On This Day

[Altobelli]

28 JANUARY

1596 Sir Francis Drake died from dysentery aboard his ship, off Porto Bello. His exploits were legendary, making him a hero to the English but a pirate to the Spaniards. It's claimed that King Philip II of Spain offered a reward of 20,000 ducats, (equivalent to £4,000,000 in today's money) for Drake's life.

1813 The novel Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen, was first published. It follows Elizabeth Bennet as she deals with the issues of manners, upbringing, morality, education and marriage in the society of the landed gentry of early 19th-century England.

1829 The public hanging of Irish body-snatcher William Burke in Edinburgh. Burke and his accomplice William Hare, sold the corpses of their 17 victims to provide material for dissection to Doctor Robert Knox. Hare was offered immunity from prosecution if he confessed and if he testified against Burke. After Burke was hanged he was publicly dissected at the Edinburgh Medical College.

1833 Birth of General Charles George Hamilton Gordon, British defender of Khartoum and often referred to as Gordon of Khartoum.

1896 Walter Arnold of Kent was the first British motorist to receive a speeding fine, for exceeding 2 mph in a built-up area. He was doing 8 mph as he passed the house of the local policeman. The constable gave chase on his bicycle and after a 5 mile chase Mr. Arnold was arrested. He was fined one shilling for his offence.

1918 The birth of Harry Corbett, the English puppeteer who created Sooty. According to the Guinness Book of Records, Sooty is the longest-running children's programme in the UK. The puppet was 60 years old on 19th July 2008 and, as this was close to Nelson Mandela's 90th birthday, Sooty sent him a birthday message!

1953 19 year-old Derek Bentley was hanged at Wandsworth Prison. On 2nd November 1952, he and 16-year-old Christopher Craig were attempting to rob a confectioner’s warehouse in Croydon when they were caught by police. It was alleged that Bentley urged Craig to fire his gun, injuring one policeman and killing another. Both boys were found guilty of murder. Craig, too young to hang, was imprisoned, while Bentley was sentenced to death despite considerable public protest.

1960 "The Goon Show"'s final episode on BBC radio




1983 The death, aged 42, of Ronald William Wycherley, better known by his stage name Billy Fury. He equalled the Beatles' record of 24 hits in the 1960s, and spent 332 weeks on the UK chart, without a chart-topping single or album. In 2003 this bronze statue of Fury was unveiled at the Albert Dock, Liverpool.

1994 The first women only boxing tournament was held at the Marine Halls, Fleetwood. Diane Berry became the first British super-flyweight women’s champion.

2014 A report by the Commons public accounts committee found that the Queen’s advisers were failing to control her finances, while the royal palaces were 'crumbling'. MPs said that her advisers had overspent to such an extent that her reserve fund had fallen from £35 million in 2001 to just £1 million. The Queen's courtiers were advised to take money-saving tips from the Treasury.

2015 Photographers took to Twitter to complain that their pictures of Arlington Row, in the Cotswold village of Bibury were being 'blighted and photo-bombed' by the bright yellow Vauxhall Corsa that belonged to one of the residents.

Famous Birthday's

Henry Morton Stanley
(1841 - 1904)

Colette
(1873 - 1954)



1929 Acker Bilk, English clarinetist who was part of the traditional jazz revival of the 1950s and 1960s, born in Pensford, Somerset (d. 2014)

Alan Alda, [Alphonso D'Abruzzo], American actor (Hawkeye Pierce-M*A*S*H), born in NYC, New York
82nd Birthday

Frank Skinner
61st Birthday

Elijah Wood
37th Birthday

Famous Weddings

1867 Labor union leader Samuel Gompers (17) weds co-worker Sophia Julian (16) in Brooklyn, New York

1904 German chancellor Konrad Adenauer (28) weds Emma Weyer at St. Stephan Catholic Church in Lindenthal, Germany

1925 Actress Gloria Swanson (25) weds aristocrat Henri de la Falaise (26) in Paris, France

1929 Mobster Bugsy Siegel (23) weds childhood sweetheart Esta Krakower

1949 NFL coach Tom Landry (24) weds Alicia Wiggs at St John the Divine Church in Houston, Texas

Famous Divorces

2011 "Desperate Housewives" actress Eva Longoria (37) divorces NBA player Tony Parker (30) due to irreconcilable differences after 3 years of a storybook wedding

Famous Deaths

Charlemagne
(742 - 814)



Henry VIII
(1491 - 1547)



Francis Drake
( - 1596)

1983 Billy Fury [Ronald Wycherley], English singer (That'll Be the Day), dies at 42 of heart failure