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On this day in history - May 28

What Happened On This Day – May 28

  • 1998 Pakistan detonates five atom bombs

    The nuclear tests came as a response to India's tests just days earlier. Fearing a devastating conflict between the two nuclear powers, a number of countries, including the U.S. and Japan, imposed economic sanctions.

  • 1987 Mathias Rust lands on the Red Square in Moscow

    The 19-year old West German amateur pilot illegally landed his Cessna in the heart of the Russian capital at the height of the Cold War.

  • 1961 Amnesty International is founded

    The publication of Peter Benenson's article “The forgotten prisoners” is commonly considered the organization's birth hour. Amnesty International is one of the world's most influential human rights organizations.

  • 1937 Volkswagen (VW) is founded

    The automobile manufacturer whose name means “People's Car” in German is one of the world's biggest. It produced classics like the VW Golf and the VW Beetle.

  • 1936 Alan Turing submits On Computable Numbers for publication

    In this landmark paper, the British computer pioneer described the Turing Machine and defined the inherent limits of computation.

Illustration of stork, signifying birth

Births On This Day,
May 28

  • 1968 Kylie Minogue

    Australian singer-songwriter, producer, actress

  • 1944 Rudy Giuliani

    American lawyer, politician, 107th Mayor of New York City

  • 1923 György Ligeti

    Romanian/Austrian composer

  • 1908 Ian Fleming

    English journalist, author

  • 1883 Vinayak Damodar Savarkar

    Indian politician

Illustration of tombstone, signifying death

Deaths On This Day,
May 28

  • 2014 Maya Angelou

    American author, poet, actress, director

  • 1972 Edward VIII

    of the United Kingdom

  • 1937 Alfred Adler

    Austrian psychologist

  • 1849 Anne Brontë

    English author, poet

  • 1843 Noah Webster

    American lexicographer, author