On This Day December 28th

 OTD

December 28th is the 362nd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar; 3 days remain until the end of the year.


 Events

1065 – Edward the Confessor's Romanesque monastic church at Westminster Abbey is consecrated.

1795 – The construction of Yonge Street, formerly recognized as the longest street in the world, begins in York, Upper Canada (present-day Toronto).

1832 – John C. Calhoun became the first vice president of the United States to resign. He resigned after being elected Senator from South Carolina.

1835 – Osceola leads his Seminole warriors in Florida into the Second Seminole War against the United States Army.

1895 – Wilhelm Röntgen published a paper detailing his discovery of a new type of radiation, which later will be known as x-rays.

1902 – The Syracuse Athletic Club defeated the New York Philadelphians, 5–0, in the first indoor professional football game held at Madison Square Garden.

1912 – The first municipally owned streetcars take to the streets in San Francisco.

1958 – "Greatest Game Ever Played": The Baltimore Colts defeat the New York Giants in the first ever National Football League sudden death overtime game at New York's Yankee Stadium to win the NFL Championship.

1973 – The United States Endangered Species Act is signed into law by President Richard Nixon.

 

Birthdays

1651 – Johann Krieger, German organist and composer (d. 1735)

1722 – Eliza Lucas, Caribbean-American agriculturalist (d. 1793)

1763 – John Molson, an English-Canadian brewer, founded the Molson Brewery (d. 1836)

1882 – Arthur Eddington, English astronomer, physicist, and mathematician (d. 1944)

1903 – Earl Hines, American pianist and bandleader (d. 1983)

1922 – Stan Lee, American publisher, producer, and actor (d. 2018)

1944 – Kary Mullis, American biochemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2019)

1954 – Denzel Washington, American actor, director, and producer

1979 – Noomi Rapace, Swedish actress

1981 – Frank Turner, English singer-songwriter and guitarist

1986 – Tom Huddlestone, English footballer[31]

 

 Holiday Spotlight

National Download Day

  Modern cell phones are fewer phones and more tiny, portable computers. In fact, when was the last time you made a phone call on your mobile device? Most of our screen time is spent on apps — software designed for smartphones that let us do everything from playing games to making banking transactions.

 The first cell phones were just that: phones. Early mobile users had to charge their phones for about 10 hours and were limited to 30 minutes of phone calls daily. These rudimentary devices didn’t have the power or battery life to handle more complex tasks.

 Our screen time has gone up a bit since those days. Today, the average mobile phone user has 60 to 90 apps installed.

 When mobile phones got smaller and more powerful, they began transitioning from phone and messaging devices to pocket computers that can do everything your PC can. Apple’s iPhone arguably ushered in a new era for apps, as its large, multi-touch display, digital keyboard, and fully functional web browser opened up new possibilities for what can be done on the phone.

 In addition to the iPhone, Apple also changed the game when the App Store, a one-stop shop for digital apps, went online in 2008. In 2010, the American Dialect Society named “app” its word of the year, acknowledging how embedded it had become in American culture.

 Today, one in five people worldwide has a smartphone, and 85% of users say they prefer their mobile devices to desktop computers.

 

 Other Include

  • Call a Friend Day 
  • Endangered Species Act Day 
  • Holy Innocents Day 
  • National Card Playing Day 
  • National Chocolate Day
  • National Download Day 
  • National Short Film Day 
  • Pledge of Allegiance Day

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