- 1077 Pope Gregory VII pardons German emperor Heinrich IV
- 1077 Walk to Canossa: The excommunication of Henry IV, Holy Roman Emperor is lifted.
- 1099 First Crusaders begins siege of Hosn-el-Akrad Syria
- 1262 Flemish/Dutch coast ravaged by north western storm
- 1393 Fire during Royal Ball at Paris, 4 die (Ball of the Ardents)
- 1495 Pope gives his son Cesare Borgia as hostage to Charles VIII of France
- 1521 Diet of Worms begins, lasting until May 25.
- 1547 Henry VIII dies. His nine year old son, Edward VI becomes King, and the first Protestant ruler of England.
- 1547 King Henry the Eighth of England dies and is succeeded by his nine-year-old son, Edward the Sixth.
- 1561 By Edict of Orleans persecution of French Huguenots is suspended
- 1573 Articles of Warsaw Confederation are signed, sanctioning freedom of religion in Poland.
- 1581 James VI signs the 2nd Confession of Faith in Scotland
- 1596 British admiral Sir Francis Drake dies off the Panama coast and is buried at sea.
- 1613 Galileo may have unknowingly viewed undiscovered planet Neptune
- 1624 Sir Thomas Warner founds the first British colony in the Caribbean, on Saint Kitts.
- 1689 English parliament ends king Charles II reign
- 1724 The Russian Academy of Sciences was founded in St. Petersburg by Peter the Great, and implemented in the Senate decree. It was called St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences until 1917.
- 1754 Horace Walpole, in a letter to Horace Mann, coins the word serendipity.
- 1760 Pownal, Vermont created by Benning Wentworth as one of the New Hampshire Grants.
- 1788 Lord Gordon found guilty of libel of queen of France
- 1807 London's Pall Mall is first street lit by gaslight
- 1813 Pride and Prejudice is first published in the United Kingdom.
- 1819 Sir Stamford Raffles first lands in Singapore much later a famous Hotel bears his name
- 1820 Russian expedition led by Fabian Gottlieb von Bellingshausen and Mikhail Petrovich Lazarev discovered the Antarctic continent approaching the Antarctic coast.
- 1821 Bellingshausen discovers Alexander Island off Antarctica
- 1824 William Kneass becomes 3rd US chief engraver (1824-40)
- 1830 The opera "Fra Diavolo" is produced (Paris)
- 1846 Battle of Aliwal, India won by British troops commanded by Sir Harry Smith.
- 1848 King of Naples grants his subjects a constitution
- 1851 Northwestern University (Chicago) chartered
- 1855 The first locomotive runs from the Atlantic to the Pacific on the Panama Railway.
- 1858 John Brown organized raid on Arsenal at Harper's Ferry
- 1860 Britain formally returns Mosquito Coast to Nicaragua
- 1864 Battle of New Bern, NC
- 1865 President Jefferson Davis names 3 peace commissioners
- 1871 Franco-Prussian War: Siege of Paris ends in French defeat and an armistice.
- 1871 Paris surrenders to Prussians
- 1878 Yale Daily News becomes the first daily, college newspaper in the United States.
- 1881 Battle at Laing's Neck Natal Boers beat superior powered British
- 1887 England all out for 45 vs Australia SCG, their lowest total ever
- 1887 In a snowstorm at Fort Keogh, Montana, the world's largest snowflakes are reported, being 15 inches (38 cm) wide and 8 inches (20 cm) thick.
- 1899 American Social Science Association incorporated by Congress
- 1901 Farrier Sergeant Major William James HARDHAM 4th Contingent, NZ Army Force, won the Victoria Cross at Naauwpoort, South Africa
- 1902 E.I. du Pont's Eugene du Pont dies at age 68
- 1902 The Carnegie Institute is established in Washington, D.C.
- 1909 US military forces leave Cuba for 2nd time
- 1911 Frenchman Henri Rougier wins first Rally of Monte Carlo
- 1911 Visitor posting - Bonnie Swindler's Birthday - USA
- 1914 Beverly Hills, California, is incorporated
- 1915 The first US ship sunk in WWI, William P Frye (carrying wheat to UK)
- 1915 US Coast Guard created from Life Saving & Revenue Cutter services
- 1915 US President Wilson refuses to prohibit immigration of illiterates
- 1916 German colony of Cameroon surrenders to Britain & France
- 1916 Louis D. Brandeis becomes the first Jew appointed to the United States Supreme Court.
- 1917 Municipally owned streetcars take to the streets of San Francisco.
- 1918 Finnish Civil War: Rebels seized control of the capital, Helsinki, and members of the Senate of Finland go underground.
- 1918 Strike on Berlin ammunitions factory
- 1918 Trotsky becomes leader of Reds
- 1921 A symbolic Tomb of the Unknown Soldier is installed beneath the Arc de Triomphe in Paris to honour the unknown dead of World War I.
- 1922 American Pro Football Association renamed "National Football League"
- 1922 Knickerbocker Storm, Washington DC's biggest snowfall, causes Washington DC's greatest loss of life when the roof of the Knickerbocker Theater collapses.
- 1923 First "Reichs Party" (NSDAP) forms in Munich
- 1923 NSDAP first election in Munich
- 1925 -46ºF (-43ºC), Pittsburgh NH (state record)
- 1927 Serbian-Croatian-Slavic government of Oezonowitsj falls
- 1928 Christopher Hornsrud chosen PM of Norway at age 101
- 1932 First US state unemployment insurance act enacted-Wisconsin
- 1932 Japanese forces attack Shanghai.
- 1933 German government of Von Schleicher falls
- 1933 The name Pakistan is coined by Choudhary Rehmat Ali Khan and is accepted by the Indian Muslims who then thereby adopted it further for the Pakistan Movement seeking independence.
- 1934 The first US ski tow (rope) begins operation (Woodstock VT)
- 1935 Iceland becomes first country to legalize abortion
- 1936 Pravda criticizes Sjostakovitsj' "Lady Macbeth" opera
- 1937 Visitor posting - John's birthday - USA
- 1938 The World Land Speed Record on a public road is broken by driver Rudolf Caracciola in the Mercedes-Benz W195.
- 1942 General Timoshenko's troops move into Ukraine
- 1942 German troops occupy Benghazi Libya
- 1944 683 British bombers attack Berlin
- 1944 Leonard Bernstein's "Jeremiah," premieres in Pittsburgh
- 1944 U-271 & U-571 sunk off Ireland
- 1945 Dutch airplanes dump pamphlets on Java
- 1945 General "Vinegar Joe" Stillwell & truck convoy reopen Burma Road to China
- 1945 Swedish ships bring food to starving Netherlands
- 1945 World War II: Supplies begin to reach the Republic of China over the newly reopened Burma Road.
- 1946 Bluenose, Canada's greatest sailing ship, founders on a Haitian reef.
- 1947 "Bay Psalm" book auctioned for a record $151,000
- 1949 UN Security council condemns Dutch aggression in Indonesia
- 1949 Visitor posting - Mary Patricia Henry was born to Rita and Bud Henry of Roslindale, MA - a cute little girl
- 1950 Preston Tucker, auto maker, found not guilty of mail fraud
- 1951 "La Vie Commence Demain," which depicted artificial insemination & is the first X-rated movie, opened in London
- 1953 Derek Bentley hanged for a murder carried out by Christopher Craig.
- 1958 Charles Starkweather and Caril Ann Fugate begin their murder spree with the killings of her parents and infant sister.
- 1958 Construction began on first private thorium-uranium nuclear reactor
- 1958 Dodger catcher Roy Campanella is paralyzed in an automobile wreck
- 1959 Soviet Union wins 62-37 for first international basketball loss by US
- 1960 Goon Show's final episode on BBC
- 1961 Republic of Rwanda proclaimed
- 1962 Johanne Relleke gets stung by bees 2,443 times in Rhodesia & survives
- 1963 -34ºF (-37ºC), Cynthiana KY (state record)
- 1965 Number one hit on UK music charts - The Moody Blues - Go Now
- 1965 The Who make their first appearance on British TV
- 1965 Visitor posting - Helema Renee' Kelly was born in E. St. Louis, IL - USA
- 1970 Lubomír Strougal succeeds Cernik as premier of Czechoslovakia
- 1973 "Barnaby Jones" premieres on CBS TV
- 1973 Ron Howard appears on M*AS*H in "Sometimes You Hear the Bullet"
- 1976 Visitor posting - january 28, 1976 greek royalty kyriakos and evangelos kouletas are born.
- 1977 Visitor posting - Buffalo, NY - "The Blizzard of '77" - USA
- 1978 "Fantasy Island" starring Ricardo Montalban premieres on ABC TV
- 1978 Visitor posting - nicole brown (jenkins) born - USA
- 1978 Ted Nugent autographs a fan's arm with his knife
- 1978 Visitor posting - Ian Cummings was born and 29 years later in 2007 I.C. Entertainment, Inc. was launched http://www.icentertainmentinc.com - USA [email protected]
- 1980 37th Golden Globes Dustin Hoffman & Sally Field wins
- 1980 USCGC Blackthorn (WLB-391) collides with the tanker Capricorn while leaving Tampa Bay Florida and capsizes; killing 23 Coast Guard crewmembers.
- 1981 Olympic Glory tanker at Galveston Bay, Texas, spills 1 million gallons of oil in a ship collision
- 1981 William J Casey becomes the 13th director of CIA (until 1987)
- 1982 At the direction of Attorney General William French Smith, the Administrator of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) began reporting to the Director of the FBI. The FBI and DEA were given concurrent jurisdiction over narcotics violations and have worked together on these matters since this time.
- 1982 Italian special forces rescue U.S. Brigadier General James L. Dozier, who had been kidnapped by the Red Brigades.
- 1982 US Army general James L. Dozier is rescued by Italian anti-terrorism forces after 42 days of captivity under the Red Brigades.
- 1983 Visitor posting - Manders and Twinner were born!
- 1984 Number one hit on UK music charts - Frankie Goes To Hollywood - Relax
- 1984 Record 295,000 dominoes toppled, Fuerth, West Germany
- 1985 Visitor posting - Loreena Hansen was born in Ft. Ord California - USA
- 1986 "Uptown... It's Hot!" opens at Lunt-Fontanne Theater New York City NY for 24 performances
- 1986 25th Space Shuttle (51L)-Challenger 10 explodes 73 seconds after liftoff
- 1986 Angolan Unity Leader Jonas Savimbi visits Washington, DC
- 1987 US Foreign minister George Shultz meets ANC-leader Oliver Tambo
- 1988 Canada's Supreme court declares anti-abortion law unconstitutional
- 1989 46th Golden Globes Rain Man, Working Girl
- 1989 Number one hit on UK music charts - Marc Almond with Gene Pitney - Somethings Gotten Hold Of My Heart
- 1989 Visitor posting - Do, Kim born in Vietnam
- 1990 "Independent on Sunday" begins publishing in London
- 1990 East German agreement to form all-party government
- 1990 Visitor posting - Aleksey Myhaylychenko aka "MmmmChenko" was born in Kiev, Ukraine
- 1990 Visitor posting - The love of my life Jessi McGuire was born!!
- 1991 "A Closer Look" with Faith Daniels premieres on NBC-TV
- 1991 18th American Music Award M C Hammer & Janet Jackson
- 1991 Dictator Siad Barre flees Somalia ending 22 year rule
- 1992 Visitor posting - Sanna Masud is born in Toronto, Canada
- 1993 Visitor posting - Rianna WONTROP was born on this day :) - USA
- 1994 Helicopter crashes into office building in San Jose CA, 1 dead
- 1994 The first trial of accused murderer Lyle Menendez ends in a mistrial. He and his brother Erik are later found guilty and sentenced to life in prison without parole.
- 1994 Visitor posting - Devon Ryan Harris was born 7lbs 12 ozs - USA
- 1994 Visitor posting - tyler hedger was born, january 28th,1994 - USA
- 1995 Visitor posting - Brandon Hill the next great sports star is born aka the assain aka the BEAST OF THE EAST - USA
- 1995 Visitor posting - Joshua Nicholson (Actor/Educator and Political Figure) was born. - USA
- 1995 Visitor posting - Zo‰ was born
- 1996 Visitor posting - en puerto rico - USA [email protected]
- 1997 Pasadena, Texas is cleaning up after a tornado touched down on the city's main drag
- 1997 The Monday afternoon rush hour turned into a demolition derby as freezing rain pelted streets from Vancouver to Hope. Hundreds of accidents were reported throughout the LowerMainland. The most spectacular was a 15 vehicle, after it lost control on the slippery hill.
- 1997 Visitor posting - Jan 28,1997 Princess Chrystal Bradshaw was born
- 1998 Gunmen hold at least 400 children and teachers hostage for several hours at an elementary school in Manila, Philippines.
- 1998 Michelangelo, "Christ & the Woman of Samaria," sold for $7.4 million
- 2002 TAME Flight 120, a Boeing 727-100 crashes in the Andes mountains in southern Colombia killing 92.
- More historical events added daily - keep checking back