On This Day October 28th

 OTD

October 28th is the three hundredth first day of the year, and there are 64 days remaining until the end of the year.

 

Events

1420 – Beijing was officially designated the capital of the Ming dynasty when the Forbidden City was completed.

1492 – Christopher Columbus lands in Cuba on his first voyage to the New World, surmising that it is Japan.

1520 – Ferdinand Magellan reaches the Pacific Ocean.

1664 – The Duke of York and Albany's Maritime Regiment of Foot, later known as the Royal Marines, is established.

1886 – US President Grover Cleveland dedicated the Statue of Liberty.

1919 – The U.S. Congress passes the Volstead Act over President Woodrow Wilson's veto, paving the way for Prohibition to begin the following January.

1942 – The Alaska Highway first connects Alaska to the North American railway network at Dawson Creek in Canada.

1962 – The Cuban Missile Crisis ends, and Premier Nikita Khrushchev orders the removal of Soviet missiles from Cuba.

2009 – NASA successfully launches the Ares I-X mission, the only rocket launch for its short-lived Constellation program.

 

Birthdays

1693 – Šimon Brixi, Czech composer (d. 1735)

1754 – John Laurens, American soldier (d. 1782)

1793 – Eliphalet Remington, the American businessman, founded Remington Arms (d. 1861)

1884 – William Douglas Cook, New Zealand horticulturalist, founded Eastwoodhill Arboretum (d. 1967)

1897 – Edith Head, American costume designer (d. 1981)

1903 – John Chamberlain, American historian, journalist, and critic (d. 1995)

1926 – Bowie Kuhn, American lawyer, and businessman, 5th Commissioner of Baseball (d. 2007)

1936 – Charlie Daniels, American singer-songwriter, fiddle player and guitarist (d. 2020)

1958 – William Reid, Scottish singer-songwriter and guitarist

1972 – Brad Paisley, American singer-songwriter and guitarist

1982 – Matt Smith, English actor and director

 

Holiday Highlight

Ohi Day

Ioannis Metaxas, the Prime Minister of Greece, faced an ultimatum from Benito Mussolini during the Greco-Italian War, demanding access to the Greek-Albanian border. Metaxas rejected it, famously declaring, “Then it is war!” This decision aligned Greece with the Allies in World War II, and the word “Oxi” symbolized Greek resistance. Greeks poured into the streets, shouting “Oxi,” pushing the Italians back from Albania.

Some theories suggest that had Greece accepted the ultimatum, Hitler might have invaded Russia earlier. Winston Churchill noted that from then on, people would say, “Heroes fight like Greeks” instead of “Greeks fight like heroes.”

 

Holidays And Observance

Champagne Day

International Animation Day

National Chocolate Day

Plush Animal Lovers Day

Separation of Church and State Day

St. Jude's Day

Statue of Liberty Dedication Day

Wild Foods Day