September 28

September 28 is the 271st day of the year (272nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar, leaving 94 days until the end of the year.^[1] It is observed annually as World Rabies Day, an initiative led by the World Health Organization since 2007 to promote rabies prevention through vaccination of dogs and awareness of post-exposure prophylaxis, addressing a zoonotic disease that causes tens of thousands of human deaths yearly, predominantly in Asia and Africa.^[2] The date has witnessed pivotal historical events, including the assassination of Roman general Pompey the Great on September 28, 48 BC, by order of Ptolemy XIII in Egypt following his defeat by Julius Caesar, marking a turning point in the Roman civil wars.^[3] On September 28, 1066, William, Duke of Normandy—later known as William the Conqueror—landed unopposed at Pevensey Bay in England with an invasion force, launching the Norman Conquest that fundamentally altered English governance, language, and society after his victory at the Battle of Hastings weeks later.^[4] Similarly, the Siege of Yorktown began on September 28, 1781, when American and French forces under George Washington and Rochambeau commenced bombardment of British positions held by Charles Cornwallis, culminating in the surrender that effectively ended major combat in the American Revolutionary War.^[3] Other notable occurrences include the traditional birth date of the philosopher Confucius around 551 BC, whose teachings shaped East Asian ethics and governance for millennia, though exact dating relies on lunar calendar conversions.^[5] The date also features lighter observances in various countries, such as Czech Statehood Day commemorating the defeat of invading Magyars in 955 AD, but these are overshadowed by the global health focus and transformative military milestones.^[6]

Events

Pre-1600

In 48 BC, Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus (Pompey the Great), Roman general and statesman, was assassinated upon landing at Pelusium in Egypt.^[7] After his defeat by Julius Caesar at the Battle of Pharsalus earlier that year, Pompey fled eastward seeking alliance with Ptolemaic Egypt; however, Ptolemy XIII's advisors, aiming to curry favor with Caesar, ordered his execution by beheading as he disembarked from his ship. This act stemmed from the intensifying Roman civil war, where Pompey's prior conquests in the East had positioned him as a rival to Caesar's dominance, ultimately accelerating the Republic's transition toward autocracy by eliminating a major republican counterweight.^[7] In 935, Wenceslaus I, Duke of Bohemia, was murdered at Stará Boleslav by his younger brother Boleslaus I, who ambushed him en route to Mass.^[8] Wenceslaus had promoted Christianity and maintained ties with the Holy Roman Empire, fostering stability amid Slavic pagan resistance, which fueled familial and noble opposition culminating in the assassination.^[9] Boleslaus seized power immediately after, expanding Bohemian territory through conquests enabled by the power vacuum, while Wenceslaus's martyrdom elevated his cult status, reinforcing Christian consolidation in Central Europe against persistent pagan influences.^[8]

1601–1900

• Louis Pasteur (1822–1895), French chemist and microbiologist whose experiments disproved spontaneous generation and established the germ theory of disease, enabling advancements in sterilization and vaccination; he developed vaccines against anthrax in livestock (1881) and rabies in humans (1885), and introduced pasteurization to inhibit microbial growth in beverages like milk and wine.^[10][11] Pasteur died from complications of strokes on September 28, 1895, in Marnes-la-Coquette, France.^[12]
• Herman Melville (1819–1891), American novelist and poet best known for Moby-Dick (1851), a novel drawing on empirical observations of whaling and human psychology to explore themes of obsession and fate through naturalistic prose; his works, including Typee (1846) based on personal South Seas experiences, contributed to American literary realism by integrating factual maritime details with philosophical inquiry.^[13][14] Melville died of a heart attack on September 28, 1891, in New York City.^[15]

1901–2000

Edwin Hubble (1889–1953), the American astronomer who provided empirical evidence for the expansion of the universe through observations of receding galaxies, died on September 28, 1953, in San Marino, California, at age 63 from a cerebral thrombosis.^[16] His work at Mount Wilson Observatory, including the discovery of Cepheid variables in the Andromeda Nebula confirming it as a separate galaxy, established the field of extragalactic astronomy and led to Hubble's law, quantifying the rate of cosmic expansion.^[16] Ferdinand Marcos (1917–1989), the Philippine president who declared martial law in 1972 and ruled as a dictator until his ouster in 1986 amid allegations of corruption and human rights abuses, died on September 28, 1989, in Honolulu, Hawaii, at age 72 from a heart attack while in exile.^[17][18] His regime, marked by infrastructure development alongside economic mismanagement and suppression of dissent, left a legacy of polarized views on his authoritarian governance and the People Power Revolution that ended it.^[17] Miles Davis (1926–1991), the influential jazz trumpeter and composer who pioneered cool jazz, modal jazz, and fusion genres through albums like Kind of Blue (1959), died on September 28, 1991, in Santa Monica, California, at age 65 from complications of pneumonia, respiratory failure, and a stroke.^[19][20] Davis's career spanned bebop collaborations with Charlie Parker to electric explorations in the 1970s, shaping modern jazz's evolution toward broader cultural integration while battling personal struggles with addiction and health issues in his later years.^[19] Pierre Trudeau (1919–2000), the Canadian prime minister who led the Liberal Party through two terms (1968–1979 and 1980–1984) and championed the 1982 Constitution Act patriating the constitution from Britain, died on September 28, 2000, in Montreal at age 80 from prostate cancer.^[21] His policies, including official bilingualism and the controversial National Energy Program, aimed at national unity amid Quebec separatism but drew criticism for centralizing federal power and economic impacts on western provinces.^[21][22]

2001–present

• 2003 – Althea Gibson, American tennis player who became the first Black athlete to win a Grand Slam title by securing the French Open in 1956, Wimbledon in 1957 and 1958, and the US Nationals in 1957 and 1958, died at age 76 from respiratory failure.^[23][24]
• 2010 – Arthur Penn, American film director known for Bonnie and Clyde (1967), which revitalized the Western genre and influenced New Hollywood cinema, died at age 88. (Note: IMDb for date confirmation, but legacy via film history.)
• 2019 – José José, Mexican singer dubbed "The Prince of Song" for hits like "El Triste," with over 60 million records sold, died at age 71 from complications of bladder cancer and septic shock. (Cross-verified via multiple obituaries.)
• 2022 – Coolio (Artis Leon Ivey Jr.), American rapper famous for the Grammy-winning "Gangsta's Paradise" (1995), which topped charts and featured in Dangerous Minds, died at age 59 from an accidental overdose involving fentanyl, heroin, and methamphetamine.^[25][26]
• 2024 – Kris Kristofferson, American singer-songwriter, actor, and Rhodes Scholar who penned classics like "Me and Bobby McGee" and starred in films including A Star Is Born (1976), died at age 88 in his Maui home; no cause was disclosed, though he had prior health issues including Lyme disease.^[27][28][29]

Births

Pre-1600

In 48 BC, Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus (Pompey the Great), Roman general and statesman, was assassinated upon landing at Pelusium in Egypt.^[7] After his defeat by Julius Caesar at the Battle of Pharsalus earlier that year, Pompey fled eastward seeking alliance with Ptolemaic Egypt; however, Ptolemy XIII's advisors, aiming to curry favor with Caesar, ordered his execution by beheading as he disembarked from his ship. This act stemmed from the intensifying Roman civil war, where Pompey's prior conquests in the East had positioned him as a rival to Caesar's dominance, ultimately accelerating the Republic's transition toward autocracy by eliminating a major republican counterweight.^[7] In 935, Wenceslaus I, Duke of Bohemia, was murdered at Stará Boleslav by his younger brother Boleslaus I, who ambushed him en route to Mass.^[8] Wenceslaus had promoted Christianity and maintained ties with the Holy Roman Empire, fostering stability amid Slavic pagan resistance, which fueled familial and noble opposition culminating in the assassination.^[9] Boleslaus seized power immediately after, expanding Bohemian territory through conquests enabled by the power vacuum, while Wenceslaus's martyrdom elevated his cult status, reinforcing Christian consolidation in Central Europe against persistent pagan influences.^[8]

1601–1900

• Louis Pasteur (1822–1895), French chemist and microbiologist whose experiments disproved spontaneous generation and established the germ theory of disease, enabling advancements in sterilization and vaccination; he developed vaccines against anthrax in livestock (1881) and rabies in humans (1885), and introduced pasteurization to inhibit microbial growth in beverages like milk and wine.^[10][11] Pasteur died from complications of strokes on September 28, 1895, in Marnes-la-Coquette, France.^[12]
• Herman Melville (1819–1891), American novelist and poet best known for Moby-Dick (1851), a novel drawing on empirical observations of whaling and human psychology to explore themes of obsession and fate through naturalistic prose; his works, including Typee (1846) based on personal South Seas experiences, contributed to American literary realism by integrating factual maritime details with philosophical inquiry.^[13][14] Melville died of a heart attack on September 28, 1891, in New York City.^[15]

1901–2000

Edwin Hubble (1889–1953), the American astronomer who provided empirical evidence for the expansion of the universe through observations of receding galaxies, died on September 28, 1953, in San Marino, California, at age 63 from a cerebral thrombosis.^[16] His work at Mount Wilson Observatory, including the discovery of Cepheid variables in the Andromeda Nebula confirming it as a separate galaxy, established the field of extragalactic astronomy and led to Hubble's law, quantifying the rate of cosmic expansion.^[16] Ferdinand Marcos (1917–1989), the Philippine president who declared martial law in 1972 and ruled as a dictator until his ouster in 1986 amid allegations of corruption and human rights abuses, died on September 28, 1989, in Honolulu, Hawaii, at age 72 from a heart attack while in exile.^[17][18] His regime, marked by infrastructure development alongside economic mismanagement and suppression of dissent, left a legacy of polarized views on his authoritarian governance and the People Power Revolution that ended it.^[17] Miles Davis (1926–1991), the influential jazz trumpeter and composer who pioneered cool jazz, modal jazz, and fusion genres through albums like Kind of Blue (1959), died on September 28, 1991, in Santa Monica, California, at age 65 from complications of pneumonia, respiratory failure, and a stroke.^[19][20] Davis's career spanned bebop collaborations with Charlie Parker to electric explorations in the 1970s, shaping modern jazz's evolution toward broader cultural integration while battling personal struggles with addiction and health issues in his later years.^[19] Pierre Trudeau (1919–2000), the Canadian prime minister who led the Liberal Party through two terms (1968–1979 and 1980–1984) and championed the 1982 Constitution Act patriating the constitution from Britain, died on September 28, 2000, in Montreal at age 80 from prostate cancer.^[21] His policies, including official bilingualism and the controversial National Energy Program, aimed at national unity amid Quebec separatism but drew criticism for centralizing federal power and economic impacts on western provinces.^[21][22]

2001–present

• 2003 – Althea Gibson, American tennis player who became the first Black athlete to win a Grand Slam title by securing the French Open in 1956, Wimbledon in 1957 and 1958, and the US Nationals in 1957 and 1958, died at age 76 from respiratory failure.^[23][24]
• 2010 – Arthur Penn, American film director known for Bonnie and Clyde (1967), which revitalized the Western genre and influenced New Hollywood cinema, died at age 88. (Note: IMDb for date confirmation, but legacy via film history.)
• 2019 – José José, Mexican singer dubbed "The Prince of Song" for hits like "El Triste," with over 60 million records sold, died at age 71 from complications of bladder cancer and septic shock. (Cross-verified via multiple obituaries.)
• 2022 – Coolio (Artis Leon Ivey Jr.), American rapper famous for the Grammy-winning "Gangsta's Paradise" (1995), which topped charts and featured in Dangerous Minds, died at age 59 from an accidental overdose involving fentanyl, heroin, and methamphetamine.^[25][26]
• 2024 – Kris Kristofferson, American singer-songwriter, actor, and Rhodes Scholar who penned classics like "Me and Bobby McGee" and starred in films including A Star Is Born (1976), died at age 88 in his Maui home; no cause was disclosed, though he had prior health issues including Lyme disease.^[27][28][29]

Deaths

Pre-1600

In 48 BC, Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus (Pompey the Great), Roman general and statesman, was assassinated upon landing at Pelusium in Egypt.^[7] After his defeat by Julius Caesar at the Battle of Pharsalus earlier that year, Pompey fled eastward seeking alliance with Ptolemaic Egypt; however, Ptolemy XIII's advisors, aiming to curry favor with Caesar, ordered his execution by beheading as he disembarked from his ship. This act stemmed from the intensifying Roman civil war, where Pompey's prior conquests in the East had positioned him as a rival to Caesar's dominance, ultimately accelerating the Republic's transition toward autocracy by eliminating a major republican counterweight.^[7] In 935, Wenceslaus I, Duke of Bohemia, was murdered at Stará Boleslav by his younger brother Boleslaus I, who ambushed him en route to Mass.^[8] Wenceslaus had promoted Christianity and maintained ties with the Holy Roman Empire, fostering stability amid Slavic pagan resistance, which fueled familial and noble opposition culminating in the assassination.^[9] Boleslaus seized power immediately after, expanding Bohemian territory through conquests enabled by the power vacuum, while Wenceslaus's martyrdom elevated his cult status, reinforcing Christian consolidation in Central Europe against persistent pagan influences.^[8]

1601–1900

• Louis Pasteur (1822–1895), French chemist and microbiologist whose experiments disproved spontaneous generation and established the germ theory of disease, enabling advancements in sterilization and vaccination; he developed vaccines against anthrax in livestock (1881) and rabies in humans (1885), and introduced pasteurization to inhibit microbial growth in beverages like milk and wine.^[10][11] Pasteur died from complications of strokes on September 28, 1895, in Marnes-la-Coquette, France.^[12]
• Herman Melville (1819–1891), American novelist and poet best known for Moby-Dick (1851), a novel drawing on empirical observations of whaling and human psychology to explore themes of obsession and fate through naturalistic prose; his works, including Typee (1846) based on personal South Seas experiences, contributed to American literary realism by integrating factual maritime details with philosophical inquiry.^[13][14] Melville died of a heart attack on September 28, 1891, in New York City.^[15]

1901–2000

Edwin Hubble (1889–1953), the American astronomer who provided empirical evidence for the expansion of the universe through observations of receding galaxies, died on September 28, 1953, in San Marino, California, at age 63 from a cerebral thrombosis.^[16] His work at Mount Wilson Observatory, including the discovery of Cepheid variables in the Andromeda Nebula confirming it as a separate galaxy, established the field of extragalactic astronomy and led to Hubble's law, quantifying the rate of cosmic expansion.^[16] Ferdinand Marcos (1917–1989), the Philippine president who declared martial law in 1972 and ruled as a dictator until his ouster in 1986 amid allegations of corruption and human rights abuses, died on September 28, 1989, in Honolulu, Hawaii, at age 72 from a heart attack while in exile.^[17][18] His regime, marked by infrastructure development alongside economic mismanagement and suppression of dissent, left a legacy of polarized views on his authoritarian governance and the People Power Revolution that ended it.^[17] Miles Davis (1926–1991), the influential jazz trumpeter and composer who pioneered cool jazz, modal jazz, and fusion genres through albums like Kind of Blue (1959), died on September 28, 1991, in Santa Monica, California, at age 65 from complications of pneumonia, respiratory failure, and a stroke.^[19][20] Davis's career spanned bebop collaborations with Charlie Parker to electric explorations in the 1970s, shaping modern jazz's evolution toward broader cultural integration while battling personal struggles with addiction and health issues in his later years.^[19] Pierre Trudeau (1919–2000), the Canadian prime minister who led the Liberal Party through two terms (1968–1979 and 1980–1984) and championed the 1982 Constitution Act patriating the constitution from Britain, died on September 28, 2000, in Montreal at age 80 from prostate cancer.^[21] His policies, including official bilingualism and the controversial National Energy Program, aimed at national unity amid Quebec separatism but drew criticism for centralizing federal power and economic impacts on western provinces.^[21][22]

2001–present

• 2003 – Althea Gibson, American tennis player who became the first Black athlete to win a Grand Slam title by securing the French Open in 1956, Wimbledon in 1957 and 1958, and the US Nationals in 1957 and 1958, died at age 76 from respiratory failure.^[23][24]
• 2010 – Arthur Penn, American film director known for Bonnie and Clyde (1967), which revitalized the Western genre and influenced New Hollywood cinema, died at age 88. (Note: IMDb for date confirmation, but legacy via film history.)
• 2019 – José José, Mexican singer dubbed "The Prince of Song" for hits like "El Triste," with over 60 million records sold, died at age 71 from complications of bladder cancer and septic shock. (Cross-verified via multiple obituaries.)
• 2022 – Coolio (Artis Leon Ivey Jr.), American rapper famous for the Grammy-winning "Gangsta's Paradise" (1995), which topped charts and featured in Dangerous Minds, died at age 59 from an accidental overdose involving fentanyl, heroin, and methamphetamine.^[25][26]
• 2024 – Kris Kristofferson, American singer-songwriter, actor, and Rhodes Scholar who penned classics like "Me and Bobby McGee" and starred in films including A Star Is Born (1976), died at age 88 in his Maui home; no cause was disclosed, though he had prior health issues including Lyme disease.^[27][28][29]

Holidays and observances

Religious observances

In the Roman Catholic Church, September 28 marks the feast of Saint Wenceslaus (also known as Wenceslas), Duke of Bohemia from approximately 921 to 935, who was assassinated by his brother Boleslaus I during an attempt to attend Mass.^[8] Wenceslaus, born around 903, promoted Christianity amid pagan resistance, fostering church construction and clerical education under the influence of his grandmother, Saint Ludmila; his hagiography portrays him as a model of piety and justice, leading to his canonization and recognition as Bohemia's patron saint by 985.^[9][30] Eastern Orthodox Christians on the Gregorian calendar observe September 28 with commemorations of multiple saints, including Prophet Baruch, a sixth-century BC scribe and companion to Jeremiah whose writings are preserved in the Book of Baruch, and Saint Chariton the Confessor, a third-century Palestinian abbot who founded monasteries and endured persecution for his faith.^[31] The day also features the Synaxis of Monastic Fathers from the Near Caves of the Kiev Pechersk Lavra, honoring ascetics like Anthony of Kiev who established this monastic center in the eleventh century, emphasizing eremitic discipline rooted in patristic traditions.^[32] These liturgies derive from menaia and synaxaria, drawing on biblical prophecies and early hagiographies without fixed scriptural mandates for the date.^[33]

National and international observances

In the Czech Republic, September 28 is designated as Statehood Day, a public holiday established by law in 2000 to commemorate the murder of Duke Wenceslas I in 935, whose efforts in promoting Christianity laid foundational elements for Czech state identity and continuity through subsequent historical periods.^[34][35] World Rabies Day occurs annually on September 28, selected to honor the 1895 death of Louis Pasteur, whose development of the rabies vaccine demonstrated that post-exposure prophylaxis could prevent nearly all human fatalities from the virus, which transmits primarily via dog bites and causes over 59,000 deaths yearly, predominantly in Asia and Africa where canine vaccination coverage remains below 50% in many areas. Coordinated by the Global Alliance for Rabies Control with World Health Organization endorsement, the observance promotes empirical strategies like widespread dog immunization campaigns, which have eliminated dog-mediated rabies in regions achieving over 70% vaccination rates, thereby breaking transmission cycles to humans.^[2][36][37] The United Nations General Assembly proclaimed September 28 as the International Day for Universal Access to Information in 2019, recognizing that transparent information flows enable evidence-based policymaking, reduce corruption through accountability mechanisms, and support Sustainable Development Goal 16 on inclusive institutions, with data from transparency indices showing correlations between access laws and improved governance outcomes in adopting countries.^[38][39]