Historical Events in 1928 - On This Day

November 09, 2024

Info

1928 Calendar

Events 1 - 200 of 252

Jan 1 1st US air-conditioned office building opens, San Antonio
Jan 1 Algemeene Vereeniging Radio Omroep (AVRO) begins broadcasting in the Netherlands

Mortalium Animos

Jan 6 Pope Pius XI publishes encyclical Mortalium animos (against oecumene)

"Cock Robin"

Jan 12 Philip Barry and Elmer Rice's play "Cock Robin" premieres in NYC

Jan 13 Swedish-American inventor E.F.W. Alexanderson, of General Electric, demonstrates the first television receiver at Proctors Theatre in Schenectady, New York
Jan 17 1st fully automatic photographic film developing machine patented

The Adventure of the Good Soldier Schweik

Jan 23 A stage version of the Czech novel "The Adventure of the Good Soldier Schweik" produced and directed by Erwin Piscator with the help of Bertolt Brecht premieres in Berlin

Jan 28 Christopher Hornsrud chosen Prime Minister of Norway
Jan 30 1st radio telephone connection between Netherlands & US
Jan 30 Eugene O'Neill's play "Strange Interlude" premieres in NYC
Jan 31 Scotch tape 1st marketed by 3-M Company

Discovery of Homo Erectus

Feb 3 Paleoanthropologist Davidson Black reports his findings on the ancient human fossils found at Zhoukoudian, China in the journal Nature and declares them to be a new species he names 'Sinanthropus pekinensis' (now known as 'Homo erectus')

Feb 6 A woman dubbed Anna Anderson [possibly Franziska Schanzkowska] arrives in NYC, using the alias "Anastasia Tschaikovsky" claims to be Grand Duchess Anastasia, daughter of Tsar Nicholas II
Feb 7 1st solo flight from England to Australia takes off from Croydon, piloted by Australian aviator Bert Hinkler (arrives 15 ½ days later)
Feb 8 1st transatlantic TV image received at Hartsdale, NY
Feb 11 II Winter Olympic Games open in St Moritz, Switzerland

Olympic Gold

Feb 13 Clas Thunberg of Finland wins his 4th Olympic gold medal when he dead-heats with Norway’s Bernt Evensen in the 500m speed skating at the St. Moritz Winter Games

Feb 13 Legendary Norwegian speed skater Ivar Ballangrud wins the first of 2 straight 5,000m Olympic gold medals when he beats Julius Skutnabb of Finland by 9 seconds in St. Moritz
Feb 14 Clas Thunberg of Finland wins his 2nd gold medal of the Games and 5th career title when he takes out the 1,500m speed skating at the St. Moritz Winter Olympics
Feb 14 Per-Erik Hedlund leads a Swedish sweep of the medals in the 50k cross-country at the St. Moritz Winter Olympics; Gustaf Jonsson & Volgar Andersson take the minor medals
Feb 17 American brothers, Jennison and John Heaton fight out the top placings in the cresta (now known as skeleton) at the St. Moritz Winter Olympics; Jennison takes the gold by 1.0s
Feb 17 Johan Grøttumsbråten leads a Norwegian sweep of the medals in the 18k cross country at the St. Moritz Winter Olympics; he also wins the Nordic combined gold the following day
Feb 18 Johan Grøttumsbråten of Norway wins the Nordic combined gold at the St. Moritz Winter Olympics; doubles up with the 18k cross country gold the previous day
Feb 18 Norway goes 1-2 in the ski jumping at the St. Moritz Winter Olympics with Alf Andersen taking gold ahead of Sigmund Ruud

Olympic Gold

Feb 18 Sonja Henie of Norway wins the women’s figure skating gold medal at the St. Moritz Winter Olympic Games; her first of 3 consecutive titles in the event

Feb 18 USA 2 beats USA 1 by 0.5s for the 5-man bobsleigh gold medal at the St. Moritz Winter Olympics; Germany 2 takes bronze
Feb 19 Canada retains the Olympic ice hockey title when they rout Switzerland, 13-0 in the final round in St. Moritz; Canadian left-wing Dave Trottier top scores with 15 points
Feb 19 Gillis Grafström of Sweden wins his 3rd consecutive Olympic men’s figure skating gold medal at St. Moritz; one of only 2 athletes to win gold at both Winter & Summer Games (won figure skating Antwerp 1920)
Feb 19 II Winter Olympic Games close at St Moritz, Switzerland
Feb 19 World champion French team Andrée Joly and Pierre Brunet win the Olympic pairs figure skating gold medal at the St. Moritz Winter Games; the couple marry in 1929 and take 2nd straight gold in 1932
Feb 22 1st solo flight from England to Australia lands in Darwin, 15 ½ days after take off, piloted by Australian aviator Bert Hinkler

Ol' Man River

Mar 1 Paul Whiteman and His Orchestra record "Ol' Man River" for Victor Records featuring Bing Crosby

Mar 4 "Bunion Run" race from LA to NYC begins; It is won by Andy Payne
Mar 5 Karl Zuckmayer's "Der Hauptmann von Köpenick" premieres in Berlin
Mar 10 Christine Collins' son, Walter Collins, disappears in Los Angeles
Mar 12 In California, the St. Francis Dam fails, killing over 600 people
Mar 13 Rudolph Friml's musical "Three Musketeers" premieres in NYC

Mussolini's Electoral Changes

Mar 15 Benito Mussolini modifies Italy electoral system (abolishes right to choose)

Mar 19 "Amos & Andy" debuts on radio (NBC Blue Network-WMAQ Chicago)

Mar 27 KGB-AM in San Diego CA begins radio transmissions
Mar 29 Yeshiva College (now University) chartered (NYC)
Apr 1 Chiang Kai-shek's Nationalist army crosses the Yangtze River
Apr 7 44-year old NY Rangers GM Lester Patrick replaces his injured goaltender in a Stanley Cup game and beats Montreal Maroons, 2-1 in OT; Rangers go on to win series, 3-2
Apr 9 Eugene O'Neill's play "Lazarus Laughed" premieres in Pasadena, with a masked chorus of over 100

Diamond Lil

Apr 9 Mae West's NYC debut in a daring new play "Diamond Lil"

Apr 9 Top-Oss soccer team forms in Oss
Apr 9 Turkey passes separation of church & state
Apr 13 1st trans atlantic flight Europe-US (Fitzmaurice-von Hunefeld-Köhl)
Apr 14 Maddus Airlines starts 1st regular passenger flights between SF & LA
Apr 14 Stanley Cup Final, Montreal Forum, Montreal, Quebec: In only their 2nd season in the NHL, New York Rangers beat Montreal Maroons, 2-1 for a 3-2 series win
Apr 15 Alioto's on Fisherman's Wharf (San Francisco) forms
Apr 19 Japanese troops occupies Sjantung-schiereiland
Apr 19 New York Yankees are out of 1st place for 1st time since May 1926
Apr 19 The 125th and final fascicle of the Oxford English Dictionary is published

The Passion of Joan of Arc

Apr 21 "The Passion of Joan of Arc", directed by Carl Theodor Dreyer, starring Renée Jeanne Falconetti and Eugène Silvain, is released in Denmark

Apr 24 Fathometer, which measures underwater depth, patented
Apr 25 Buddy, a German Shepherd, becomes 1st guide dog for a US citizen Morris Frank

Apr 28 RCA and GE install three test television sets in homes in Schenectady, New York, allowing trials of inventor E.F.W. Alexanderson's first home television receiver; a poor and unsteady 1.5 square inch picture was received from radio transmitter
Apr 30 Cherkess Autonomous Region forms in RSFSR (until 1957)
May 1 6 children die and 10 injured by hailstones in Klausenburg, Romania
May 1 Drunken fascist Erich Wichman attacks VARA-radio transmitter
May 1 Lei Day begins (a Hawaiian celebration)
May 1 Pitcairn Airlines (later Eastern) begins service
May 1 Rotterdam soccer club Black White '28 is established (2000 Women's KNVB Cup); declared bankrupt 2004
May 2 KPQ-AM in Wenatchee WA begins radio transmissions
May 3 Japanese atrocities in Jinan, China

The Bridge of the Luis Rey

May 7 Pulitzer prize awarded to Thornton Wilder for his novel "The Bridge of San Luis Rey"

May 7 The United Kingdom lowers age of women voters from 30 to 21
May 11 General Electric opens 1st TV-station in Schenectady, New York
May 12 Benito Mussolini announces moves to end women's suffrage in a speech to the Senate in Italy
May 12 Second Opium Law introduced - international law to control drugs
May 14 John McGraw is knocked down by a taxicab & suffers a broken leg
May 15 Mickey Mouse makes his 1st ever appearance in silent film "Plane Crazy"
May 19 "Firedamp" explodes in Mather coal mine, Pennsylvania, killing 195 of 273 miners
May 19 51 frogs enter 1st annual "Frog Jumping Jubilee" (Angel's Camp, California)
May 22 US Congress accept Jones-White Merchant Naval Act
May 23 Anarchist bomb attack on Italian Consulate in Buenos Aires, Argentina kills 7 and injures dozens
May 24 Italian aviator Umberto Nobile flies airship Italia over North Pole again (crashes onto ice pack a day later)

May 24 Record 12 future Baseball Hall of Famers take the field as NY Yankees beat Philadelphia A's, 9-7 at Shibe Park; managers Miller Huggins & Connie Mack, umpire Tom Connolly also HOF'ers

Dodge and Chrysler Merge

May 28 American automobile makers Dodge Brothers Inc and Chrysler Corporation merge

May 29 Fritz von Opel reaches 200 kph in experimental rocket car
May 31 1st aerial crossing of Pacific takes off from Oakland
May 31 Charlie Hallows scores his 1,000th run of Cricket season
Jun 2 Kraft, building on the original 1918 design, rolls out Velveeta cheese
Jun 4 President of the Republic of China Zhang Zuolin is assassinated by Japanese agents
Jun 8 1st US-to-Australia flight lands (Sir Charles Kingford)
Jun 9 Charles Kingsford-Smith & Charles Ulm are 1st to fly across the Pacific when they end their flight from California to Brisbane

Case Of Jonathan Drew

Jun 11 Alfred Hitchcock's silent film "Case Of Jonathan Drew" (or "The Lodger") is released

Gehrig Collects 14 Bases

Jun 12 New York Yankees future Baseball Hall of Fame first baseman Lou Gehrig collects 14 total bases with 2 triples and 2 home runs in a 15-7 win over Chicago White Sox

Herbert Hoover Nominated

Jun 14 Republican National Convention, meeting in Kansas City, nominates Herbert Hoover for President

Cobb's Record Steal

Jun 15 Philadelphia Athletics baseball star Ty Cobb, steals home for a record 54th time

Earhart 1st Female Passenger

Jun 17 Amelia Earhart leaves Newfoundland to become 1st woman (passenger) to fly Atlantic (as a passenger in a plane piloted by Wilmer Stultz)

Jun 18 American aviator Amelia Earhart becomes the first woman to fly across the Atlantic Ocean (as a passenger), landing at Burry Port, Wales
Jun 23 Commencement of West Indies cricket's first ever Test match; England go on to win by an innings and 58 runs at Lord's
Jun 24 With declining business, the Great Gorge and International Railway begins using one-person crews on trolley operations in Canada
Jun 25 NY Giants future Baseball HOF third baseman Freddie Lindstrom ties record of 9 hits in a doubleheader in 12-4 & 8-2 wins over Philadelphia Phillies at the Baker Bowl

International Congresses of Modern Architects

Jun 26 First meeting of the International Congresses of Modern Architects (CIAM) at Lake Leman, Switzerland organized by Le Corbusier

Jun 28 Alfred E Smith (NY-Governor) nominated for US President at Democratic Convention
Jun 28 Friedrich Schmiedl attempts rocket mail in Austria (unsuccessful)

Jun 29 The Outerbridge Crossing and Goethals Bridge in Staten Island, New York both opened
Jun 30 Radio Service Bulletin lists radio stations call signs that are to be changed to conform with international standards
Jul 2 British parliament reduces the age at women can vote to 21 - the same as men (Representation of the People Act 1928)
Jul 2 The Jenkins Television Corporation (owned by Charles Jenkins) goes on air with W3XK, the first television broadcasting station in the USA

1st Demo of Color Television

Jul 3 John Logie Baird demonstrates the first colour television transmission in London

Jul 6 1st all-talking motion picture shown in NY (Lights of NY)
Jul 6 Largest recorded hailstone at the time 1.5 lbs (7 inches in diameter) falls in Potter, Nebraska
Jul 7 American Edward Hamm sets then long jump world record at 25' 11" at Cambridge, Massachusetts

First Sliced Bread

Jul 7 Sliced bread sold for the first time by the Chillicothe Baking Company, Missouri, using a machine invented by Otto Frederick Rohwedder. Described as the greatest forward step in the baking industry since bread was wrapped.

Jul 8 Phillies set record of errorless 25 inning doubleheader
Jul 10 Senator Milt Gaston hurls record tying 14-hit shutout
Jul 12 1st televised tennis match
Jul 19 King Fuad of Egypt seizes power and disbands parliament
Jul 20 The government of Hungary issues a decree ordering Gypsies to end their nomadic ways, settle permanently in one place, subject themselves to the same laws and taxes as other Hungarians
Jul 26 In only his second and final defense of his world heavyweight boxing title, Gene Tunney scores an 11-round TKO win over Tom Heeney at Yankee Stadium, NYC
Jul 26 New York Yankees score 11 runs in 12th inning, beating Tigers 12-1 in Detroit
Jul 27 AVRO, General Vereniging Radio Omroep, forms
Jul 27 Kent cricket leg-spinner Tich Freeman becomes only bowler ever to take 200 first-class wickets before end of July
Jul 28 IX Summer Olympic Games open in Amsterdam, Netherlands
Jul 29 Cleveland Indians score 17 in the first 2 innings to beat the New York Yankees 24-6 at Dunn Field, setting a record with 24 singles in one game

Steamboat Willie

Jul 29 Test footage is first created for Walt Disney's "Steamboat Willie", featuring Mickey Mouse

Jul 31 Halina Konopacka of Poland hurls a discus world record of 39.62m to win the first gold medal in women's Olympic athletics at the Amsterdam Games
Jul 31 In the first women’s Olympic track event, American sprinter Elizabeth Robinson equals her own world record 12.2s to win 100m gold medal in Amsterdam; Canadians Fanny Rosenfeld & Ethel Smith dead-heat (12.3s)
Aug 1 Americans sweep medals at a rainy Olympic pole vault final in Amsterdam with Sabin Carr gold, from William Droegemuller and Charles McGinnis

Babe Ruth Hits HR #42

Aug 1 Babe Ruth hits home run #42 in the Yankees 12-1 win v St. Louis Browns, takes him 4 weeks ahead of his 1927 pace

Aug 2 Benito Mussolini signs peace treaty with Abyssinia (Ethiopia)
Aug 3 Ray Barbuti wins 400m in 47.8 at the Amsterdam Olympics, the only individual track event won by an American at the Games

Hubbell 1st MLB Victory

Aug 11 NY Giants future Baseball Hall of Fame pitcher Carl Hubbell registers first MLB victory, a 4-0 shutout of Philadelphia Phillies at the Polo Grounds, NYC

Aug 12 IX Summer Olympic Games close at the Olympisch Stadion in Amsterdam, Netherlands
Aug 13 Soviet Union Spartacan Games begins
Aug 14 Ben Hecht & Charles MacArthur's "The Front Page," premieres in NYC
Aug 16 Belgian cyclist Georges Ronsse wins men's road race at UCI Road World Championships in Budapest, Hungary
Aug 25 Tri-City Rugby Football Union forms consisting of Moose Jaw, Regina & Winnipeg
Aug 27 16 die in a NYC subway's 2nd worst accident

Kellogg-Briand Pact

Aug 27 Kellogg-Briand Pact, 60 nations agree to condemn 'recourse to war for the solution of international controversies'.

Aug 31 Bertolt Brecht & Kurt Weil's play with music "The Threepenny Opera" premieres at the Theater am Schiffbauerdamm, Berlin
Sep 1 Albania becomes a kingdom, with Zogu I as king
Sep 3 Future Baseball Hall of Fame outfielder Ty Cobb records his 4,189th and final career hit, as a pinch hitter for Philadelphia A's in 6-1 loss v Washington Senators
Sep 6 The Soviet Union signs the Kellogg–Briand Pact
Sep 7 Sophie Treadwell's "Machinal" premieres in NYC
Sep 9 Silvio Cator of Haiti, sets then long jump record at 26' ½"
Sep 11 1st ever TV drama WGY's "Queens Messenger" broadcast in the New York area starring Izetta Jewell
Sep 11 Ty Cobb last hitting appearance, pops out against Yankees

Sep 12 San Felipe Segundo/Okeechobee hurricane makes landfall in Guadeloupe, French Antilles as category 4 storm, killing 1,200; additional damage and fatalities on neighboring islands of Martinique, Montserrat, and Nevis
Sep 13 KOH-AM in Reno NV begins radio transmissions
Sep 13 San Felipe Segundo/Okeechobee hurricane makes landfall in Puerto Rico as a category 5 storm, killing over 300, leaving 500,000 homeless, and causing $50M in damages (about $790M in 2020 dollars)
Sep 15 400 kg Fournier-albums (forged postage stamps) burn in Geneva
Sep 15 Kent leg-spinner Alfred "Tich" Freeman takes 2-102 and 4-75 for Rest of England vs Lancashire to become the only bowler to take 300 wickets (304) in an English cricket season

Discovery of Penicillin

Sep 15 Scottish bacteriologist Alexander Fleming discovers penicillin while studying influenza

Sep 15 St. Louis Cardinals set NL record of 18 men left-on-base; still beat Phillies, 8-6 at the Baker Bowl, Philadelphia
Sep 15 Stothard, Kalmar & Ruby's musical "Good Boy" premieres in NYC
Sep 16 San Felipe Segundo/Okeechobee hurricane crosses through the Bahamas as a category 4 storm, killing 18, as it travels from Puerto Rico to Florida
Sep 17 Boston Braves pitcher Ray Boggs hits 3 batters in 1 inning during his 4th and final major league appearance, in 15-5 loss to Chicago Cubs
Sep 17 San Felipe Segundo/Okeechobee hurricane makes landfall in West Palm Beach-Lake Okeechobee, Florida as category 4 storm, killing 2,500- 3,000 and causing $25M in damages (about $345M in 2020 dollars)
Sep 18 Juan de la Cierva flies 1st helicopter above Channel
Sep 18 San Felipe Segundo/Okeechobee hurricane makes fifth and final landfall near Edisto Island, South Carolina, as category 1 storm; total impact of event - over 4,100 killed and $100M ($1.6B in 2020) in damage
Sep 18 St. Louis beat Phillies, 4-2 at the Baker Bowl, Philadelphia; 20th Cards' win of 22 starts between the 2 clubs in 1928
Sep 21 "My Weekly Reader" magazine made its debut

Elmer the Great

Sep 24 George M. Cohan and Ring Lardner's musical play "Elmer the Great" premieres in NYC

Sep 27 The Nationalist Republic of China is recognised by the United States.
Sep 28 1st recording session in Nashville (Warmack's Gully Jumpers)
Sep 28 Juan de la Cierva makes 1st helicopter flight over English Channel
Sep 28 NY Yanks clinch pennant #6

Prussia Removes Hitler Ban

Sep 28 Prussia lifts its ban on Adolf Hitler speaking in public

Sep 28 UK passes the Dangerous Drugs Act outlawing cannabis.

US Recognizes Nationalist Government

Sep 28 US recognizes the Chinese nationalist government of Chiang Kai-shek

Sep 28 Valentin Katayev's "Kvadratura Kruga" premieres in Moscow
Sep 29 Cardinals win NL pennant with a 3-1 win at Boston
Sep 29 Yanks (17) Tigers (28) set 9 inning hit record (45)-Tigers win 19-10
Sep 30 Leon Vanderstuyft of Belgium cycles record 76 mi 604 yds in 1 hr

Paavo Nurmi World Records

Oct 1 Finnish distance runner Paavo Nurmi runs 15k world record 46:49.6 and 10 miles 50:15.0 in Berlin, Germany

Oct 1 Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) opens in the Westchester section of Los Angeles California
Oct 1 USSR launches its first 5-year plan
Oct 2 "Prelature of the Holy Cross and the Work of God", known as Opus Dei, founded by Catholic priest Josemaría Escrivá in Madrid, Spain
Oct 3 French submarine "Ondine" sinks returning to Toulon, drowning 42
Oct 4 KPD begins petition against Germany building a battle fleet

Tito Imprisoned

Oct 6 Yugoslav revolutionary Josip Broz Tito is convicted after police find bombs in his apartment and sentenced to 5 years in jail

Oct 7 Paavo Nurmi runs world record 10 miles (50:15.0)
Oct 7 Race Tafari Makonnen crowned King of Abyssinia
Oct 8 Joseph Szigeti debuts Alfredo Casella's Violin Concerto
Oct 9 Baseball World Series: NY Yankees beat St. Louis Cardinals, 7-3 at Sportsman's Park to become first to sweep consecutive World Series; Babe Ruth hits smashes 3 HRs for Yanks
Oct 9 Marcel Pagnol's play "Topaze" premieres in Paris
Oct 10 Chiang Kai-shek becomes Director of the State Council of China
Oct 12 1st use of iron lung (Boston's Children Hospital)

Wien Alaska Airways

Oct 20 Wien Alaska Airways, Inc. incorporated; the first airline in Alaska and one of the 1st in the US with Noel Wien as president

Oct 22 China expels all Russian instructors & civil servants
Oct 22 ESL Robinson's "Far-Off Hills" premieres in Dublin
Oct 22 Herbert Hoover speaks of "American system of rugged individualism"

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