On August 28th...

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1565 Spanish Admiral Pedro Menéndez de Avilés founded St. Augustine, Florida.

1609 Henry Hudson explored Delaware Bay.

1749 Poet and dramatist Johann Wolfgang von Goethe was born.

1776 The Battle of Long Island (New York) was fought.

1789 William Herschel completed construction of a 40-foot telescope at his home in Slough, England.

1833 Great Britain provided for the end of slavery in its colonies.

1845 The first issue of Scientific American was published.

1864 The first Geneva Convention was signed by 26 nations.

1884 The first known photograph of a tornado was taken near Howard, South Dakota.

1898 Caleb Bingham renamed his carbonated soft drink "Pepsi-Cola."

1903 Architect Frederick Law Olmsted died.

1907 United Parcel Service was founded by James E. Casey in Seattle, Washington.

1913 Author Robertson William Davies was born.

1916 Germany declared war on Romania.
1916 Italy declared war on Germany.

1921 Actress Nancy Kulp was born.

1922 WEAF in NYC aired the first radio commercial, for Queensboro Realty, ($100 for 10 mins).

1925 Actor Donald O'Connor was born.

1943 Baseball manager Lou Piniella was born.
1943 Actor David Soul was born.

1944 The last German troops in Marseille, France, surrendered.

1950 Baseball player Ron Guidry was born.

1951 Musician Wayne Osmond was born.

1958 Olympic figure skater Scott Hamilton was born.

1963 Over 200,000 marched peacefully on Washington, D.C., to support civil rights legislation.
1963 The Evergreen Point Floating Bridge connecting Seattle and Bellevue, Washington, opened.

1965 Singer Shania Twain was born.

1969 Actor Jason Priestley was born.

1982 Singer LeAnn Rimes was born.

1983 Actress Ruth Gordon died.

1987 Film director John Huston died.

1988 Seventy people were killed when three Italian Air Force fighters crashed during an air show in Germany.

2016 Actor Gene Wilder died.

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This page was last updated on August 28, 2018.