28 March in history
5 events that happened on 28 March, from 193 to 1979.
✦ Anniversary of the day
193 CE 1,833 years ago
Praetorians murder Pertinax and auction the empire
After killing Emperor Pertinax, the Praetorian Guard sold the throne to the senator Didius Julianus, who outbid his rival. He lasted 66 days before Septimius Severus took power.
1854 CE 172 years ago
Britain and France declare war on Russia
The two powers joined the Ottoman Empire against Russia, beginning their part in the Crimean War. Battlefield reporting and Florence Nightingale's nursing made it a turning point in public views of war.
1910 CE 116 years ago
Henri Fabre makes the first seaplane flight
The French engineer took off from the Étang de Berre near Marseille in his float-equipped Hydravion. It was the first powered aircraft to take off from water.
1941 CE 85 years ago
Virginia Woolf drowns herself in the River Ouse
Fearing a return of mental illness, the novelist filled her pockets with stones and walked into the river near her Sussex home. Her novels include 'Mrs Dalloway' and 'To the Lighthouse'.
1979 CE 47 years ago
Partial meltdown at Three Mile Island
A cooling failure caused part of a reactor core to melt at the Pennsylvania nuclear plant. Little radiation escaped, but it was the worst US nuclear accident and stalled new reactor orders.
