This Day In History : December 28

1885 India

Indian National Congress Founded

The Indian National Congress (INC) was founded on December 28, 1885, during a session in Bombay (now Mumbai). It emerged as a significant political party in India, playing a crucial role in the country's struggle for independence from British rule. The INC initially aimed to provide a platform for educated Indians to voice their concerns and advocate for political reforms.

Also on This Day in History December 28

Discover what happened on December 28 with HISTORY's summaries of major events, anniversaries,
famous births and notable deaths.

Births on This Day, December 28
  • 1969 Linus Torvalds

    Finnish computer scientist who initiated and promoted the growth of the Linux computer operating system.

  • 1944 Kary B. Mullis

    Kary Banks Mullis is an American biochemist who invented the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) in 1983, for which he shared (with Michael Smith) the 1993 Nobel Prize for Chemistry.

  • 1898 Carl-Gustaf Rossby

    Swedish-American meteorologist who first explained the large-scale motions of the atmosphere in terms of fluid mechanics.

  • 1814 John Bennet Lawes

    (1st Baronet) English agronomist who initiated the artificial fertiliser industry and founded the world's first agricultural research station.

  • 1873 William Draper Harkins

    American nuclear chemist who was one of the first to investigate the structure and fusion reactions of the nucleus.

Deaths on This Day, December 28
  • 1919 Johannes Robert Rydberg

    Swedish physicist, known for the Rydberg constant in his empirical formula that related the wave numbers of the spectral lines of an element (1890).

  • 2013 Halton Christian Arp

    American astronomer noted for challenging the theory that red shifts of quasars indicate their great distance.

  • 1663 Francesco Maria Grimaldi

    Italian physicist and mathematician who studied the diffraction of light.

  • 1708 Joseph Pitton de Tournefort

    French botanist and physician, whose pioneering systematic approach to botany included creating a system of plant classification that used the "genus" in the modern sense.

  • 1997 Eldon W. Lyle

    American plant pathologist who was an expert on the diseases of roses.

1879

Tay Bridge collapse

In 1879, at about 7:15 pm, as a train crossed the Tay Bridge during a gale, the central navigation spans collapsed.
2005

Galileo satellite launched

In 2005, the first in a network of satellites, named Galileo, was launched by a consortium of European governments and companies.
1849

Accidental Discovery of Dry Cleaning

In 1849, M. Jolly-Bellin, a tailor, accidentally discovered dry cleaning when he spilled turpentine oil from a lamp on his tablecloth. He noticed that the oil had a cleaning effect, effectively removing stains without the use of water. This serendipitous event led to the development of dry cleaning as a method for cleaning delicate fabrics and materials.
1948

DC-3 Airliner NC16002 Disappears Off Miami Coast

On December 28, 1948, the DC-3 airliner NC16002 vanished while flying 50 miles south of Miami, Florida. The disappearance remains one of the unsolved mysteries in aviation history, sparking extensive search efforts and speculation about the fate of the aircraft and its passengers.
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