Today's Puzzle
The more I grow, the less you can see. What am I?
What Happened On
Mussolini Hanged (second from left)
Mussolini Hanged (second from left)
Mussolini Executed
April 28, 1945
The Italian fascist dictator Benito Mussolini is killed by firing squad. The following day his body, along with other fascists including his mistress, was hanged for exhibit in Milan's main square. He was caught while trying to escape Italy.
First Atom Split by a Particle Accelerator
April 28, 1932
British physicists John Cockcroft and Ernest Walton announce that they had split an atom using a particle accelerator to bombard lithium, producing alpha particles. This was the first split of the nucleus in a fully controlled manner. They were working under the direction of Ernest Rutherford, who in 1917 became the first person to split the atom.
Georges Bouton and Albert de Dion (driving) one of their vehicles in 1887
Georges Bouton and Albert de Dion (driving) one of their vehicles in 1887
First Automobile Race
April 28, 1887
The first automobile race is won by French engineer Georges Bouton, the only entrant. The race was organized by a French cycling magazine in Paris and ran from Neuilly Bridge to the Bois de Boulogne, a distance of about 1.2 miles (2 km). Bouton drove a steam-powered vehicle created by his automobile company De Dion-Bouton. The De Dion-Bouton company was at one time the world's largest automobile manufacturer.
Billy the Kid's Last Murders
April 28, 1881
The notorious outlaw Billy the Kid commits his last homicides. While escaping from the Mesilla, New Mexico jail, he kills deputies James Bell and Robert W. Ollinger. He was killed by Sheriff Pat Garrett several months later.
Mutiny on the Bounty
April 28, 1789
Fletcher Christian leads a mutiny against his commanding officer William Bligh (aka Captain Bligh) of the HMS Bounty, placing Bligh and some of his crew adrift on an open boat. Bligh survived a 47-day 3,600-mile voyage to safety. Christian and the mutineers landed at Pitcairn Island where they lived out their lives among the native inhabitants.
Jesse James
April 28, 1993
The gun used to kill the famous outlaw Jesse James is auctioned for $164,000.
Maryland
April 28, 1788
Maryland becomes the 7th state.
First Known Abortion Clinic Ad
April 28, 1780
The First known advertisement for an abortion clinic runs in Britain's Morning Post.
Birthdays
Jay Leno (James Douglas Muir Leno)
Born April 28, 1950
American comedian. TV: The Tonight Show with Jay Leno (1992-2014) and Jay Leno's Garage (2014‑).
Saddam Hussein
Born April 28, 1937 d. 2006
Iraqi president (1979-2003). Saddam became president of Iraq in 1979 by forcing the ailing president to resign. He then began purging out members of the government that he felt were disloyal. Hundreds of high-ranking Ba'ath party members were executed in the following weeks. Saddam was hanged to death for crimes against humanity for the 1982 actions against the residents of Dujail, which included the exectuion of 148 people. These actions were in retaliation to an assassination attempt against him.
First edition cover and back cover photo of Harper Lee
First edition cover and back cover photo of Harper Lee
Harper Lee (Nelle Harper Lee)
Born April 28, 1926 d. 2016
American author. Writings: To Kill a Mockingbird (1960, Pulitzer).
For a Christmas gift in 1956, Harper Lee's friends gave her a year's wages with the note, "You have one year off from your job to write whatever you please. Merry Christmas." The following spring she delivered a manuscript titled Go Set a Watchman. This was edited into To Kill a Mockingbird, which became an instant best-seller.
Schindler's List
Oskar Schindler
Born April 28, 1908 d. 1974
German industrialist. In 1940, he and his wife saved 1,200 Jews from concentration camps by convincing the Nazis to allow them to work in a factory they ran in Poland. They spent most of their wealth bribing German officials to keep the Jewish workers safe. Prior to World War II, Schindler had joined the Nazi party and worked as a spy for them. After seeing the treatment of the Jews, he began his quest to save as many as possible.
His efforts were the basis for the movie Schindler's List (1993).
Kurt Friedrich Gödel
Born April 28, 1906 d. 1978
Austrian-born American mathematician. Although considered one of the most significant logicians in history, in his later years Gödel developed an obsessive fear of being poisoned. His paranoia was so great that he would only eat food prepared by his wife. But, when she became ill and was hospitalized for six months and could no longer prepare his food, he refused to eat, eventually starving to death. He weighed only about 65 pounds (30 kg) when he died.
His two incompleteness theorems (1931) of mathematical logic demonstrate the inherent limitations of every formal axiomatic system containing basic arithmetic.
Gödel had left Austria in 1939 after it became part of Nazi Germany. His association with Jewish scientists made it difficult for him to find work and he was in danger of being drafted, so he and his wife moved to Princeton, New Jersey, becoming a U.S. citizen in 1947. At Princeton he befriended and worked with Albert Einstein.
James Monroe
Born April 28, 1758 d. 1831
American politician. 5th U.S. President (1817-25). He was the last president among the Founding Fathers of the U.S. As a delegate to the Virginia convention, he opposed ratification of the U.S. Constitution, claiming it gave too much power to the central government.
Photo Credit: nuestrociclismo.com
Photo Credit: nuestrociclismo.com
Bradley "Wiggo" Wiggins
Born April 28, 1980
British cyclist. He is the only cyclist to have won both World and Olympic championships on both the track and the road, as well as winning the Tour de France and holding the track hour record. He has won a British record of eight Olympic gold medals and is his country's first Tour de France winner.
Marcia Strassman
Born April 28, 1948 d. 2014
American actress. TV: Welcome Back, Kotter (1975-79, Gabe's wife Julie) and M*A*S*H (1972-73, Nurse Margie Cutler). Film: Honey, I Shrunk the Kids (1989, the mom).
She died at age 66 from breast cancer that had spread to her bones.
Ann-Margret (Ann-Margret Olsson)
Born April 28, 1941
Swedish-born actress, singer, dancer. Film: Carnal Knowledge (1971) and Tommy (1975).
James A. Baker III
Born April 28, 1930
American politician, former Secretary of State.
Ferruccio Lamborghini
Born April 28, 1916 d. 1993
Italian sports car manufacturer. He opened his factory in 1963, building such models as the Miura SV and Countach.
Lionel Barrymore
Born April 28, 1878 d. 1954
American Oscar-winning actor. Film: A Free Soul (1931, Oscar) and in the Dr. Kildare movies (as Dr. Gillespie).
Edward IV
Born April 28, 1442 d. 1483
King of England (1461-83).
Deaths
Ken Curtis (Curtis Gates)
Died April 28, 1991 b. 1916
American actor. TV: Gunsmoke (1959-75, Festus). Film: The Killer Shrews (1959) and The Giant Gila Monster (1959). He began his career singing with the Tommy Dorsey orchestra.
Benito Mussolini
Died April 28, 1945 b. 1883
Italian Fascist dictator. He was executed by partisans who then hanged his body for exhibit in Milan's main square.
Princip on Trial - seated front row, center
Princip on Trial - seated front row, center
The Man Who Started WWI
Gavrilo Princip
Died April 28, 1918 b. 1894
Bosnian Serb revolutionary. He assassinated Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria and his wife the Duchess of Hohenberg, in Sarajevo in 1914. In retaliation, Austria-Hungary then invaded Serbia, which led to World War I. Princip killed Ferdinand because he wanted to end Austro-Hungarian rule over Bosnia and Herzegovina and Ferdinand was heir to the Austro-Hungarian Empire. More than 16 million people would die as a result of the war.
Princip was too young to receive the death penalty, so he was sentenced to 20 years in prison where he died of tuberculosis.
Michael Collins
Died April 28, 2021 b. 1930
American NASA astronaut. Collins flew the Apollo 11 command module around the Moon in 1969 while his crewmates, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin, became the first men on the Moon.
Rory Calhoun (Francis Timothy McCown)
Died April 28, 1999 b. 1922
American actor. TV: The Texan (Bill Longley).
Francis Bacon
Died April 28, 1992 b. 1909
British artist. One of the leading artists of the 20th century.
Tommy Caldwell
Died April 28, 1980 b. 1949
American singer, formed the Marshall Tucker Band (1973-1980). Music: Take the Highway (1973) and Heard It in a Love Song (1977). He died from injuries suffered in a Jeep crash. His brother had died in a traffic accident one month earlier.
Ed Begley
Died April 28, 1970 b. 1901
American Oscar-winning actor. Film: Sweet Bird of Youth (1962, Oscar) and 12 Angry Men (1957, juror #10).