ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY: APRIL 28

Calendar

FEATURED EVENT

1945

Mussolini executed

Italian dictator Benito Mussolini, “Il Duce,” who, after a series of military misadventures, became unpopular even among his fellow Fascists, was captured while trying to flee Italy and was executed on this day in 1945.

Featured Biography

Saddam Hussein

president of Iraq

born

April 28, 1937

Al-ʿAwjah, Iraq

died

December 30, 2006 (aged 69)

Baghdad, Iraq

Born on This Day

1980

Bradley Wiggins

British cyclist

1974

Penélope Cruz

Spanish actress

1970

Nicklas Lidstrom

Swedish hockey player

1960

Elena Kagan

United States jurist

1960

Ian Rankin

Scottish author

See All Biographies On This Day

MORE EVENTS ON THIS DAY

TIME CAPSULE

From Britannica Book Of The Year

April 28, 2001

A Russian Soyuz booster rocket takes off from the Baikonur Cosmodrone in Kazakhstan, it carries two cosmonauts and the first space tourist, American millionaire Dennis Tito, to visit the International Space Station; NASA had finally dropped its objections to Tito''s presence on April 20.

SHOW ANOTHER EVENT

Connect with Britannica

Scene from Errol Morris’s documentary Standard Operating Procedure (2008), about the U.S. military scandal at Iraq’s Abu Ghraib prison.

American television network CBS broadcast photographs depicting harsh treatment of Iraqi inmates at the Abu Ghraib prison in U.S.-occupied Iraq, initiating a national debate on torture and the Geneva Conventions.

2004

Apple launched the iTunes Store, which gave users the ability to purchase and download music from the Internet directly to their iTunes library; in 2010 the store sold its 10 billionth song.

2003

American businessman Dennis Tito became the first space tourist when he was launched into orbit aboard a Russian supply mission to the International Space Station; he paid approximately $20 million for the six-day trip.

2001

Australian gunman Martin Bryant began a killing spree that left 35 people dead and some 18 others wounded in the Port Arthur area of Tasmania, Australia; it was the country's worst mass shooting and led to stricter gun controls.

1996

French leader Charles de Gaulle resigned his presidency.

1969

The Allied occupation of Japan came to an end after seven years of rapid social and economic change following the country's surrender in World War II.

1952

American comedian and writer Jay Leno, best known as host of the late-night talk show The Tonight Show, was born.

1950

American author Harper Lee—who won national acclaim for her novel To Kill a Mockingbird (1960)—was born.

1926

Lionel Barrymore in You Can’t Take It with You (1938).

American actor Lionel Barrymore was born in Philadelphia.

1878

Clark Gable (left) and Charles Laughton (right) in Mutiny on the Bounty (1935).

Captain William Bligh of the British ship Bounty and 18 of his men were set adrift by mutinous sailors led by the master's mate Fletcher Christian.

1789

James Monroe, oil sketch by E.O. Sully, 1836, after a contemporary portrait by Thomas Sully; in Independence National Historical Park, Philadelphia.

James Monroe, who was the fifth president of the United States (1817–25) and who asserted a cornerstone of U.S. foreign policy in the Monroe Doctrine, was born.

1758

Coronation of Edward VI, stained glass, Mansion House, London.

King Edward IV of England was born in Rouen, France.

1442

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

Jun

Jul

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

Dec