Today in History - History - October 28th

1940Meeting between Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini in Florence

2001The indie cult hit "Donnie Darko", starring Jake Gyllenhaal, is released

1492Christopher Columbus discovers Cuba and claims it for Spain

1936FDR rededicates Statue of Liberty on its 50th anniversary

1954Nobel prize for literature awarded to Ernest Hemingway

1928Bradman scores 131 NSW v Queensland, 212 mins, 14 fours

1886Statue of Liberty dedicated by US President Grover Cleveland, celebrated by first confetti (ticker tape) parade in New York City

1978Bobby Orr scores his last career NHL goal (vs Detroit Red Wings)

312Emperor Constantine the Great beats rival Maxentius at the Battle of the Milvian Bridge

1893Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky conducts first performance of his Symphony Number Six in B minor, "Pathetique"

1967Julia Roberts, Smyrna Georgia, actress (Mystic Pizza, Pretty Woman)

1914Jonas Salk, NYC, medical reseacher (polio vaccine)

1466Desiderius Erasmus, Holland, humanist and theologian (The Praise of Folly), (d. 1536)

1955Bill Gates [William Henry], Seattle Wash, billionaire founder/CEO (Microsoft)

1937Lenny Wilkens, Brooklyn New York, NBA Point Guard and Head Coach (Seattle SuperSonics)

1956Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Aradan, Iran, President of Iran (2005-)

1863Painter Edouard Manet (31) weds Suzanne Leenhoff (34)

2004Economist Joseph E. Stiglitz (61) weds professor Anya Schiffrin (41) at the Municipal Building in New York

312Maxentius, Roman emperor (306-312), drowns at the Battle of Milvian Bridge at 34

1818Abigail Adams, 2nd first lady (1797-1801), dies of typhoid fever at 73

1704John Locke, English philosopher (2 treatises of government), dies at 72

2006Red Auerbach, American basketball coach and executive, dies of a heart attack at 89