June 28th in History

Michael Dobson | June 28

Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria and his wife Sophie are assassinated in Sarajevo by Gavrila Princip
in the casus belli of World War I. This drawing first appeared in an illustrated supplement of
Le Petit Journal, July 12, 1914. The artist is unknown.

Today in History

  • American Revolutionary War: The first decisive victory by the rebelling colonials is won at the Battle of Sullivan’s Island (1776)
  • American Revolutionary War: George Washington’s bodyguard, Thomas Hickey, is hanged for mutiny and sedition (1776)
  • Queen Victoria is crowned (1838)
  • Australian bushranger Ned Kelly is captured (1880)
  • Labor Day becomes an official US federal holiday (1894)
  • World War I: Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife are assassinated in Sarajevo (1914)
  • World War I: The Treaty of Versailles is signed, ending the war with Germany (1919)
  • The Irish Civil War begins (1922)
  • Mercedes-Benz is founded by the merger of companies headed by Gottlieb Daimler and Karl Benz (1926)
  • World War II: The Nazis launch the Case Blue summer offensive agains the Soviet Union (1942)
  • Israel annexes East Jerusalem (1967)
  • The Stonewall riots begin in New York City, marking the start of the Gay Rights Movement (1969)
  • The Supreme Court bars quotas in college admissions in the Bakke decision (1978)
  • Members of the Aum Shinrikyo cult release sarin gas, killing 7 and injuring 660 (1994)
  • Boxer Mike Tyson bites off a piece of Evander Holyfield’s ear (1997)

Birthdays

  • Henry VIII, English monarch (1491)
  • Peter Paul Rubens, painter (1577)
  • John Wesley, theologian (1703)
  • Jean-Jacques Rousseau, philosopher and polymath (1712)
  • Luigi Pirandello, author and Nobel Prize winner (1867)
  • Alexis Carel, surgeon and biologist, Nobel Prize winner (1873)
  • Richard Rodgers, playwright and composer (1902)
  • Eric Ambler, author (1909)
  • A. E. Hotchner, author (1920)
  • Mel Brooks, comedian and filmmaker (1926)
  • Hans Blix, politician and diplomat (1928)
  • Junior Johnson, NASCAR champion (1931)
  • Pat Morita, actor (1932)
  • Tom Magliozzi, co-host of Car Talk (1937)
  • Leon Panetta, politician (1938)
  • Robert Aspirin, author (1946)
  • Gilda Radner, comedienne (1946)
  • Kathy Bates, actor (1948)
  • John Cusack, actor (1966)
  • Elon Musk, businessman and inventor (1971)
  • Felicia Day, actress (1979)

Deaths

  • James Madison, US president (1836)
  • Red Nichols, bandleader (1965)
  • Rod Serling, creator of The Twilight Zone (1975)
  • Terry Fox, runner (1981)
  • Jim Baen, publisher (2006)
  • Meshach Taylor, actor (2014)

Holidays and Celebrations

  • Constitution Day (Ukraine)
  • Family Day (Vietnam)
  • International Body Piercing Day
  • Poznan Remembrance Day (Poland)
  • Tau Day
  • Vidovdan (Eastern Orthodox Church, Serbia)

• • •

June 28 is the 179th day of the year (180th in leap years). There are 186 days remaining until the end of the year.

• • •

This date is the only date each year where both the month and the day are different “perfect numbers.” A perfect number is a positive integer that is equal to the sum of its proper positive divisors. June (6) is perfect because its proper positive divisors are 1, 2, and 3, and 1+2+3=6. The day (28) is perfect because its proper divisors are 1, 2, 4, 7, and 14, and 1+2+4+7+14=28.