In the Canterbury Tales why were the pilgrims travelling?

• 48 BC – Pompey is assassinated by order of King Ptolemy upon arriving in Egypt.
• 235 – Pope Pontian resigns. He is exiled to the mines of Sardinia, along with Hippolytus of Rome.
• 351 – Constantius II defeats the usurper Magnentius.
• 365 – Roman usurper Procopius bribes two legions passing by Constantinople, and proclaims himself emperor.
• 935 – Duke Wenceslaus I of Bohemia is murdered by a group of nobles led by his brother Boleslaus I, who succeeds him.
• 995 – Boleslaus II, Duke of Bohemia, kills most members of the rival Slavník dynasty.
• 1066 – William the Conqueror lands in England, beginning the Norman conquest.
• 1106 – King Henry I of England defeats his brother, Robert Curthose.
• 1238 – King James I of Aragon conquers Valencia from the Moors. Shortly thereafter, he proclaims himself king of Valencia.
• 1322 – Louis IV, Holy Roman Emperor, defeats Frederick I of Austria in the Battle of Mühldorf.
• 1538 – Ottoman–Venetian War: The Ottoman Navy scores a decisive victory over a Holy League fleet in the Battle of Preveza.
• 1542 – Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo of Portugal arrives at what is now San Diego, California.
• 1779 – American Revolution: Samuel Huntington is elected President of the Continental Congress, succeeding John Jay.
• 1781 – American Revolution: American forces backed by a French fleet begin the siege of Yorktown.
• 1787 – The Congress of the Confederation votes to send the newly-written United States Constitution to the state legislatures for approval.
• 1821 – The Declaration of Independence of the Mexican Empire is drafted. It will be made public on 13 October.
• 1844 – Oscar I of Sweden–Norway is crowned king of Sweden.
• 1867 – Toronto becomes the capital of Ontario, having also been the capital of Ontario’s predecessors since 1796.
• 1868 – The Battle of Alcolea causes Queen Isabella II of Spain to flee to France.
• 1871 – The Brazilian Parliament passes a law that frees all children thereafter born to slaves, and all government-owned slaves.
• 1889 – The General Conference on Weights and Measures (CGPM) defines the length of a meter.
• 1892 – The first night game for American football takes place in a contest between Wyoming Seminary and Mansfield State Normal.
• 1893 – Foundation of the Portuguese football club FC Porto.
• 1901 – Philippine–American War: Filipino guerrillas kill more than forty American soldiers while losing 28 of their own.
• 1912 – The Ulster Covenant is signed by some 500,000 Ulster Protestant Unionists in opposition to the Third Irish Home Rule Bill.
• 1912 – Corporal Frank S. Scott of the United States Army becomes the first enlisted man to die in an airplane crash.
• 1918 – World War I: The Fifth Battle of Ypres begins.
• 1919 – Race riots begin in Omaha, Nebraska.
• 1924 – The first aerial circumnavigation is completed by a team from the US Army.
• 1928 – Alexander Fleming notices a bacteria-killing mold growing in his laboratory, discovering what later became known as penicillin.
• 1939 – World War II: Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union agree on a division of Poland.
• 1939 – World War II: The siege of Warsaw comes to an end.
• 1941 – World War II: The Drama uprising against the Bulgarian occupation in northern Greece begins.
• 1941 – Ted Williams achieves a .406 batting average for the season, and becomes the last major league baseball player to bat .400 or better.
• 1944 – World War II: Soviet Army troops liberate Klooga concentration camp in Estonia.
• 1951 – CBS makes the first color televisions available for sale to the general public, but the product is discontinued less than a month later.
• 1961 – A military coup in Damascus effectively ends the United Arab Republic, the union between Egypt and Syria.
• 1970 – Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser dies of a heart attack in Cairo.
• 1971 – The Parliament of the UK passes the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971, banning the medicinal use of cannabis.
• 1973 – The ITT Building in New York City is bombed in protest at ITT’s alleged involvement in the coup d’état in Chile.
• 1975 – The Spaghetti House siege, in which nine people are taken hostage, takes place in London.
• 1986 – The Democratic Progressive Party becomes the first opposition party in Taiwan.
• 1991 – The Strategic Air Command stands down from alert all ICBMs scheduled for deactivation under START I, as well as its strategic bomber force.
• 1992 – A Pakistan International Airlines flight crashes into a hill in Nepal, killing all 167 passengers and crew.
• 1994 – The cruise ferry MS Estonia sinks in the Baltic Sea, killing 852 people.
• 1995 – Bob Denard and a group of mercenaries take the islands of the Comoros in a coup.
• 1995 – Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat sign the Interim Agreement on the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.
• 2000 – Al-Aqsa Intifada: Ariel Sharon visits Al-Aqsa Mosque known to Jews as the Temple Mount in Jerusalem.
• 2008 – Falcon 1 becomes the first privately developed liquid-fuel ground-launched vehicle to put a payload into orbit.
• 2009 – The military junta leading Guinea attacks a protest rally, killing or wounding 1400 people.
• 2012 – Somali and African Union forces launch a coordinated assault on the Somali port of Kismayo to take back the city from al-Shabaab militants.
• 2014 – The 2014 Hong Kong protests begin in response to restrictive political reforms imposed by the NPC in Beijing.
• 2016 – The 2016 South Australian blackout occurs, lasting up to three days in some areas.
• 2018 – The 7.5 M_w 2018 Sulawesi earthquake, which triggered a large tsunami, leaves 4,340 dead and 10,679 injured.
• 2018 – On the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the end of the First World War, the international project Tree of Peace was established (September, 28). One of the trees was planted personally by Zuzana Čaputová, President of the Slovak Republic.

Births on September 28

• 551 BC – Confucius, Chinese teacher, editor, politician, and philosopher of the Spring and Autumn period of Chinese history. (d. 479 BC)
• 616 – Javanshir, King of Caucasian Albania (d. 680)
• 1494 – Agnolo Firenzuola, Italian poet and playwright (d. 1545)
• 1555 – Henri de La Tour d’Auvergne, Marshal of France (d. 1623)
• 1573 – Théodore de Mayerne, Swiss physician (d. 1654)
• 1605 – Ismaël Bullialdus, French astronomer and mathematician (d. 1694)
• 1681 – Johann Mattheson, German composer, lexicographer, and diplomat (d. 1764)
• 1705 – Henry Fox, 1st Baron Holland, English politician, Secretary of State for the Southern Department (d. 1774)
• 1705 – Johann Peter Kellner, German organist and composer (d. 1772)
• 1735 – Augustus FitzRoy, 3rd Duke of Grafton, English academic and politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (d. 1811)
• 1746 – William Jones, English-Welsh philologist and scholar (d. 1794)
• 1765 – Frederick Christian II, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg (d. 1814)
• 1803 – Prosper Mérimée, French archaeologist, historian, and author (d. 1870)
• 1809 – Alvan Wentworth Chapman, American physician and botanist (d. 1899)
• 1819 – Narcís Monturiol, Spanish engineer and publisher (d. 1885)
• 1821 – Jonathan Clarkson Gibbs, American minister and politician (d. 1874)
• 1823 – Alexandre Cabanel, French painter and educator (d. 1889)
• 1824 – Francis Turner Palgrave, English poet and critic (d. 1897)
• 1836 – Thomas Crapper, English plumber, invented the ballcock (d. 1910)
• 1838 – Sai Baba of Shirdi, Indian national saint (d. 1918)
• 1841 – Georges Clemenceau, French journalist, physician, and politician, 85th Prime Minister of France (d. 1929)
• 1844 – Robert Stout, Scottish-New Zealand lawyer and politician, 13th Prime Minister of New Zealand (d. 1930)
• 1852 – Henri Moissan, French chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1907)
• 1852 – Isis Pogson, British astronomer and meteorologist (d. 1945)
• 1856 – Kate Douglas Wiggin, American author and educator (d. 1923)
• 1860 – Paul Ulrich Villard, French chemist and physicist (d. 1934)
• 1861 – Amélie of Orléans, queen consort of Portugal (d. 1951)
• 1867 – Hiranuma Kiichirō, Japanese lawyer and politician, 35th Prime Minister of Japan (d. 1952)
• 1867 – James Edwin Campbell, American poet, editor, short story writer and educator (d. 1896)
• 1868 – Evelyn Beatrice Hall, English writer best known for her biography of Voltaire, and wrote under the pseudonym S. G. Tallentyre (d. 1956)
• 1877 – Albert Young, American boxer and promoter (d. 1940)
• 1878 – Joseph Ruddy, American swimmer and water polo player (d. 1962)
• 1870 – Florent Schmitt, French composer and critic (d. 1958)
• 1881 – Pedro de Cordoba, American actor (d. 1950)
• 1882 – Mart Saar, Estonian organist and composer (d. 1963)
• 1885 – Emil Väre, Finnish wrestler, coach, and referee (d. 1974)
• 1887 – Avery Brundage, American businessman, 5th President of the International Olympic Committee (d. 1975)
• 1889 – Jack Fournier, American baseball player and coach (d. 1973)
• 1890 – Florence Violet McKenzie, Australian electrical engineer (d. 1982)
• 1892 – Elmer Rice, American playwright (d. 1967)
• 1893 – Hilda Geiringer, Austrian mathematician (d. 1973)
• 1893 – Giannis Skarimpas, Greek author, poet, and playwright (d. 1984)
• 1898 – Carl Clauberg, German Nazi physician (d. 1957)
• 1900 – Isabel Pell, American socialite, fought as part of the French Resistance during WWII (d. 1951)
• 1901 – William S. Paley, American broadcaster, founded CBS (d. 1990)
• 1901 – Ed Sullivan, American television host (d. 1974)
• 1903 – Haywood S. Hansell, American general (d. 1988)
• 1905 – Max Schmeling, German boxer (d. 2005)
• 1907 – Heikki Savolainen, Finnish gymnast and physician (d. 1997)
• 1907 – Bhagat Singh, Indian activist (d. 1931)
• 1909 – Al Capp, American author and illustrator (d. 1979)
• 1910 – Diosdado Macapagal, Filipino lawyer and politician, 9th President of the Philippines (d. 1997)
• 1910 – Wenceslao Vinzons, Filipino lawyer and politician (d. 1942)
• 1913 – Warja Honegger-Lavater, Swiss illustrator (d. 2007)
• 1913 – Alice Marble, American tennis player (d. 1990)
• 1914 – Maria Franziska von Trapp, Austrian-American refugee and singer (d. 2014)
• 1915 – Ethel Rosenberg, American spy (d. 1953)
• 1916 – Peter Finch, English-Australian actor (d. 1977)
• 1916 – Olga Lepeshinskaya, Ukrainian-Russian ballerina and educator (d. 2008)
• 1918 – Ángel Labruna, Argentinian footballer and manager (d. 1983)
• 1918 – Arnold Stang, American actor (d. 2009)
• 1919 – Doris Singleton, American actress (d. 2012)
• 1922 – Larry Munson, American sportscaster (d. 2011)
• 1923 – Tuli Kupferberg, American singer, poet, and writer (d. 2010)
• 1923 – John Scott, 9th Duke of Buccleuch, Scottish captain and politician, Lord Lieutenant of Selkirkshire (d. 2007)
• 1923 – William Windom, American actor (d. 2012)
• 1924 – Rudolf Barshai, Russian-Swiss viola player and conductor (d. 2010)
• 1924 – Marcello Mastroianni, Italian-French actor and singer (d. 1996)
• 1925 – Seymour Cray, American computer scientist, founded the CRAY Computer Company (d. 1996)
• 1925 – Cromwell Everson, South African composer (d. 1991)
• 1925 – Martin David Kruskal, American physicist and mathematician (d. 2006)
• 1926 – Jerry Clower, American soldier, comedian, and author (d. 1998)
• 1928 – Koko Taylor, American singer (d. 2009)
• 1929 – Lata Mangeshkar, Indian playback singer and composer
• 1930 – Tommy Collins, American country music singer-songwriter (d. 2000)
• 1930 – Immanuel Wallerstein, American sociologist, author, and academic (d. 2019)
• 1932 – Jeremy Isaacs, Scottish screenwriter and producer
• 1932 – Víctor Jara, Chilean singer-songwriter, poet, and director (d. 1973)
• 1933 – Joe Benton, English soldier and politician
• 1933 – Miguel Ortiz Berrocal, Spanish sculptor and educator (d. 2006)
• 1933 – Johnny “Country” Mathis, American singer-songwriter (d. 2011)
• 1934 – Brigitte Bardot, French actress
• 1935 – Bruce Crampton, Australian golfer
• 1935 – David Hannay, Baron Hannay of Chiswick, English diplomat, British Permanent Representative to the United Nations
• 1935 – Ronald Lacey, English actor (d. 1991)
• 1936 – Emmett Chapman, American guitarist, invented the Chapman Stick
• 1936 – Eddie Lumsden, Australian rugby league player (d. 2019)
• 1936 – Robert Wolders, Dutch television actor (d. 2018)
• 1937 – Alice Mahon, English trade union leader and politician
• 1937 – Glenn Sutton, American country music songwriter and record producer (d. 2007)
• 1938 – Ben E. King, American singer-songwriter and producer (d. 2015)
• 1939 – Stuart Kauffman, American biologist and academic
• 1941 – David Lewis, American philosopher and academic (d. 2001)
• 1941 – Edmund Stoiber, German lawyer and politician, Minister President of Bavaria
• 1942 – Pierre Clémenti, French actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 1999)
• 1942 – Edward “Little Buster” Forehand, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2006)
• 1943 – Warren Lieberfarb, American businessman
• 1943 – George W. S. Trow, American novelist, playwright, and critic (d. 2006)
• 1943 – Nick St. Nicholas, German-Canadian bass player
• 1944 – Richie Karl, American golfer
• 1944 – Marcia Muller, American journalist and author
• 1945 – Marielle Goitschel, French skier
• 1945 – Manolis Rasoulis, Greek singer-songwriter and journalist (d. 2011)
• 1945 – Fusako Shigenobu, Japanese activist, founded the Japanese Red Army
• 1946 – Tom Bower, English journalist and author
• 1946 – Majid Khan, Indian-Pakistani cricketer
• 1947 – Bob Carr, Australian journalist and politician, 37th Australian Minister of Foreign Affairs
• 1947 – Sheikh Hasina, Bangladeshi politician, 10th Prime Minister of Bangladesh
• 1947 – Jon Snow, English journalist and academic
• 1947 – Rhonda Hughes, American mathematician and academic
• 1949 – Jim Henshaw, Canadian actor, producer, and screenwriter
• 1950 – Paul Burgess, English drummer
• 1950 – Christina Hoff Sommers, American author and philosopher
• 1950 – John Sayles, American novelist, director, and screenwriter
• 1951 – Jim Diamond, Scottish singer-songwriter and musician (d. 2015)
• 1952 – Christopher Buckley, American satirical novelist
• 1952 – Efthimis Kioumourtzoglou, Greek basketball player and coach
• 1952 – Sylvia Kristel, Dutch model and actress (d. 2012)
• 1952 – Andy Ward, English drummer
• 1953 – Otmar Hasler, Liechtensteiner educator and politician, 11th Prime Minister of Liechtenstein
• 1954 – Steve Largent, American football player and politician
• 1954 – George Lynch, American guitarist and songwriter
• 1954 – John Scott, English rugby player
• 1954 – Margot Wallström, Swedish politician and diplomat, 42nd Swedish Minister for Foreign Affairs
• 1955 – Stéphane Dion, Canadian sociologist and politician, 15th Canadian Minister of the Environment
• 1955 – Mercy Manci, Xhosa sangoma and HIV activist from South Africa
• 1955 – Kenny Kirkland, American pianist (d. 1998)
• 1956 – Martha Isabel Fandiño Pinilla, Colombian-Italian mathematician and author
• 1957 – Bill Cassidy, American politician and physician
• 1959 – Ron Fellows, Canadian race car driver
• 1959 – Laura Bruce, American artist
• 1960 – Gary Ayres, Australian footballer and coach
• 1960 – Tom Byrum, American golfer
• 1960 – Frank Hammerschlag, German footballer and manager
• 1960 – Gus Logie, Trinidadian cricketer
• 1960 – Kamlesh Patel, Baron Patel of Bradford, English politician
• 1960 – Jennifer Rush, American singer-songwriter
• 1960 – Socrates Villegas, Filipino archbishop
• 1961 – Helen Grant, English lawyer and politician, Minister for Sport and the Olympics
• 1961 – Gregory Jbara, American actor and singer
• 1961 – Quentin Kawānanakoa, American lawyer and politician
• 1961 – Anne White, American tennis player
• 1962 – Grant Fuhr, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
• 1962 – Laurie Rinker, American golfer
• 1962 – Dietmar Schacht, German footballer and manager
• 1962 – Chuck Taylor, American journalist
• 1963 – Steve Blackman, American wrestler and martial artist
• 1963 – Érik Comas, French race car driver
• 1963 – Greg Weisman, American voice actor, producer, and screenwriter
• 1964 – Claudio Borghi, Argentinian footballer and manager
• 1964 – Gregor Fisken, Scottish race car driver
• 1964 – Janeane Garofalo, American comedian, actress, and screenwriter
• 1964 – Paul Jewell, English footballer and manager
• 1964 – Mārtiņš Roze, Latvian lawyer and politician (d. 2012)
• 1966 – Scott Adams, American football player (d. 2013)
• 1966 – Maria Canals-Barrera, Cuban-American actress
• 1966 – Puri Jagannadh, Indian director, producer, and screenwriter
• 1967 – Mira Sorvino, American actress
• 1967 – Moon Zappa, American actress and author
• 1968 – Francois Botha, South African boxer and mixed martial artist
• 1968 – Mika Häkkinen, Finnish race car driver
• 1968 – Trish Keenan, English singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2011)
• 1968 – Sean Levert, American R&B singer-songwriter and actor (d. 2008)
• 1968 – Rob Moroso, American race car driver (d. 1990)
• 1968 – Naomi Watts, English-Australian actress and producer
• 1969 – Kerri Chandler, electronic music producer and DJ
• 1969 – Marcel Dost, Dutch decathlete
• 1969 – Ben Greenman, American journalist and author
• 1969 – Piper Kerman, American author and memoirist
• 1969 – Éric Lapointe, Canadian singer-songwriter and keyboard player
• 1969 – Sascha Maassen, German race car driver
• 1969 – Angus Robertson, Scottish politician
• 1969 – Nico Vaesen, Belgian footballer
• 1970 – Kimiko Date-Krumm, Japanese tennis player
• 1970 – Mike DeJean, American baseball player
• 1970 – Gualter Salles, Brazilian race car driver
• 1971 – Joseph Arthur, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
• 1971 – George Eustice, English lawyer and politician
• 1971 – Braam van Straaten, South African rugby player
• 1971 – Alan Wright, English footballer and manager
• 1972 – Dita Von Teese, American model and dancer
• 1973 – Brian Rafalski, American ice hockey player
• 1974 – Marco Di Loreto, Italian footballer and manager
• 1974 – Mariya Kiselyova, Russian swimmer
• 1974 – Joonas Kolkka, Finnish footballer and coach
• 1974 – Shane Webcke, Australian rugby league player and coach
• 1975 – Stuart Clark, Australian cricketer and manager
• 1975 – Isamu Jordan, American journalist and academic (d. 2013)
• 1975 – Lenny Krayzelburg, Russian-American swimmer
• 1976 – Fedor Emelianenko, Russian mixed martial artist and politician
• 1977 – Ireneusz Marcinkowski, Polish footballer
• 1977 – Pak Se-ri, South Korean golfer
• 1977 – Young Jeezy, American rapper
• 1978 – Ben Edmondson, Australian cricketer
• 1979 – Bam Margera, American skateboarder, actor, and stuntman
• 1979 – Taki Tsan, American-Greek rapper and producer
• 1980 – Marlon Parmer, American basketball player
• 1981 – Greg Anderson, American pianist and composer
• 1981 – Willy Caballero, Argentine footballer
• 1981 – José Calderón, Spanish basketball player
• 1981 – Jorge Guagua, Ecuadorian footballer
• 1981 – Iracema Trevisan, Brazilian bass player
• 1982 – Aleksandr Anyukov, Russian footballer
• 1982 – Abhinav Bindra, Indian target shooter
• 1982 – Ray Emery, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 2018)
• 1982 – Ranbir Kapoor, Indian actor and director
• 1982 – Nolwenn Leroy, French singer-songwriter and actress
• 1982 – Emeka Okafor, American basketball player
• 1982 – Dustin Penner, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1982 – Aivar Rehemaa, Estonian skier
• 1982 – Anderson Varejão, Brazilian basketball player
• 1982 – St. Vincent, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
• 1983 – Stefan Moore, English footballer
• 1983 – John Schwalger, New Zealand rugby player
• 1984 – Jenny Omnichord, Canadian singer-songwriter
• 1984 – Luke Pomersbach, Australian cricketer
• 1984 – Naim Terbunja, Kosovan-Swedish boxer
• 1984 – Melody Thornton, American singer-songwriter and dancer
• 1984 – Mathieu Valbuena, French footballer
• 1984 – Ryan Zimmerman, American baseball player
• 1985 – Shindong, South Korean singer-songwriter and dancer
• 1985 – Alina Ibragimova, Russian-English violinist
• 1986 – Andrés Guardado, Mexican footballer
• 1986 – Meskerem Legesse, Ethiopian runner (d. 2013)
• 1986 – Dominic Waters, American basketball player
• 1987 – Pierre Becken, German footballer
• 1987 – Gary Deegan, Irish footballer
• 1987 – Hilary Duff, American singer-songwriter and actress
• 1987 – Chloë Hanslip, English violinist
• 1987 – Viktoria Leks, Estonian high jumper
• 1988 – Marin Čilić, Croatian tennis player
• 1988 – Esmée Denters, Dutch singer-songwriter
• 1988 – Aleks Vrteski, Australian footballer
• 1988 – Worakls, French DJ and electronic musician
• 1989 – Çağla Büyükakçay, Turkish tennis player
• 1989 – Darius Johnson-Odom, American basketball player
• 1989 – Mark Randall, English footballer
• 1990 – Phoenix Battye, Australian rugby player
• 1992 – Khem Birch, Canadian professional basketball player
• 1992 – Adam Thompson, English-Northern Irish footballer
• 1992 – Kōko Tsurumi, Japanese gymnast
• 1993 – Jodie Williams, English sprinter
• 1995 – Jason Williams, English footballer

Deaths on September 28

• 48 BC – Pompey, Roman general and politician (b. 106 BC)
• 782 – Leoba, Anglo-Saxon nun
• 935 – Wenceslaus I, duke of Bohemia
• 980 – Minamoto no Hiromasa, Japanese nobleman (b. 918)
• 1197 – Henry VI, Holy Roman Emperor (b. 1165)
• 1213 – Gertrude of Merania, queen consort of Hungaria (b. 1185)
• 1330 – Elizabeth of Bohemia, queen consort of Bohemia (b. 1292)
• 1429 – Cymburgis of Masovia, duchess consort of Austria (b. 1394)
• 1582 – George Buchanan, Scottish historian and scholar (b. 1506)
• 1596 – Margaret Clifford, countess of Derby (b. 1540)
• 1618 – Josuah Sylvester, English poet and translator (b. 1563)
• 1687 – Francis Turretin, Swiss-Italian theologian and academic (b. 1623)
• 1694 – Gabriel Mouton, French mathematician and theologian (b. 1618)
• 1702 – Robert Spencer, 2nd Earl of Sunderland, French-English lawyer and politician, Lord President of the Council (b. 1640)
• 1742 – Jean Baptiste Massillon, French bishop (b. 1663)
• 1829 – Nikolay Raevsky, Russian general and politician (b. 1771)
• 1844 – Pyotr Aleksandrovich Tolstoy, Russian general and politician (b. 1769)
• 1859 – Carl Ritter, German geographer and academic (b. 1779)
• 1873 – Émile Gaboriau, French journalist and author (b. 1832)
• 1891 – Herman Melville, American author and poet (b. 1819)
• 1895 – Louis Pasteur, French chemist and microbiologist (b. 1822)
• 1899 – Giovanni Segantini, Austrian painter (b. 1858)
• 1914 – Richard Warren Sears, American businessman, co-founded Sears (b. 1863)
• 1915 – Saitō Hajime, Japanese samurai (b. 1844)
• 1918 – Georg Simmel, German sociologist and philosopher (b. 1858)
• 1918 – Freddie Stowers, American soldier, Medal of Honor recipient (b. 1896)
• 1925 – Paul Vermoyal, French actor (b. 1888)
• 1935 – William Kennedy Dickson, French-Scottish actor, director, and producer, invented the Kinetoscope (b. 1860)
• 1938 – Charles Duryea, American engineer and businessman, founded the Duryea Motor Wagon Company (b. 1861)
• 1943 – Sam Ruben, American chemist and academic (b. 1913)
• 1943 – Filippo Illuminato, Italian partisan, Gold Medal of Military Valour (b. 1930)
• 1949 – Archbishop Chrysanthus of Athens (b. 1881)
• 1953 – Edwin Hubble, American astronomer and scholar (b. 1889)
• 1956 – William Boeing, American businessman, founded the Boeing Company (b. 1881)
• 1957 – Luis Cluzeau Mortet, Uruguayan violinist and composer (b. 1888)
• 1959 – Rudolf Caracciola, German race car driver (b. 1901)
• 1962 – Roger Nimier, French soldier and author (b. 1925)
• 1964 – Harpo Marx, American comedian, actor, and singer (b. 1888)
• 1966 – André Breton, French author and poet (b. 1896)
• 1970 – John Dos Passos, American novelist, poet, essayist, and playwright (b. 1896)
• 1970 – Gamal Abdel Nasser, Egyptian colonel and politician, 2nd President of Egypt (b. 1918)
• 1978 – Pope John Paul I (b. 1912)
• 1979 – John Herbert Chapman, Canadian physicist and engineer (b. 1921)
• 1981 – Rómulo Betancourt, Venezuelan journalist and politician, President of Venezuela (b. 1908)
• 1982 – Mabel Albertson, American actress (b. 1901)
• 1984 – Cihad Baban, Turkish journalist, author, and politician (b. 1911)
• 1989 – Ferdinand Marcos, Filipino lawyer and politician, 10th President of the Philippines (b. 1917)
• 1990 – Larry O’Brien, American businessman and politician, 57th United States Postmaster General (b. 1917)
• 1991 – Miles Davis, American trumpet player, composer, and bandleader (b. 1926)
• 1993 – Peter De Vries, American editor and novelist (b. 1910)
• 1993 – Alexander A. Drabik, American sergeant (b. 1910)
• 1994 – Urmas Alender, Estonian singer (b. 1953)
• 1994 – José Francisco Ruiz Massieu, Mexican lawyer and politician, 6th Governor of Guerrero (b. 1946)
• 1994 – Harry Saltzman, Canadian production manager and producer (b. 1915)
• 1994 – K. A. Thangavelu, Indian film actor and comedian (b. 1917)
• 1999 – Escott Reid, Canadian academic and diplomat (b. 1905)
• 2000 – Pierre Trudeau, Canadian journalist, lawyer, and politician, 15th Prime Minister of Canada (b. 1919)
• 2002 – Patsy Mink, American lawyer and politician (b. 1927)
• 2002 – Hartland Molson, Canadian captain and politician (b. 1907)
• 2003 – Althea Gibson, American tennis player and golfer (b. 1927)
• 2003 – Elia Kazan, American director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1909)
• 2003 – George Odlum, Saint Lucian politician and diplomat (b. 1934)
• 2004 – Geoffrey Beene, American fashion designer (b. 1924)
• 2005 – Constance Baker Motley, American lawyer, judge, and politician (b. 1921)
• 2007 – René Desmaison, French mountaineer (b. 1930)
• 2007 – Wally Parks, American businessman, founded the National Hot Rod Association (b. 1913)
• 2009 – Guillermo Endara, Panamanian lawyer and politician, 32nd President of Panama (b. 1936)
• 2009 – Ulf Larsson, Swedish actor and director (b. 1956)
• 2010 – Kurt Albert, German mountaineer and photographer (b. 1954)
• 2010 – Arthur Penn, American director and producer (b. 1922)
• 2010 – Dolores Wilson, American soprano and actress (b. 1928)
• 2012 – Avraham Adan, Israeli general (b. 1926)
• 2012 – Chris Economaki, American journalist and sportscaster (b. 1920)
• 2012 – Brajesh Mishra, Indian politician and diplomat, 1st Indian National Security Advisor (b. 1928)
• 2013 – James Emanuel, American-French poet and scholar (b. 1921)
• 2013 – Jonathan Fellows-Smith, South African cricketer and rugby player (b. 1932)
• 2013 – George Amon Webster, American singer and pianist (b. 1945)
• 2014 – Dannie Abse, Welsh physician, poet, and author (b. 1923)
• 2014 – Joseph H. Alexander, American colonel and historian (b. 1938)
• 2014 – Sheila Faith, English dentist and politician (b. 1928)
• 2014 – Tim Rawlings, English footballer and manager (b. 1932)
• 2014 – Petr Skoumal, Czech pianist and composer (b. 1938)
• 2015 – Alexander Faris, Irish composer and conductor (b. 1921)
• 2015 – Walter Dale Miller, American rancher and politician, 29th Governor of South Dakota (b. 1925)
• 2015 – Ignacio Zoco, Spanish footballer (b. 1939)
• 2016 – Agnes Nixon, American television writer and director (b. 1922)
• 2016 – Gary Glasberg, American television writer and producer (b. 1966)
• 2016 – Shimon Peres, Polish-Israeli statesman and politician, 9th President of Israel (b. 1923)
• 2016 – Gloria Naylor, American novelist (b. 1950)
• 2017 – Daniel Pe’er, Israeli television host and newsreader (b. 1943)
• 2018 – Predrag Ejdus, Serbian actor (b. 1947)
• 2019 – José José, 71, Mexican singer (El Principe de la Canción or The Prince of Song), pancreas cancer (b. 1948)

Holidays and observances on September 28

• Christian feast day:
  • Aaron of Auxerre
  • Annemund
  • Conval
  • Eustochium
  • Exuperius
  • Faustus of Riez
  • John of Dukla
  • Leoba
  • Lorenzo Ruiz
  • Paternus of Auch
  • Richard Rolle, Walter Hilton and Margery Kempe (Episcopal Church (USA))
  • Simón de Rojas
  • Wenceslas
  • September 28 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics).
• Czech Statehood Day (Czech Republic)
• Freedom from Hunger Day
• International Day for Universal Access to Information
• National Day of Awareness and Unity against Child Pornography (Philippines)
• Teachers’ Day (Taiwan and Chinese-Filipino schools in the Philippines), ceremonies dedicated to Confucius are also observed.
• World Rabies Day (International)