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On this day in history - April 28

What Happened On This Day – April 28

  • 2004 The first Abu Ghraib torture pictures are published

    The images aired in a 60 Minutes II report showed gross human rights violations, including torture and murder, committed by U.S. soldiers and CIA personnel in the Baghdad prison.

  • 2001 Dennis Tito becomes the first space tourist in history

    A Russian rocket transported the Californian billionaire to the International Space Station (ISS).

  • 1994 Former CIA officerAldrich Ames admits he forwarded U.S. secrets to the Soviet Union

    Ames was sentenced to life imprisonment for his activities which amounted to one of the most damaging spy cases in U.S. history.

  • 1969 Charles de Gaulle resigns as President of France

    De Gaulle founded the French Fifth Republic in 1958 and became its first President a year later.

  • 1947 Thor Heyerdahl begins his legendary journey on Kon-Tiki

    The Norwegian explorer and his crew set out on the 101-day journey on the self-built raft to prove that South Americans could have reached and settled Polynesia in pre-Columbian times.

Illustration of stork, signifying birth

Births On This Day,
April 28

  • 1974 Penélope Cruz

    Spanish/American actress

  • 1948 Terry Pratchett

    English author

  • 1937 Saddam Hussein

    Iraqi politician, 5th President of Iraq

  • 1916 Ferruccio Lamborghini

    Italian businessman, created Lamborghini

  • 1908 Oskar Schindler

    Czech/German businessman

Illustration of tombstone, signifying death

Deaths On This Day,
April 28

  • 1992 Francis Bacon

    Irish painter

  • 1949 Aurora Quezon

    Filipino wife of Manuel L. Quezon, 2nd First Lady of the Philippines

  • 1946 Louis Bachelier

    French mathematician

  • 1945 Benito Mussolini

    Italian politician, Dictator of Italy

  • 1716 Louis de Montfort

    French priest, saint