October 28 in history — What Happened Today in History

Georgia holds its only free election under Soviet rule.

Aloha Island Air Flight 1712, a Twin Otter 300, crashed into terrain at night in Hawaii killing all 20 occupants onboard.

The Spanish general election begins fourteen years of rule by the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party.

Prospero becomes the only British satellite to be launched by a British rocket.

Pope Paul VI promulgates Nostra aetate, by which the Roman Catholic Church officially recognizes the legitimacy of non-Christian faiths.

The Cuban Missile Crisis ends and Premier Nikita Khrushchev orders the removal of Soviet missiles from Cuba.

John XXIII is elected Pope.

Hungarian Revolution: A de facto ceasefire comes into effect between armed revolutionaries and Soviet troops, who begin to withdraw from Budapest. Communist officials and facilities come under attack by revolutionaries.

Aeroflot Flight 136 crashes near Krasnoyarsk, killing 19.

An Air France Lockheed Constellation crashes in the Azores, killing all 48 people on board.

Paul Hermann Müller is awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his discovery of the insecticidal properties of DDT.

Ecological disaster in Donora, Pennsylvania.

The Alaska Highway first connects Alaska to the North American railway network at Dawson Creek in Canada.

World War II: Greece rejects Italy's ultimatum. Italy invades Greece through Albania a few hours later.

Indonesia Raya, now the national anthem of Indonesia, is first played during the Second Indonesian Youth Congress.

Italian fascists led by Benito Mussolini march on Rome and take over the Italian government.

The U.S. Congress passes the Volstead Act over President Woodrow Wilson's veto, paving the way for Prohibition to begin the following January.

World War I: A new Polish government in western Galicia is established, triggering the Polish–Ukrainian War.

World War I: Czech politicians peacefully take over the city of Prague, thus establishing the First Czechoslovak Republic.

Pyotr Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 6 in B Minor, Pathétique receives its première performance only nine days before the composer's death.

The Mino–Owari earthquake, the largest inland earthquake in Japan's history, occurs.

US president Grover Cleveland dedicates the Statue of Liberty.

American Civil War: In East Tennessee, Union forces under General Alvan C. Gillem rout Confederate troops under General John C. Vaughn during the Battle of Morristown.

The United Tribes of New Zealand are established with the signature of the Declaration of Independence.

The Pinjarra massacre occurs in the Swan River Colony. An estimated 30 Noongar people are killed by British colonists.

American Revolutionary War: British troops under General William Howe attack General George Washington's Continental Army and capture Chatterton Hill in the Battle of White Plains during the New York and New Jersey campaign.

The 1746 Lima–Callao earthquake causes up to 6,000 deaths in Peru, the deadliest in its history up to that point.

The novel Gulliver's Travels written by Jonathan Swift is published.

Andrew Harrison, American basketball player

Lexi Ainsworth, American actress

Jeon Ji-hee, South Korean table tennis player

Maria Sergejeva, Estonian figure skater

Lucy Bronze, English footballer

Devin Ebanks, American basketball player

Camille Muffat, French swimmer (died 2015)

Edd Gould, English cartoonist and animator (died 2012)

Devon Murray, Irish actor

Jamie xx, English musician, DJ, record producer and remixer

Frank Ocean, American singer-songwriter

May Calamawy, Egyptian-Palestinian actress

Isabelle Eriksson, Swedish athlete

Michael Sata, Zambian police officer and politician, 5th President of Zambia (born 1937)

Tetsuharu Kawakami, Japanese baseball player and manager (born 1920)

Tadeusz Mazowiecki, Polish journalist and politician, Prime Minister of Poland (born 1927)

Aleksandar Tijanić, Serbian journalist (born 1949)

Rajendra Yadav, Indian author (born 1929)

Gordon Bilney, Australian dentist and politician (born 1939)

John Cheffers, Australian footballer and coach (born 1936)

Jack Dellal, English businessman (born 1923)

Tom Addington, English soldier (born 1919)

Liang Congjie, Chinese historian and activist, founded Friends of Nature (born 1932)

James MacArthur, American actor (born 1937)

Jonathan Motzfeldt, Greenlandic politician, 1st Prime Minister of Greenland (born 1938)

Ehud Netzer, Israeli archaeologist, architect, and educator (born 1934)