August 28: Facts & Historical Events On This Day

An AI-enhanced immersive version of the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz premiered at the Sphere in Las Vegas.

Greta Gerwig’s Barbie became Warner Bros. highest-grossing film of all time with $1.34 billion in revenue.

Nature magazine published findings of a 3.8-million-year-old skull found in Ethiopia, which questioned our previous theories of human evolution.

Queen of Soul Aretha Franklin was laid to rest in Detroit as thousands turned up to pay tributes.

Matt Vogel became the new voice for Kermit the Frog.

Vogel replaced American puppeteer Steve Whitmore, who voiced Kermit for 27 years.

Half a million people in South East England were left without electricity.

The blackout caused significant disruption to transport services, and supplies weren't fully restored for up to two hours.

Tokyo celebrated the country’s first LGBTQ+ pride parade.

An F5 max rating tornado smashed through Plainfield, Illinois, killing 29 people, injuring 353, and causing $165 million in damages.

Sandwich restaurant Subway was founded in Bridgeport, Connecticut, US.

Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his historic “I Have a Dream” speech at the Lincoln Memorial.

The speech was delivered at the end of the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, a demonstration that advocated for equal civil and economic rights for African Americans.

Toyota Motor Corporation was founded after operating as a division of Toyoda Automatic Looms for six years.

Caleb Bradham’s beverage “Brad’s Drink” was renamed “Pepsi-Cola.”

It was renamed this due to two ingredients used in the recipe, pepsin and kola nuts.

The Slave Abolition Act was passed and came into effect the following year on August 1.

It stated, "An Act for the Abolition of Slavery throughout the British Colonies; for promoting the Industry of the manumitted Slaves; and for compensating the Persons hitherto entitled to the Services of such Slaves."

Saturn’s moon, Enceladus, was discovered by William Herschel.

British explorer Henry Hudson discovered Delaware Bay.

The Battle of Wofla between the Turkish and Portuguese occurred.

This was just one of the battles between the two nations that had fought for nearly two decades. It was significant because the Portuguese leader Christovão da Gama was captured and beheaded by the Turkish leader Imam Ahmad ibn Ibrahim al-Ghazi.