TODAY’S HISTORY LESSON – JAN 28
1099 1st Crusaders begins siege of Hosn-el-Akrad Syria
1495 Pope gives his son Cesare Borgia as hostage to Charles VIII of France
1521 Emperor Charles V opens the Diet of Worms in Worms, Germany which lasts until May 25th. Produced the “Edict of Worms” which dennouced Martin Luther
1547 Henry VIII of England dies and is succeeded by his nine-year-old son Edward VI.
1757 Ahmed Shah, the first King of Afghanistan, occupies Delhi and annexes the Punjab.
1858 John Brown organized raid on Arsenal at Harper’s Ferry
1871 Surrounded by Prussian troops and suffering from famine, the French army in Paris surrenders. During the siege, balloons were used to keep contact with the outside world.
1915 The U.S. Coast Guard is founded to fight contraband trade and aid distressed vessels at sea.
1921 Albert Einstein startles Berlin by suggesting the possibility of measuring the universe.
1933 The name “Pakistan” is coined by Choudhry Rahmat Ali and gradually accepted by Muslims in the Indian sub-continent who use it to push for a separate Muslim homeland in South Asia
1936 A fellow prison inmate slashes infamous kidnapper, Richard Loeb, to death.
1945 Chiang Kai-shek renames the Ledo-Burma Road the Stilwell Road, in honor of General Joseph Stilwell.
1950 Preston Tucker, auto maker, found not guilty of mail fraud
1955 The U.S. Congress passes a bill allowing mobilization of troops if China should attack Taiwan.
1970 Israeli fighter jets attack the suburbs of Cairo.
1986 U.S. shuttle Challenger exploded 72 seconds after lift off, killing all seven crew members aboard, including school teacher Christa McAuliffe.
1991 Dictator Siad Barre flees Somalia ending 22 year rule
1999 The creation of Element 114 is announced by scientists.
** history.net, onthisday.com, infoplease.com, timeanddate.com, thepeoplehistory.com, on-this-day.com **
