Today in History: October 28, 2026

• 2025: Hurricane Melissa slams into Jamaica as a Category 5 storm.
  The hurricane came ashore on the island's southwest coast near Black River with winds near 185 mph, making it the strongest storm ever to make landfall in Jamaica. It caused widespread destruction before moving on toward Cuba.
• 2018: Jair Bolsonaro is elected president of Brazil.
  The far-right former army captain defeated Workers' Party candidate Fernando Haddad in a runoff. He took office on January 1, 2019, and served one term.
• 2007: Cristina Fernández de Kirchner becomes the first woman elected president of Argentina.
  A lawyer and senator, she succeeded her husband, Néstor Kirchner, who had led the country since 2003. She went on to win a second term and served until 2015.
• 1971: Britain launches Prospero, its first satellite on a British rocket.
  The satellite went up aboard a Black Arrow rocket from the Woomera range in Australia. It remains the only British satellite ever put into orbit by a British-built launcher, since the rocket program had already been cancelled.
• 1965: The Gateway Arch in St. Louis is completed.
  Designed by Finnish-born American architect Eero Saarinen, the 630-foot stainless steel arch honors the city's role as the Gateway to the West. Saarinen died in 1961 and did not live to see it built.
• 1962: Nikita Khrushchev agrees to pull Soviet missiles out of Cuba, ending the Cuban Missile Crisis.
  The Soviet premier gave in to U.S. demands to stop delivering nuclear-armed missiles and dismantle the sites, ending a 13-day standoff with President Kennedy. In return the U.S. pledged not to invade Cuba and later quietly removed its missiles from Turkey.
• 1958: Cardinal Angelo Roncalli is elected Pope John XXIII.
  Chosen at age 76 and expected to be a caretaker pope, he surprised the world by calling the Second Vatican Council, which reshaped the modern Catholic Church. He was declared a saint in 2014.
• 1940: Greece rejects an ultimatum from Mussolini, and Italy invades.
  Greek leader Ioannis Metaxas refused to let Italian troops occupy Greek territory, and Italian forces attacked from Albania within hours. The Greeks drove them back, and the day is still celebrated in Greece as Ohi (No) Day.
• 1922: Benito Mussolini's Fascists march on Rome.
  Thousands of Blackshirts converged on the capital to pressure the government. King Victor Emmanuel III refused to declare martial law and instead asked Mussolini to form a government, making him prime minister at 39.
• 1919: Congress passes the Volstead Act over President Wilson's veto.
  Named for Minnesota Congressman Andrew Volstead of Granite Falls, the law set the rules for enforcing the 18th Amendment, defining intoxicating drinks as anything over one half of one percent alcohol. Prohibition began in January 1920 and lasted until repeal in 1933.
• 1918: Tomáš Masaryk and other leaders proclaim an independent Czechoslovakia.
  Working with Edvard Beneš and others, Czech and Slovak leaders broke away as Austria-Hungary collapsed at the end of World War I. Masaryk became the new republic's first president.
• 1886: President Grover Cleveland dedicates the Statue of Liberty.
  The statue was a gift from the people of France, designed by sculptor Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi with an internal framework by Gustave Eiffel. It stands on what is now Liberty Island in New York Harbor.
• 1790: Spain signs the convention ending the Nootka Sound controversy.
  Yielding to British pressure, Spain settled the dispute over trading rights at Nootka Sound on what is now Vancouver Island. The deal ended Spain's claim to exclusive control of the Pacific Northwest coast.
• 1726: Jonathan Swift anonymously publishes Gulliver's Travels.
  The Anglo-Irish writer released it under the title Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World. The satire, following ship's surgeon Lemuel Gulliver to lands like Lilliput, helped shape the early novel and remains a classic.
• 1704: English philosopher John Locke dies at 72.
  His works, including Two Treatises of Government and An Essay Concerning Human Understanding, argued for natural rights and government by consent. His ideas strongly influenced the Declaration of Independence.
• 1636: Harvard, the oldest college in the United States, is founded.
  The Great and General Court of the Massachusetts Bay Colony voted to create the school in what became Cambridge, Massachusetts. It was later named for minister John Harvard, who left the college his library and half his estate.
• 1492: Christopher Columbus lands on Cuba.
  On his first voyage, Columbus reached the island's northeast coast and believed he had found Japan or the edge of Asia. He claimed the land for Spain.

Born on This Day

• 1998: Stephen Nedoroscik, American gymnast
  Turns 28. Pommel horse specialist who won two bronze medals at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
• 1998: Nolan Gould, American actor
  Turns 28. Played Luke Dunphy on Modern Family.
• 1987: Frank Ocean, American singer and songwriter
  Turns 39. Grammy winner known for the albums Channel Orange and Blonde.
• 1982: Matt Smith, English actor
  Turns 44. Played the Doctor on Doctor Who and Daemon Targaryen on House of the Dragon.
• 1978: Gwendoline Christie, English actress
  Turns 48. Played Brienne of Tarth on Game of Thrones.
• 1974: Joaquin Phoenix, American actor
  Turns 52. Won an Oscar for Joker and played Johnny Cash in Walk the Line.
• 1972: Brad Paisley, American country singer
  Turns 54. Grand Ole Opry star behind hits like “Whiskey Lullaby” and “Remind Me.”
• 1972: Terrell Davis, American football player
  Hall of Fame Denver Broncos running back and Super Bowl XXXII MVP.
• 1969: Ben Harper, American singer and guitarist
  Grammy winner known for “Steal My Kisses” and “Diamonds on the Inside.”
• 1967: Julia Roberts, American actress
  Turns 59. Star of Pretty Woman who won an Oscar for Erin Brockovich.
• 1966: Andy Richter, American comedian and TV host
  Turns 60. Longtime sidekick to Conan O'Brien.
• 1963: Lauren Holly, American actress
  Turns 63. Known for Dumb and Dumber, Picket Fences, and NCIS.
• 1955: Bill Gates, American businessman
  Turns 71. Co-founder of Microsoft and the Gates Foundation.
• 1952: Annie Potts, American actress
  Turns 74. Known for Ghostbusters, Designing Women, and Young Sheldon.
• 1949: Caitlyn Jenner, American Olympic athlete and TV personality
  Turns 77. Won decathlon gold at the 1976 Olympics and later appeared on Keeping Up with the Kardashians.
• 1948: Telma Hopkins, American singer and actress
  Turns 78. Sang with Tony Orlando and Dawn and played Aunt Rachel on Family Matters.
• 1944: Dennis Franz, American actor
  Emmy-winning star who played Detective Andy Sipowicz on NYPD Blue.
• 1937: Lenny Wilkens, American basketball player and coach
  Hall of Famer as both player and coach who led the Seattle SuperSonics to the 1979 NBA title.
• 1936: Charlie Daniels, American country singer and fiddler
  Best known for “The Devil Went Down to Georgia.”
• 1914: Jonas Salk, American medical researcher
  Developed the first safe and effective polio vaccine.