On This Day — 28 November

2020

Over seven hundred civilians are massacred by the Ethiopian National Defense Force and Eritrean Army in Aksum, Ethiopia.

Ethiopian National Defense Force

2016

LaMia Flight 2933 crashes near Medellín, Colombia, killing 71 of 77 people on board, including members of the Brazilian football club Chapecoense

LaMia Flight 2933

2014

Gunmen set off three bombs at the central mosque in the northern Nigerian city of Kano killing at least 120 people.

2014 Kano attack

2002

Suicide bombers blow up an Israeli-owned hotel in Mombasa, Kenya; their colleagues fail in their attempt to bring down Arkia Israel Airlines Flight 582 with surface-to-air missiles.

2002 Mombasa attacks

1991

South Ossetia declares independence from Georgia.

South Ossetia

1990

British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher resigns as leader of the Conservative Party and, therefore, as Prime Minister. She is succeeded in both positions by John Major.

Prime Minister of the United Kingdom

1989

Cold War: Velvet Revolution: In the face of protests, the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia announces it will give up its monopoly on political power.

Cold War

1987

South African Airways Flight 295 crashes into the Indian Ocean, killing all 159 people on board.

South African Airways Flight 295

1983

Space Shuttle Columbia is launched on STS-9, the first mission to carry the European Space Agency's Spacelab module.

Space Shuttle Columbia

1980

Iran–Iraq War: Operation Morvarid: The bulk of the Iraqi Navy is destroyed by the Iranian Navy in the Persian Gulf. (Commemorated in Iran as Navy Day.)

Iran–Iraq War

1979

Air New Zealand Flight 901, a DC-10 sightseeing flight over Antarctica, crashes into Mount Erebus, killing all 257 people on board.

Mount Erebus disaster

1975

Timor-Leste declares its independence from Portugal.

Timor-Leste

1972

Last executions in Paris: Claude Buffet and Roger Bontems are guillotined at La Santé Prison.

Claude Buffet

1971

Fred Quilt, a leader of the Tsilhqot'in First Nation suffers severe abdominal injuries allegedly caused by Royal Canadian Mounted Police officers; he dies two days later.

Tsilhqotʼin

1971

Wasfi al-Tal, Prime Minister of Jordan, is assassinated by the Black September unit of the Palestine Liberation Organization.

Wasfi Tal

1967

The first pulsar (PSR B1919+21, in the constellation of Vulpecula) is discovered by two astronomers Jocelyn Bell Burnell and Antony Hewish.

Pulsar

1966

Michel Micombero overthrows the monarchy of Burundi and makes himself the first president.

Michel Micombero

1965

Vietnam War: In response to U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson's call for "more flags" in Vietnam, Philippine President-elect Ferdinand Marcos announces he will send troops to help fight in South Vietnam.

Vietnam

1964

Mariner program: NASA launches the Mariner 4 probe toward Mars.

Mariner program

1964

Vietnam War: National Security Council members agree to recommend that U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson adopt a plan for a two-stage escalation of bombing in North Vietnam.

Vietnam War

1960

Mauritania becomes independent of France.

Mauritania

1958

Chad, the Republic of the Congo, and Gabon become autonomous republics within the French Community.

Chad

1958

First successful flight of SM-65 Atlas; the first operational intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), developed by the United States and the first member of the Atlas rocket family.

SM-65 Atlas

1943

World War II: Tehran Conference: U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and Soviet Premier Joseph Stalin meet in Tehran, Iran, to discuss war strategy.

World War II

1942

In Boston, Massachusetts, a fire in the Cocoanut Grove nightclub kills 492 people.

Boston

1925

The Grand Ole Opry begins broadcasting in Nashville, Tennessee, as the WSM Barn Dance.

Grand Ole Opry

1920

FIDAC (The Interallied Federation of War Veterans Organisations), the first international organization of war veterans is established in Paris, France.

FIDAC

1920

Irish War of Independence: Kilmichael Ambush: The Irish Republican Army ambush a convoy of British Auxiliaries and kill seventeen.

Irish War of Independence

1919

Lady Astor is elected as a Member of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. She is the first woman to sit in the House of Commons. (Countess Markievicz, the first to be elected, refused to sit.)

Nancy Astor, Viscountess Astor

1918

The Soviet Forces move against Estonia when the 6th Red Rifle Division strikes the border town of Narva, marking the beginning of the Estonian War of Independence.

Soviet westward offensive of 1918–1919

1917

The Estonian Provincial Assembly declares itself the sovereign power of Estonia.

Estonian Provincial Assembly

1914

World War I: Following a war-induced closure in July, the New York Stock Exchange re-opens for bond trading.

World War I

1912

Albania declares its independence from the Ottoman Empire.

Albania

1908

A mine explosion in Marianna, Pennsylvania, kills 154 men, leaving only one survivor.

Marianna, Pennsylvania

1905

Irish nationalist Arthur Griffith founds Sinn Féin as a political party with the main aim of establishing a dual monarchy in Ireland.

Arthur Griffith

1899

The Second Boer War: A British column is engaged by Boer forces at the Battle of Modder River; although the Boers withdraw, the British suffer heavy casualties.

Second Boer War

1895

The first American automobile race takes place over the 54 miles from Chicago's Jackson Park to Evanston, Illinois. Frank Duryea wins in approximately 10 hours.

Chicago Times-Herald race

1893

Women's suffrage in New Zealand concludes with the 1893 New Zealand general election.

Women's suffrage in New Zealand

1885

Bulgarian victory in the Serbo-Bulgarian War preserves the Unification of Bulgaria.

Serbo-Bulgarian War

1862

American Civil War: In the Battle of Cane Hill, Union troops under General James G. Blunt defeat General John Marmaduke's Confederates.

American Civil War

1862

Notts County F.C. is founded in Nottingham, England, making it the oldest professional Association football club in the world.

Notts County F.C.

1861

American Civil War: The Confederate States of America accept a rival state government's pronouncement that declares Missouri to be the 12th state of the Confederacy.

American Civil War

1843

Ka Lā Hui (Hawaiian Independence Day): The Kingdom of Hawaii is officially recognized by the United Kingdom and France as an independent nation.

Hawaiian Kingdom

1821

Panama Independence Day: Panama separates from Spain and joins Gran Colombia.

Public holidays in Panama

1814

The Times of London becomes the first newspaper to be produced on a steam-powered printing press, built by the German team of Koenig & Bauer.

The Times

1811

Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 5 in E-flat major, Op. 73, premieres at the Gewandhaus in Leipzig.

Ludwig van Beethoven

1798

Trade between the United States and modern-day Uruguay begins when John Leamy's frigate John arrives in Montevideo.

John Leamy (merchant)

1785

The first Treaty of Hopewell is signed, by which the United States acknowledges Cherokee lands in what is now East Tennessee.

Treaty of Hopewell

1666

At least 3,000 men of the Royal Scots Army led by Tam Dalyell of the Binns defeat about 900 Covenanter insurgents led by James Wallace of Auchens in the Battle of Rullion Green.

Scots Army

1660

At Gresham College, twelve men, including Christopher Wren, Robert Boyle, John Wilkins, and Sir Robert Moray decide to found what is later known as the Royal Society.

Gresham College

1627

The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth Navy has its greatest and last naval victory in the Battle of Oliwa.

Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth Navy

1582

In Stratford-upon-Avon, William Shakespeare and Anne Hathaway pay a £40 (equivalent to £13,818 in 2025) bond in lieu of posting wedding banns, which enables them to marry immediately.

Stratford-upon-Avon

1520

After 38 days, an expedition under the command of Ferdinand Magellan completes the first passage through the Strait of Magellan and enters the Pacific Ocean.

Ferdinand Magellan

1470

Champa–Đại Việt War: Emperor Lê Thánh Tông of Đại Việt formally launches his attack against Champa.

Champa–Đại Việt War (1471)

1443

Skanderbeg and his forces liberate Kruja in central Albania and raise the Albanian flag.

Skanderbeg

936

Shi Jingtang is enthroned as the first emperor of the Later Jin by Emperor Taizong of Liao, following a revolt against Emperor Fei of Later Tang.

Shi Jingtang

587

Treaty of Andelot: King Guntram of Burgundy recognizes Childebert II as his heir.

Treaty of Andelot