28 March 2025 (MIA)

1566 – The foundation stone of Valletta, Malta’s capital city, is laid by Jean Parisot de Valette, Grand Master of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta.

1776 – Juan Bautista de Anza finds the site for the Presidio of San Francisco.

1794 – Allies under Prince Josias of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld defeat French forces at Le Cateau.

1801 – Treaty of Florence is signed, ending the war between the French Republic and the Kingdom of Naples.

1809 – Peninsular War: France defeats Spain in the Battle of Medellín.

1814 – War of 1812: In the Battle of Valparaíso, two American naval vessels are captured by two Royal Navy vessels of equal strength.

1854 – Crimean War: France and Britain declare war on Russia.

1871 – The Paris Commune is formally established in Paris.

1910 – Henri Fabre becomes the first person to fly a seaplane, the Fabre Hydravion, after taking off from a water runway near Martigues, France.

1920 – Palm Sunday tornado outbreak of 1920 affects the Great Lakes region and Deep South states.

1939 – Spanish Civil War: Generalissimo Francisco Franco conquers Madrid after a three-year siege.

1942 – World War II: A British combined force permanently disables the Louis Joubert Lock in Saint-Nazaire in order to keep the German battleship Tirpitz away from the mid-ocean convoy lanes.

1946 – Cold War: The United States Department of State releases the Acheson–Lilienthal Report, outlining a plan for the international control of nuclear power.

1951 – First Indochina War: In the Battle of Mạo Khê, French Union forces, led by World War II hero Jean de Lattre de Tassigny, inflict a defeat on Việt Minh forces commanded by General Võ Nguyên Giáp.

1959 – The State Council of the People’s Republic of China dissolves the government of Tibet.

1969 – Greek poet and Nobel Prize laureate Giorgos Seferis makes a famous statement on the BBC World Service opposing the junta in Greece.

1970 – An earthquake strikes western Turkey at about 23:05 local time, killing 1,086 and injuring 1,260.

1979 – A coolant leak at the Three Mile Island’s Unit 2 nuclear reactor outside Harrisburg, Pennsylvania leads to the core overheating and a partial meltdown.

1979 – The British House of Commons passes a vote of no confidence against James Callaghan’s government by 1 vote, precipitating a general election.

1990 – United States President George H. W. Bush posthumously awards Jesse Owens the Congressional Gold Medal.

1994 – In South Africa, African National Congress security guards kill dozens of Inkatha Freedom Party protesters.

1996 – The Republic of Macedonia and the Republic of Nicaragua establish diplomatic relations at ambassadorial level

1999 – Kosovo War: Serb paramilitary and military forces kill 146 Kosovo Albanians in Izbica.

2003 – In a friendly fire incident, two American A-10 Thunderbolt II aircraft attack British tanks participating in the 2003 invasion of Iraq, killing one soldier.

2005 – An earthquake shakes northern Sumatra with a maximum Mercalli intensity of VI (Strong), leaving 915–1,314 people dead and 340–1,146 injured.

2006 – Massive protests are mounted against France’s First Employment Contract law, meant to reduce youth unemployment.