12 History Lessons + 5 Births & 5 Deaths for April 28, 2025
Today’s History:
- 1789 – The mutiny on the HMS Bounty takes place as Fletcher Christian leads a rebellion against Captain William Bligh.
- 1789 – Maryland becomes the seventh U.S. state to ratify the Constitution.
- 1930 – The first night game in organized baseball history takes place in Independence, Kansas.
- 1945 – Italian dictator Benito Mussolini is captured and executed by Italian partisans.
- 1947 – Thor Heyerdahl sets sail from Peru on the Kon-Tiki raft to prove that South Americans could have settled Polynesia.
- 1952 – The Treaty of San Francisco officially ends the U.S. occupation of Japan after World War II.
- 1955 – The United States Air Force Academy is established in Colorado.
- 1967 – Muhammad Ali refuses induction into the U.S. Army during the Vietnam War and is stripped of his boxing title.
- 1977 – The Red Army Faction kidnaps German businessman Hanns Martin Schleyer.
- 1994 – Former CIA officer Aldrich Ames pleads guilty to spying for the Soviet Union and Russia.
- 2001 – Dennis Tito becomes the first space tourist by visiting the International Space Station aboard a Russian spacecraft.
- 2018 – The leaders of North and South Korea meet in person for the first time in over a decade, pledging to officially end the Korean War.
Today’s Birthdays:
- 1941 – Ann-Margret, actress and singer (Bye Bye Birdie, Viva Las Vegas) (84)
- 1950 – Jay Leno, comedian and former host of The Tonight Show (75)
- 1971 – Bridget Moynahan, actress (Blue Bloods, I, Robot) (54)
- 1981 – Jessica Alba, actress and entrepreneur (Fantastic Four, The Honest Company) (44)
- 1982 – Harry Shum Jr., actor and dancer (Glee, Crazy Rich Asians) (43)
Today’s Deaths:
- 1945 – Benito Mussolini, Italian dictator during World War II (61)
- 1945 – Clara Petacci, Mussolini’s mistress, executed alongside him (33)
- 1954 – Léon Jouhaux, French trade union leader and Nobel Peace Prize laureate (74)
- 2000 – Erich Mielke, head of East Germany’s secret police, the Stasi (92)
- 2016 – Madeleine Lebeau, French actress best known for Casablanca (92)
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