to 21, giving them equal suffrage with men from July 2.source
  • August 2 – Italy and Ethiopia sign the Italo-Ethiopian Treaty.source
  • August 27 – The Kellogg–Briand Pact is signed in Paris, the first treaty to outlaw aggressive war.source
  • September 1 – Ahmet Zogu, President of the Albanian Republic, declares the country to be a constitutional monarchy, the Albanian Kingdom, with himself as King Zog I.source
  • October 2 – Arvid Lindman returns as Prime Minister of Sweden, with his right-wing rival Ernst Trygger as Foreign Minister of Sweden.source
  • October 7 – Haile Selassie is crowned king (not yet emperor) of Abyssinia.source
  • October 8 – Chiang Kai-shek is named as Generalissimo (Chairman of the National Military Council) of the Nationalist Government of the Republic of China.source
  • November 1 – Turkey passes a law switching the country from the Arabic to the Latin-based modern Turkish alphabet.source
  • November 6 – 1928 United States presidential election: Republican Herbert Hoover wins by a wide margin, over Democratic New York Governor Al Smith.source
  • November 17 – 1928 Australian federal election: Stanley Bruce's Nationalist/Country Coalition Government is re-elected with a decreased majority, defeating the Labor Party led by James Scullin.source

Conflict & Security

  • January 1 – Eastern Bloc emigration and defection: Boris Bazhanov, Joseph Stalin's personal secretary, crosses the border to Iran to defect from the Soviet Union.source
  • January 17 – The OGPU arrests Leon Trotsky in Moscow; he assumes a status of passive resistance and is exiled with his family.source
  • April 10 – Pineapple Primary: The United States Republican Party primary elections in Chicago are preceded by violence, bombings and assassination attempts (two politicians are killed, Octavius C. Granady and Giuseppe Esposito).source
  • April 12 – A bomb attack against Italian Fascist leader Benito Mussolini in Milan kills 17 bystanders.source
  • May 3 – Jinan incident: An armed conflict between the Imperial Japanese Army (allied with Northern Chinese warlords) and the Kuomintang's southern army occurs in Jinan, China.source
  • May 23 – A bomb attack against the Italian consulate in Buenos Aires, Argentina, kills 22 and injures 43.source
  • June 8 – By seizing Beijing and renaming it Běipíng, the National Revolutionary Army puts an end to the 'Fengtian warlords' Beiyang government there.source
  • June 20 – Puniša Račić kills three opposition representatives in the Yugoslavian Parliament, and injures three others, in a gun attack.source
  • July 17 – José de León Toral assassinates Álvaro Obregón, president-elect of Mexico.source
  • July 25 – The United States recalls its troops from China.source
  • November 14 – the Afghan Civil War begins as rebels besiege Jalalabad.source
  • December 6 – The government of Colombia sends military forces to suppress a month-long strike by United Fruit Company workers, resulting in an unknown number of deaths.source

Exploration & Expansion

  • March 24 – Excavation work begins after the old Canaanite city of Ugarit is accidentally rediscovered.source
  • June 9 – Australian aviator Charles Kingsford Smith and his crew complete the first flight across the Pacific Ocean, from the mainland United States to Australia, in the Fokker F.VII aircraft Southern Cross. Having left Oakland, California on May 31, they reach Brisbane via Honolulu and Fiji.source
  • June 24 – A Swedish aeroplane rescues some survivors of the Italian North Pole expedition, including Umberto Nobile. The Soviet icebreaker Krasin saves the rest July 12.source

Religion & Belief

  • March 15 – Chinese warlord Shi Yousan sets fire to the Shaolin Monastery in Henan, destroying some of its ancient structures and artifacts.source
  • March 22 – The Muslim Brotherhood is founded in Egypt by Islamic scholar and schoolteacher Hassan al-Banna.source
  • June 29 – At the 1928 Democratic National Convention in Houston, Governor of New York Al Smith becomes the first Catholic nominated by a major political party for President of the United States.source
  • October 2 – Josemaría Escrivá founds Opus Dei.source
  • December 4 – Cosmo Gordon Lang is enthroned as the Archbishop of Canterbury, the first bachelor to be appointed in 150 years.source

Economy & Finance

  • October 1 – Joseph Stalin launches the first five-year plan (1928–1932); the average nonfarm wage falls by 50% in the Soviet Union.source

Technology & Infrastructure

  • February 8 – Scottish-born inventor John Logie Baird broadcasts a transatlantic television signal from London to Hartsdale, New York.source
  • February 25 – Charles Jenkins Laboratories of Washington, D.C., becomes the first holder of a television license from the Federal Radio Commission.source
  • February – The Ford River Rouge Complex at Dearborn, Michigan, an automobile plant begun in 1917, is completed as the world's largest integrated factory.source
  • April 12 – 14 – The first east–west transatlantic flight by aeroplane takes place from Dublin, Ireland, to Greenly Island, Canada, using the German Junkers W 33 Bremen.source
  • May 10 – The first regular schedule of television programming begins in Schenectady, New York, by General Electric's television station W2XB (the station is popularly known as WGY Television, after its sister radio station WGY).source
  • May 30 – Rookie driver Louis Meyer wins his first Indianapolis 500 (he will win that race again, in 1933 and 1936).source
  • June 28 – The keel of the first 1,000 ft (300 m)-long ocean liner, Oceanic, for the British White Star Line, is laid by Harland and Wolff in Belfast; construction is delayed, and cancelled on 23 July 1929.source
  • June 28 – The International Railway (New York–Ontario) switches to one-man crews for its trolleys in Canada.source
  • July 2 – Charles Jenkins Laboratories' W3XK station begins broadcasting on 6.42 MHz, using 48 lines.source
  • July 3 – Scottish inventor John Logie Baird demonstrates the world's first colour television transmission in Glasgow.source
  • July 7 – The first machine-sliced and machine-wrapped loaf of bread is sold in Chillicothe, Missouri, United States, using Otto Frederick Rohwedder's technology.source
  • August 22 – Al Smith accepts the Democratic nomination for the US presidential election, with WGY/W2XB simulcasting the event on radio and television.source
  • September 3 – Philo Farnsworth demonstrates to the press in San Francisco the world's first working all-electronic television system, employing electronic scanning in both the pickup and display devices.source
  • September 11 – The first broadcast of a play by television, melodrama The Queen's Messenger, on General Electric's W2XAD from Schenectady, New York, utilising techniques created by Ernst Alexanderson. WMAK (Kenmore) begins broadcasting in Buffalo, New York.source
  • September 25 – Paul and Joseph Galvin incorporate the Galvin Manufacturing Corporation (later known as Motorola and Freescale).source
  • November 17 – Boston Garden opens in Boston, Massachusetts.source
  • December 21 – The United States Congress approves the construction of Boulder Dam, later renamed Hoover Dam.source

Science & Discovery

  • January – British bacteriologist Frederick Griffith reports the results of Griffith's experiment, indirectly demonstrating that DNA is the genetic material.source
  • March 21 – Charles Lindbergh is presented with the Medal of Honor for his first transatlantic flight.source
  • April 19 – Publication of the original Oxford English Dictionary is completed after 70 years with issue of the last section ("wise – wyze") in Oxford.source
  • May 15 – The animated short Plane Crazy is released by Disney Studios in Los Angeles, featuring the first appearances of Mickey and Minnie Mouse (in a non-distributed film).source
  • June 17 – 18 – Aviator Amelia Earhart becomes the first woman to make a successful transatlantic flight, as a passenger in a Fokker F.VIIb/3m piloted by Wilmer Stultz, from Newfoundland to Wales.source

Health & Medicine

  • June 14 – Students take over the medical wing of Rosario University in Argentina.source
  • September 28 – Scottish-born microbiologist Alexander Fleming, at St Mary's Hospital, London, accidentally rediscovers the antibiotic which he will call Penicillin.source
  • October 12 – An iron lung respirator is used for the first time at Children's Hospital, Boston.source

Crime & Justice

  • March 15 – March 15 incident: The Japanese government cracks down on socialists and communists, arresting over 1,000 people.source
  • June 4 – Huanggutun incident: Zhang Zuolin, a warlord, is killed by Japanese agents in China.source
  • August 16 – Serial killer Carl Panzram is arrested in Washington, D.C., for burglary. Later it will be discovered that he has committed multiple murders, rapes and other major crimes.source
  • August 26 – In Scotland, May Donoghue finds the remains of a snail in her ginger beer, leading to the landmark negligence case Donoghue v Stevenson.source

Disasters & Accidents

  • April 13 – The West Plains, Missouri Dance Hall explosion occurs.source
  • May 24 – The airship Italia crashes at the North Pole; one of the occupants is Italian general Umberto Nobile. A rescue expedition leaves for the Pole on May 30. Roald Amundsen will be among those who lose their lives in the search for survivors.source
  • November 12 – Liner develops a severe starboard list, is abandoned and sinks approximately 200 miles off Hampton Roads, Virginia; estimated deaths range from 110 to 127.source
  • December 3 – In Rio de Janeiro, a seaplane sent to greet Alberto Santos-Dumont crashes, killing all on board. The pilot had tried to avoid another plane which came too close.source

Climate & Environment

  • January 26 – The volcanic island Anak Krakatau appears.source
  • April 14 – An earthquake occurs in Chirpan, Bulgaria, followed four days later by another in Plovdiv. Between them, they destroy more than 21,000 buildings, and kill almost 130 people.source
  • April 22 – An Ms 6.0 earthquake affects southern Greece with a maximum Mercalli intensity of IX (Violent), leaving 20 dead, and destroying 3,000 homes in Corinth; a non-destructive tsunami is also observed.source
  • April 28 – 28 inches of snow fall in southern-central Pennsylvania, United States.source
  • September 12 – The Okeechobee hurricane hits Guadeloupe, killing 1,200 people.source
  • September 16 – The Okeechobee hurricane kills at least 2,500 people in Florida.source

Culture & Society

  • February 11 – 19 – The 1928 Winter Olympics are held in St. Moritz, Switzerland, the first as a separate event. Sonja Henie of Norway wins her first gold medal, in women's figure skating.source
  • May 31 – South Africa adopts a new national flag, based upon the Van Riebeeck flag or Prinsevlag (originally the Dutch flag), to replace the Red Ensign. It later became infamously known as the "apartheid flag" for being the flag of South Africa under Apartheid from 1948 to 1994.source
  • June 9 – Ellis Park Stadium, a well-known sport venue of South Africa, officially opens in Johannesburg.source
  • July 28 – August 12 – The 1928 Summer Olympics are held in Amsterdam, opening with the lighting of the Olympic flame. Women's athletics and gymnastics debut at these games, and discus thrower Halina Konopacka of Poland becomes the first female Olympic gold medal winner for a track or field event. Coca-Cola enters Europe as sponsor of the games.source
  • August 29 – F.C. Motagua is founded as an Association football club in Honduras.source
  • August – Margaret Mead's influential cultural anthropology text, Coming of Age in Samoa, is published in the U.S.source
  • October 22 – The Phi Sigma Alpha fraternity is founded at the University of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras Campus.source
  • October 25 – The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement (ICRM) is formally established, with the adoption of the "Statutes of the International Red Cross"source
  • October 28 – The Second Youth Congress is held in Batavia, Dutch East Indies by young Indonesian nationalists, resulting in the Youth Pledge. The Indonesian national anthem, "Indonesia Raya", is introduced at the congress.source
  • October – The women's organisation Gruaja Shiqiptare is founded in Albania, with Princess Senije as its chair.source
  • November 9 – 16 – Radclyffe Hall's novel The Well of Loneliness (published on 27 July by Jonathan Cape in London, England) is tried and convicted on the grounds of obscenity due to its theme of lesbian love, following a newspaper campaign.source
  • November 18 – Mickey Mouse makes his official debut in Steamboat Willie.source
  • November 22 – The one-movement ballet Boléro (music by Maurice Ravel, choreography by Bronislava Nijinska) premières at the Paris Opéra, to a commission by Ida Rubinstein.source
  • November 28 – Persija Jakarta Association football club is founded as Voetbalbond Indonesische Jacatra.source
  • The women's organisation Anjuman-i Himayat-i-Niswan is founded in Afghanistan.source

Births

  • March 18 – Fidel V. Ramos, 12th President of the Philippines (d. 2022)source
  • March 28 – Zbigniew Brzezinski, Polish-born American National Security Advisor (d. 2017)source
  • April 6 – James D. Watson, American geneticist; recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (d. 2025)source
  • June 4 – Ruth Westheimer (Dr. Ruth), German-American sex therapist, film and television personality, and author (d. 2024)source
  • June 19 – Tommy DeVito, American musician and singer (The Four Seasons) (d. 2020)source
  • July 26 – Stanley Kubrick, American film director (2001: A Space Odyssey) (d. 1999)source
  • July 27 – Joseph Kittinger, American colonel, U.S. Air Force pilot (d. 2022)source
  • August 4 – Udham Singh, Indian field hockey player, winner of three gold and one silver medals (d. 2000)source
  • August 7 – James Randi, Canadian stage magician and scientific skeptic (d. 2020)source
  • August 27 – Mangosuthu Buthelezi, South African leader of the Inkatha Freedom Party (d. 2023)source
  • September 30 – Elie Wiesel, Rumanian-born Holocaust survivor, writer, lecturer, Nobel Peace Prize recipient (d. 2016)source
  • October 1 – Laurence Harvey, Lithuanian-born South African actor (d. 1973)source
  • December 16 – Philip K. Dick, American science fiction author (d. 1982)source
  • December 26 – Martin Cooper, American inventor, "Father of the mobile phone"source

Deaths

  • January 13 – Earle Nelson, American serial killer and rapist (executed) (b. 1897)source
  • January 29 – Douglas Haig, 1st Earl Haig, British field marshal (b. 1861)source
  • January 30 – Johannes Fibiger, Danish scientist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b. 1867)source
  • February 1 – Hughie Jennings, American baseball player, MLB Hall of Famer (b. 1869)source
  • February 4 – Hendrik Lorentz, Dutch physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1853)source
  • February 15 – H. H. Asquith, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (b. 1852)source
  • February 26 – Juan Vázquez de Mella, Spanish scholar, politician (b. 1861)source
  • June 14 – Emmeline Pankhurst, British women's suffrage campaigner (b. 1858)source
  • July 17 – Giovanni Giolitti, Italian politician, 13th Prime Minister of Italy (b. 1842)source
  • August 19 – Richard Haldane, 1st Viscount Haldane, British politician, lawyer (b. 1856)source
  • September (unknown date) – Ioan Culcer, Romanian general and politician (b. 1853)source
  • October 13 – Dagmar of Denmark, later Maria Fyodorovna, wife of Tsar Alexander III and Empress Consort of Russia (b. 1847)source
  • October 22 – Andrew Fisher, 5th Prime Minister of Australia (b. 1862)source
  • November 17 – Lala Lajpat Rai (The Lion of Punjab), Indian independence movement leader (b. 1865)source