On This Day: 28 May

A solar eclipse occurs, as predicted by the Greek philosopher and scientist Thales, while Alyattes is battling Cyaxares in the Battle of Halys, leading to a truce. This becomes one of the cardinal dates from which other dates can be calculated		585 BC
Archbishop of Canterbury Thomas Cranmer declares the marriage of Henry VIII to Anne Boleyn valid		1533
Hernando de Soto lands in Florida		1539
The Spanish Armada, with 130 ships and 30,000 men, sails from Lisbon		1588
Royalist forces under Prince Rupert storm the strongly Parliamentarian town of Bolton, Lancashire, allegedly slaughtering 1,600 of its inhabitants		1644
Battle of Southwold Bay: English defeat the Dutch		1672
Jan van der Meer (Vermeer), painter, buried		1705
England's first indoor swimming pool opens in London		1742
Virginia militia under 22–year–old Lieutenant colonel George Washington defeat a French reconnaissance party in the Battle of Jumonville Glen, in what is now Fayette County in southwestern Pennsylvania, in the first engagement of the French and Indian War		1754
In Guadeloupe, 400 rebellious slaves, led by Louis Delgrès, blow themselves up rather than submit to Napoleon's troops		1802
Treaty of Bucharest signed, making peace between Russia and Turkey		1812
US President Andrew Jackson signs the Indian Removal Act, passed by Congress two days earlier		1830
The Paris Commune collapses after a two–month siege		1871
The Café Monico Hotel, Piccadilly, London, hosts the first World Weightlifting championships		1891
Scottish–born American naturalist John Muir founds the Sierra Club in San Francisco		1892
The Battle of Tsushima ends with the destruction of the Russian Baltic Fleet by Admiral Tōgō Heihachirō and the Imperial Japanese Navy		1905
The first Isle of Man TT race is held		1907
American Michele Schirru shot dead in Rome while attempting to assassinate Mussolini		1931
The world's largest dam – turning the Zuider Zee into a freshwater lake – completed		1932
The Dionne triplets – Cecille, Yvonne, Annette, Emilie and Marie – are born near Callander, Ontario		1934
Neville Chamberlain becomes prime minister		1937
Volkswagen is founded in Wolfsburg by the German Labour Front, a Nazi labour union		1937
The Belgian army surrenders to the Nazis		1940
The Allies win their first allied infantry victory of the War as Norwegian, French, Polish and British forces recapture Narvik		1940
Nazis in Czechoslovakia kill over 1,800 people, in retaliation for the assassination attempt on Reinhard Heydrich		1942
William Joyce (Lord Haw Haw) is captured near Hamburg		1945
Daniel François Malan, who would go on to implement Apartheid, is elected as Prime Minister of South Africa		1948
HRH Princess Elizabeth opens the Exhibition of Industrial Power in Glasgow, the latest show in the Festival of Britain		1951
First London performance of Guys and Dolls		1953
Two monkeys, Able and Baker, become the first living creatures to survive a space flight after a 15–minute flight, launched from Cape Canaveral and recovered from the sea off Puerto Rico		1959
The Mermaid Theatre opens in Puddle Dock, London		1959
The Orient Express runs for the last time – after 78 years		1961
An article by the British lawyer Peter Benenson, that will lead to the foundation of Amnesty International, is published in "several internationally read newspapers", including The Observer		1961
Francis Chichester docks at Plymouth to complete his solo circumnavigation in Gypsy Moth IV		1967
Northern Ireland Secretary Merlyn Rees re–imposes direct rule after the province's first power–sharing assembly, led by Brian Faulkner, collapses following a seven–day general strike organised by militant unionists opposed to the Sunningdale agreement		1974
165 lives are lost when the Beverly Hills Supper Club, in Southgate, Kentucky, is engulfed in fire		1977
Diego Maradona signs for Barcelona for a record £5 million		1982
In the Falklands War, British troops recapture Port Darwin and Goose Green		1982
Thousands drown as a cyclone hits Bangladesh		1985
Mathias Rust, 19, lands his Cessna plane in Red Square, Moscow		1987
Maiden, skippered by Tracey Edwards, becomes the first vessel with an all–female crew to finish the Whitbread Round–the–World race		1990
IRA gunmen shoot dead two Australian tourists in Holland, mistaking them for British soldiers		1990
The Derg regime and the Ethiopian Civil War both end as Addis Ababa falls to the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front		1991
The Russian settlement of Neftegorsk is destroyed by an earthquake, with the loss of 1,989 lives		1995
Jim and Susan McDougal, former business partners of US President Bill Clinton in the Whitewater land deal, and Governor of Arkansas Jim Guy Tucker, are convicted of fraud		1996
The German Bundesbank rejects the government's plan to raise cash by revaluing gold reserves, threatening the continuation of European monetary union		1997
Bob Dylan is admitted to hospital, suffering from chest pains		1997
Pakistan provokes worldwide condemnation by exploding five underground nuclear devices in response to India's nuclear tests two weeks ago		1998
Leonardo da Vinci's Last Supper is put back on display in Milan after 22 years of restoration work		1999
Clean–up duties at the site of the former World Trade Center officially end, as the last steel girder is removed, with closing ceremonies at Ground Zero in Manhattan		2002
Stephen Byers, Secretary of State for Transport, resigns following criticism of his decision to force Railtrack into administration		2002
Peter Hollingworth resigns as Governor–General of Australia, following criticism of his handling of child sexual abuse allegations during his tenure as Anglican Archbishop of Brisbane		2003
The Iraqi Governing Council chooses Ayad Allawi, a long–time anti–Saddam Hussein exile, as prime minister of the country's interim government		2004
The first meeting of the Constituent Assembly of Nepal formally declares Nepal a republic, ending the 240–year reign of the Shah dynasty		2008
148 lives are lost in a train derailment in West Bengal, India		2010
In Malta, 53% of voters approve a proposal to introduce divorce		2011

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On This Day: 28 May