What Happened in 1928 — Events, Births & Deaths

A disastrous flood of the River Thames kills 14 people and causes extensive damage to much of riverside London.

The Committee for Union Action is established in Guatemala.

Bundaberg tragedy: a diphtheria vaccine is contaminated with Staph. aureus bacterium, resulting in the deaths of twelve children in the Australian town of Bundaberg.

Leon Trotsky is exiled to Alma-Ata.

In California, the St. Francis Dam fails; the resulting floods kill 431 people.

Charles Lindbergh is presented with the Medal of Honor for the first solo trans-Atlantic flight.

The Bremen, a German Junkers W 33 type aircraft, takes off for the first successful transatlantic aeroplane flight from east to west.

The Jinan incident begins with the deaths of twelve Japanese civilians by Chinese forces in Jinan, China, which leads to Japanese retaliation and the deaths of over 2,000 Chinese civilians in the following days.

The President of the Republic of China, Zhang Zuolin, is assassinated by Japanese agents.

Second Northern Expedition: The National Revolutionary Army captures Beijing, whose name is changed to Beiping ("Northern Peace").

Charles Kingsford Smith completes the first trans-Pacific flight in a Fokker Trimotor monoplane, the Southern Cross.

Aviator Amelia Earhart becomes the first woman to fly in an aircraft across the Atlantic Ocean (she is a passenger; Wilmer Stultz is the pilot and Lou Gordon the mechanic).

The Rovaniemi township decree is promulgated, as a result of which Rovaniemi secedes from the old rural municipality as its own market town on January 1, 1929.

Sliced bread is sold for the first time (on the inventor's 48th birthday) by the Chillicothe Baking Company of Chillicothe, Missouri.

The Kellogg–Briand Pact outlawing war is signed by fifteen nations. Ultimately sixty-one nations will sign it.

The Okeechobee hurricane strikes southeastern Florida, killing more than 2,500 people.

Juan de la Cierva makes the first Autogyro crossing of the English Channel.

The Republic of China is recognized by the United States.

Alexander Fleming notices a bacteria-killing mold growing in his laboratory, discovering what later became known as penicillin.

The "Prelature of the Holy Cross and the Work of God", commonly known as Opus Dei, is founded.

Chiang Kai-shek becomes Chairman of the Republic of China.

An iron lung respirator is used for the first time at Boston Children's Hospital.

The airship Graf Zeppelin completes its first trans-Atlantic flight, landing at Lakehurst, New Jersey, United States.

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

Release of the animated short Steamboat Willie, the first fully synchronized sound cartoon.

Cosmo Gordon Lang was enthroned as the Archbishop of Canterbury, the first bachelor to be appointed in 150 years.

The government of Colombia sends military forces to suppress a month-long strike by United Fruit Company workers, resulting in an unknown number of deaths.

Indian revolutionaries Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev Thapar and Shivaram Rajguru assassinate British police officer James Saunders in Lahore, Punjab, to avenge the death of Lala Lajpat Rai at the hands of the police. The three were executed in 1931.