August 28




1609 - Delaware Bay was discovered by Henry Hudson.

1619 - Ferdinand II was elected Holy Roman Emperor. His policy of "One church, one king" was his way of trying to outlaw Protestantism.

1774 - The first American-born saint was born in New York City. Mother Elizabeth Ann Seton was canonized in 1975.

1811 - Percy Bysshe Shelley and Harriet Westbrook eloped.

1830 - "The Tom Thumb" was demonstrated in Baltimore, MD. It was the first passenger-carrying train of its kind to be built in America.

1833 - Slavery was banned by the British Parliament throughout the British Empire.

1907 - "American Messenger Company" was started by two teenagers, Jim Casey and Claude Ryan. The companies name was later changed to "United Parcel Service."

1916 - Italy's declaration of war against Germany took effect during World War I.

1917 - Ten suffragists were arrested as they picketed the White House.

1922 - The first radio commercial aired on WEAF in New York City. The Queensboro Realty Company bought 10 minutes of time for $100.

1922 - The Walker Cup was held for the first time at Southampton, NY. It is the oldest international team golf match in America.

1939 - The first successful flight of a jet-propelled airplane took place. The plane was a German Heinkel He 178.

1941 - The Football Writers Association of America was organized.

1947 - Manolete was mortally wounded by a bull during a fight in Linares, Spain. He died the following day at age 30.

1955 - Emmett Till was abducted from his uncle's home in Mississippi. Two white men had brutally murdered the black teen-ager after he supposedly whistled at a white woman.

1963 - Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., gave his "I Have a Dream" speech at a civil rights rally in Washington, DC. More than 200,000 people attended.

1972 - Mark Spitz captured the first of his seven gold medals at the Summer Olympics in Munich, Germany. He set a world record when he completed the 200-meter butterfly in 2 minutes and 7/10ths of a second.

1973 - An earthquake hit an area southwest of Mexico City killing 520 people and injuring 1,000 more.

1981 - John Hinckley, Jr. pled innocent to the charge of attempting to kill U.S. President Ronald Reagan. Hinckley was later acquitted by reason of insanity.

1981 - "The New York Daily News" published its final afternoon edition.

1986 - Jerry Whitworth, a retired Navy warrant officer, was convicted for his role in a Soviet spy ring. He was sentenced to 365 years in prison and fined $410,000.

1988 - At an air show in Ramstein, West Germany, an Italian Air Force jet collided with 2 other jets and then plunged into a crowd. 70 people were killed.

1988 - An unsuccessful coup attempt in the Philippines resulted in the death of 50 people. The coup was against President Corazon Aquino.

1989 - Jim Bakker's fraud and conspiracy trial opened.

1990 - Iraq declared Kuwait to be its 19th province and renamed Kuwait City al-Kadhima.

1990 - 27 people were killed and 350 injured when a tornado struck in Will County in Chicago.

1990 - Two college students were found and believed to be the fourth and fifth victims in an apparent serial killing near the University of Florida at Gainesville.

1991 - A subway operator in New York was charged with manslaughter after his train derailed, killing 5 people and injuring 133.

1994 - A DEA plane crashed in Peru killing 5 U.S. agents.

1995 - The biggest bank in the U.S. was created when Chase Manhattan and Chemical Bank announced their $10 billion deal.

1995 - A mortar shell killed 38 people in Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina. The act triggered NATO airstrikes against the Bosnian Serbs.

1996 - A divorce decree was issued for Britain's Charles and Princess Diana. This was the official end to the 15-year marriage.

1997 - In Algeria, nearly 300 people were killed in a single late-night incident between the government and Islamic militants.

1998 - The Pakistani prime minister created new Islamic order and legal system based on the Koran.

2004 - George Brunstad, at age 70, became the oldest person to swim the English Channel. The swim from Dover, England, to Sangatte, France, took 15 hours and 59 minutes.