Summary of the Day ✨ 28 May (28/05)
Japanese driver Takuma Sato made history by winning the Indianapolis 500 while Harambe the gorilla was shot at Cincinnati Zoo after grabbing a child, sparking international debate. Turkey’s Gezi Park protests began, Kazakhstan witnessed the Arkankergen massacre, and Malta approved divorce legislation by a narrow margin.
Historical Events 📜
- 2017: Former Formula One driver Takuma Sato wins his first Indianapolis 500, the first Japanese and Asian driver to do so. Double world champion Fernando Alonso retires from an engine issue in his first entry of the event.
- 2016: Harambe, a gorilla, is shot to death after grabbing a three-year-old boy in his enclosure at the Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden, resulting in widespread criticism and sparking various internet memes.
- 2013: Start of the Gezi Park protests in Turkey.
- 2012: The Arkankergen massacre in Kazakhstan’s Alakol District kills 15 people.
- 2011: Malta votes on the introduction of divorce; the proposal was approved by 53% of voters, resulting in a law allowing divorce under certain conditions being enacted later in the year.
- 2010: In West Bengal, India, the Jnaneswari Express train derailment and subsequent collision kills 148 passengers.
- 2008: The first meeting of the Constituent Assembly of Nepal formally declares Nepal a republic, ending the 240-year reign of the Shah dynasty.
- 2004: The Iraqi Governing Council chooses Ayad Allawi, a longtime anti-Saddam Hussein exile, as prime minister of Iraq’s interim government.
- 2003: Peter Hollingworth resigns as Governor-General of Australia following criticism of his handling of child sexual abuse allegations during his tenure as Anglican Archbishop of Brisbane.
- 2002: The last steel girder is removed from the original World Trade Center site. Cleanup duties officially end with closing ceremonies at Ground Zero in Manhattan, New York City.
- 1999: In Milan, Italy, after 22 years of restoration work, Leonardo da Vinci’s masterpiece The Last Supper is put back on display.
- 1998: Nuclear testing: Pakistan responds to a series of nuclear tests by India with five of its own codenamed Chagai-I, prompting the United States, Japan, and other nations to impose economic sanctions. Pakistan celebrates Youm-e-Takbir annually.
- 1996: U.S. President Bill Clinton’s former business partners in the Whitewater land deal, Jim McDougal and Susan McDougal, and the Governor of Arkansas, Jim Guy Tucker, are convicted of fraud.
- 1995: The 7.0 Mw Neftegorsk earthquake shakes the former Russian settlement of Neftegorsk with a maximum Mercalli intensity of IX (Violent). Total damage was $64.1–300 million, with 1,989 deaths and 750 injured. The settlement was not rebuilt.
- 1991: The capital city of Addis Ababa falls to the Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front, ending both the Derg regime in Ethiopia and the Ethiopian Civil War.
Famous Births 👶
- 2000: Phil Foden, English footballer
- 2000: Risi Pouri-Lane, New Zealand rugby sevens player
- 1999: Cameron Boyce, American actor (died 2019)
- 1999: Jodie Burrage, British tennis player
- 1998: Kim Dahyun, South Korean rapper and singer
- 1994: Alec Benjamin, American singer and songwriter
- 1994: John Stones, English footballer
- 1993: Daniel Alvaro, Australian rugby league player
- 1993: Bárbara Luz, Portuguese tennis player
- 1991: Danielle Lao, American tennis player
- 1991: Kail Piho, Estonian skier
- 1990: Kyle Walker, English footballer
- 1988: NaVorro Bowman, American football player
- 1988: Percy Harvin, American football player
- 1988: Craig Kimbrel, American baseball player
Notable Deaths 🕊️
- 2023: David Brewer, English politician, Lord-Lieutenant of Greater London (born 1940)
- 2022: Patricia Brake, English actress (born 1942)
- 2021: Mark Eaton, American basketball player (born 1957)
- 2018: Neale Cooper, Scottish footballer (born 1963)
- 2018: Jens Christian Skou, Danish medical doctor and Nobel Prize laureate (born 1918)
- 2018: Cornelia Frances, English-Australian actress (born 1941)
- 2016: Harambe, Cincinnati Zoo western lowland gorilla (born 1999)
- 2015: Steven Gerber, American pianist and composer (born 1948)
- 2015: Johnny Keating, Scottish trombonist, composer, and producer (born 1927)
- 2015: Reynaldo Rey, American actor and screenwriter (born 1940)
- 2014: Maya Angelou, American memoirist and poet (born 1928)
- 2014: Stan Crowther, English footballer (born 1935)
- 2014: Oscar Dystel, American publisher (born 1912)
- 2014: Malcolm Glazer, American businessman (born 1928)
- 2014: Bob Houbregs, Canadian-American basketball player and manager (born 1932)
Holidays & Observances 🎉
- Armed Forces Day (Croatia)
- Christian feast day:
Bernard of Menthon - Christian feast day:
Germain of Paris - Christian feast day:
John Calvin (Episcopal Church) - Christian feast day:
Blessed Lanfranc - Christian feast day:
Blessed Margaret Pole - Christian feast day:
Blessed Maria Bagnesi - Christian feast day:
Blessed Thomas Ford - Christian feast day:
Ubaldesca Taccini - Christian feast day:
William of Gellone - Christian feast day:
May 28 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics) - Downfall of the Derg (Ethiopia)
- Flag Day (Philippines)
- Menstrual Hygiene Day
- Republic Day (Nepal)