Today in History – September 28th
- 48 BC, Pompey the Great is assassinated on the orders of King Ptolemy of Egypt after landing in Egypt.
- 235, Pope Pontian resigns. He and Hippolytus, church leader of Rome, are exiled to the mines of Sardinia.
- 351, Battle of Mursa Major: the Roman Emperor Constantius II defeats the usurper Magnentius.
- 365, Roman usurper Procopius bribes two legions passing by Constantinople, and proclaims himself Roman emperor.
- 551 BC, Confucius, Chinese philosopher (d. 479) was born.
- 935, Saint Wenceslas is murdered by his brother, Boleslaus I of Bohemia.
- 1066, William the Bastard (as he was known at the time) invades England beginning the Norman Conquest.
- 1106, The Battle of Tinchebrai, Henry I of England defeats his brother, Robert Curthose.
- 1238, Muslim Valencia surrenders to the besieging King James I of Aragon the Conqueror.
- 1322, Louis IV, Holy Roman Emperor defeats Frederick I of Austria in the Battle of Muhldorf.
- 1725, Arthur Guinness, Irish brewer, founded Guinness (d. 1803) was born.
- 1779, American Revolution: Samuel Huntington is elected President of the Continental Congress, succeeding John Jay.
- 1781, American forces backed by a French fleet begin the siege of Yorktown, Virginia, during the American Revolutionary War.
- 1791, France becomes 1st European country to emancipate its Jewish population.
- 1836, Thomas Crapper, English inventor (d. 1910) was born.
- 1867, The US takes control of Midway Island.
- 1867, Toronto becomes the capital of Ontario.
- 1901, Ed Sullivan, American television show host (d. 1974) was born.
- 1912, The Ulster Covenant is signed by half a million Ultonians in opposition to the Third Irish Home Rule Bill.
- 1918, WWI: The Fifth Battle of Ypres begins.
- 1919, Race riots begin in Omaha, Nebraska, US.
- 1925, Seymour Cray, American computer scientist (d. 1996) was born.
- 1928, Sir Alexander Fleming notices a bacteria-killing mold growing in his laboratory, discovering later known as penicillin.
- 1928, The U.K. Parliament passes the Dangerous Drugs Act outlawing cannabis.
- 1939, Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union agree on a division of Poland after their invasion during WWII.
- 1939, Warsaw surrenders to Nazi Germany during WWII.
- 1944, Soviet Army troops liberate Klooga concentration camp in Klooga, Estonia.
- 1951, CBS makes 1st color televisions available for sale to general public, but product is discontinued less than a month later.
- 1961, A military coup in Damascus effectively ends the United Arab Republic, the union between Egypt and Syria.
- 1962, The Paddington tram depot fire destroys 65 trams in Brisbane, Australia.
- 1964, Harpo Marx, American comedian and actor (b. 1888) died.
- 1971, The Parliament of the UK passes the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 banning the medicinal use of cannabis.
- 1989, Ferdinand Marcos, Filipino politician (b. 1917) died.
- 1991, Miles Davis, American jazz trumpeter (b. 1926) died.
- 2000, Pierre Trudeau, 15th Prime Minister of Canada (b. 1919) died.








