First Confidential

THIS DAY IN HISTORY - DECEMBER 28th

This Day in History

December 28th, 457

Roman Empire Decline and Fall of Rome Pope Saint Leo I (Leo the Great, 391 or 400 - November, 10th 461): Bishop of Rome—the Pope—of the Christian Church from September 29th, 440 to his death on November 10th, 461

Roman Empire:
457 - Majorian is crowned emperor of the Western Roman Empire and recognized by pope Leo I.
484 - Alaric II succeeds his father Euric and becomes king of the Visigoths. He establishes his capital at Aire-sur-l'Adour (Southern Gaul).

Wikipedia  Image: Relief from a 3rd-century sarcophagus depicting a battle between Romans and Germanic warriors; the central figure is perhaps the emperor Hostilian / Depiction of the Menorah on the Arch of Titus in Rome. Relief from a 3rd-century sarcophagus depicting a battle between Romans and Germanic warriors; the central figure is perhaps the emperor Hostilian / Depiction of the Menorah on the Arch of Titus in Rome.
Pope Saint Leo I (Leo the Great, 391 or 400 - November, 10th 461): Bishop of Rome—the Pope—of the Christian Church from September 29th, 440 to his death on November 10th, 461.


December 28th, 893

Global Earthquake epicenters

Earthquake:
893 - Dvin earthquake; an earthquake destroys the city of Dvin, Armenia.
1908 - Messina earthquake; a magnitude 7.2 earthquake rocks Messina, Sicily killing over 75,000.
1989 - Newcastle earthquake; a magnitude 5.6 earthquake hits Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia, killing 13 people.

Wikipedia  Image: Preliminary Determination of Epicenters / Aleppo Syria; Anchorage, Alaska - March 28, 1964 Prince William Sound USA earthquake and tsunami; 8.9 Mega Earthquake Strikes Japan; Tsunami Swirls Japan's Ibaraki Prefecture March 12 2011. credit NOAA / NGDC, NOAA National Geophysical Data Center, USGS, National Geographics.


December 28th, 1835

American Indians collage Seminole Wars: An American boat expedition searching the Everglades during the Second Seminole War

American Indian Wars:
1835 - Second Seminole War; Osceola leads his Seminole warriors in Florida.

Wikipedia  Photos: American Indians - Chief Crazy Horse, Tashunca-uitco (1849 - 1877) ● Geronimo Apache Chief (1829 - 1909) ● Indian Chief 'Two Eagles'; Crow Indian Chief ● Snake Cheif ● Band of Chiricahua Apache Indians, followers of legendary renegade Geronimo, attending a peace negotiation after a long struggle against U.S. government attempts to force them onto reservations - Tombstone, Arizona (1886), Life Magazine ● American Horse - Oglala ● Native American Arapaho Indian ● Washakie, Shoshone leader ● Arapaho American Indian Chief. Painting: Seminole Wars; An American boat expedition searching the Everglades during the Second Seminole War.


December 28th, 1836

Austrlian satellite; Whole Earth, satellite image, credit Science Photo Library

South Australia and Adelaide are founded.

Wikipedia  Image: Austrlian satellite; Whole Earth, satellite image, credit Science Photo Library.


December 28th, 1836

Satellite Image of Mexico, credit

Spain recognizes the independence of Mexico.

Image: Satellite Image of Mexico, credit Google Maps.


December 28th, 1846

Iowa is admitted as the 29th U.S. state

Iowa is admitted as the 29th U.S. state.

Wikipedia  Photo: Iowa is a state located in the Midwestern United States, an area often referred to as the "American Heartland". It derives its name from the Ioway people, one of the many American Indian tribes that occupied the state at the time of European exploration. Iowa was a part of the French colony of New France, and the Louisiana Purchase.


December 28th, 1867

Sand Island, Midway Atoll, Pacific Ocean, credit David Doubilet, National Geographics

United States claims Midway Atoll, the first territory annexed outside Continental limits.

Wikipedia  Photo: and Island, Midway Atoll, Pacific Ocean, credit David Doubilet, National Geographics.


December 28th, 1895

The Lumière brothers demonstrate film technology to scientists

The Lumière brothers perform for their first paying audience at the Grand Cafe in Boulevard des Capucines, marking the debut of the cinema.

Wikipedia  Photo: Auguste and Louis Lumière (Auguste Lumière (left) and Louis Lumière (right))


December 28th, 1895

While experimenting with electricity, Wilhelm Röntgen discovers the X-ray

Wilhelm Röntgen publishes a paper detailing his discovery of a new type of radiation, which later will be known as X-ray.

Wikipedia  Image: X-ray images of the foot, hands, and spine.


December 28th, 1943

World War II: Second firestorm raid on Germany, the Royal Air Force conducts an air raid on the town of Kassel, killing 10,000 and rendering 150,000 homeless World War II: Battle of Leyte Gulf; Battle of Leyte Gulf; The first kamikaze attack: A Japanese plane carrying a 200-kilogram (440 lb) bomb attacks HMAS Australia off Leyte Island World War II: German V1 flying-bomb and V2 Rockets - Preparations for a Salvo Launch of V-2 Rockets in the Heidelager near Blizna (Poland) (1944) World War II: Eastern Front (World War II); was a theatre of World War II between the European Axis powers and co-belligerent Finland against the Soviet Union, Poland, and some other Allies which encompassed Northern, Southern and Eastern Europe from 22 June 1941 to 9 May 1945

World War II:
1943 - After eight days of brutal house-to-house fighting, the Battle of Ortona concludes with the victory of the 1st Canadian Infantry Division over the German 1st Parachute Division and the capture of the Italian town of Ortona.

Wikipedia  Photo: Bombing of Dresden in World War II; August Schreitmüller's sculpture 'Goodness' surveys Dresden after a firestorm started by Allied bombers in 1945.
USS Bunker Hill was hit by kamikazes piloted by Ensign Kiyoshi Ogawa and another airman on 11 May 1945. 389 personnel were killed or missing from a crew of 2,600; Ensign Kiyoshi Ogawa, who flew his aircraft into the USS Bunker Hill during a Kamikaze mission on 11 May 1945; Kamikaze Missions - Lt Yoshinori Yamaguchi's Yokosuka D4Y3 (Type 33 Suisei) "Judy" in a suicide dive against USS Essex. The dive brakes are extended and the non-self-sealing port wing tank is trailing fuel vapor and/or smoke 25 November 1944.
German V1 flying-bomb and V2 Rockets - Preparations for a Salvo Launch of V-2 Rockets in the Heidelager near Blizna (Poland) (1944), credit German History in Documents and Images GHDI.

Eastern Front (World War II); Germans race towards Stalingrad. August 1942; Soviet children during a German air raid in the first days of the war, June 1941, by RIA Novosti archive; Soviet sniper Roza Shanina in 1944. About 400,000 Soviet women served in front-line duty units Caucasus Mountains, winter 1942/43; Finnish ski patrol: the invisible enemy of the Soviet Army with an unlimited supply of skis; Men of the German Engineers Corps cross a river which is swollen after the first autumn rains, to strengthen bridges linking the German positions on the central front in Russia. by Keystone / Getty Images. October 1942; Russian snipers fighting on the Leningrad front during a blizzard. Photo by Hulton Archive / Getty Images, 1943; German soldiers surrendering to the Russians in Stalingrad, the soldier holding the white flag of surrender is dressed in white so that there could be no doubt of his intentions, a Russian soldier is on the right of the photograph. by Keystone / Getty Images, January 1943.


December 28th, 1948

Flight 19 is lost in the Bermuda Triangle

Bermuda Triangle (Devil's Triangle): NC16002 disappearance; DC-3 airliner disappears 50 miles south of Miami, Florida.

Wikipedia  Image: Flight 19; Artist's depiction of five TBM Avenger torpedo bombers that disappeared on December 5, 1945 during a United States Navy overwater navigation training flight from Naval Air Station Fort Lauderdale, Florida. credit © Lee Krystek.


December 28th, 1958

1958 NFL Championship Game</a> - 'Greatest Game Ever Played': the first NFL game ever to go into sudden death overtime, the first game ever to be nationally televised, the game marked the emergence of the NFL into the modern area, immortalized Johnny Unitas as an American sports hero, and launched the rise of the NFL to the top of the United States sports market

1958 NFL Championship Game - "Greatest Game Ever Played": Baltimore Colts defeat the New York Giants in the first ever National Football League sudden death overtime game at New York's Yankee Stadium.

Wikipedia  Photo: The 1958 NFL Championship Game: Baltimore Colts v. New York Giants, credit NFL. ('Greatest Game Ever Played': the first NFL game ever to go into sudden death overtime, the first game ever to be nationally televised, the game marked the emergence of the NFL into the modern area, immortalized Johnny Unitas as an American sports hero, and launched the rise of the NFL to the top of the United States sports market)


December 28th, 1973

Antarctica (8/30/2012), credit National Geographic; Infrared satellite image of Antarctica, credit © Visual Photos

Endangered Species Act is passed in the United States.

Wikipedia  Photo: The U.S. Congress passed the Endangered Species Act in 1973 as a way to ensure the implementation of conservation efforts for plants and animals in danger of extinction (Bald Eagle benefitted from the Endangered Species Act).


December 28th, 2010

Egyptian revolution: Arab Spring; Millions of anti-government protesters demonstrate in Liberation Square, Cairo, Egypt

Arab Spring:
protests begin in Algeria against the government and spread across the Arab world.

Wikipedia  Photo: Millions of anti-government protesters demonstrate in Liberation Square, Cairo, Egypt.