May 28: Facts & Historical Events On This Day

An Alpine village in Switzerland was completely wiped off the map by the collapse of a glacier.

The village of Blatten was destroyed, although fortunately, the shift in the glacier was detected on May 20, so Blatten's 300 residents, along with their sheep, cows, and rabbits, were all safe further down the mountain when tragedy struck.

Harambe the Gorilla was shot to death inside his enclosure in the Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden.

Harambe was relaxing inside the Gorilla World habitat when a three-year-old boy managed to climb into the enclosure and fell into the moat. Although it appeared that Harambe was protecting the boy and saving it from drowning, zoo officials decided to shoot Harambe as they feared he might accidentally kill the child.

The first-ever cloned horse was born in a natural delivery.

Additionally, it was the first cloned mammal born to its genetic mother. The foal was named Prometea, and it was created in a lab by fusing an adult skin cell and an empty egg then returning the resulting embryo to the female's womb after a few days.

Leonardo da Vinci’s “The Last Supper” was returned to display in Milan after 22 years of restoration.

NASA tested the Saturn I launch vehicle with a boilerplate Apollo spacecraft for the first time.

The mission, AS-101, was the sixth launch of the Saturn I launch vehicle. The boilerplate spacecraft was essentially an empty shell in the shape of an Apollo Command and Service Module with an approximate weight of the actual spacecraft. The mission was to examine the rocket's ability to bring a spacecraft to orbit. It was a complete success, completing 54 orbits before returning to Earth.

Eisenhower signed a farm bill that allowed the government to store agricultural surplus.

The women of Greece were given the right to vote.

The German automobile manufacturer, Volkswagen, was founded.

Alan Turing submitted his paper “On Computable Numbers” for publication, in which he set out the hypothetical basis for modern computers.

The Dionne quintuplets were born to Oliva and Elzire Dionne, who later became the first quintuplets to survive infancy.

The first all-color and all-talking picture, “On With the Show,” was released.

The Sierra Club was formed.

The Sierra Club was founded by John Muir and others in San Francisco with the goal of conserving nature. One of their first missions was to stop a proposed reduction in the Yosemite National Park boundaries.

The second black regiment (54 Mass) left Boston to fight in US Civil War.

The enlisted black men were commanded by white officers.

US President Andrew Jackson signed the Indian Removal Act.

This act gave permission to the Army to force out Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Creek, and Seminole tribes from Georgia and the surrounding states. This was the first step in the Cherokee Trail of Tears.

Joan of Arc was accused of reverting into heresy by donning male clothing again.

This provided validation for her execution.