TODAY’S HISTORY LESSON – MAY 28
585 BC A solar eclipse interrupts a battle outside Sardis in western Turkey between Medes and Lydians. The battle ends in a draw.
1830 Congress authorizes Indian removal from all states to the western Prairie.
1892 The Sierra club was organized in San Francisco, CA.
1900 Britain annexes the Orange Free State in South Africa.
1928 Chrysler Corporation merged with Dodge Brothers, Inc.
1937 Volkswagen (VW) is founded The automobile manufacturer whose name means “People’s Car” in German is one of the world’s biggest. It produced classics like the VW Golf and the VW Beetle.
1953 Melody, the first animated 3-D cartoon in Technicolor, premiers.
1961 Amnesty International, a human rights organization, is founded.
1965 A mine explosion caused by the ignition of a build up of methane gas near Dharbad, India kills 375 people and injures hundreds more.
1984 The continued fighting between Iran and Iraq is now reaching close to 4 years and Iran’s President has warned other Persian Golf Countries to stay Neutral or they will bear the consequences.
1985 David Jacobsen, director of the American University Hospital in Beirut, Lebanon, was abducted by pro-Iranian kidnappers. He was freed 17 months later
1987 Mathias Rust lands on the Red Square in Moscow The 19-year old West German amateur pilot illegally landed his Cessna in the heart of the Russian capital at the height of the Cold War.
1991 The Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) take control of the nations capitol Addis Ababa ending 17 years of Marxist rule in Ethiopia.
1996 U.S. President Clinton’s former business partners in the Whitewater land deal were convicted of fraud.
1998 Pakistan detonates five atom bombs The nuclear tests came as a response to India’s tests just days earlier. Fearing a devastating conflict between the two nuclear powers, a number of countries, including the U.S. and Japan, imposed economic sanctions.
2003 President George W. Bush signed the 10-year, $350 billion package of tax cuts.
2007 The Japanese Minister of Agriculture, Toshikatsu Matsuoka, was found dead in his apartment after he had hanged himself. The sixty-two year old committed suicide prior to being questioned in the Japanese parliament over being implicated in a political scandal. The suicide marked the first time a Japanese cabinet member had committed suicide since World War II.
2013 South Korea has suspended operations in two more nuclear reactors after concerns have arisen over the use of unauthorized parts. The first two reactors were suspended in 2012 and the closing of two more raised concerns over the country’s power capabilities in the upcoming summer months.
** history.net, onthisday.com, infoplease.com, timeanddate.com, thepeoplehistory.com, on-this-day.com **
