1928

January 1

• First US air-conditioned office building opens, San Antonio. [1]
• Algemeene Vereeniging Radio Omroep (AVRO) begins broadcasting (Netherlands). [1]

January 6

• Pope Pius XI publishes encyclical Mortalium animos (against oecumene). [1]

January 8

• Dumitru Kiriac-Georgescu composer, dies at age 61. [1]

January 9

• Eugene O'Neill's "Marco Millions" premieres in New York City, New York. [1]

January 10

• G/I Gershwin/Romberg/Wodehouse's musical "Rosalie" premieres in New York City, New York. [1]
• Soviet Union orders exile of Leon Trotsky. [1]

January 11

• Thomas Hardy novelist (Maddening Crowd), dies at his home near Dorchester at age 87. [1]

January 12

• Philip Barry and Elmer Rice's "Cock Robin" premieres in New York City, New York. [1]
• Ruth Snyder first woman to die in electric chair. [1]

January 13

• Johan Peter Koch Danish officer/explorer, dies at age 57. [1]

January 17

• First fully automatic photographic film developing machine patented. [1]

January 23

• "Abenteuer of brave Soldier Schwejk" premieres in Berlin. [1]

January 27

• Marie Verstraete actress (Frou-Frou/Nora), dies at age 74. [1]

January 28

• Christopher Hornsrud chosen Prime Minister of Norway at age 101. [1]

January 29

• Douglas Haig first Earl Haig/field marshal (WWI), dies at age 66. [1]

January 30

• First radio telephone connection between Netherlands and US. [1]
• Douglas Haig British field marshal (Sudan/Boer war/WWI), dies at age 66. [1]
• Eugene O'Neill's "Strange Interlude" premieres in New York City, New York. [1]

January 31

• Scotch tape first marketed by 3-M Company. [1]

February 4

• Hendrik A Lorentz physicist (L transformation-Nobel Prize 1902), dies at age 74. [1]

February 7

• First solo England to Australia flight takes off (Bert Hinkler). [1]

February 8

• First transatlantic TV image received, Hartsdale New York. [1]
• Scottish inventor J Blaird demonstrates color-TV. [1]

February 15

• Hubert H Asquith premier Great Britain (1908-16), dies at age 75. [1]

February 22

• First solo England to Australia flight lands (Bert Hinkler). [1]

February 29

• Adolphe Appia Swiss set designer/theorist, dies at age 65. [1]
• Armando V Diaz Italian marshal/minister of War (1922-24), dies at age 66. [1]

March 1

• Albert Herbert Brewer composer, dies at age 62. [1]
• Jacob Adolf Hagg composer, dies at age 77. [1]
• Paul Whiteman and his orchestraestra record "Ol' Man River" for Victor Records. [1]

March 3

• Jan [Jean] T Toorop Dutch graphic artist (3 Brides), dies at age 69. [1]

March 5

• Karl Zuckmayer's "Der Hauptmann von Köpenick" premieres in Berlin. [1]

March 13

• 450 die in Saint Francis Valley Dam burst (California). [1]
• Rudolph Friml's musical "Three Musketeers" premieres in New York City, New York. [1]

March 15

• Mussolini modifies Italy electoral system (abolishes right to choose). [1]

March 18

• Paul van Ostaijen Flemish writer (Outlawed), dies at age 32. [1]

March 19

• "Amos and Andy" debuts on radio (NBC Blue Network-WMAQ Chicago). [1]

March 21

• Charles Lindbergh is presented the US Congressional Medal of Honor for his first trans-Atlantic flight. [5]

March 22

• Noël Coward's musical "This Year of Grace" premieres in London. [1]

March 27

• KGB-AM in San Diego California begins radio transmissions. [1]
• Leslie Stuart composer, dies at age 64. [1]

March 28

• Giuseppe Ferrata composer, dies at age 63. [1]

March 29

• Yeshiva College (now University) chartered (New York City, New York). [1]

March 31

• Gustave Ador President of Austria (1919), dies at age 82. [1]
• Medardo Rosso Italian sculptor (portraits), dies at age 69. [1]

April 1

• Chiang Kai-shek's army crosses Yang-tse River. [1]

April 2

• Theodore Richards US chemist (atomic weight, Nobel Prize 1914), dies. [1]

April 5

• Jane Ellen Harrison scholar/archaeologist, dies. [1]

April 9

• Eugene O'Neill's "Lazarus Laughed", premieres in Pasadena. [1]
• Mae West's New York City debut in a daring new play "Diamond Lil". [1]
• Turkey passes separation of church and state. [1]

April 12

• Assassination attempt on king Victor Emmanuel III of Italy. [1]

April 13

• First trans atlantic flight Europe-US (Fitzmaurice-von Hünefeld-Köhl). [1]
• Luis Iruarrizaga Aguirre composer, dies at age 36. [1]

April 14

• Maddus Airlines starts first regular passenger flights between San Francisco and Los Angeles. [1]

April 15

• Alioto's on Fisherman's Wharf (San Francisco) forms. [1]

April 18

• Henryk Melcer-Szczawinski composer, dies at age 58. [1]

April 19

• Japanese troops occupies Sjantung-schiereiland. [1]

April 24

• Fathometer, which measures underwater depth, patented. [1]
• Ferdinand B Hummel composer, dies at age 72. [1]

April 25

• Buddy, a German Shepherd, becomes first guide dog for the blind. [1]
• Pjotr N Wrangel Russian baron General, dies at age 49. [1]

April 26

• Madame Tussaud's waxworks exhibition opens in London. [1]

April 29

• Henrich Federer Switzerland, writer (I Switch Off The Light), dies at age 61. [1]

April 30

• Cherkess Autonomous Region is established in RSFSR (until 1957). [1]

May 1

• Six children die and ten injured by hailstones in Klausenburg, Romania. [1]
• Drunken fascist Erich Wichman attacks VARA-radio transmitter. [1]
• Lei Day begun (a Hawaiian celebration). [1]
• Pitcairn Airlines (later Eastern) begins service. [1]

May 2

• KPQ-AM in Wenatchee Washington begins radio transmissions. [1]

May 4

• Barry E Odell Pain English writer (Punch), dies at age 63. [1]

May 7

• Alexander Afanasii Spendiaryan composer, dies at age 56. [1]
• England lowers age of women voters from 30 to 21. [1]
• Pulitzer prize awarded to Thornton Wilder for (Bridge of San Luis Rey). [1]

May 9

• Constantin Dimitrescu composer, dies at age 81. [1]

May 11

• General Electric opens first TV-station (Schenectady New York). [1]

May 12

• Mussolini ends woman's rights in Italy. [1]
• Opium laws enforced. [1]

May 14

• John McGraw is knocked down by a taxicab and suffers a broken leg. [1]

May 15

• Walt Disney's first silent film featuring Mickey Mouse, Plane Crazy premieres as a sneak preview at a theatre on Sunset Boulevard, in Los Angeles, California. [1] [5] [6]

May 16

• Edmund William Grosse poet/author, dies. [1]

May 19

• "Firedamp" explodes in Mather Pennsylvania coal mine killing 195 of 273 miners. [1]
• 51 frogs enter first annual "Frog Jumping Jubilee" (Angel's Camp California). [1]
• Henry Franklin Belknap Gilbert composer, dies at age 59. [1]
• Max Scheler German philosopher, dies at age 53. [1]

May 22

• US Congress accept Jones-White Merchant Naval Act. [1]
• William Gairdner English missionary (Nile Mission Press), dies at age 54. [1]

May 23

• Bomb attack on Italians embassy in Buenos Aires, 22 die. [1]

May 24

• Umberto Nobile flies airship over North Pole again. [1]

May 25

• Amelia Earhart (as a passenger) is first woman to fly Atlantic Ocean. [1]

May 28

• American automakers Dodge Brothers Inc and Chrysler Corp merge. [1]

May 29

• Fritz von Opel reaches 200 kph in experimental rocket car. [1]

May 31

• First aerial cross of the Pacific takes off from Oakland. [1]
• Ludwig Enneccerus German leader, dies at age 85. [1]
• Manuel de Oliveira Lima Brazilian historian, dies at age 60. [1]

June 8

• First US-to-Australia flight lands (Sir Charles Kingford). [1]

June 9

• First aerial cross of the Pacific lands in Brisbane Australia. [1]

June 14

• Republican National Convention, met in Kansas City, nominated Herbert Hoover. [1]

June 17

• Amelia Earhart leaves Newfoundland to become first woman to fly the Atlantic. [1]

June 18

• Amelia Earhart is first woman (passenger) to cross Atlantic by air. [1]

June 28

• Alfred E Smith (New York-Governor) nominated for president at Democratic Convention. [1]
• Friedrich Schmiedl attempted rocket mail in Austria (unsucessful). [1]

June 30

• Radio Service Bulletin lists radio stations call signs that are. [1]

July 3

• London sees its first color television broadcast. [5]

July 6

• First all-talking motion picture shown, in New York (Lights of New York). [1]
• World's largest hailstones 1.5 pounds (17 inch diameter) fall in Potter, Nebraska, USA. [1] [5]

July 10

• H E Wood discovers asteroid #3300. [1]

July 17

• General Alvaro Obregón president of Mexico, assassinated. [1]

July 19

• H E Wood discovers asteroid #1305 Pongola. [1]

July 21

• H E Wood discovers asteroid #1096 Reunerta. [1]

July 30

• George Eastman demonstrates first color movie. [1]

August 27

• Sixteen die in a New York City subway's second worst accident. [1]
• The Pact of Paris (Kellogg-Briand Pact) is signed by the USA, Belgium, Czechoslovakia, Great Britain, Germany, Italy, Japan, and Poland. The countries condemn recourse to war, renouncing it as an instrument of national policy in relations with one another. [10]

September 1

• Ahmet Muhtar Bej Zogolli is crowned King Zog of Albania. [1] [446.16] [494.15]

September 11

• First TV drama-WGY's The Queens Messenger. [1]

September 12

• Katharine Hepburn's New York stage debut in "Night Hostess". [1]

September 13

• KOH-AM in Reno Nevada begins radio transmissions. [1]

September 17

• Hurricane hits Lake Okeechobee Florida drowning 1,800-2500. [1]

September 27

• US recognizes Nationalist Chinese government. [1]

September 28

• Juan de la Cierva makes first helicopter flight over English Channel. [1]

October 1

• The Dow Jones Industrial Average is expanded from 20 stocks to 30. A divisor is introduced to adjust for extraneous changes to a stock, such as a split. The initial divisor is 16.67. The index removes American Car & Foundry, American Locomotive, American Telephone & Telegraph, American Tobacco, Paramount Famous Lasky, United Drug, U.S. Rubber, and Western Union, and adds American Tobacco B, Atlantic Refining, Bethlehem Steel, Chrysler, General Railway Signal, Goodrich, International Nickel, Nash Motors, North American, Paramount Publix, Postum Incorporated, Radio Corporation, Standard Oil (N.J.), Texas Gulf Sulphur, Union Carbide, Victor Talking Machine, Westinghouse Electric, and Wright Aeronautical. [227] [228]

October 3

• French submarine "Ondine" sinks returning to Toulon, drowning 42. [1]

October 6

• Chiang Kai-Shek becomes president of China. [1]

October 12

• An iron lung respirator is used for the first time at Children's Hospital, Boston. [5]

October 15

• German dirigible "Graf Zeppelin" lands in Lakehurst, New Jersey. [1]

October 22

• President Hoover speaks of "American system of rugged individualism". [1]

November 1

• First celebration of Author's Day. [1]
• Graf Zeppelin sets airship distance record of 6384 km. [1]

November 3

• Turkey switches from Arabic to Roman alphabet. [1]

November 6

• Herbert Hoover (Republican) beats Alfred E Smith (Democrat) for President. [1]

November 10

• Hirohito enthroned as Emperor of Japan. [1]

November 11

• KXO-AM in El Centro California begins radio transmissions. [1]
• WGL-AM in Fort Wayne IN begins radio transmissions. [1]
• WMT-AM in Cedar Rapids Iowa begins radio transmissions. [1]
• WOL-AM in Washington DC begins radio transmissions. [1]

November 12

• British steamer "Vestris" capsizes and sinks off Virginia, kills 110. [1]

November 18

• The Colony Theater in New York debuts Disney's Mickey Mouse film Steamboat Willie. This is the sound debut of Mickey Mouse, with Minnie Mouse (unnamed) as co-star. The film is the first cartoon to feature synchronized sound. [1] [6]

November 20

• WGH-AM in Newport News Virginia begins radio transmissions. [1]

November 22

• "Bolero" by Maurice Ravel, first performed publicly, in Paris. [1]

December 1

• Railroad museum opens in Utrecht Netherlands. [1]

December 4

• Walter Donaldson and Gus Kahn's musical "Whoopee" premieres in New York City, New York. [1]

December 5

• Johannes F "Johan" Bakker Sr actor/husband of Truus Soete, dies at age 61. [1]
• MW Miklas elected President of Austria. [1]

December 11

• Buenos Aires police thwart an attempt on President-elect Herbert Hoover. [1]

December 12

• Nichols/Brownes "Wings over Europe" premieres in New York City, New York. [1]

December 13

• Clip-on tie designed. [1]
• George Gershwin's "An American In Paris" premieres (New York City, New York). [1]

December 14

• Theodore Roberts actor (Roaring Road, 10 Commandments), dies at age 77. [1]

December 18

• Lucien Capet composer, dies at age 55. [1]

December 19

• First autogiro (predecessor of helicopter) flight in US. [1]

December 20

• First international dogsled mail leaves Minot Maine for Montréal, Québec. [1]
• Ethel Barrymore Theater opens at 243 W 47th Steet New York City. [1]

December 21

• Luigi Cadorna Italian fieldmarshal (WWI, Caporetto), dies at age 78. [1]

December 23

• NBC sets up a permanent, coast-to-coast radio network. [1]

December 24

• George Abbott Theater (Adelphi, 54 St) opens at 152 W 54th Steet New York City. [1]

December 28

• Last recording of Ma Rainey, "Mother of the Blues" is made. [1]
• Louis Armstrong makes 78rpm recording of "West End Blues". [1]

December 30

• The Mark Strand Theater in New York City premieres the second released Mickey Mouse film Gallopin' Gaucho, with a soundtrack. [6]