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1928 in the United States
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Events from the year 1928 in the United States
Incumbents
[[Federal government of the United States|Federal government]]
- President: Calvin Coolidge (R-Massachusetts)
- Vice President: Charles G. Dawes (R-Illinois)
- Chief Justice: William Howard Taft (Ohio)
- Speaker of the House of Representatives: Nicholas Longworth (R-Ohio)
- Senate Majority Leader: Charles Curtis (R-Kansas)
- Congress: 70th
State governments
| Governors and lieutenant governors |
|---|
Events
January
- January 12 – Murderer Ruth Snyder is executed at Sing Sing in Ossining, New York. A surreptitious press photograph is taken of her at the moment of electrocution.
- January 16 – 6th Pan-American Conference opens in Havana. Calvin Coolidge becomes the last sitting U.S. president until 2016 to visit Cuba.
- January 17 –Huey P. Long wins the 1928 Louisiana Democratic gubernatorial primary. He would win the gubernatorial election later.
February
- February 8 – British inventor John Logie Baird broadcasts a transatlantic television signal from London to Hartsdale, New York.
- February 25 – Charles Jenkins Laboratories of Washington, D.C. becomes the first holder of a television license from the Federal Radio Commission.
March
- March 12 – In California, the St. Francis Dam north of Los Angeles fails, killing 400.
- March 21 – Charles Lindbergh is presented the Medal of Honor for his first trans-Atlantic flight.
April
- April 10 – "Pineapple Primary": The Republican Party primary elections in Chicago are preceded by assassinations and bombings.
- April 28 – Tamiami Trail linking Tampa and Miami officially opens to traffic.
May
- May 10 – The first regular schedule of television programming begins in Schenectady, New York by the General Electric's television station W2XB (the station is popularly known as WGY Television, after its sister radio station WGY).
- May 15 – The animated short Plane Crazy is released by Disney Studios in Los Angeles, featuring the first appearances of Mickey and Minnie Mouse.
- May 19 – Mather Mine disaster
- May 26 – Airplane Coaster roller coaster opens at Playland, Rye, New York.
- May 29 – Palsgraf v. Long Island Railroad Co., a leading case in United States tort law on the question of liability to an unforeseeable plaintiff, is decided in the New York Court of Appeals.
June
- June 3 – Serial killer Albert Fish kidnaps and kills 10-year-old Grace Budd in New York.
- June 4 – Olmstead v. United States decided in the Supreme Court: wiretapped private telephone conversations, obtained by federal agents without judicial approval and subsequently used as evidence, do not violate the Fourth and Fifth Amendments to the Constitution.
- June 17 – Aviator Amelia Earhart starts her attempt to become the first woman to successfully cross the Atlantic Ocean. Wilmer Stultz is the pilot.
- June 29 – New York governor Alfred E. Smith becomes the first Catholic nominated by a major political party for U.S. President, at the Democratic National Convention in Houston, Texas.
- June 29 – Outerbridge Crossing and Goethals Bridge in Staten Island, New York is opened
July
- July 4 – Jean Lussier goes over Niagara Falls in a rubber ball.
- July 6 – The world's largest hailstone falls in Potter, Nebraska.
- July 7 – The first machine-sliced, machine-wrapped loaf of bread is sold in Chillicothe, Missouri, using Otto Frederick Rohwedder's technology.
- July 12 – Mexican aviator Emilio Carranza dies in a solo plane crash in the New Jersey Pine Barrens, while returning from a goodwill flight to New York City.
- July 25 – The United States recalls its troops from China.
August
- August 9–19 – First Pan-Pacific Women's Conference held at the Punahou Academy in Honolulu, Territory of Hawaii.
- August 16 – Murderer Carl Panzram is arrested in Washington, D.C. after killing about 20 people.
- August 22 – Alfred E. Smith accepts the Democratic presidential nomination, with WGY/W2XB simulcasting the event on radio and television.
September
- September 1 – Richard Byrd leaves New York for the Arctic.
- September 11 – Kenmore's WMAK station starts broadcasting in Buffalo, New York.
- September 16 – The 1928 Okeechobee Hurricane kills at least 2,500 people in Florida.
October
- October 9 – The New York Yankees defeat the St. Louis Cardinals, 4 games to 0, to win their 3rd World Series Title.
- October 12 – An iron lung respirator is used for the first time at Children's Hospital, Boston.
- October 19 – William Edward Hickman is executed at San Quentin State Prison, for the 1927 murder of 12-year-old Marion Parker.
- October 28 – Glenn Miller and Helen Burger marry in New York City.
November
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- November 4 – At Park Central Hotel in Manhattan, Arnold Rothstein, New York City's most notorious gambler, is shot to death over a poker game.
- November 6 – U.S. presidential election, 1928: Republican Herbert Hoover wins by a wide margin over Democratic governor of New York Alfred E. Smith.
- November 17 – The Boston Garden opens in Boston.
- November 18 – Mickey Mouse appears in Steamboat Willie, the third Mickey Mouse cartoon released, but the first sound film.
December
- December 5 – Police disperse a Sicilian gangs' meeting in Cleveland.
- December 21 – The U.S. Congress approves the construction of Boulder Dam, later renamed Hoover Dam.
Undated
- The Ford River Rouge Complex at Dearborn, Michigan, an automobile plant begun in 1917, is completed as the largest integrated factory in the world.
- W2XBS, RCA's first television station, is established in New York City.
- Eliot Ness begins to lead the prohibition unit in Chicago.
- The Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America ratifies a new revision of the Book of Common Prayer.
Ongoing
- Lochner era (c. 1897–c. 1937)
- On the roof gang, group of cryptologists and radiomen during World War II (1928–1941)
- U.S. occupation of Haiti (1915–1934)
- Prohibition (1920–1933)
- Roaring Twenties (1920–1929)
Sport
- April 14 - New York Rangers win their First Stanley Cup by defeating the Montreal Maroons 3 games to 2. All games were played at the Montreal Forum. The Rangers become the Second American team to win the Stanley Cup and the first since the Seattle Metropolitans in 1918
Births
January


- January 1 – William Henry Draper III, American venture capitalist
- January 2
- January 5 – Walter Mondale, American politician, 42nd vice president of the United States from 1977 to 1981 (d. 2021)
- January 6 – George H. Ross, American businessman
- January 7 – William Peter Blatty, American novelist and screenwriter (d. 2017)
- January 8
- January 9 – Judith Krantz, American novelist (d. 2019)
- January 10 – Philip Levine, American poet (d. 2015)
- January 11
- January 12 – Lloyd Ruby, American race car driver (d. 2009)
- January 14 – Lauch Faircloth, American politician (d. 2023)
- January 15
- January 16
- William Kennedy, American author
- Sidney Kimmel, American businessman, philanthropist and film producer
- January 20 – Rudy Boesch, American soldier (d. 2019)
- January 21 – Gene Sharp, American political theorist of nonviolent action (d. 2018)
- January 22 – Birch Bayh, American politician (d. 2019)
- January 30 – Harold Prince, American stage producer, director (d. 2019)
February
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- February 1 – Tom Lantos, American politician (d. 2008)
- February 5
- February 8 – Jack Larson, American actor, producer and playwright (d. 2015)
- February 9
- February 11 – Conrad Janis, American jazz trombonist and actor (d. 2022)
- February 14 – Norman Bridwell, American cartoonist (d. 2014)
- February 17 – Tom Jones, American lyricist (d. 2023)
- February 18 – John Ostrom, American paleontologist (d. 2005)
- February 20
- February 22
- Paul Dooley, American actor
- Clarence 13X, American religious leader, founder of the Nation of Gods and Earths (d. 1969)
- February 23 – Ralph Earnhardt, American race car driver (d. 1973)
- February 26 – Fats Domino, African-American pianist and singer-songwriter (d. 2017)
March




- March 3 – Bernice Sandler, American women's rights activist (d. 2019)
- March 5 – J. Hillis Miller, American literary critic (d. 2021)
- March 6
- March 7
- March 9 – Keely Smith, American singer (d. 2017)
- March 10 – James Earl Ray, American assassin (d. 1998)
- March 12
- March 14
- March 15 – Bob Wilber, American clarinetist and saxophonist (d. 2019)
- March 17 – Barbara Kloka Hackett, American judge (d. 2018)
- March 18 – Julia Mullock, American-Korean royal (d. 2017)
- March 19
- March 20
- E. D. Hirsch, American author, critic and academic
- Ed Macauley, American basketball player (d. 2011)
- March 23 – Mark Rydell, American actor, director and producer
- March 24
- March 25
- March 27 – Douglas Applegate, politician (d. 2021)
- March 29 – Vincent Gigante, American Mafia gangster (d. 2005)
- March 31 – Lefty Frizzell, American country music performer (d. 1975)
April



- April 1 – George Grizzard, American actor (d. 2007)
- April 2 – Joseph Bernardin, American cardinal (d. 1996)
- April 3
- April 4 – Maya Angelou, African American poet and novelist (d. 2014)
- April 5 – Tony Williams, American singer (d. 1992)
- April 6 – James D. Watson, American geneticist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (d. 2025)
- April 7
- April 8 – Fred Ebb, American composer (d. 2004)
- April 9
- April 11 – Ethel Kennedy, American human-rights campaigner, wife of Robert F. Kennedy (d. 2024)
- April 16 – Night Train Lane, American football player (d. 2002)
- April 17
- Cynthia Ozick, American writer
- Victor Lownes, American businessman (d. 2017)
- April 18
- April 19 – Richard Garwin, American physicist (d. 2025)
- April 20 – Robert Byrne, American chess player (d. 2013)
- April 22 - Estelle Harris, American actress (d. 2022)
- April 23 – Shirley Temple, American actress, singer, dancer, businesswoman, and diplomat (d. 2014)
- April 24 – Johnny Griffin, African-American jazz saxophonist (d. 2008)
- April 25 – Cy Twombly, American artist (d. 2011)
- April 27
- April 28
May




- May 1 – Sonny James, American country singer (d. 2016)
- May 3
- May 4
- May 5 – Marshall Grant, American musician (d. 2011)
- May 7 – John Ingle, American actor (d. 2012)
- May 8
- May 9
- May 11
- May 12
- May 14 – Dub Jones, American R&B singer (d. 2000)
- May 15 – Robert Hughes, basketball coach (d. 2024)
- May 16 – Billy Martin, American baseball player, manager (d. 1989)
- May 17 – Rose Leiman Goldemberg, American playwright, screenwriter, poet, and author (d. 2025)
- May 18
- May 19 – Dolph Schayes, American basketball player (d. 2015)
- May 21 – Alice Drummond, American actress (d. 2016)
- May 22 – T. Boone Pickens, American businessman (d. 2019)
- May 23 – Rosemary Clooney, American singer and actress (d. 2002)
- May 24 – Leonard B. Sand, American judge (d. 2016)
- May 25 – Mary Wells Lawrence, American advertising executive (d. 2024)
- May 26 – Jack Kevorkian, American right-to-die advocate (d. 2011)
- May 29 – George A. Sinner, American politician (d. 2018)
- May 31
June



- June 3 – Louise Daniel Hutchinson, American historian (d. 2014)
- June 4 – Billy Hunter, American baseball player and manager (d. 2025)
- June 6
- June 7 – James Ivory, American film director and screenwriter
- June 9 – Jackie Mason, American comedian (d. 2021)
- June 12
- June 13 – John Forbes Nash, Jr., American mathematician, recipient of the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences (d. 2015)
- June 19
- June 20
- June 21
- Charles D. Baker, American businessman, former U.S. government official
- June 22
- June 23
- June 24
- June 25
- June 26
- June 27 – Edward B. Cottingham, politician (d. 2021)
- June 28 – Patrick Hemingway, wildlife manager and writer, second son of author Ernest Hemingway (d. 2024)
- June 29
- Bill Bagley, politician
- James Lincoln Collier, journalist, musician and author
- Nick Testa, professional baseball catcher, coach (d. 2018)
- June 30 – Nathaniel Tarn, poet, essayist, anthropologist and translator (d. 2024)
July


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- July 4 – Chuck Tanner, American baseball player and manager (d. 2011)
- July 5
- July 6
- July 8 – Pat Adams, painter, printmaker
- July 9
- July 10 – Herb Johnson, American football player (d. 2021)
- July 12
- Elias James Corey, chemist, Nobel Prize laureate
- Hayden White, historian (d. 2018)
- July 13
- July 14 – Nancy Olson, American actress
- July 15 – Tom Troupe, American actor, writer
- July 16 – Jim Rathmann, American race car driver (d. 2011)
- July 17 – Joe Morello, American jazz drummer (d. 2011)
- July 18
- July 19 – Priscilla Johnson McMillan, journalist and historian (d. 2021)
- July 20 – Cecilia Suyat Marshall, American civil rights activist and historian (d. 2022)
- July 22
- July 23 – Leon Fleisher, American classical pianist (d. 2020)
- July 26
August


- August 1
- August 3 – Janet Abu-Lughod, American sociologist (d. 2013)
- August 4
- August 5 – Bogdan Maglich, Yugoslav-born American physicist (d. 2017)
- August 6 – Andy Warhol, American figure in the visual art movement pop art (d. 1987)
- August 7 – Herbert H. Bateman, American politician (d. 2000)
- August 8 – Jane Stoll, American professional baseball player (d. 2000)
- August 9
- August 10
- August 12
- August 16
- August 18 – Marge Schott, American baseball team owner (d. 2004)
- August 19 – Laurette Luez, American actress (d. 1999)
- August 20 – Frank Rosolino, American jazz trombonist (d. 1978)
- August 21 – Art Farmer, American jazz trumpeter, flugelhorn player (d. 1999)
- August 22 – Ray Marshall, American politician
- August 23 – Marian Seldes, American actress (d. 2014)
- August 25
- August 28 – Ed Salem, American football quarterback, defensive back (d. 2001)
- August 30
- August 31 – James Coburn, American actor (d. 2002)
September



- September 1 – George Maharis, American actor (d. 2023)
- September 2
- September 3 – James Churgin, American geologist and oceanographer (d. 2014)
- September 4 – Dick York, American actor (d. 1992)
- September 6 – Robert M. Pirsig, American philosopher (d. 2017)
- September 7
- September 9 – Sol LeWitt, American artist (d. 2007)
- September 10 – Walter Ralston Martin, American Baptist Christian minister and author (d. 1989)
- September 11
- September 12
- September 13 – Robert Indiana, American contemporary artist (d. 2018)
- September 14
- September 15
- September 16 – Patricia Wald, American judge (d. 2019)
- September 19 – Adam West, American actor (d. 2017)
- September 20
- September 22
- September 23
- September 24 – Malcolm F. Marsh, American attorney and judge (d. 2025)
- September 25 – Victor Gold, American journalist, press secretary (d. 2017)
- September 26 – Robert D. Ray, American lawyer, politician (d. 2018)
- September 27 – Garry Watson, American child actor
- September 28 – Koko Taylor, African-American singer (d. 2009)
October

- October 1
- October 2 – Spanky McFarland, American child actor (d. 1993)
- October 3
- October 4 – Alvin Toffler, American futurologist (d. 2016)
- October 7
- October 8 – M. Russell Ballard, American businessman and religious leader (d. 2023)
- October 14 – Gary Graffman, American concert pianist (d. 2025)
- October 16 – Eileen Ryan, American actress (d. 2022)
- October 17
- October 18 – Keith Jackson, American sports commentator, journalist, author, and radio personality (d. 2018)
- October 21
- October 22 – Warren Winiarski, American winemaker (d. 2024)
- October 23 – George M. Woodwell, American ecologist (d. 2024)
- October 25
- October 27 – Waldo Holmes, American musician and songwriter (d. 2021)
- October 29 – Harriet Pattison, landscape architect (d. 2023)
- October 30
- October 31 – Roy Romer, American politician
November
- November 3
- November 4 – George Stanich, high jumper
- November 5 – Gwen Van Dam, actress (d. 2024)
- November 6
- November 7 – Herbert Flam, tennis player (d. 1980)
- November 9
- November 11 – Ernestine Anderson, jazz and blues singer (d. 2016)
- November 12 – Bobby Baker, political adviser to Lyndon B. Johnson (d. 2017)
- November 13 – Steve Bilko, baseball player (d. 1978)
- November 14 – Kathleen Hughes, actress (d. 2025)
- November 15
- November 16 – Clu Gulager, actor and director (d. 2022)
- November 17
- Rance Howard, actor (d. 2017)
- Anna Meyer, female professional baseball player
- November 18
- November 20 – Pete Rademacher, American boxer (d. 2020)
- November 23 – Elmarie Wendel, American actress and singer (d. 2018)
- November 25 – Jimmy Johnson, blues guitarist (d. 2022)
- November 29
- November 30 – Joe B. Hall, American basketball coach (d. 2022)
December




- December 1 – Sarge Ferris, American professional poker player (d. 1989)
- December 2 – Edwin Kessler, American atmospheric scientist (d. 2017)
- December 5 – Barbara Stauffacher Solomon, American landscape architect and graphic designer (d. 2024)
- December 7 – Noam Chomsky, American linguist
- December 9 – Dick Van Patten, American actor (d. 2015)
- December 10
- December 12
- December 15
- December 16
- December 17 – George Lindsey, American actor (d. 2012)
- December 19 – Nathan Oliveira, American painter, printmaker, and sculptor (d. 2010)
- December 20 – Jack Christiansen, American football player and coach (d. 1986)
- December 21
- Ed Nelson, American actor (d. 2014)
- Colleen Townsend, American actress and author
- December 23
- December 24 – Nancy Tuckerman, American secretary (d. 2018)
- December 25
- December 26 – Martin Cooper, American inventor, "father of the mobile phone"
- December 27 – Richard Freed, American music critic (d. 2022)
- December 28 – Bill Gradison, American politician
- December 29 – June Preston, American child actress (d. 2022)
- December 30 – Bo Diddley, African-American musician (d. 2008)
- December 31 – Hugh McElhenny, American football player (d. 2022)
Deaths
- January 1 – Loie Fuller, dancer (born 1862)
- January 3
- January 6 – Alvin Kraenzlein, American athlete (born 1876)
- January 12 – Ruth Snyder, murderer (born 1895)
- January 13 – Frederick Arthur Bridgman, artist (born 1847)
- January 21 – John A. Kimberly, entrepreneur, co-founder of Kimberly-Clark (born 1838)
- January 22 – Victor Blue, American admiral (born 1865)
- January 25 – Charles Gorman, American actor (born 1865)
- March 7 – Robert Abbe, surgeon (born 1851)
- March 19 – Nora Bayes, singer and actress (born 1880)
- April 2 – Theodore William Richards, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry (born 1868)
- April 8 – Wendell P. Bowman, army major general (born 1847)
- April 22
- April 25 – Floyd Bennett, aviator (born 1890)
- May 8 – Clara Williams, actress (born 1888)
- May 18 – Bill Haywood, labor leader (born 1869)
- May 19 – Bessie Van Vorst, campaigning journalist (died 1873)
- June 6 – John D. Works, U.S. senator from California from 1911 to 1917 (born 1847)
- June 16 – Mark Keppel, Superintendent of Los Angeles County Schools (born 1867)
- June 22
- June 24 – Holbrook Blinn, actor (born 1872)
- July 1
- July 22 – William M. Folger, admiral (born 1844)
- August 29 – George N. Bliss, soldier, Medal of Honor recipient (born 1837)
- October 8 – Larry Semon, actor (born 1889)
- October 20 – Mary Ingalls, blind older sister of author Laura Ingalls Wilder (born 1865)
- October 24 – Arthur Bowen Davies, artist (born 1863)
- October 30 – Robert Lansing, Secretary of State (born 1864)
- December 11 – Lewis Howard Latimer, inventor (born 1848)
- December 14 – Theodore Roberts, actor (born 1861)
- December 16 – Elinor Wylie, poet and novelist (born 1885)
- December 25 – Fred Thomson, silent film actor (born 1890)
References
References
- "Transatlantic Television in 1928". Baird Television.
- Edgerton, Gary R.. (30 January 2009). "The Columbia History of American Television". Columbia University Press.
- "Tamiami Trail Officially Opened in 1928".
- Jan Onofrio. (1 January 2000). "Iowa Biographical Dictionary". Somerset Publishers, Inc..
- "The long legacy of the U.S. occupation of Haiti". Washington Post.
- "Volstead Act {{!}} History, Definition, & Significance {{!}} Britannica".
- [https://www.legacy.com/news/celebrity-deaths/conrad-janis-1928-2022-mindys-dad-on-mork-mindy/ Conrad Janis (1928–2022), Mindy’s dad on “Mork & Mindy”]
- "[[American National Biography]]". Oxford University Press.
- Grimes, William. (March 13, 1996). "Vince Edwards, 67, the Doctor In the Hit TV Series 'Ben Casey'". [[The New York Times]].
- [https://www.kcur.org/news/2024-10-15/donald-j-hall-a-giant-in-kansas-citys-corporate-civic-and-philanthropic-life-dies-at-96 Donald J. Hall, 'a giant' in Kansas City's corporate, civic and philanthropic life, dies at 96]
- [https://daviscenter.fas.harvard.edu/insights/memoriam-priscilla-johnson-mcmillan-1928-2021 In Memoriam: Priscilla Johnson McMillan, 1928–2021]
- [https://apnews.com/article/us-supreme-court-race-and-ethnicity-obituaries-thurgood-marshall-john-roberts-7bd4d7cbc5178d6992d381c3c6e90227 Justice Thurgood Marshall’s wife ‘Cissy’ Marshall dies at 94]
- (21 August 2016). "Donald Henderson, epidemiologist who helped to eradicate smallpox – obituary". The Telegraph.
- "Robert L. Wald's Obituary in the Washington Post". The Washington Post.
- [https://thehill.com/homenews/media/594903-martin-tolchin-acclaimed-dc-journalist-and-founder-of-the-hill-dies-at-93 Martin Tolchin, acclaimed DC journalist and founder of The Hill, dies at 93]
- [https://people.com/human-interest/richard-stolley-peoples-first-managing-editor-dies-at-92/ Richard Stolley, the Man Who Launched PEOPLE Magazine, Dies at 92]
- Hevesi, Dennis. [https://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/13/us/13woods.html "Abraham Woods, Civil Rights Pioneer, Dies at 80"], ''[[The New York Times]]'', November 12, 2008. Accessed November 12, 2008.
- [https://www.thedrinksbusiness.com/2024/06/napa-wine-legend-warren-winiarski-dies-aged-95/ Napa wine legend Warren Winiarski dies aged 95]
- [https://www.legacy.com/news/celebrity-deaths/dr-george-woodwell-1928-2024-pioneering-climate-researcher/ Dr. George Woodwell (1928–2024), pioneering climate researcher]
- Vallance, Tom. (January 23, 2006). "Anthony Franciosa; Temperamental leading man". [[The Independent]].
- [https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/03/arts/harriet-pattison-dead.html Harriet Pattison, 94, Dies; Landscape Architect With a Tie to Louis Kahn]
- [https://chicago.suntimes.com/2021/6/8/22524613/ann-russell-miller-sister-mary-joseph-trinity-socialite-unusual-nun-discalced-carmelite Sr. Mary Joseph of the Trinity, socialite who became 'kind of an unusual nun,' dead at 91]
- (27 September 1993). "Modern American Women Writers". Simon and Schuster.
- Peter Vacher. (March 20, 2016). "Ernestine Anderson obituary".
- (28 August 2014). "Ed Nelson: Veteran of Roger Corman's low-budget horror movies who".
- Sharrar, Jack. (1998). "Avery Hopwood: his life and plays". University of Michigan Press.
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