History of Today 28 July: Important Events, Births and Deaths

Welcome to History of Today 28 July. On this page, you can read important historical events, famous births, notable deaths and general knowledge facts related to 28 July. This information is useful for UPSC, SSC, Banking, Railway, State PSC and other competitive exams.

Last updated on 28 July 2026, 01:00 AM

Important Events on 28 July in History

28 Jul 2022: Catastrophic floods devastate Eastern Kentucky, resulting in 45 fatalities and causing damage to thousands of homes and businesses. Read more
28 Jul 2018: Australian Wendy Tuck becomes the first female skipper to win the Clipper Round the World Yacht Race. Read more
28 Jul 2017: Nawaz Sharif was disqualified from office for life by Supreme Court of Pakistan after finding him guilty of corruption charges. Read more
28 Jul 2011: While flying from Seoul, South Korea to Shanghai, China, Asiana Airlines Flight 991 develops an in-flight fire in the cargo hold. The Boeing 747-400F freighter attempts to divert to Jeju International Airport, but crashes into the sea South-West of Jeju island, killing both crew members on board. Read more
28 Jul 2010: Airblue Flight 202 crashes into the Margalla Hills north of Islamabad, Pakistan, killing all 152 people aboard. It is the deadliest aviation accident in Pakistan history and the first involving an Airbus A321. Read more
28 Jul 2005: The Provisional Irish Republican Army calls an end to its thirty-year-long armed campaign against British rule in Northern Ireland. Read more
28 Jul 2002: Nine coal miners trapped in the flooded Quecreek Mine in Somerset County, Pennsylvania, are rescued after 77 hours underground. Read more
28 Jul 2002: Pulkovo Aviation Enterprise Flight 9560 crashes after takeoff from Sheremetyevo International Airport in Moscow, Russia, killing 14 of the 16 people on board. Read more
28 Jul 2001: Australian Ian Thorpe becomes the first swimmer to win six gold medals at a single World Championship meeting. Read more
28 Jul 1996: The remains of a prehistoric man are discovered near Kennewick, Washington. Such remains will be known as the Kennewick Man. Read more
28 Jul 1984: Olympic Games: Games of the XXIII Olympiad: The summer Olympics were opened in Los Angeles. Read more
28 Jul 1976: The Tangshan earthquake measuring between 7.8 and 8.2 moment magnitude flattens Tangshan in the People's Republic of China, killing 242,769 and injuring 164,851. Read more
28 Jul 1974: Spetsgruppa A, Russia's elite special force, was formed. Read more
28 Jul 1973: Summer Jam at Watkins Glen: Nearly 600,000 people attend a rock festival at the Watkins Glen International Raceway. Read more
28 Jul 1965: Vietnam War: U.S. president Lyndon B. Johnson announces his order to increase the number of United States troops in South Vietnam from 75,000 to 125,000. Read more
28 Jul 1962: Beginning of the 8th World Festival of Youth and Students. Read more
28 Jul 1960: The German Volkswagen Act comes into force. Read more
28 Jul 1957: Heavy rain and a mudslide in Isahaya, western Kyushu, Japan, kills 992. Read more
28 Jul 1945: A U.S. Army B-25 bomber crashes into the 79th floor of the Empire State Building killing 14 and injuring 26. Read more
28 Jul 1943: World War II: Operation Gomorrah: The Royal Air Force bombs Hamburg, Germany causing a firestorm that kills 42,000 German civilians. Read more
28 Jul 1942: World War II: Soviet leader Joseph Stalin issues Order No. 227. In response to alarming German advances, all those who retreat or otherwise leave their positions without orders to do so are to be tried in a military court, with punishment ranging from duty in a shtrafbat battalion, imprisonment in a Gulag, or execution. Read more
28 Jul 1939: The Sutton Hoo helmet is discovered. Read more
28 Jul 1938: Hawaii Clipper disappears between Guam and Manila as the first loss of an airliner in trans-Pacific China Clipper service. Read more
28 Jul 1935: First flight of the Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress. Read more
28 Jul 1932: During the Great Depression, U.S. president Herbert Hoover orders the United States Army to forcibly evict the "Bonus Army" of World War I veterans gathered in Washington, D.C. Read more
28 Jul 1917: Anti-lynching movement: The Silent Parade takes place in New York City, in protest against murders, lynchings, and other violence directed towards African Americans. Read more
28 Jul 1915: The United States begins a 19-year occupation of Haiti. Read more
28 Jul 1914: World War I: In the culmination of the July Crisis, Austria-Hungary declares war on the Kingdom of Serbia and begins the Great War. Read more
28 Jul 1911: The Australasian Antarctic Expedition began as the SY Aurora departed London. Read more
28 Jul 1896: The city of Miami is incorporated. Read more
28 Jul 1883: A moderate earthquake measuring magnitude 4.3–5.2 strikes the Italian island of Ischia, killing over 2,300 people. Read more
28 Jul 1868: The 14th Amendment to the United States Constitution is certified, establishing African American citizenship and guaranteeing due process of law. Read more
28 Jul 1866: At the age of 18, Vinnie Ream becomes the first and youngest female artist to receive a commission from the United States government for a statue (of Abraham Lincoln). Read more
28 Jul 1864: American Civil War: In the Battle of Ezra Church, Confederate troops make a third unsuccessful attempt under General John Bell Hood to prevent Union forces led by General William T. Sherman from approaching Atlanta, Georgia. Read more
28 Jul 1854: USS Constellation (1854), the last all-sail warship built by the United States Navy and current museum ship in Baltimore Harbor, is commissioned. Read more
28 Jul 1821: José de San Martín declares the independence of Peru from Spain. Read more
28 Jul 1809: Peninsular War: Sir Arthur Wellesley's British, Portuguese and Spanish army repulse a French force led by Joseph Bonaparte in the Battle of Talavera. Read more
28 Jul 1808: Mahmud II became Sultan of the Ottoman Empire and Caliph of Islam. Read more

Famous Births on 28 July

28 Jul 2003: Malik Nabers, American football player Malik Nabers is an American professional football wide receiver for the New York Giants of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the LSU Tigers, finishing as their all-time leader in receiving yards and earning unanimous All-American honors in 2023. Nabers was selected sixth overall by the Giants in the 2024 NFL draft, and set numerous rookie wide receiver and franchise records. Read more
28 Jul 2000: Emile Smith Rowe, English footballer Emile Smith Rowe is an English professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder for Premier League club Fulham. Read more
28 Jul 1999: GloRilla, American rapper Gloria Hallelujah Woods, known professionally as GloRilla, is an American rapper from Memphis, Tennessee. She first became known for her 2022 single "F.N.F. ", which peaked within the top 50 of the Billboard Hot 100 and was nominated for Best Rap Performance at the 65th Annual Grammy Awards. Its success led her to sign with fellow Memphis rapper Yo Gotti's record label, Collective Music Group, in July of that year. Read more
28 Jul 1996: Harriet Dart, British tennis player Harriet Dart is a British professional tennis player. She achieved a career-high singles ranking of world No. 70 on 9 September 2024, and a career-high doubles ranking of No. 59, on 14 October 2024. Read more
28 Jul 1994: Walker Buehler, American baseball player Walker Anthony Buehler is an American professional baseball pitcher for the San Diego Padres of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has previously played in MLB for the Los Angeles Dodgers, Boston Red Sox, and Philadelphia Phillies. Read more
28 Jul 1994: Hyojung, South Korean singer Choi Hyo-jung, better known mononymously as Hyojung is a South Korean singer. She is the leader of the South Korean girl group Oh My Girl. Read more
28 Jul 1993: Harry Kane, English footballer Harry Edward Kane is an English professional footballer who plays as a striker for Bundesliga club Bayern Munich and captains the England national team. He is regarded as one of the best players in the world, one of the best strikers of his generation, and one of England's greatest ever players. Kane has scored over 500 career goals for club and country, being Tottenham Hotspur's all-time top goalscorer (280), England's all-time top goalscorer (85), and the highest-scoring English player in the UEFA Champions League (54). He is also the Premier League's second-highest all-time goalscorer (213) and the seventh-highest goalscorer for Bayern Munich (146). Read more
28 Jul 1993: Evan Rodrigues, Canadian ice hockey player Evan Rodrigues is a Canadian professional ice hockey player who is a forward for the New Jersey Devils of the National Hockey League (NHL). He previously played for the Buffalo Sabres, Pittsburgh Penguins, Colorado Avalanche, and Florida Panthers, winning back-to-back Stanley Cups with the Panthers in 2024 and 2025. Read more
28 Jul 1993: Cher Lloyd, English singer Cher Lloyd is an English singer. She participated on the seventh series of the television talent show The X Factor in 2010, where she finished in fourth place. Following the show, Lloyd was signed to Syco Music in the United Kingdom and Epic Records in the United States. She released her debut studio album, Sticks and Stones, in 2011, which had two releases: its standard edition and a US version. The album peaked at number four on the UK Albums Chart, while the latter version debuted at number nine in the US Billboard 200. It included the successful singles "Swagger Jagger", which entered at number one on the UK Singles Chart, "With Ur Love", and "Want U Back". Read more
28 Jul 1992: Spencer Boldman, American actor Spencer Boldman is an American actor. He is known for his role as Adam Davenport on Disney XD's Lab Rats, and for playing Gio in the film Cruise. Read more
28 Jul 1990: Soulja Boy, American rapper, producer, and actor DeAndre Cortez Way, known professionally as Soulja Boy, is an American rapper and record producer. He rose to prominence with his self-released 2007 debut single, "Crank That ", which peaked atop the US Billboard Hot 100 for seven non-consecutive weeks. After a commercial re-release by Collipark Music, an imprint of Interscope Records, the song and its follow-up, "Soulja Girl", both preceded his debut studio album, Souljaboytellem.com (2007). While critical reception was generally negative, the album peaked at number four on the US Billboard 200 and spawned the single "Yahhh!" Read more
28 Jul 1990: Simone Pizzuti, Italian footballer Simone Pizzuti is an Italian footballer who plays for Lega Pro Seconda Divisione club Lecco. Read more
28 Jul 1988: Gunnar Nelson, Icelandic professional fighter and mixed martial artist Gunnar Lúðvík Nelson is an Icelandic professional mixed martial artist, currently competing in the Welterweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. He is a black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, which was awarded by Renzo Gracie after impressive results at the 2009 IBJJF Pan-Ams and the 2009 ADCC Submission Wrestling World Championship. Nelson is a member of Mjölnir MMA in Iceland, and SBG Ireland. Read more
28 Jul 1987: Yevhen Khacheridi, Ukrainian-Greek footballer Yevhen Hryhorovych Khacheridi is a Ukrainian former professional footballer. Read more
28 Jul 1987: Pedro, Spanish footballer Pedro Eliezer Rodríguez Ledesma, known as Pedro, is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a winger. Read more
28 Jul 1987: Christofer Ranzmaier, Austrian politician Christofer Ranzmaier is an Austrian politician of the Freedom Party. He has been a member of the National Council since 2024, and was a member of the Tyrolean Landtag from 2018 to 2022. Read more
28 Jul 1986: Alexandra Chando, American actress Alexandra Chando is an American actress and director. She is known for her role as Maddie Coleman in the CBS soap opera, As the World Turns and for her dual role as identical twins, Emma Becker and Sutton Mercer in the ABC Family drama series, The Lying Game. Read more
28 Jul 1986: Lauri Korpikoski, Finnish ice hockey player Lauri Korpikoski is a Finnish professional ice hockey left winger who is currently playing for HC TPS of the Liiga. Korpikoski has previously played in the NHL for the Arizona Coyotes, Edmonton Oilers, Dallas Stars, Columbus Blue Jackets and the New York Rangers, the organization that drafted him in the first round, 19th overall, at the 2004 NHL entry draft. Read more
28 Jul 1986: Essence Carson, American basketball player Essence Carson is an American former professional basketball player. She played college basketball for Rutgers University. After a successful college career there, Carson was drafted by the New York Liberty with the 7th overall pick in the 2008 WNBA draft. Read more
28 Jul 1986: Nolan Gerard Funk, Canadian actor Nolan Gerard Funk is a Canadian actor and singer, known for portraying Hunter Clarington in the musical comedy-drama television series Glee, Collin Jennings in the comedy-drama television series Awkward, FBI agent Van White in The Flight Attendant, Angel Eyes in the drama series Counterpart and Conrad Birdie in the 2009 Broadway revival of the musical Bye Bye Birdie. Read more
28 Jul 1985: Mathieu Debuchy, French footballer Mathieu Debuchy is a French former professional footballer who played as a right-back. Read more
28 Jul 1985: Dustin Milligan, Canadian actor, producer, and screenwriter Dustin Wallace Milligan is a Canadian actor best known as Jack Snowman in Hot Frosty, Ted Mullens on Schitt's Creek, Ethan Ward on 90210, Tom Cummings in X Company, and Josh Carter on Rutherford Falls. Read more
28 Jul 1984: Ali Krieger, American soccer player Alexandra Blaire Krieger is an American former professional soccer player who played as a right back or center back. She made more than 100 appearances for the United States from 2008 to 2021, with which she won two FIFA Women's World Cups. Read more
28 Jul 1984: Zach Parise, American ice hockey player Zachary Justin Parise is an American former professional ice hockey player who was a left winger for the New Jersey Devils, Minnesota Wild, New York Islanders, and Colorado Avalanche of the National Hockey League (NHL) from 2005 to 2024. Parise captained the Devils to the 2012 Stanley Cup Final, where they lost to the Los Angeles Kings in six games. Parise was also an alternate captain for the American team at the 2010 Winter Olympics. Read more
28 Jul 1984: DeMeco Ryans, American football player and coach Demeco Ryans is an American professional football coach and former linebacker who is the head coach for the Houston Texans of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Alabama Crimson Tide, where he was a unanimous All-American. Ryans was selected by the Texans in the second round of the 2006 NFL draft, where he was recognized as the Defensive Rookie of the Year. Ryans was selected to two Pro Bowls before being traded to the Philadelphia Eagles in 2012, where he spent four seasons before retiring. Read more
28 Jul 1984: John David Washington, American actor and football player John David Washington is an American actor and former professional football player. A son of actor Denzel Washington, he started his career in college football at Morehouse College and signed with the St. Louis Rams as an undrafted free agent in 2006. Professionally, Washington spent four years as a running back for the United Football League's Sacramento Mountain Lions. He shifted to acting, and was part of the main cast of the HBO comedy series Ballers (2015–2019) and appeared in the western film The Old Man & the Gun (2018). Washington's breakthrough role came playing Ron Stallworth in Spike Lee's crime drama BlacKkKlansman (2018), for which he received Golden Globe Award and Screen Actors Guild Award nominations. Read more
28 Jul 1983: Sam Dastyari, Iranian-Australian politician Sam Dastyari is an Australian former politician, who from 2013 to 2018 represented New South Wales in the Australian Senate as a member of the Australian Labor Party. Dastyari was previously General Secretary of the New South Wales branch of the Labor Party. He was the first person of Iranian origin and Azerbaijani descent
to sit in the Australian Parliament. As a Senator, Dastyari was the subject of a Chinese-related donations scandal, which eventually led to his resignation from the Senate on 25 January 2018. Read more
28 Jul 1983: Cody Hay, Canadian figure skater Cody Hay is a Canadian professional figure skating coach and former figure skater. With Anabelle Langlois, he is the 2008 Canadian national champion. He is now a coach with Langlois. Read more
28 Jul 1983: Ilir Latifi, Swedish-Kosovar mixed martial artist Ilir Latifi is a Swedish mixed martial artist who fights in the Heavyweight division, most recently in the Ultimate Fighting Championship. A two-time national wrestling champion and a professional MMA competitor since 2008, Latifi has also competed in Shark Fights, Rumble of The Kings, and GLORY. Read more
28 Jul 1982: Cain Velasquez, Mexican-American mixed martial artist and wrestler Cain Ramírez Velásquez is an American former professional wrestler and mixed martial artist. He is widely known for his time in the Ultimate Fighting Championship, where he competed in the heavyweight division and became a two-time UFC Heavyweight Champion. Read more
28 Jul 1981: Michael Carrick, English footballer and coach Michael Carrick is an English professional football coach and former player who is the head coach of Premier League club Manchester United. He is best known for his 12-year playing career with Manchester United, which he also captained in his final season there. Carrick was a midfielder who primarily played in a deep-lying role, but he was also used as an emergency centre-back under Alex Ferguson, David Moyes, Louis van Gaal and José Mourinho. His playing style was grounded in his passing ability. Read more
28 Jul 1981: Willie Green, American basketball player and coach William Julius Green is an American professional basketball coach and former player who currently is an assistant coach for the Dallas Mavericks of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played professionally in the NBA with the Philadelphia 76ers, New Orleans Hornets, Atlanta Hawks, Los Angeles Clippers and Orlando Magic. He was selected in the second round of the 2003 NBA draft by the Seattle SuperSonics and later acquired by the Philadelphia 76ers from Seattle in a draft-night trade for the draft rights to Paccelis Morlende and cash considerations. Read more
28 Jul 1979: Henrik Hansen, Danish footballer Henrik Hallenberg Hansen is a Danish former professional football midfielder. He is currently an assistant coach of Danish Superliga club Brøndby IF. Read more
28 Jul 1979: Birgitta Haukdal, Icelandic singer-songwriter and producer Birgitta Haukdal Brynjarsdóttir, known mononymously as Birgitta, is an Icelandic singer. She rose to domestic media prominence as the lead singer of pop band Írafár. She represented Iceland in the Eurovision Song Contest 2003 with the song "Open Your Heart", tying in eighth place with the Spanish contestant Beth with 81 points. Read more
28 Jul 1979: Lee Min-woo, South Korean singer-songwriter and dancer Lee Min-woo, also known by the stage name M, is a South Korean entertainer and singer. He is best known as a member of the South Korean boy band Shinhwa. Lee was the first Shinhwa member to debut as a solo artist in 2003, and has since released three studio albums. Read more
28 Jul 1979: Alena Popchanka, Belarusian-French swimmer and coach Alena Popchanka is a 4-time Olympic freestyle and butterfly swimmer originally from Belarus. She swam for Belarus at the 1996, 2000 and 2004 Olympics. At the 2008 Olympics she swam for France, after her marriage to Frenchman Frédéric Vergnoux in early 2005. Read more
28 Jul 1978: Kārlis Vērdiņš, Latvian poet Kārlis Vērdiņš is a Latvian poet. Read more
28 Jul 1978: Hitomi Yaida, Japanese singer-songwriter and guitarist Hitomi Yaida 矢井田瞳 is a Japanese pop/folk rock singer-songwriter and guitarist. She often goes by the nickname Yaiko. Yaida is an established musical artist in Japan and has also had minor club hits in the United Kingdom. Read more
28 Jul 1977: Aki Berg, Finnish-Canadian ice hockey player Aki-Petteri Arvid Berg is a Finnish former professional ice hockey defenceman. He was drafted third overall by the Los Angeles Kings in the 1995 NHL entry draft. He played both for the Kings and the Toronto Maple Leafs over nine seasons and has represented Team Finland twice at the Winter Olympics, winning a bronze medal at the 1998 Nagano Olympics, a silver medal at the 2004 World Cup of Hockey in which Finland lost in the finals to host Canada, and a silver medal at the 2006 Torino Olympics. Read more
28 Jul 1977: Manu Ginóbili, Argentinian basketball player Emanuel David "Manu" Ginóbili is an Argentine former professional basketball player. During a 23-year professional career, Ginóbili played in Argentina, in Italy, and in the NBA; he also represented Argentina in international competition. A shooting guard, he is best known for playing for the San Antonio Spurs of the NBA from 2002 to 2018. Ginóbili, Tim Duncan, and Tony Parker became known as the Spurs' "Big Three"; together, the trio won four NBA championships. In April 2022, Ginóbili was announced as a first-ballot inductee into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. Read more
28 Jul 1977: Miyabiyama Tetsushi, Japanese sumo wrestler Miyabiyama Tetsushi is a former sumo wrestler from Mito, Ibaraki, Japan. A former amateur champion, he turned professional in 1998. With the exception of two tournaments, he was ranked in the top division of professional sumo from 1999 until the end of his career in 2013, holding the second highest rank of ōzeki from 2000 to 2001. He won eight special prizes and was runner-up in four top division tournaments. He wrestled for Fujishima stable, where he worked as a coach until opening his own Futagoyama stable. Read more
28 Jul 1976: Jacoby Shaddix, American singer-songwriter Jacoby Dakota Shaddix is an American singer, rapper, songwriter, and TV presenter. He is best known as a founding member and the continuous lead singer of the California-based rock band Papa Roach since the band's formation in 1993. Read more
28 Jul 1975: Leonor Watling, Spanish actress Leonor Elizabeth Ceballos Watling is a Spanish film actress and singer. Read more
28 Jul 1974: Afroman, American rapper and comedian Joseph Edgar Foreman, known by his stage name Afroman, is an American rapper, singer, and musician. His fourth album, The Good Times (2001), featured the singles "Because I Got High" and "Crazy Rap". "Because I Got High" was nominated for a Grammy Award in 2002 for Best Rap Solo Performance. Read more
28 Jul 1974: Elizabeth Berkley, American actress Elizabeth Berkley is an American actress. She is best known for playing Jessie Spano in the Saved by the Bell television franchise and Nomi Malone in the controversial 1995 film Showgirls. She had supporting roles in the box office hits The First Wives Club and Any Given Sunday, as well as in The Curse of the Jade Scorpion and Roger Dodger. Read more
28 Jul 1974: Alexis Tsipras, Greek engineer and politician, 186th Prime Minister of Greece Alexis Tsipras is a Greek politician who is the founder and leader of the political party ELAS and who served as Prime Minister of Greece from 2015 to 2019 as a member of Syriza. A prominent leftist figure, Tsipras served as the leader of the Greek political party Syriza from 2008 to 2023. Tsipras is the fourth prime minister who has governed in the course of the 2010s Greek government-debt crisis. Originally an outspoken critic of the austerity policies implemented during the crisis, his tenure in office was marked by an intense austerity policy, mostly in the context of the third EU bailout to Greece (2015–18). Read more
28 Jul 1973: Marc Dupré, Canadian singer-songwriter and guitarist Marc Dupré is a Canadian singer-songwriter and comedian from Quebec. Read more
28 Jul 1973: Steve Staios, Canadian ice hockey player Steve Staios is a Canadian ice hockey executive and former professional player. He currently serves as president of hockey operations and general manager for the Ottawa Senators. Staios played right defence in the National Hockey League (NHL) with the Boston Bruins, Vancouver Canucks, Atlanta Thrashers, Edmonton Oilers, Calgary Flames, and New York Islanders during his career. Read more
28 Jul 1972: Robert Chapman, English cricketer Robert James Chapman is an English cricketer who played first-class cricket for Nottinghamshire and Worcestershire between 1992 and 1998, and List A cricket for Lincolnshire in the early 21st century. He is the son of footballer Bob Chapman, who was often known as 'Sammy'. Read more
28 Jul 1971: Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, Iraqi leader of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (died 2019) Ibrahim Awwad Ibrahim Ali al-Badri, commonly known by his nom de guerre Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, was an Iraqi militant leader and former teacher who was the founder and first leader of the Islamic State (IS), who proclaimed himself caliph in 2014 and stayed in power until his suicide in an American operation in 2019. Read more
28 Jul 1971: Ludmilla Lacueva Canut, Andorran writer Ludmilla Lacueva Canut is an Andorran writer of both fiction and non-fiction works, as well as an opinion columnist for the newspaper Bondia. Read more
28 Jul 1971: Stephen Lynch, American singer-songwriter and actor Stephen Andrew Lynch is an American comedian, musician and actor who is known for his satirical songs mocking daily life and popular culture. Lynch has released four studio albums and four live albums along with a live DVD. This 2004 DVD, Live at the El Rey, was certified Gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). Read more
28 Jul 1971: Annie Perreault, Canadian speed skater Annie Perreault is a Canadian short track speed skater, who won medals in the 500 m and 3000 m relay at the 1998 Winter Olympics. She had already won a relay gold medal at the 1992 Winter Olympics. Read more
28 Jul 1970: Michael Amott, Swedish guitarist and songwriter Michael Amott is a Swedish guitarist, founding member of the metal bands Arch Enemy, Spiritual Beggars and Carnage, as well as a former member of Carcass. He is the older brother of Christopher Amott. Read more
28 Jul 1970: Isabelle Brasseur, Canadian figure skater Isabelle Brasseur, is a Canadian former competitive pair skater. With her partner, Lloyd Eisler, she won two Olympic medals and the 1993 World Championships. Read more
28 Jul 1970: Paul Strang, Zimbabwean cricketer and coach Paul Andrew Strang is a Zimbabwean cricket coach and former international player. A leg-spinning all-rounder, he played in 24 Test matches and 95 One Day Internationals for Zimbabwe between 1994 and 2001. He played Test cricket alongside his brother, Bryan Strang; their father, Ronald Strang, was a first-class umpire and was TV umpire for two of Zimbabwe's Test matches in 1994/5. Read more
28 Jul 1969: Alexis Arquette, American actress (died 2016) Alexis Arquette was an American actress and transgender activist. Born in Los Angeles, she was the fourth of five children of actor and director Lewis Arquette and Brenda Olivia "Mardi", an actress. Her siblings include actors Rosanna, Richmond, Patricia, and David Arquette. Read more
28 Jul 1969: Garth Snow, American ice hockey player and manager Garth E. Snow is an American former professional ice hockey goaltender and former general manager, president, and alternate governor of the New York Islanders of the NHL. Read more
28 Jul 1969: Dana White, American businessman, president of the Ultimate Fighting Championship Dana Frederick White Jr. is an American businessman who is the president and chief executive officer (CEO) of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), a global mixed martial arts organization. In 2025, White's net worth was estimated at over $600 million by Forbes. Read more
28 Jul 1967: Taka Hirose, Japanese bass player Takashi Hirose is a Japanese musician who is the current bass guitarist for the rock band Feeder. Read more
28 Jul 1966: Liz Cheney, American politician, daughter of Dick Cheney Elizabeth Lynne Cheney is an American attorney and former politician who was the U.S. representative for Wyoming's at-large congressional district from 2017 to 2023, and served as chair of the House Republican Conference from 2019 to 2021. A member of the Republican Party, she is known for her vocal opposition to Donald Trump. Read more
28 Jul 1966: Sossina M. Haile, Ethiopian American chemist Sossina M. Haile is an Ethiopian-American chemist, known for developing the first solid acid fuel cells. She is a professor of materials science and engineering at Northwestern University, Illinois, US. Read more
28 Jul 1966: Miguel Ángel Nadal, Spanish footballer Miguel Ángel Nadal Homar is a Spanish former professional footballer who played as a versatile defender and midfielder. Read more
28 Jul 1966: Jimmy Pardo, American stand-up comedian, actor, and host James Ronald Pardo, Jr. is an American stand-up comedian, actor, and host of the comedy podcast Never Not Funny. From the show's inception until mid-2015, he performed as the Conan O'Brien program Conan's warm-up comedian and cast member, after which he received a general development deal with O'Brien's production company. He last hosted the game show Race to Escape on the Science Channel. Read more
28 Jul 1966: Shikao Suga, Japanese singer-songwriter and guitarist Shikao Suga is a Japanese musician and singer-songwriter from Tokyo known for writing the theme songs for several anime, movies and commercial ads. His name in kanji is 菅止戈男, but he uses katakana as his professional name. Read more
28 Jul 1965: Priscilla Chan, Hong Kong singer Priscilla Chan Wai Han is a Hong Kong singer. She is renowned for her contralto singing voice and her maturely clear, technically skilled, and emotion-rich vocals. Read more
28 Jul 1965: Delfeayo Marsalis, American jazz musician (trombonist), member of the Marsalis family Delfeayo Ferdinand Marsalis is an American jazz trombonist, record producer and educator. Read more
28 Jul 1964: Lori Loughlin, American actress Lori Anne Loughlin is an American actress. From 1988 to 1995, she played Rebecca Donaldson Katsopolis on the ABC sitcom Full House, and reprised the role for its Netflix sequel Fuller House (2016–2018). Loughlin is also known for her roles of Jody Travis in The Edge of Night (1980–1983), Debbie Wilson in The CW series 90210 (2008–2012), Jennifer Shannon in the Garage Sale Mystery television film series (2013–2018), and Abigail Stanton in When Calls the Heart (2013–2019). She was a co-creator, producer, and star of the two seasons of The WB series Summerland (2004–2005). Read more
28 Jul 1962: Rachel Sweet, American singer, television writer, and actress Rachel Sweet is an American singer, television writer and actress. Read more
28 Jul 1961: Yannick Dalmas, French racing driver Yannick Paul Marie Dalmas is a former racing driver from France. He won the 24 Hours of Le Mans four times, each time with a different car manufacturer, a unique feature in the history of the race. Prior to this, he participated in 49 Formula One Grands Prix. Read more
28 Jul 1960: Luiz Fernando Carvalho, Brazilian director, producer, and screenwriter Luiz Fernando Carvalho is a Brazilian film and television director, screenwriter, producer and editor, known for works closely linked to literature that constitute a renovation in Brazilian audiovisual aesthetics. He has already brought to the screen works by Ariano Suassuna, Raduan Nassar, Machado de Assis, Eça de Queirós, Roland Barthes, Clarice Lispector, Milton Hatoum, José Lins do Rego, and Graciliano Ramos, among others. Read more
28 Jul 1960: Jon J. Muth, American author and illustrator Jon J Muth is an American writer and illustrator of children's books as well as graphic novels and comic books. Read more
28 Jul 1960: Yōichi Takahashi, Japanese illustrator Yōichi Takahashi is a Japanese cartoonist and manga artist, best known for his work Captain Tsubasa. Takahashi has published art books, manga, novels, and guides, most of which are about Captain Tsubasa. He is also known for his soccer series, Hungry Heart: Wild Striker. He is currently the chairman of Nankatsu SC. Read more
28 Jul 1959: Mark Meadows, American politician, Donald Trump's former Chief of Staff Mark Randall Meadows is an American politician who served as the 29th White House chief of staff from 2020 to 2021 under the Trump administration. A member of the Republican Party, he also served as the U.S. representative for North Carolina's 11th congressional district from 2013 to 2020. During his legislative tenure, Meadows chaired the Freedom Caucus from 2017 to 2019. He was considered one of Donald Trump's closest allies in the House of Representatives before his appointment as chief of staff. Read more
28 Jul 1959: William T. Vollmann, American novelist, short story writer and journalist William Tanner Vollmann is an American novelist, journalist, war correspondent, short story writer and essayist. He won the 2005 National Book Award for Fiction with the novel Europe Central. Read more
28 Jul 1958: Terry Fox, Canadian runner and activist (died 1981) Terrance Stanley Fox was a Canadian athlete, humanitarian, and cancer research activist. In 1980, having had one leg amputated due to cancer, he embarked on a cross-Canada run to raise money and awareness for cancer research. The annual Terry Fox Run, first held in 1981, has grown to involve millions of participants in over 60 countries and is the world's largest one-day fundraiser for cancer research; over C$1 billion has been raised in his name through the Terry Fox Research Institute as of February 2026. Read more
28 Jul 1958: Michael Hitchcock, American actor, producer, and screenwriter Michael Hitchcock is an American actor, comedian, screenwriter, and television producer. Read more
28 Jul 1957: Scott Pelley, American journalist and author Scott Cameron Pelley is an American author and broadcast journalist. Pelley is the author of the 2019 book, Truth Worth Telling, and a former correspondent for the CBS News magazine 60 Minutes. Pelley served as anchor and managing editor of the CBS Evening News from 2011 to 2017, a period in which the broadcast added viewers. Pelley served as CBS News's chief White House correspondent from 1997 to 1999. Read more
28 Jul 1956: John Feinstein, American sportswriter and commentator (died 2025) John Feinstein was an American sportswriter, author, and sports commentator. A long-time sports reporter at the Washington Post, he also wrote numerous books and was particularly known for A Season on the Brink, published in 1986, which chronicled a season with Bob Knight's Indiana Hoosiers men's basketball team. Read more
28 Jul 1956: Robert Swan, English explorer Robert Charles Swan, OBE, FRGS is the first person to walk to both poles. Read more
28 Jul 1954: Hugo Chávez, Venezuelan colonel and politician, President of Venezuela (died 2013) Hugo Rafael Chávez Frías was a Venezuelan politician, revolutionary, and military officer who was the president of Venezuela from 1999 until his death in 2013. Chávez changed the country's name from the Republic of Venezuela to the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, creating the fifth republic in Venezuelan history and led the Bolivarian revolution. Chávez was the leader of the Fifth Republic Movement political party from its foundation in 1997 until it merged with several other parties to form the United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV), the ruling party of Venezuela since 2007. The political ideology centered around Chávez's ideas is known as Chavismo. Read more
28 Jul 1954: Gerd Faltings, German mathematician and academic Gerd Faltings is a German mathematician known for his work in arithmetic geometry. He was awarded the Fields Medal in 1986 for his proofs of the Mordell conjecture and several related conjectures. He won the Abel Prize in 2026 for these achievements. Read more
28 Jul 1954: Nnenna Freelon, American jazz singer, composer, and arranger Nnenna Freelon is an American jazz singer, composer, producer, and arranger. Read more
28 Jul 1954: Steve Morse, American singer-songwriter and guitarist Steve J. Morse is an American guitarist and songwriter. A seven-time Grammy nominee, he is best known as the founder of the Dixie Dregs and as the longest serving guitarist for Deep Purple having joined in 1994. Morse also enjoyed a successful solo career and was a member of the group Kansas in the mid-1980s. Morse became a member of the supergroup Flying Colors in 2011. Read more
28 Jul 1954: Mikey Sheehy, Irish footballer Michael Sheehy is an Irish Gaelic football selector and former player. His league and championship career at senior level with the Kerry county team spanned fifteen seasons from 1973 to 1988. Read more
28 Jul 1952: Glenn A. Baker, Australian journalist and author Glenn A. Baker is an Australian journalist, commentator, author and broadcaster known for his vast knowledge of rock music. He has written books and magazine articles on rock music and travel, interviewed celebrities, managed bands such as Ol' 55 and promoted tours of international stars. In the mid-1980s, Baker took the BBC's "Rock Brain of the Universe" crown three times. Baker was the Australian editor of Billboard for over 20 years. He won the inaugural Australian Travel Writer of the Year award in 1995 from the Australian Society of Travel Writers, and he won the award again in 2000. Read more
28 Jul 1952: Vajiralongkorn, King of Thailand Vajiralongkorn, also known by his regnal name Rama X, is King of Thailand, reigning since 2016. He is the tenth monarch of the Chakri dynasty, succeeding his father, King Bhumibol Adulyadej. Read more
28 Jul 1951: Santiago Calatrava, Spanish architect and engineer, designed the Athens Olympic Sports Complex Santiago Calatrava Valls is a Spanish-Swiss architect, structural engineer, sculptor and painter, particularly known for his bridges supported by single leaning pylons, and his railway stations, stadiums, and museums, whose sculptural forms often resemble living organisms. His works include the Olympic Sports Complex of Athens, the Milwaukee Art Museum, the Turning Torso tower in Malmö, Sweden, the World Trade Center Transportation Hub in New York City, the Auditorio de Tenerife in Santa Cruz de Tenerife, the Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge in Dallas, Texas, and his largest project, the City of Arts and Sciences and Opera House in his birthplace, Valencia. His architectural firm has offices in New York City, Doha, and Zurich. Read more
28 Jul 1951: Doug Collins, American basketball player and coach Paul Douglas Collins is an American basketball executive, former player, coach and television analyst in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played in the NBA from 1973 to 1981 for the Philadelphia 76ers, earning four NBA All-Star selections. He then became an NBA coach in 1986, and had stints coaching the Chicago Bulls, Detroit Pistons, Washington Wizards and Philadelphia 76ers. Collins also served as an analyst for various NBA-related broadcast shows. He is a recipient of the Curt Gowdy Media Award.
In April 2024, Collins was elected to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame class of 2024 by the Contributors Committee. Read more
28 Jul 1951: Gregg Giuffria, American rock musician and businessman Gregg Giuffria is an American rock musician and businessman. He was the keyboardist for album-oriented rock bands Angel, House of Lords, and Giuffria. Read more
28 Jul 1951: Ray Kennedy, English footballer (died 2021) Raymond Kennedy was an English footballer who won every domestic honour in the game with Arsenal and Liverpool in the 1970s and early 1980s. Kennedy played as a forward for Arsenal and then played as a left-sided midfielder for Liverpool. He scored 148 goals in 581 league and cup appearances in a 15-year career in the English Football League. Also, he won 17 caps for England between 1976 and 1980, scoring three international goals. Read more
28 Jul 1950: Shahyar Ghanbari, Iranian singer-songwriter Shahyar Ghanbari, also spelled incorrectly as Shahryar Ghanbari is an Iranian poet, writer, lyricist, songwriter, and singer of Persian pop music. He is also a film director and radio-TV producer. Read more
28 Jul 1950: Tapley Seaton, Kittitian politician, 4th Governor-General of Saint Kitts and Nevis (died 2023) Sir Samuel Weymouth Tapley Seaton was the fourth governor-general of Saint Kitts and Nevis from 2015 to 2023. Read more
28 Jul 1949: Vida Blue, American baseball player and sportscaster (died 2023) Vida Rochelle Blue Jr. was an American professional baseball player. He was a left-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball from 1969 to 1986, most notably as an integral member of the Oakland Athletics dynasty that won three consecutive World Series championships from 1972 to 1974. He won the American League (AL) Cy Young Award and Most Valuable Player Award in 1971. Read more
28 Jul 1949: Randall Wallace, American screenwriter and producer Randall Wallace is an American screenwriter, film director and producer who came to prominence by writing the screenplay for the historical drama film Braveheart (1995). His work on the film earned him a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay and a Writers Guild of America Award in the same category. He has since directed films such as The Man in the Iron Mask (1998), We Were Soldiers (2002), Secretariat (2010) and Heaven Is for Real (2014). Read more
28 Jul 1949: Simon Kirke, English drummer Simon Frederick St George Kirke is an English musician who was the co-founder, drummer, and only continuous member of the rock supergroup Bad Company. Prior to forming Bad Company, he was the drummer and co-founder of Free. Read more
28 Jul 1948: Gerald Casale, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and director Gerald Vincent Casale is an American musician. He came to prominence in the late 1970s as co-founder, co-lead vocalist and bass player of the new wave band Devo, which released a top 20 hit in 1980 with the single "Whip It". Casale is the main lyricist and one of the primary composers of Devo's music, as well as the director of most of the band's music videos. He is one of only two members who have been with Devo throughout its entire history. Bob, Casale's brother, also performed with the band until his death in 2014. Read more
28 Jul 1948: Eiichi Ohtaki, Japanese singer-songwriter and producer (died 2013) Eiichi Ohtaki was a Japanese musician, singer-songwriter and record producer. He first became known as a member of the rock band Happy End, but was better known for his solo work which began in 1972. In 2003, Ohtaki was ranked by HMV at number 9 on their list of the 100 most important Japanese pop acts. Patrick Macias referred to Ohtaki as Phil Spector, Brian Wilson, George Martin and Joe Meek "synthesized into a single human being," and called his work "an encyclopedia of everything that was great about pop music in the 20th century." Read more
28 Jul 1948: Georgia Engel, American actress and comedian (died 2019) Georgia Bright Engel was an American actress and comedian. Read more
28 Jul 1947: Peter Cosgrove, Australian general and politician, 26th Governor General of Australia General Sir Peter John Cosgrove is an Australian retired senior Army officer who served as the 26th governor-general of Australia, in office from 2014 to 2019. Read more
28 Jul 1947: Sally Struthers, American actress Sally Anne Struthers is an American actress and activist. She is known for her portrayal of Gloria Stivic, the daughter of Archie and Edith Bunker on the sitcom All in the Family (1971–1978). For this role, Struthers received numerous accolades, including four Golden Globe Award nominations and five Primetime Emmy Award nominations, two of which she won for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series. Read more
28 Jul 1946: Jonathan Edwards, American singer-songwriter and guitarist Jonathan Edwards is an American country and folk singer-songwriter best known for his 1971 hit single "Sunshine". Read more
28 Jul 1946: Linda Kelsey, American actress Linda Kelsey is an American actress. She is best known for her role as Billie Newman on the CBS drama television series Lou Grant (1977–1982), which earned her three Golden Globe Award nominations and five Primetime Emmy Award nominations. Read more
28 Jul 1946: Fahmida Riaz, Pakistani poet and activist (died 2018) Fahmida Riaz was an Urdu writer, poet and activist from Pakistan. She authored many books, such as Godaavari, Khatt-e Marmuz, and Khana e Aab O Gil in addition to the first translation in rhyme of the Masnavi of Jalaluddin Rumi from Persian into Urdu. The author of more than 15 books of fiction and poetry, she remained at the center of controversies. When Badan Dareeda, her second collection of verses, appeared, she was accused of using erotic and sensual expressions in her work. The themes prevalent in her verse were, until then, considered taboo for women writers. She also translated the works of Shah Abdul Latif Bhitai and Shaikh Ayaz from Sindhi to Urdu. Fleeing General Zia-ul Haq's religious tyranny, Riaz sought refuge in India and spent seven years there. Read more
28 Jul 1945: Jim Davis, American cartoonist, created Garfield James Robert Davis is an American cartoonist, screenwriter, and producer. He is the creator of the comic strips Garfield and U.S. Acres. Published since 1978, Garfield is one of the world's most widely syndicated comic strips. Davis's other comics work includes T.K. Ryan's Tumbleweeds, Gnorm Gnat, and Mr. Potato Head. Read more
28 Jul 1943: Mike Bloomfield, American guitarist and songwriter (died 1981) Michael Bernard Bloomfield was an American blues guitarist and composer. Born in Chicago, he became one of the first popular music stars of the 1960s to earn his reputation almost entirely on his instrumental prowess, as he rarely sang before 1969. Respected for his guitar playing, Bloomfield knew and played with many of Chicago's blues musicians before achieving his own fame and was instrumental in popularizing blues music in the mid-1960s. In 1965, he played on Bob Dylan's Highway 61 Revisited, including the single "Like a Rolling Stone", and performed with Dylan at that year's Newport Folk Festival. Read more
28 Jul 1943: Bill Bradley, American basketball player and politician William Warren Bradley is an American politician and former professional basketball player. After playing in the National Basketball Association (NBA) for 10 seasons with the New York Knicks, he served as a United States senator from New Jersey from 1979 to 1997. A member of the Democratic Party, he was a candidate for the party's nomination for president in the 2000 election, losing to Vice President Al Gore. Read more
28 Jul 1943: Richard Wright, English singer-songwriter and keyboard player (died 2008) Richard William Wright was an English keyboardist, singer, and songwriter who co-founded the rock band Pink Floyd. He appeared on almost every Pink Floyd album and performed on all of their tours. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1996 as a member of Pink Floyd. Read more
28 Jul 1942: Tonia Marketaki, Greek director and screenwriter (died 1994) Tonia Marketaki was a Greek film director and screenwriter. She was born in Pireas and spent many of her childhood years in the Zografou district of Athens. Her maternal origins are from Kardamyla, in the island of Chios. Read more
28 Jul 1942: John Sattler, Australian rugby league player (died 2023) John William Sattler was an Australian professional rugby league footballer played as a prop in the 1960s and 1970s. He captained South Sydney to four premiership victories from 1967 to 1971 and who played four Tests for Australia – three as national captain. Known as "Satts", he was one of the hardmen of Australian rugby league and was regarded as an aggressive on field player but a softly spoken gentleman off the field – hence his other nickname "Gentleman John". His son Scott Sattler also played professionally, winning a premiership with the Penrith Panthers in 2003. Read more
28 Jul 1941: Bill Crider, American author (died 2018) Bill Crider was an American author of crime fiction among other work. Read more
28 Jul 1941: Riccardo Muti, Italian conductor and educator Riccardo Muti is an Italian conductor. He is current music director of the Orchestra Giovanile Luigi Cherubini. Muti has previously held posts at the Maggio Musicale in Florence, the Philharmonia Orchestra in London, the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Teatro alla Scala in Milan, the Salzburg Whitsun Festival, and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. He was named music director emeritus in Chicago in 2023. Read more
28 Jul 1941: Susan Roces, Filipino actress and producer (died 2022) Jesusa Purificación Levy Sonora-Poe, known professionally as Susan Roces, was a Filipino actress. She rose to fame in mid-1950s and became the biggest box-office star of the 1960s. Known for playing wholesome and sweet characters in romantic comedies and musicals during her youth, she dabbled into horror and drama in the succeeding decades. She was dubbed the "Queen of Philippine Movies" and appeared in more than 130 films throughout her career that spanned over six decades. Read more
28 Jul 1938: Luis Aragonés, Spanish footballer, coach, and manager (died 2014) Luis Aragonés Suárez was a Spanish football player and manager. Read more
28 Jul 1938: Arsen Dedić, Croatian singer-songwriter and poet (died 2015) Arsenije "Arsen" Dedić was a Yugoslav and Croatian singer-songwriter. He wrote and performed chansons, as well as film music. He was also an award-winning poet, and was one of the best-selling poets of former Yugoslavia and Croatia. Read more
28 Jul 1938: Alberto Fujimori, Peruvian engineer, academic, and politician, President of Peru (died 2024) Alberto Kenya Fujimori Inomoto was a Peruvian politician, professor, and engineer who served as the president of Peru from 1990 to 2000. During Fujimori's tenure, the Peruvian Armed Forces repressed the far-left guerrilla group Shining Path, halting the group's actions while also killing thousands of civilians. Fujimori became known for his neoliberal political and economic ideology of Fujimorism, which pushed a free market economy and social conservatism. He also collaborated with the head of the National Intelligence Service (SIN), Vladimiro Montesinos, to consolidate power and eliminate political opponents. Fujimori's presidency was marked by authoritarian measures, excessive use of propaganda, entrenched political corruption, multiple cases of extrajudicial killings, and human rights violations. Read more
28 Jul 1938: Chuan Leekpai, Thai lawyer and politician, 20th Prime Minister of Thailand Chuan Leekpai MPCh MVM ThChW is a Thai politician who was Prime Minister of Thailand from 1992 to 1995, and from 1997 to 2001. He was President of the National Assembly of Thailand and speaker of the Thai House of Representatives from 2019 to 2023; he also held the latter role from 1986 to 1988. Read more
28 Jul 1937: Peter Duchin, American pianist and bandleader Peter Oelrichs Duchin is an American pianist and band leader. Read more
28 Jul 1937: Francis Veber, French director and screenwriter Francis Paul Veber is a French film director, screenwriter and producer, and playwright. He has written and directed both French and American films. Nine French-language films with which he has been involved, as either writer or director or both, have been remade as English-language Hollywood films: Le grand blond avec une chaussure noire, L'emmerdeur, La Cage aux Folles, Le Jouet, Les Compères, La chèvre, Les Fugitifs, Le dîner de cons and La Doublure. He also wrote the screenplay for My Father the Hero, the 1994 American remake of the French-language film Mon père, ce héros. Read more
28 Jul 1936: Russ Jackson, Canadian football player and coach Russell Stanley Jackson is a Canadian former professional football player. Jackson spent his entire 12-year professional football career with the Ottawa Rough Riders of the Canadian Football League (CFL). He is a member of the Order of Canada, the Canadian Football Hall of Fame, and Canada's Sports Hall of Fame, and has been described as the best Canadian-born quarterback to play in the CFL. In 2006, Jackson was voted one of the CFL's Top 50 players (#8) of the league's modern era by Canadian sports network TSN, the highest-ranked Canadian-born player on the list. Read more
28 Jul 1936: Garfield Sobers, Barbadian cricketer Sir Garfield St Auburn Sobers, also known as Sir Gary or Sir Garry Sobers or just Gary Sobers was a Barbadian cricketer who played for the West Indies between 1954 and 1974. A highly skilled and aggressive batsman, a versatile bowler and an excellent fielder, he is widely considered to be cricket's greatest ever all-rounder and one of the greatest cricketers of all time. Read more
28 Jul 1935: Neil McKendrick, English historian and academic Neil McKendrick MA FRHistS was the 40th Master of Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge. He is now a life fellow of the college. Read more
28 Jul 1934: Jacques d'Amboise, American dancer and choreographer (died 2021) Jacques d'Amboise was an American ballet dancer, choreographer, and educator. He joined the New York City Ballet in 1949 and was named principal dancer in 1953, and throughout his time with the company he danced 24 roles for George Balanchine. He also made film appearances, including Seven Brides for Seven Brothers and Carousel. He choreographed 17 ballets for the New York City Ballet and retired from performing in 1984. Read more
28 Jul 1933: Charlie Hodge, Canadian ice hockey player and scout (died 2016) Charles Edward Hodge was a Canadian ice hockey player who played as a goaltender for the Montreal Canadiens, Vancouver Canucks, and Oakland Seals of the National Hockey League between 1954 and 1971. Read more
28 Jul 1932: Natalie Babbitt, American author and illustrator (died 2016) Natalie Zane Babbitt was an American writer and illustrator of children's books. Her 1975 novel, Tuck Everlasting, was adapted into two feature films and a Broadway musical. She received the Newbery Honor and Christopher Award, and was the U.S. nominee for the biennial international Hans Christian Andersen Award in 1982. Read more
28 Jul 1932: Carlos Alberto Brilhante Ustra, Brazilian colonel (died 2015) Carlos Alberto Brilhante Ustra was a Brazilian army officer, politician and known and convicted torturer who served as a colonel in the Brazilian Army. Read more
28 Jul 1931: Alan Brownjohn, English poet and author (died 2024) Alan Charles Brownjohn was an English poet and novelist. He also worked as a teacher, lecturer, critic and broadcaster. Read more
28 Jul 1931: Darryl Hickman, American actor (died 2024) Darryl Gerard Hickman was an American actor, screenwriter, television executive, and acting coach. He started his career as a child actor in the Golden Age of Hollywood and appeared in numerous television serials as an adult, including several episodes of the CBS series The Nanny. He appeared in films such as The Grapes of Wrath (1940) and Leave Her to Heaven (1945). Read more
28 Jul 1931: Johnny Martin, Australian cricketer (died 1992) John Wesley Martin was an Australian cricketer who played in eight Test matches from 1960 to 1967. Read more
28 Jul 1930: Firoza Begum, Bangladeshi singer (died 2014) Firoza Begum was a Bangladeshi Bengali Nazrul Geeti singer. She was awarded the Independence Day Award in 1979 by the government of Bangladesh. Read more
28 Jul 1930: Junior Kimbrough, American singer and guitarist (died 1998) David Malone "Junior" Kimbrough Jr. was an American blues musician. His best-known works are "Keep Your Hands off Her" and "All Night Long". In 2023, he was inducted in the Blues Hall of Fame. Read more
28 Jul 1930: Jean Roba, Belgian author and illustrator (died 2006) Jean Roba was a Belgian comics author from the Marcinelle school. His best-known work is Boule et Bill. Read more
28 Jul 1930: Ramsey Muir Withers, Canadian general (died 2014) General Ramsey Muir Withers, CMM, CD was a Canadian Army Officer and Chief of the Defence Staff, the highest ranking position in the Canadian Forces, from 1980 to 1983. He died of a heart attack in 2014. Read more
28 Jul 1929: Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, American journalist and socialite, 37th First Lady of the United States (died 1994) Jacqueline Lee Kennedy Onassis was the first lady of the United States from 1961 to 1963, as the wife of John F. Kennedy, the 35th president of the United States. She redefined the previously mostly ceremonial role into a platform for arts and culture by hosting multiple high-profile events at the White House and leading its restoration into being a historical site. Through her fashion and cultural literacy, she improved the global standing of the United States during the politically volatile Cold War. Her personal style became known as the "Jackie Look", which inspired worldwide fashion trends during the 1960s. Read more
28 Jul 1927: John Ashbery, American poet (died 2017) John Lawrence Ashbery was an American poet and art critic. Read more
28 Jul 1926: Charlie Biddle, American-Canadian bassist (died 2003) Charles Reed Biddle, was an American-Canadian jazz bassist. He lived most of his life in Montreal, organizing and performing in jazz music events. Read more
28 Jul 1925: Baruch Samuel Blumberg, American physician and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 2011) Baruch Samuel Blumberg, known as Barry Blumberg, was an American physician, geneticist, and co-recipient of the 1976 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, for his work on the hepatitis B virus while an investigator at the NIH and at the Fox Chase Cancer Center. He was president of the American Philosophical Society from 2005 until his death. Read more
28 Jul 1924: Luigi Musso, Italian racing driver (died 1958) Luigi Musso was an Italian racing driver, who competed in Formula One from 1953 to 1958. Musso won the 1956 Argentine Grand Prix with Ferrari. Read more
28 Jul 1923: Ray Ellis, American conductor and producer (died 2008) Ray Ellis was an American record producer, arranger, conductor, and saxophonist. He was responsible for the orchestration in Billie Holiday's Lady in Satin (1958). Read more
28 Jul 1922: Jacques Piccard, Belgian-Swiss oceanographer and engineer (died 2008) Jacques Piccard was a Swiss oceanographer and engineer, known for having developed submarines for studying ocean currents. In the Challenger Deep, he and Lieutenant Don Walsh of the United States Navy were the first people to explore the deepest known part of the world's ocean, and the deepest known location on the surface of Earth's crust, the Mariana Trench, located in the western North Pacific Ocean. Read more
28 Jul 1920: Andrew V. McLaglen, English-American director and producer (died 2014) Andrew Victor McLaglen was a British-born American film and television director. He was best known for his Westerns and adventure films, often starring John Wayne or James Stewart. Read more
28 Jul 1916: David Brown, American journalist and producer (died 2010) David Brown was an American film and theatre producer and writer who was best known for producing the 1975 film Jaws based on the best-selling novel by Peter Benchley. Read more
28 Jul 1915: Charles H. Townes, American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 2015) Charles Hard Townes was an American physicist. Townes worked on the theory and application of the maser, for which he obtained the fundamental patent, and other work in quantum electronics associated with both maser and laser devices. He shared the 1964 Nobel Prize in Physics with Nikolay Basov and Alexander Prokhorov. Townes was an adviser to the U.S. Government, meeting every President from Harry S. Truman (1945) to Bill Clinton (1999). Read more
28 Jul 1915: Dick Sprang, American illustrator (died 2000) Richard W. Sprang was an American comic book artist and penciller, best known for his work on the superhero Batman during the period fans and historians call Golden Age of Comic Books. Sprang was responsible for the 1950 redesign of the Batmobile and the original design of the Riddler, who has appeared in film, television and other media adaptations. Sprang's Batman was notable for his square chin, expressive face and barrel chest. Read more
28 Jul 1915: Frankie Yankovic, American polka musician (died 1998) Frank John Yankovic was an American accordion player and polka musician. Known as "America's Polka King", Yankovic was considered the premier artist to play in the Slovenian style during his long career. Read more
28 Jul 1914: Carmen Dragon, American conductor and composer (died 1984) Carmen Dragon was an American conductor, composer, and arranger who in addition to live performances and recording, worked in radio, film, and television. Read more
28 Jul 1909: Aenne Burda, German publisher (died 2005) Aenne Burda, born Anna Magdalene Lemminger, was a German publisher of the Burda Group, a media group based in Offenburg and Munich, Germany. She was one of the symbols of the German economic miracle. Read more
28 Jul 1909: Malcolm Lowry, English novelist and poet (died 1957) Clarence Malcolm Lowry was an English poet and novelist who is best known for his 1947 novel Under the Volcano, which was voted No. 11 in the Modern Library's 100 Best Novels list. Read more
28 Jul 1907: Earl Tupper, American inventor and businessman, founded Tupperware Brands (died 1983) Earl Silas Tupper was an American businessman and inventor, best known as the inventor of Tupperware, an airtight plastic container for storing food, and for founding the related home products company that bears his name, Tupperware Plastics Company. Read more
28 Jul 1902: Albert Namatjira, Australian painter (died 1959) Albert Namatjira was an Arrernte painter from the MacDonnell Ranges in Central Australia, widely considered one of the most notable Australian artists. As a pioneer of contemporary Indigenous Australian art, he was arguably one of the most famous Indigenous Australians of his generation. He was the first Aboriginal artist to receive popularity from a wide Australian audience. Read more
28 Jul 1902: Karl Popper, Austrian-English philosopher and academic (died 1994) Sir Karl Raimund Popper was an Austrian–British philosopher, academic and social commentator. One of the 20th century's most influential philosophers of science, Popper is known for his rejection of the classical inductivist views on the scientific method in favour of empirical falsification made possible by his falsifiability criterion, and for founding the Department of Philosophy at the London School of Economics and Political Science. According to Popper, a theory in the empirical sciences can never be proven, but it can be falsified, meaning that it can be scrutinised with decisive experiments. Popper was opposed to the classical justificationist account of knowledge, which he replaced with "the first non-justificational philosophy of criticism in the history of philosophy", namely critical rationalism. Read more
28 Jul 1901: Freddie Fitzsimmons, American baseball player, coach, and manager (died 1979) Frederick Landis Fitzsimmons was an American professional baseball right-handed pitcher, manager, and coach, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1925 to 1943 with the New York Giants and Brooklyn Dodgers. Nicknamed Fat Freddie, and known for his mastery of the knuckle curve, Fitzsimmons' 217 wins were the third most by a National League (NL) right-hander in the period from 1920 to 1955, trailing only Burleigh Grimes and Paul Derringer. In 1940 he set an NL record, which stood until 1959, with a single-season winning percentage of .889 (16–2). He was an agile fielder in spite of his heavy build, holding the major league record for career double plays (79) from 1938 to 1964, and tying another record by leading the league in putouts four times; he ranked eighth in NL history in putouts (237) and ninth in fielding percentage (.977) when his career ended. Read more
28 Jul 1901: Rudy Vallée, American actor, singer, and saxophonist (died 1986) Hubert Prior Vallée, known professionally as Rudy Vallée, was an American singer, musician, actor, and radio host. He was one of the first modern pop stars of the teen idol type. Read more
28 Jul 1898: Lawrence Gray, American actor (died 1970) Lawrence Gray was an American actor of the 1920s and 1930s. Read more
28 Jul 1896: Barbara La Marr, American actress and screenwriter (died 1926) Barbara La Marr was an American film actress and screenwriter who appeared in twenty-seven films during her career between 1920 and 1926. La Marr was also noted by the media for her beauty, dubbed as the "Girl Who Is Too Beautiful", as well as her tumultuous personal life. Read more
28 Jul 1893: Rued Langgaard, Danish organist and composer (died 1952) Rued Langgaard was a late-Romantic Danish composer and organist. His then-unconventional music was at odds with that of his Danish contemporaries but was recognized 16 years after his death. Read more
28 Jul 1893: Bullet Rogan, American baseball player (died 1967) Charles Wilber Rogan, nicknamed "Bullet Joe", was an American pitcher, outfielder, second baseman and player-manager for the Kansas City Monarchs in the Negro baseball leagues from 1920 to 1938. Renowned as a two-way player who could both hit and pitch successfully, one statistical compilation shows Rogan winning more games than any other pitcher in Negro leagues history and ranking fourth highest in career batting average. He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1998. Read more
28 Jul 1887: Marcel Duchamp, French-American painter and sculptor (died 1968) Henri-Robert-Marcel Duchamp was a French American artist, chess player, and inventor who played a key role in the development of the avant-garde in the United States and in New York City, where he spent the last 25 years of his life. Read more
28 Jul 1887: Willard Price, Canadian-American journalist and author (died 1983) Willard DeMille Price was a Canadian-born American traveller, journalist and author. Read more
28 Jul 1879: Lucy Burns, American activist, co-founded the National Woman's Party (died 1966) Lucy Burns was an American suffragist and women's rights advocate. She was a passionate activist in the United States and the United Kingdom, who joined the militant suffragettes. Burns was a close friend of Alice Paul, and together they ultimately formed the National Woman's Party. Read more
28 Jul 1879: Stefan Filipkiewicz, Polish painter (died 1944) Stefan Filipkiewicz was a Polish painter and designer. He was born in Tarnów, Austria-Hungary, and died in Mauthausen-Gusen concentration camp, Nazi Germany, during the Holocaust. Notable for his landscapes inspired by the Young Poland movement, he was a leading representative of the Polish Art Nouveau style of painting. Read more
28 Jul 1874: Ernst Cassirer, Polish-American philosopher and academic (died 1945) Ernst Alfred Cassirer was a German philosopher and historian of philosophy. Trained within the Marburg school of neo-Kantianism, he initially followed his mentor Hermann Cohen in attempting to supply an idealistic philosophy of science. Read more
28 Jul 1872: Albert Sarraut, French journalist and politician, 106th Prime Minister of France (died 1962) Albert-Pierre Sarraut was a French Radical politician, twice Prime Minister during the Third Republic. Read more
28 Jul 1867: Charles Dillon Perrine, American-Argentinian astronomer (died 1951) Charles Dillon Perrine was an American astronomer at the Lick Observatory in California (1893-1909) who moved to Cordoba, Argentina to accept the position of Director of the Argentine National Observatory (1909-1936). The Cordoba Observatory under Perrine's direction made the first attempts to prove Einstein's theory of relativity by astronomical observation of the deflection of starlight near the Sun during the solar eclipse of October 10, 1912 in Cristina (Brazil), and the solar eclipse of August 21, 1914 at Feodosia, Crimea, Russian Empire. Rain in 1912 and clouds in 1914 prevented results. Read more
28 Jul 1866: Beatrix Potter, English children's book writer and illustrator (died 1943) Helen Beatrix Heelis, usually known as Beatrix Potter, was an English writer, illustrator, natural scientist, and conservationist. She is best known for her children's books featuring animals, such as The Tale of Peter Rabbit, which was her first commercially published work in 1902. Her books, including The Tale of Jemima Puddle Duck and The Tale of Tom Kitten, have sold more than 250 million copies. An entrepreneur, Potter was a pioneer of character merchandising. In 1903, Peter Rabbit was the first fictional character to be made into a patented stuffed toy, making him the oldest licensed character. Read more
28 Jul 1866: Albertson Van Zo Post, American fencer (died 1938) Albertson Van Zo Post was an American fencer and writer. He earned two gold medals in the 1904 Summer Olympics as well as a silver and two bronze medals, and also competed in the 1912 Summer Olympics. Read more
28 Jul 1863: Huseyn Khan Nakhchivanski, Russian general (died 1919) Huseyn Khan Nakhchivanski, or Nakhichevansky, francised spelling: Hussein Nahitchevansky, was a Russian Cavalry General of Turkic origin. He was the only Muslim to serve as General Adjutant of the H. I. M. Retinue. Read more
28 Jul 1860: Elias M. Ammons, American businessman and politician, 19th Governor of Colorado (died 1925) Elias Milton Ammons served as the 19th governor of Colorado from 1913 to 1915. He is perhaps best remembered for ordering National Guard troops into Ludlow, Colorado during the Colorado Coalfield War, which resulted in the Ludlow Massacre. He was also instrumental in starting the National Western Stock Show, which is still active. His son, Teller Ammons, was also governor of Colorado. Read more
28 Jul 1860: Grand Duchess Anastasia Mikhailovna of Russia (died 1922) Grand Duchess Anastasia Mikhailovna of Russia was by birth member of the House of Romanov and a Grand Duchess of Russia and by marriage Grand Duchess of Mecklenburg-Schwerin. Read more
28 Jul 1857: Ballington Booth, English-American activist, co-founded Volunteers of America (died 1940) Ballington Booth was a British-born American Christian minister who co-founded Volunteers of America, a Christian charitable organization, and became its first General (1896-1940). He was a former officer in The Salvation Army. Read more
28 Jul 1849: James Edson White, American author and publisher, second son of Ellen G. White and James S. White James Edson White, frequently known as Edson White, was an American author, publisher and the second son of two of the pioneers of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, James S. White and Ellen G. White. Read more
28 Jul 1844: Gerard Manley Hopkins, English poet (died 1889) Gerard Manley Hopkins was an English poet and Jesuit priest, whose posthumous fame places him among the leading English poets. His prosody – notably his concept of sprung rhythm – established him as an innovator, as did his praise of God through vivid use of imagery and nature. Read more
28 Jul 1815: Stefan Dunjov, Bulgarian colonel (died 1889) Stefan Dunjov was a Banat Bulgarian military figure and revolutionary known for participating in both the Hungarian Revolution of 1848 and the Italian unification (Risorgimento), as well as for being the first ethnic Bulgarian Colonel. Read more
28 Jul 1804: Ludwig Feuerbach, German anthropologist and philosopher (died 1872) Ludwig Andreas Feuerbach was a German philosopher and anthropologist who was a leading figure among the Young Hegelians. He is best known for his 1841 book, The Essence of Christianity, which argued that God is a projection of the essential attributes of humanity. His critique of religion formed the basis for his advocacy of atheism, materialism, and sensualism. His thought served as a critical bridge between the philosophy of Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel and that of Karl Marx. Read more

Notable Deaths on 28 July

28 Jul 2025: Laura Dahlmeier, German biathlete, Olympic champion (born 1993) Laura Dahlmeier was a German biathlete. Dahlmeier started in her first World Cup races in the 2012–13 season. In 2014, she participated in the Winter Olympics in Sochi. She won a record of five gold medals at the World Championships of 2017. In 2018, she became the first woman to win the biathlon sprint and pursuit in the same Olympics. During her career she won a total of two golds and one bronze at the Olympics, seven gold medals, three silver medals and five bronze medals at World Championships, one overall World Cup and two discipline World Cup titles. Read more
28 Jul 2024: John Anderson, Scottish television personality, teacher and coach (born 1931) John Anderson was a Scottish television personality and sports coach. He was best known as the referee and official trainer on the UK television show Gladiators which featured his catchphrases including 'Contender, ready! Gladiator, ready!' Anderson previously worked as a teacher and coach for Commonwealth Games and Olympic Games athletes. Read more
28 Jul 2024: Doug Creek, American baseball player (born 1969) Paul Douglas Creek was an American professional baseball pitcher who played nine seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1995 to 2005 for seven different teams. He also played one season in Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) for the Hanshin Tigers in 1998. Read more
28 Jul 2024: Reyes Moronta, Dominican baseball player (born 1993) Reyes Armando Moronta was a Dominican professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the San Francisco Giants, Los Angeles Dodgers, Arizona Diamondbacks, and Los Angeles Angels. Moronta signed with the Giants as an international free agent in 2010 and played in MLB from 2017 to 2023. He died on July 28, 2024, in an all-terrain vehicle accident in the Dominican Republic. Read more
28 Jul 2024: Francine Pascal, American author (born 1932) Francine Paula Pascal was an American author best known for her Sweet Valley series of young adult novels. Sweet Valley High, the backbone of the collection, was made into a television series, which led to several spin-offs, including The Unicorn Club and Sweet Valley University. Although most of these books were published in the 1980s and 1990s, they remained so popular that several titles were re-released decades later. Read more
28 Jul 2022: Bernard Cribbins, British actor (born 1928) Bernard Joseph Cribbins was an English actor and singer whose career spanned over eight decades. Read more
28 Jul 2021: Dusty Hill, American musician (born 1949) Joe Michael "Dusty" Hill was an American musician who was the bassist of the rock band ZZ Top for more than 50 years. He also sang backing and lead vocals and played keyboards. Read more
28 Jul 2020: Junrey Balawing, Filipino record holder (born 1993) Junrey Balawing was a Filipino record holder at the Guinness World Records for the world's shortest man alive measuring at 60.00 centimetres (23.62 in) tall. The declaration came during Balawing's 18th birthday celebration. Guinness World Records official said Balawing broke the record of Khagendra Thapa Magar of Nepal, who was 0.67 m tall. Read more
28 Jul 2018: Wanny van Gils, Dutch footballer (born 1959) Wanny van Gils was a Dutch football player and coach. Read more
28 Jul 2016: Émile Derlin Zinsou, Beninese politician (born 1918) Émile Derlin Zinsou was a Beninese politician and physician who was the President of Dahomey from 17 July 1968 until 10 December 1969, supported by the military regime that took power in 1967. Zinsou was present at the signing of the treaty that formed the African Union on 12 July 2000 in Togo. He was a nationalist. Read more
28 Jul 2016: Mahasweta Devi, Indian Bengali fiction writer and socio-political activist (born 1926) Mahasweta Devi was an Indian Bengali language writer and activist. Her notable literary works include Hajar Churashir Maa, Rudali, and Aranyer Adhikar. She was a leftist who worked for the rights and empowerment of the tribal people of West Bengal, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh states of India. She was honoured with various literary awards such as the Sahitya Akademi Award, Jnanpith Award and Ramon Magsaysay Award along with India's civilian awards Padma Shri and Padma Vibhushan. Read more
28 Jul 2015: Jan Kulczyk, Polish businessman (born 1950) Jan Jerzy Kulczyk was a Polish billionaire businessman. He was the founder and owner of Kulczyk Holding and an international investment house Kulczyk Investments with headquarters in Luxembourg and offices in London and Kyiv, Ukraine. According to Forbes, Kulczyk was the richest Pole at the time of his death. Read more
28 Jul 2015: Edward Natapei, Vanuatuan politician, 6th Prime Minister of Vanuatu (born 1954) Edward Nipake Natapei Tuta Fanua`araki was a Vanuatuan politician. He was the prime minister of Vanuatu on two occasions, and was previously the minister of Foreign Affairs briefly in 1991, the acting president of Vanuatu from 2 March 1999 to 24 March 1999 and the deputy prime minister. He was the president of the Vanua'aku Pati, a socialist, Anglophone political party. Read more
28 Jul 2015: Clive Rice, South African cricketer and coach (born 1949) Clive Edward Butler Rice was a South African international cricketer. An all-rounder, Rice ended his First Class cricket career with a batting average of 40.95 and a bowling average of 22.49. He captained Nottinghamshire County Cricket Club from 1979 to 1987. Read more
28 Jul 2014: Alex Forbes, Scottish footballer and manager (born 1925) Alexander Rooney Forbes was a Scottish football player and manager. Read more
28 Jul 2014: Alakbar Mammadov, Azerbaijani footballer and manager (born 1930) Alakbar Mammadov was a Soviet and Azerbaijani footballer best known as a striker for FC Dynamo Moscow in the 1950s and later as the first manager of the independent Azerbaijan national football team. Read more
28 Jul 2013: Mustafa Adrisi, Ugandan general and politician, 3rd Vice President of Uganda (born 1922) Mustafa Adrisi Abataki was a Ugandan military officer and politician who served as the third vice president of Uganda from 1977 to 1979 and was one of President Idi Amin's closest associates before the two fell out. Read more
28 Jul 2013: Eileen Brennan, American actress and singer (born 1932) Eileen Brennan was an American actress. She made her film debut in the satire Divorce American Style (1967), followed by a supporting role in Peter Bogdanovich's The Last Picture Show (1971), which earned her a BAFTA Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress. Read more
28 Jul 2013: Rita Reys, Dutch jazz singer (born 1924) Rita Reys was a jazz singer from the Netherlands. She was promoted as "Europe's First Lady of Jazz". Read more
28 Jul 2013: William Scranton, American captain and politician, 13th United States Ambassador to the United Nations (born 1917) William Warren Scranton was an American Republican Party politician and diplomat. Scranton served as the 38th governor of Pennsylvania from 1963 to 1967, and as United States Ambassador to the United Nations from 1976 to 1977. Read more
28 Jul 2013: Ersilio Tonini, Italian cardinal (born 1914) Ersilio Tonini was an Italian cardinal of the Catholic Church. He served as Archbishop of Ravenna-Cervia from 1975 to 1990, and was elevated to the cardinalate in 1994. When Cardinal Paul Augustin Mayer died on 30 April 2010, Cardinal Tonini became the oldest living cardinal. He died on 28 July 2013, a week after his 99th birthday. Read more
28 Jul 2012: Colin Horsley, New Zealand-English pianist and educator (born 1920) Colin Robert Horsley was a New Zealand classical pianist and teacher who was based in the United Kingdom all his working life. He had a significant artistic association with the composer Sir Lennox Berkeley. Read more
28 Jul 2012: Sepp Mayerl, Austrian mountaineer (born 1937) Sepp Mayerl, also known as Blasl-Sepp was an Austrian mountaineer. Read more
28 Jul 2012: William F. Milliken Jr., American race car driver and engineer (born 1911) William F. Milliken Jr. was an aerospace engineer, automotive engineer and racecar driver. He was born in Old Town, Maine. Read more
28 Jul 2011: Abdul Fatah Younis, Libyan general (born 1944) Abdul Fatah Younis Al-Obeidi was a Libyan military officer and politician. He served as Libya's interior minister until his resignation on 22 February 2011 when he defected to the rebel side in the First Libyan Civil War. He was considered a key supporter of Muammar Gaddafi and even No. 2 in the Libyan government. Read more
28 Jul 2009: Jim Johnson, American football player and coach (born 1941) Jim Johnson was an American professional football player and coach in the National Football League (NFL). He was a defensive coordinator for nine seasons with the Philadelphia Eagles. Widely regarded as one of the best defensive coordinators in NFL history, he was especially known for being a master architect of blitzes, disguising them skillfully and keeping offenses off balance. Read more
28 Jul 2007: Karl Gotch, Belgian-American wrestler and trainer (born 1924) Karl Charles Istaz, known by the ring name Karl Gotch , was a Belgian-born American professional wrestler, catch wrestler, amateur wrestler, and trainer. Considered one of the most influential wrestlers of his time period, he is best known for training several acclaimed and influential professional wrestlers in Japan, and for becoming a catalyst in the faculty development of strong style, alongside New Japan Pro-Wrestling founder Antonio Inoki and fellow trainer Billy Robinson. Read more
28 Jul 2007: Jim LeRoy, American soldier and pilot (born 1961) Jim LeRoy was an American aerobatics pilot. He died upon impact in a crash at the Dayton Air Show in Ohio. Read more
28 Jul 2006: David Gemmell, English author (born 1948) David Andrew Gemmell was a British author of heroic fantasy, best known for his debut novel, Legend. A former journalist and newspaper editor, Gemmell had his first work of fiction published in 1984. He went on to write over thirty novels. Gemmell's works display violence, yet also explore themes of honour, loyalty and redemption. There is always a strong heroic theme but nearly always the heroes are flawed in some way. With over one million copies sold, his work continues to sell worldwide. Read more
28 Jul 2004: Francis Crick, English biologist and biophysicist, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1916) Francis Harry Compton Crick was an English molecular biologist, biophysicist, and neuroscientist. He, James Watson, Rosalind Franklin, and Maurice Wilkins played crucial roles in deciphering the helical structure of the DNA molecule. Read more
28 Jul 2004: Tiziano Terzani, Italian journalist and author (born 1938) Tiziano Terzani was an Italian journalist and writer, best known for his extensive knowledge of 20th century East Asia and for being one of the very few western reporters to witness both the fall of Saigon to the hands of the Viet Cong and the fall of Phnom Penh at the hands of the Khmer Rouge in the mid-1970s. Read more
28 Jul 2003: Valerie Goulding, Irish activist and politician (born 1918) Valerie Hamilton, Lady Goulding was an Irish campaigner for disabled people, and senator who set up the Central Remedial Clinic in 1951 alongside Kathleen O'Rourke which is now the largest organisation in Ireland looking after people with physical disabilities. She served as a member of Seanad Éireann from 1977 to 1981. Read more
28 Jul 2002: Archer John Porter Martin, English chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1910) Archer John Porter Martin was a British chemist who shared the 1952 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for the invention of partition chromatography with Richard Synge. Read more
28 Jul 2001: Ahmed Sofa, Bangladeshi poet, author, and critic (born 1943) Ahmed Sofa was a Bangladeshi writer, thinker, novelist, poet, philosopher and public intellectual. Sofa is considered by many, including National Professor Abdur Razzaq and Salimullah Khan, to be the most important Bengali Muslim writer after Mir Mosharraf Hossain and Kazi Nazrul Islam. A writer by occupation, Sofa wrote 18 non-fiction books, 8 novels, 4 collections of poems, 2 collections of short stories, and several books in other genres. Read more
28 Jul 2000: Abraham Pais, Dutch-American physicist and historian (born 1918) Abraham Pais was a Dutch-American physicist and science historian. Pais earned his Ph.D. from University of Utrecht just prior to a Nazi ban on Jewish participation in Dutch universities during World War II. When the Nazis began the forced relocation of Dutch Jews, he went into hiding, but was later arrested and saved only by the end of the war. He then served as an assistant to Niels Bohr in Denmark and was later a colleague of Albert Einstein at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, New Jersey. His Subtle is the Lord, considered by many to be the definitive biography of Einstein, won the Science Writing Award. He followed it with Inward Bound: Of Matter and Forces in the Physical World, a history of modern physics, Niels Bohr's Times: In Physics, Philosophy, and Polity and Einstein Lived Here: Essays for the Layman. He was a physics professor at Rockefeller University until his retirement. He won the 1995 Lewis Thomas Prize for science writing. Read more
28 Jul 1999: Trygve Haavelmo, Norwegian economist and mathematician, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1911) Trygve Magnus Haavelmo, born in Skedsmo, Norway, was an economist whose research interests centered on econometrics. He received the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences in 1989. Read more
28 Jul 1998: Zbigniew Herbert, Polish poet and author (born 1924) Zbigniew Herbert was a Polish poet, essayist, drama writer and moralist. He is one of the best known and the most translated post-war Polish writers. While he was first published in the 1950s, soon after he voluntarily ceased submitting most of his works to official Polish government publications. He resumed publication in the 1980s, initially in the underground press. Starting in the 1960s, he was nominated several times for the Nobel Prize in Literature. His books have been translated into 38 languages. Read more
28 Jul 1998: Lenny McLean, English boxer, actor, and author (born 1949) Leonard John McLean was an English unlicensed boxer, bouncer, bodyguard, businessman and actor. He was known as "The Guv'nor", "the King of the Cobbles" and "the hardest man in Britain". Read more
28 Jul 1998: Consalvo Sanesi, Italian racing driver (born 1911) Consalvo Sanesi was best known as the Alfa Romeo works' test driver in the period following World War II, but he also competed in races with the Alfa Romeo Tipo 158/159 cars in the period before the Formula One World Championship came into being. He competed in five Formula One World Championship Grands Prix, debuting on 3 September 1950. Although, on his day, his experience with the cars meant that he was often one of the fastest men on the racetrack, somehow this rarely translated into good results. He scored only 3 championship points. He found some success driving in sports car racing, continuing into the mid-1960s. Read more
28 Jul 1997: Rosalie Crutchley, English actress (born 1920) Rosalie Sylvia Crutchley was a British actress. Trained at the Royal Academy of Music, she was perhaps best known for her television performances, but had a long and successful career in theatre and films, making her stage debut in 1932 and her screen debut in 1947. Read more
28 Jul 1997: Seni Pramoj, Thai lawyer and politician, 6th Prime Minister of Thailand (born 1905) Mom Rajawongse Seni Pramoj was a Thai professor and politician who served as Prime Minister of Thailand three times. A descendant of the Thai royal family, he was the great-grandson of King Rama II. His final two terms as Prime Minister sandwiched the only term of his brother, Kukrit Pramoj. Read more
28 Jul 1996: Roger Tory Peterson, American ornithologist and academic (born 1908) Roger Tory Peterson was an American naturalist, conservationist, citizen scientist ornithologist, artist and illustrator, educator, and a founder of the 20th-century environmental movement, where he was an inspiration for many. Read more
28 Jul 1993: Stanley Woods, Irish motorcycle racer (born 1903) Stanley Woods was an Irish motorcycle racer famous for 29 motorcycle Grand Prix wins in the 1920s and 1930s, winning the Isle of Man TT races ten times in his career, plus wins at Assen and elsewhere. He was also a skilled trials rider, competing in the 1940s. Read more
28 Jul 1992: Sulev Nõmmik, Estonian actor and director (born 1931) Sulev Nõmmik was an Estonian theatre and movie director, actor, humorist and comedian. He's mostly associated with the comical character of Kärna Ärni and the related fictional village of Uduvere, but he was also influential in writing scripts for several well-known movies, including Mehed ei nuta, Siin me oleme! and Noor pensionär. Read more
28 Jul 1990: Jill Esmond, English actress (born 1908) Jill Esmond was an English actress of stage and screen. Read more
28 Jul 1987: Jack Renshaw, Australian politician, 31st Premier of New South Wales (born 1909) John Brophy Renshaw was an Australian politician. He was Labor Premier of New South Wales from 30 April 1964 to 13 May 1965. He was the first New South Wales Premier born in the 20th century. Read more
28 Jul 1982: Keith Green, American singer-songwriter and pianist (born 1953) Keith Gordon Green was an American pianist, singer, songwriter, and musician. Originally from Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn, New York, Green is known as a pioneer in the Christian contemporary genre. His most notable songs are "Oh Lord You're Beautiful", "Grace by Which I Stand", and "Asleep in The Light," written by Keith Green; "There Is a Redeemer", written by Melody Green; "Your Love Broke Through,” written by Keith Green, Todd Fishkind, and Randy Stonehill; and "I Want To Be More Like Jesus," written by Keith Green, Melody Green, and Kelly Willard. Read more
28 Jul 1981: Stanley Rother, American priest and missionary (born 1935) Stanley Francis Rother was an American Catholic priest from Oklahoma who was murdered in Guatemala in 1981. He had worked as a missionary priest there since 1968. He held several parish assignments as a priest of the Archdiocese of Oklahoma City from 1963 to 1968 before being assigned to Guatemala. Read more
28 Jul 1980: Rose Rand, Austrian-born American logician and philosopher (born 1903) Rose Rand was an Austrian-American logician and philosopher. She was a member of the Vienna Circle. Read more
28 Jul 1979: Don Miller, American football player and coach (born 1902) Don "Midnight" Miller was an American football player and coach. He was one of the famous "Four Horsemen" of the University of Notre Dame's backfield in 1924, when the Fighting Irish won the 1924 National Title. Miller was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame as a player in 1970. Read more
28 Jul 1979: Charles Shadwell, English conductor and bandleader (born 1898) Charles Murray Winstanley Shadwell was a British conductor and bandleader. Read more
28 Jul 1976: Maggie Gripenberg, Finnish dancer and choreographer (born 1881) Margarita Maria “Maggie” Gripenberg was a pioneer of modern dance in Finland. She was the first to introduce Dalcroze Eurhythmics to Finland and modeled her early works on the improvisational style of Isadora Duncan. As a dancer, choreographer and teacher, she laid the educational foundations for the study of movement and dance. She was recognized by numerous awards for her choreographic work as well as being honored with the Pro Finlandia Medal and as a knight of the Order of the White Rose of Finland. Read more
28 Jul 1972: Helen Traubel, American soprano and actress (born 1903) Helen Francesca Traubel was an American opera and concert singer. A dramatic soprano, she was best known for her Wagnerian roles, especially those of Brünnhilde and Isolde. Read more
28 Jul 1971: Lawrence Moore Cosgrave, Canadian colonel and diplomat (born 1890) Colonel Lawrence Vincent Moore Cosgrave, was a Canadian soldier, author, diplomat and trade commissioner. He was the Canadian signatory to the Japanese Instrument of Surrender at the end of World War II. Read more
28 Jul 1971: Myril Hoag, American baseball player (born 1908) Myril Oliver Hoag was an American professional baseball player. An outfielder, Hoag played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the New York Yankees, St. Louis Browns, Chicago White Sox, and Cleveland Indians between 1931 and 1945 and was on the winning team in three World Series. He appeared in the 1939 MLB All-Star Game. Read more
28 Jul 1971: Charles E. Pont, French-American minister and painter (born 1898) Charles Ernest Pont was an American artist and Baptist minister. Although his ministerial career was not particularly noteworthy, he was a prolific artist in many media including watercolor, printmaking, oil, pen and ink, and pencil. His framed art not only hangs in hundreds of private and public collections, but can also be found in many realms of graphic design, including book and magazine illustration, greeting cards, sign painting and calligraphy, murals, typographic design, and decorative papers. While his style evolved with the times in which he lived, and was particularly influenced by modernism in the 1930s, he is best known for the fine precision of his prints and the realism of his watercolors. Read more
28 Jul 1969: Ramón Grau, Cuban physician and politician, 6th President of Cuba (born 1882) Ramón Grau San Martín was a Cuban physician and politician who served as President of Cuba from 1933 to 1934 and from 1944 to 1948. He led the Cuban student movement in the 1933 Cuban Revolution that led to the overthrow of the Gerardo Machado regime. Read more
28 Jul 1969: Frank Loesser, American composer (born 1910) Frank Henry Loesser was an American songwriter who wrote music and lyrics for the Broadway musicals Guys and Dolls and How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, among others. He won a Tony Award for Guys and Dolls and shared the Pulitzer Prize for Drama for How to Succeed. He also wrote songs for over 60 Hollywood films and Tin Pan Alley, many of which have become standards, and was nominated for five Academy Awards for best song, winning once for "Baby, It's Cold Outside." Read more
28 Jul 1968: Otto Hahn, German chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1879) Otto Hahn was a German chemist who was a pioneer in the field of radiochemistry. He is referred to as the father of nuclear chemistry and discoverer of nuclear fission, the science behind nuclear reactors and nuclear weapons. Hahn and Lise Meitner discovered isotopes of the radioactive elements radium, thorium, protactinium and uranium. He also discovered the phenomena of atomic recoil and nuclear isomerism, and pioneered rubidium–strontium dating. In 1938, Hahn, Meitner and Fritz Strassmann discovered nuclear fission, for which Hahn alone was awarded the 1944 Nobel Prize in Chemistry. Read more
28 Jul 1967: Karl W. Richter, American lieutenant and pilot (born 1942) Karl Wendell Richter was an officer in the United States Air Force and an accomplished fighter pilot during the Vietnam War. At the age of 23 he was the youngest pilot in that conflict to shoot down a MiG in air-to-air combat. Read more
28 Jul 1965: Edogawa Ranpo, Japanese author and critic (born 1894) Tarō Hirai , better known by the pen name Edogawa Ranpo or Edogawa Rampo , was a Japanese author and critic who played a major role in the development of Japanese mystery and thriller fiction. Many of his novels involve the detective hero Kogoro Akechi, who in later books was the leader of a group of boy detectives known as the "Boy Detectives Club" . Read more
28 Jul 1965: Attallah Suheimat, Jordanian politician (born 1875) Sheikh Attallah Suheimat or Attlallah Pasha Suheimat was a Jordanian leader, politician, and a statesperson. Born in the historic city of Al Karak, south of Jordan. He was the son of Sheikh Sulieman effendi Suheimat who was a national leader and a Member of the first municipal council of the city of Karak during the reign of the Ottoman Empire in the 1890s. Sheikh Attallah Suheimat was the head of the Ghassanids tribes in Jordan, and a famous leader during different time periods in the region: Ottoman Syria, Transjordan, and later the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan. He held several senior positions including the President of the Al-Haqqania Court in the Ottoman Empire and President of the Court of First Instance in The "National Government of Moab". He participated in the development of the National Charter in 1928, and in 1929 was a member of the first Legislative Council in the Emirate of Transjordan representing Al Karak and Ma'an. Sheikh Suheimat was the Director of the General Intelligence in the government of King Faisal I of Syria. Read more
28 Jul 1963: Carl Borgward, German engineer, founder of Borgward Group Carl Friedrich Wilhelm Borgward was a German engineer and designer and the creator of the Borgward group, based in Bremen. Read more
28 Jul 1957: Edith Abbott, American economist, social worker, and educator (born 1876) Edith Abbott was an American economist, statistician, social worker, educator, and author. Abbott was born in Grand Island, Nebraska. Abbott was a pioneer in the profession of social work with an educational background in economics. She was a leading activist in social reform with the ideals that humanitarianism needed to be embedded in education. Abbott was also in charge of implementing social work studies to the graduate level. Though she was met with resistance on her work with social reform at the University of Chicago, she ultimately was successful and was elected as the school's dean in 1924, making her one of the first female deans in the United States. Abbott was foremost an educator and saw her work as a combination of legal studies and humanitarian work which shows in her social security legislation. She is known as an economist who pursued implementing social work at the graduate level. Her younger sister was Grace Abbott.Social work will never become a profession—except through the professional schools Read more
28 Jul 1957: Isaac Heinemann, German-Israeli scholar and academic (born 1876) Isaac Heinemann was an Israeli rabbinical scholar and a professor of classical literature, Hellenistic literature and philology. Read more
28 Jul 1946: Saint Alphonsa, first woman of Indian origin to be canonized as a saint by the Catholic Church (born 1910) Alphonsa of the Immaculate Conception, born as Anna Muttathupadathu, was an Indian Catholic nun and educator. She is the first woman of Indian origin to be canonized as a saint by the Catholic Church, and the first canonized saint of the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church. Read more
28 Jul 1942: Flinders Petrie, English archaeologist and academic (born 1853) Sir William Matthew Flinders Petrie, commonly known as simply Sir Flinders Petrie, was an English Egyptologist and a pioneer of systematic methodology in archaeology and the preservation of artefacts. He held the first chair of Egyptology in the United Kingdom, and excavated many of the most important archaeological sites in Egypt in conjunction with his Irish-born wife, Hilda Urlin. Some consider his most famous discovery that of the Merneptah Stele, an opinion with which Petrie himself concurred. Undoubtedly at least as important is his 1905 discovery and correct identification of the character of the Proto-Sinaitic script, the ancestor of almost all alphabetic scripts. Read more
28 Jul 1935: Meletius IV of Constantinople (born 1871) Meletius Metaxakis was primate of the Church of Greece from 1918 to 1920 as Meletius III, after which he was Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople as Meletius IV from 1921 to 1923 and Greek Patriarch of Alexandria as Meletius II from 1926 to 1935. He is the only man in the history of the Eastern Orthodox Church to serve successively as the senior bishop of three autocephalous churches. Read more
28 Jul 1934: Marie Dressler, Canadian-American actress and singer (born 1868) Leila Marie Koerber, known professionally as Marie Dressler, was a Canadian-born stage and screen actress, script editor, writer, and comedian. She was popular in Hollywood in early silent and Depression-era film. Read more
28 Jul 1934: Louis Tancred, South African cricketer and pilot (born 1876) Louis Joseph Tancred was a South African cricketer who played in 14 Test matches from 1902 to 1913, including three as captain. Read more
28 Jul 1933: Nishinoumi Kajirō III, Japanese sumo wrestler, 30th yokozuna (born 1890) Nishinoumi Kajirō III was a Japanese professional sumo wrestler. He was the sport's 30th yokozuna. Read more
28 Jul 1930: John DeWitt, American hammer thrower (born 1881) John Riegel DeWitt was an American athlete. He played college football for Princeton from 1901 to 1903 and was selected as an All-American in 1902 and 1903. He also competed in the hammer throw, setting the world record in 1903 and winning the silver medal at the 1904 Summer Olympics. Read more
28 Jul 1930: Allvar Gullstrand, Swedish ophthalmologist and optician, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1862) Allvar Gullstrand was a Swedish ophthalmologist and optician. Read more
28 Jul 1928: Édouard-Henri Avril, French painter (born 1849) Édouard-Henri Avril was a French painter and commercial artist. Under the pseudonym Paul Avril, he was an illustrator of erotic literature. Avril was a soldier before starting his career in art; he was awarded the Legion of Honour for his actions in the Franco-Prussian War. Read more
28 Jul 1895: Edward Beecher, American minister and theologian (born 1803) Edward Beecher was an American theologian, the son of Lyman Beecher and the brother of Harriet Beecher Stowe and Henry Ward Beecher. Read more
28 Jul 1885: Moses Montefiore, British philanthropist, sheriff and banker (born 1784) Sir Moses Haim Montefiore, 1st Baronet, was a British financier and banker, activist, philanthropist and Sheriff of London. Born to an Italian Sephardic Jewish family based in London, after he achieved success he donated large sums of money to promote industry, business, economic development, education and health among the Jewish community in the Levant. He founded Mishkenot Sha'ananim in 1860, the first Jewish settlement outside the Old City of Jerusalem. Read more
28 Jul 1878: George Law Curry, American publisher and politician (born 1820) George Law Curry was a predominant American political figure and newspaper publisher in the region that eventually became the state of Oregon. A native of Pennsylvania, he published a newspaper in St. Louis, Missouri, before traveling the Oregon Trail to the unorganized Oregon Country. A Democrat, Curry served in the new Oregon Territory's government as a representative to the legislature and as Territorial Secretary before appointment as the last Governor of the Oregon Territory. Curry County in Southern Oregon is named in his honor. Read more
28 Jul 1869: Jan Evangelista Purkyně, Czech anatomist and physiologist (born 1787) Jan Evangelista Purkyně was a Czech anatomist and physiologist. In 1839, he coined the term "protoplasma" for the fluid substance of a cell. He was one of the best known scientists of his time. Such was his fame that when people from outside Europe wrote letters to him, all that they needed to put as the address was "Purkyně, Europe". Read more
28 Jul 1849: Charles Albert of Sardinia (born 1798) Charles Albert was the King of Sardinia and ruler of the Savoyard state from 27 April 1831 until his abdication in 1849. His name is bound up with the first Italian constitution, the Statuto Albertino, and with the First Italian War of Independence (1848–1849). Read more
28 Jul 1844: Joseph Bonaparte, French diplomat and brother of Napoleon (born 1768) Joseph Bonaparte, regnal name José I, was a French statesman, lawyer, diplomat and older brother of Napoleon Bonaparte. In 1806, Napoleon made him King of Naples, and then King of Spain and the Indies in 1808. After the fall of Napoleon, Joseph styled himself Comte de Survilliers and emigrated to the United States, where he lived in the Point Breeze estate at Bordentown, New Jersey. Read more
28 Jul 1842: Clemens Brentano, German author and poet (born 1778) Clemens Wenzeslaus Brentano was a German poet and novelist, and a major figure of German Romanticism. He was the uncle, via his brother Christian, of Franz and Lujo Brentano. Read more
28 Jul 1838: Bernhard Crusell, Finnish composer (born 1775) Bernhard Henrik Crusell was a Finland-Swedish clarinetist, composer and translator, "the most significant and internationally best-known Finnish-born classical composer and indeed, – the outstanding Finnish composer before Sibelius". Read more
28 Jul 1836: Nathan Mayer Rothschild, German-English banker and financier (born 1777) Nathan Mayer Rothschild, also known as Baron Nathan Mayer Rothschild, was a British-German banker, businessman and financier. Born in Frankfurt am Main, he was the third of the five sons of Mayer Amschel Rothschild and his wife, Guttle. He was the founder of the British branch of the prominent Rothschild family. Read more
28 Jul 1835: Édouard Mortier, duc de Trévise, French general and politician, 15th Prime Minister of France (born 1768) Édouard Adolphe Casimir Joseph Mortier, Duke of Treviso, was a French military commander and Marshal of the Empire under Napoleon I, who served during the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars. He served as Minister of War and Prime Minister of France from 1834 to 1835. He was one of 18 people killed in 1835 during Giuseppe Marco Fieschi's assassination attempt on King Louis Philippe I. Read more
28 Jul 1818: Gaspard Monge, French mathematician and engineer (born 1746) Gaspard Monge, Comte de Péluse was a French mathematician, commonly presented as the inventor of descriptive geometry, technical drawing, and the father of differential geometry. Read more
28 Jul 1809: Richard Beckett, English cricketer and captain (born 1772) Richard Beckett was an English amateur cricketer and a captain in the Coldstream Guards during the Napoleonic Wars. Read more
28 Jul 1808: Selim III, Ottoman sultan (born 1761) Selim III was the sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1789 to 1807. Regarded as an enlightened ruler, he was eventually deposed and imprisoned by the Janissaries, who placed his cousin Mustafa on the throne as Mustafa IV. A group of assassins subsequently killed Selim. Read more

Why is 28 July Important in History?

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