On This day April 28th

 OTD

April 28th is the one-hundred-eightteenth day of the year in the Gregorian calendar; 247 days remain until the end of the year.

 

Events

1253 – Nichiren, a Japanese Buddhist monk, propounds Namu Myōhō Renge Kyō for the first time and declares it to be the essence of Buddhism, in effect founding Nichiren Buddhism.

1503 – The Battle of Cerignola is fought. It is noted as one of the first European battles in history, which was won by small arms fire using gunpowder.

1625 – A combined Spanish and Portuguese fleet of 52 ships commences the recapture of Bahia from the Dutch during the Dutch–Portuguese War.

1789—Mutiny on the Bounty: Lieutenant William Bligh and 18 sailors are set adrift, and the rebel crew briefly returns to Tahiti and then sets sail for Pitcairn Island.

1792 – France invades the Austrian Netherlands (present-day Belgium and Luxembourg), beginning the French Revolutionary Wars.

1881 – Billy the Kid escapes from the Lincoln County jail in Mesilla, New Mexico.

1869—Chinese and Irish laborers for the Central Pacific Railroad working on the First transcontinental railroad laid ten miles of track in one day, a feat that has never been matched.

1910 – Frenchman Louis Paulhan wins the 1910 London to Manchester air race, the first long-distance airplane race in the United Kingdom.

1923 – Wembley Stadium was opened, and it was initially named Empire Stadium.

1930 – The Independence Producers hosted the first night game in the history of Organized Baseball in Independence, Kansas.

1945 – Benito Mussolini and his mistress, Clara Petacci, are shot dead by Walter Audisio, a member of the Italian resistance movement.

1967 – Vietnam War: Boxer Muhammad Ali refuses his induction into the United States Army and is stripped of his championship and license.

1973—Pink Floyd's The Dark Side of the Moon, recorded in Abbey Road Studios, went to number one on the US Billboard chart, beginning a record-breaking 741-week chart run.

1986 – High levels of radiation resulting from the Chornobyl disaster are detected at a nuclear power plant in Sweden, leading Soviet authorities to announce the accident publicly.

 

Birthdays

1442 – Edward IV, king of England (d. 1483)

1630 – Charles Cotton, English poet, and author (d. 1687)

1758 – James Monroe, American soldier, lawyer, and politician, 5th President of the United States (d. 1831)

1761 – Marie Harel, French cheesemaker (d. 1844)

1838 – Tobias Asser, Dutch lawyer and scholar, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1913)

1878 – Lionel Barrymore, American actor and director (d. 1954)

1926 – Harper Lee, American novelist (d. 2016)

1948 – Terry Pratchett, English journalist, author, and screenwriter (d. 2015)

1950 – Jay Leno, American comedian, talk show host, and producer

1953 – Kim Gordon, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer.

1964 – Barry Larkin, American baseball player, manager, and sportscaster

1966 – John Daly, American golfer

1992 – Blake Bortles, American football player

 

Holiday Highlight

Pay It Forward Day

The concept of paying it forward is simple to grasp. Whenever we are shown kindness, this concept encourages us to pay it forward by showing kindness to others, and they are to do the same, and so on, ultimately leading to a selfless ripple of kindness.

 

This concept has been around way longer than we may think. It is taught in certain principles in the Bible and other religious books and was the key plot element in a 317 B.C. play by Menander called “Dyskolos.” The phrase itself, however, is seen to have been coined by Lily Hardy Hammond in her book, “In the Garden of Delight,” and was further popularized in Robert Heinlein’s novel “Between Planets.”

Every day, we face several opportunities to spread kindness in the littlest ways, even though we often don’t recognize it. That overwhelmingly warm, happy feeling you get when someone does an unexpected nice thing for you, like taking care of a bill or giving you a warm hug, is what we’re encouraged to pay forward to others.

Another vivid example of the paying it forward concept appears in the novel “Pay It Forward” by American novelist Catherine Ryan Hyde. This novel instantly became a best-seller and was adapted into a film in 2000. Unsurprisingly, this book is also the foundation for Global Pay It Forward Day.

Hyde’s book inspired international speaker and author Blake Beattie to create this day in 2007. It is now celebrated in over 80 countries worldwide to create a global change caused by spreading kindness and reaching over 10 million acts of kindness worldwide. It is celebrated annually on April 28.

 

Holidays And Observance

Biological Clock Day

Clean Comedy Day

Great Poetry Reading Day

Kiss your Mate Day

Mother, Father Deaf Day

National Blueberry Pie Day

National Bravehearts Day

National Cubicle Day

National Pet Parent's Day

National Superhero Day

Orthodox Palm Sunday

Pinhole Photography Day

Workers Memorial Day

World Day for Safety and Health at Work