On This Day — 28 January

2026

A Learjet 45 crashes on approach to Baramati Airport in Maharashtra, killing all six occupants including the Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra, Ajit Pawar.

Learjet 45

2026

The Rubaya mine collapse at Rubaya mines in DR Congo causes at least 400 deaths and injured several others.

2026 Rubaya mines collapses

2026

Storm Kristin causes a catastrophic impact in Portugal and Spain with €6 billion in damage in the central region of Portugal, 15 deaths and 2,000 injuries.

Storm Kristin

2023

Protests begin in the United States after police beat and kill Tyre Nichols.

Tyre Nichols protests

2021

A nitrogen leak at a poultry food processing facility in Gainesville, Georgia kills six and injures at least ten.

2021 Georgia poultry plant accident

2006

The roof of one of the buildings at the Katowice International Fair in Poland collapses due to the weight of snow, killing 65 and injuring more than 170 others.

Katowice International Fair

2002

TAME Flight 120, a Boeing 727-100, crashes in the Andes mountains in southern Colombia, killing 94.

TAME Flight 120

1988

In R v Morgentaler the Supreme Court of Canada strikes down all anti-abortion laws.

R v Morgentaler

1986

Space Shuttle program: STS-51-L mission: Space Shuttle Challenger disintegrates after liftoff, killing all seven astronauts on board.

Space Shuttle program

1985

Supergroup USA for Africa (United Support of Artists for Africa) records the hit single We Are the World, to help raise funds for Ethiopian famine relief.

We Are the World

1984

Tropical Storm Domoina makes landfall in southern Mozambique, eventually causing 214 deaths and some of the most severe flooding so far recorded in the region.

Tropical Storm Domoina

1982

US Army General James L. Dozier is rescued by Italian anti-terrorism forces from captivity by the Red Brigades.

United States Army

1981

Ronald Reagan lifts remaining domestic petroleum price and allocation controls in the United States, helping to end the 1979 energy crisis and begin the 1980s oil glut.

Ronald Reagan

1980

USCGC Blackthorn collides with the tanker Capricorn while leaving Tampa, Florida and capsizes, killing 23 Coast Guard crewmembers.

USCGC Blackthorn

1977

The first day of the Great Lakes Blizzard of 1977, which dumps 3 metres (10 ft) of snow in one day in Upstate New York. Buffalo, Syracuse, Watertown, and surrounding areas are most affected.

Blizzard of 1977

1965

The current design of the Flag of Canada is chosen by an act of Parliament.

Flag of Canada

1964

An unarmed United States Air Force T-39 Sabreliner on a training mission is shot down over Erfurt, East Germany, by a Soviet MiG-19.

United States Air Force

1960

The National Football League announces expansion teams for Dallas to start in the 1960 NFL season and Minneapolis-St. Paul for the 1961 NFL season.

National Football League

1958

The Lego company patents the design of its Lego bricks, still compatible with bricks produced today.

Lego

1956

Elvis Presley makes his first national television appearance.

Elvis Presley

1945

World War II: Supplies begin to reach the Republic of China over the newly reopened Burma Road.

World War II

1941

Franco-Thai War: Final air battle of the conflict. A Japanese-mediated armistice goes into effect later in the day.

Franco-Thai War

1938

The World Land Speed Record on a public road is broken by Rudolf Caracciola in the Mercedes-Benz W125 Rekordwagen at a speed of 432.7 kilometres per hour (268.9 mph).

List of land speed records

1935

Iceland becomes the first Western country to legalize therapeutic abortion.

Iceland

1933

The name Pakistan is coined by Choudhry Rahmat Ali Khan and is accepted by Indian Muslims who then thereby adopted it further for the Pakistan Movement seeking independence.

Pakistan

1932

Japanese forces attack Shanghai.

January 28 incident

1922

Knickerbocker Storm: Washington, D.C.'s biggest snowfall, causes a disaster when the roof of the Knickerbocker Theatre collapses, killing over 100 people.

Knickerbocker storm

1920

Foundation of the Spanish Legion.

Spanish Legion

1919

The Order of the White Rose of Finland is established by Baron Gustaf Mannerheim, the regent of Finland.

Order of the White Rose of Finland

1918

Finnish Civil War: The Red Guard rebels seize control of the capital, Helsinki; members of the Senate of Finland go underground.

Finnish Civil War

1916

The Canadian province of Manitoba grants women the right to vote and run for office in provincial elections (although still excluding women of Indigenous or Asian heritage), marking the first time women in Canada are granted voting rights.

Manitoba

1915

An act of the U.S. Congress creates the United States Coast Guard as a branch of the United States Armed Forces.

United States Congress

1909

United States troops leave Cuba, with the exception of Guantanamo Bay Naval Base, after being there since the Spanish–American War.

Cuba

1908

Members of the Portuguese Republican Party fail in their attempted coup d'état against the administrative dictatorship of Prime Minister João Franco.

Portuguese Republican Party

1902

The Carnegie Institution of Washington is founded in Washington, D.C., with a $10 million gift from Andrew Carnegie.

Carnegie Institution for Science

1896

Walter Arnold of East Peckham, Kent, becomes the first person to be convicted of speeding. He was fined one shilling, plus costs, for speeding at 8 mph (13 km/h), thereby exceeding the contemporary speed limit of 2 mph (3.2 km/h).

East Peckham

1878

Yale Daily News becomes the first independent daily college newspaper in the United States.

Yale Daily News

1871

Franco-Prussian War: The Siege of Paris ends in French defeat and an armistice.

Franco-Prussian War

1855

A locomotive on the Panama Canal Railway runs from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean for the first time.

Panama Canal Railway

1851

Northwestern University becomes the first chartered university in Illinois.

Northwestern University

1846

The Battle of Aliwal, India, is won by British troops commanded by Sir Harry Smith.

Battle of Aliwal

1813

Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice is first published in the United Kingdom.

Jane Austen

1754

Sir Horace Walpole coins the word serendipity in a letter to a friend.

Horace Walpole

1724

The Russian Academy of Sciences is founded in St. Petersburg, Russia, by Peter the Great, and implemented by Senate decree. It is called the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences until 1917.

Russian Academy of Sciences

1671

Original city of Panama (founded in 1519) is destroyed by a fire when privateer Henry Morgan sacks and sets fire to it. The site of the previously devastated city is still in ruins (see Panama Viejo).

Panama

1624

Sir Thomas Warner founds the first British colony in the Caribbean, on the island of Saint Kitts.

Thomas Warner (explorer)

1591

Execution of Agnes Sampson, accused of witchcraft in Edinburgh.

Agnes Sampson

1573

Articles of the Warsaw Confederation are signed, sanctioning freedom of religion in Poland.

Warsaw Confederation

1568

The Edict of Torda prohibits the persecution of individuals on religious grounds in John Sigismund Zápolya's Eastern Hungarian Kingdom.

Edict of Torda

1547

Edward VI, the nine-year-old son of Henry VIII, becomes King of England on his father's death.

Edward VI

1521

The Diet of Worms begins, lasting until May 25.

Diet of Worms

1393

King Charles VI of France is nearly killed when several other dancers' costumes catch fire during a masquerade ball in Paris.

Charles VI of France

1077

Walk to Canossa: The excommunication of Henry IV, Holy Roman Emperor, is lifted after he humbles himself before Pope Gregory VII at Canossa in Italy.

Road to Canossa

1069

Robert de Comines, appointed Earl of Northumbria by William the Conqueror, rides into Durham, England, where he is defeated and killed by rebels. This incident leads to the Harrying of the North.

Robert de Comines

814

The death of Charlemagne, the first Holy Roman Emperor, brings about the accession of his son Louis the Pious as ruler of the Frankish Empire.

Charlemagne

98

On the death of Nerva, Trajan is declared Roman emperor in Cologne, the seat of his government in lower Germany.

AD 98