28 August History
- 1676 - Indian chief King Philip, also known as Metacom, is killed by English soldiers, ending the war between Indians and colonists.
- 1862 - Mistakenly believing the Confederate Army to be in retreat, Union General John Pope attacks, beginning the Battle of Groveten. Both sides sustain heavy casualties.
- 1914 - Three German cruisers are sunk by ships of the Royal Navy in the Battle of Heligoland Bight, the first major naval battle of World War I.
- 1938 - The first degree given to a ventriloquist's dummy is awarded to Charlie McCarthy–Edgar Bergen's wooden partner. The honorary degree, "Master of Innuendo and Snappy Comeback," is presented on radio by Ralph Dennis, the dean of the School of Speech at Northwestern University.
- 1941 - The German U-boat U-570 is captured by the British and renamed Graph
- 1944 - German forces in Toulon and Marseilles, France, surrender to the Allies.
- 1945 - Chinese communist leader Mao Tse-Tung arrives in Chunking to confer with Nationalist leader Chiang Kai-Shek in a futile effort to avert civil war.
- 1963 - One of the largest demonstrations in the history of the United States, the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, takes place and reaches its climax at the base of the Lincoln Memorial when Dr. Martin Luther King delivers his "I have a dream" speech.
- 1965 - The Viet Cong are routed in the Mekong Delta by U.S. forces, with more than 50 killed.
28 August Birthdays
- 1749 - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, German poet, playwright and novelist, best known for Faust.
- 1774 - Elizabeth Ann Seton, founder of the Sisters of St. Joseph and the first U.S.-born saint.
- 1828 - Leo Tolstoy, Russian novelist (War and Peace, Anna Karenina).
- 1882 - Belle Benchley, the first female zoo director in the world, who directed the Zoological Gardens of San Diego.
- 1896 - Liam O'Flaherty, Irish novelist and short-story writer.
- 1903 - Bruno Bettelheim, Austrian psychologist, educator of autistic and emotionally disturbed children.
- 1908 - Roger Tory Peterson, author of the innovative bird book A Field Guide to Birds.
- 1925 - Donald O'Connor, entertainer (Singin' in the Rain, Anything Goes).
- 1952 - Rita Dove, Pulitzer Prize-winning poet.