On This Day — 28 March

2000s

2025

An earthquake strikes close to Mandalay, Myanmar with a magnitude of 7.7, killing over 5400 people.

2025 Myanmar earthquake

2020

The region of Uusimaa (with the capital city Helsinki) is temporarily isolated from the rest of Finland due to increased COVID-19 infections.

Uusimaa

2006

At least one million union members, students and unemployed take to the streets in France in protest at the government's proposed First Employment Contract law.

2006 youth protests in France

2005

An earthquake shakes northern Sumatra with a magnitude of 8.6 and killing over 1000 people.

2005 Nias–Simeulue earthquake

2003

In a friendly fire incident, two American A-10 Thunderbolt II aircraft attack British tanks participating in the 2003 invasion of Iraq, killing one soldier.

Friendly fire

2001

Athens International Airport Eleftherios Venizelos begins operation.

Athens International Airport

1900s

1999

Kosovo War: Serb paramilitary and military forces kill at least 130 Kosovo Albanians in Izbica.

Kosovo War

1994

In South Africa, African National Congress security guards kill dozens of Inkatha Freedom Party protesters.

African National Congress

1990

United States President George H. W. Bush posthumously awards Jesse Owens the Congressional Gold Medal.

George H. W. Bush

1979

A coolant leak at the Three Mile Island's Unit 2 nuclear reactor outside Harrisburg, Pennsylvania leads to the core overheating and a partial meltdown.

Three Mile Island Nuclear Generating Station

1979

The British House of Commons passes a vote of no confidence against James Callaghan's government by one vote, precipitating a general election.

House of Commons of the United Kingdom

1978

The US Supreme Court hands down 5–3 decision in Stump v. Sparkman, a controversial case involving involuntary sterilization and judicial immunity.

Supreme Court of the United States

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1970

An earthquake strikes western Turkey at about 23:05 local time, killing 1,086 and injuring at least 1,200.

1970 Gediz earthquake

1969

Greek poet and Nobel Prize laureate Giorgos Seferis makes a famous statement on the BBC World Service opposing the junta in Greece.

Nobel Prize in Literature

1968

Brazilian high school student Edson Luís de Lima Souto is killed by military police at a student protest.

Edson Luís de Lima Souto

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1965

An Mw  7.4 earthquake in Chile sets off a series of tailings dam failures, burying the town of El Cobre and killing at least 500 people.

1965 La Ligua earthquake

1963

Civil rights movement: Over one hundred high school students conduct a sit-in protest in Rome, Georgia.

Civil rights movement

1961

ČSA Flight 511 crashes in Igensdorf, Germany, killing 52.

ČSA Flight 511 (March 1961)

1959

The State Council of the People's Republic of China dissolves the government of Tibet.

State Council of China

1946

Cold War: The United States Department of State releases the Acheson–Lilienthal Report, outlining a plan for the international control of nuclear power.

Cold War

1942

World War II: A British combined force permanently disables the Louis Joubert Lock in Saint-Nazaire in order to keep the German battleship Tirpitz away from the mid-ocean convoy lanes.

Combined Operations Headquarters

1941

World War II: First day of the Battle of Cape Matapan in Greece between the navies of the United Kingdom and Australia, and the Royal Italian navy.

World War II

1939

Spanish Civil War: Generalissimo Francisco Franco conquers Madrid after a three-year siege.

Spanish Civil War

1933

The Imperial Airways biplane City of Liverpool is believed to be the first airliner lost to sabotage when a passenger sets a fire on board.

Imperial Airways

1920

Palm Sunday tornado outbreak of 1920 affects the Great Lakes region and Deep South states.

1920 Palm Sunday tornado outbreak

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1918

General John J. Pershing, during World War I, cancels 42nd 'Rainbow' Division's orders to Rolampont for further training and diverted it to the occupy the Baccarat sector. Rainbow Division becomes "the first American division to take over an entire sector on its own, which it held longer than any other American division-occupied sector alone for a period of three months".

General (United States)

1918

Finnish Civil War: On the so-called "Bloody Maundy Thursday of Tampere", the Whites force the Reds to attack the city center, where the city's fiercest battles being fought in Kalevankangas with large casualties on both sides. During the same day, an explosion at the Red headquarters of Tampere kills several commanders.

Finnish Civil War

1910

Henri Fabre becomes the first person to fly a seaplane, the Fabre Hydravion, after taking off from water runway Étang le Barre, near Marseille.

Henri Fabre

1800s

1862

American Civil War: In the Battle of Glorieta Pass, Union forces stop the Confederate invasion of the New Mexico Territory. The battle began on March 26.

American Civil War

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1860

First Taranaki War: The Battle of Waireka begins.

First Taranaki War

1854

Crimean War: France and Britain declare war on Russia.

Crimean War

1842

First concert of the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Otto Nicolai.

Vienna Philharmonic

1814

War of 1812: In the Battle of Valparaíso, two American naval vessels are captured by two Royal Navy vessels.

War of 1812

1809

Peninsular War: France defeats Spain in the Battle of Medellín.

Peninsular War

1802

Heinrich Wilhelm Matthäus Olbers discovers 2 Pallas, the second asteroid ever to be discovered.

Heinrich Wilhelm Matthias Olbers

1801

Treaty of Florence is signed, ending the war between the French Republic and the Kingdom of Naples.

Treaty of Florence

Before 1800

1795

Partitions of Poland: The Duchy of Courland and Semigallia, a northern fief of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, ceases to exist and becomes part of Imperial Russia.

Partitions of Poland