What Happened on August 28

National News

1955 — Mississippi Negro Youth Slain; Body Found in River

Fourteen-year-old Chicagoan found dead in Mississippi river three days after abduction; two white men await trial.

MONEY, Miss., Aug. 28 — Emmett Till, a fourteen-year-old Negro youth from Chicago, was found dead in the Tallahatchie River three days after being abducted from a relative's home near here, beaten, mutilated, and shot in the head.

Young Till, who had been visiting relatives in this Mississippi Delta community, was seized from his bed early Sunday morning by two white men who accused him of whistling at a white woman in a local grocery store. His body, weighted with a cotton gin fan, was recovered from the river on Sunday.

Two white men, Roy Bryant and his half-brother J. W. Milam, have been arrested and charged with the murder. They are expected to stand trial next month, and a grand jury has already returned an indictment.

The slaying has drawn national attention, with Negro newspapers and civil rights groups demanding justice. The case has become a rallying point for the growing movement for Negro rights, and it is being watched closely across the country.

The body of the youth was returned to Chicago, where his mother insisted on an open casket so that the world could see the brutality of the crime.

• Emmett Till was a fourteen-year-old African American boy lynched in Mississippi in 1955.
• Till was abducted, beaten, mutilated, shot in the head, and left in the Tallahatchie River, where his body was found three days later.
• Roy Bryant and J. W. Milam were acquitted by an all-white jury on September 24, 1955.
• Press coverage of Till's lynching increased public support for the civil rights movement.
• Langston Hughes wrote the poem 'Mississippi–1955' in response to Till's murder, first published in The Chicago Defender on October 1, 1955.

Metro Desk

1963 — King's Dream Stirring Call to Nation

From the Lincoln Memorial, Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. tells marchers of a dream of judging by character, not color.

WASHINGTON, Aug. 28 — From the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, the voice of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. rolled across the Mall and into the history books today, as he told a quarter-million marchers that he had a dream of a nation where men are judged not by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.

The speech, the climax of the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, was a call for civil and economic rights and an end to racism in the United States.

• King delivered the 'I Have a Dream' speech from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C.
• The speech was part of the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom.
• A memorial dedication was scheduled for August 28, 2011, the 48th anniversary of the speech, but postponed due to Hurricane Irene.
• The memorial's design was inspired by the speech's line: 'Out of the mountain of despair, a stone of hope.'

Astronomy

1789 — Herschel's New Telescope Reveals Saturn Moon

Second satellite spotted by the largest instrument in the world, within a month of the first.

LONDON, August 28 — The largest telescope in the world has already begun to yield discoveries, as William Herschel has found a new moon of Saturn, named Enceladus. The discovery comes within a month of Herschel's finding of Mimas, another satellite of the ringed planet, using the same instrument.

• Herschel discovered Enceladus within a month of discovering Saturn's moon Mimas, also in 1789.
• Mimas, the first moon discovered by Herschel with his new instrument, is only 250 miles (400 km) in diameter.
• Enceladus was found shortly after Herschel's new telescope became operational in 1789.

World Beat

1987 — Pyongyang Begins Work on Giant Pyramid Hotel

North Korea begins building 330-meter Ryugyong Hotel, the country's tallest.

PYONGYANG, August 28 — In a move that underscores the Cold War rivalry, North Korea has begun construction on the Ryugyong Hotel, a 330-meter pyramid that will be the tallest building in the country.

• The Ryugyong Hotel is a 330-meter-tall unfinished pyramid-shaped skyscraper in Pyongyang, North Korea.
• Construction began in 1987 but halted in 1992 due to economic crisis after the dissolution of the Soviet Union.
• The hotel was reportedly a Cold War response to the Westin Stamford Hotel in Singapore built by South Korea's SsangYong Group in 1986.
• North Korea established The Ryugyong Hotel Investment and Management to attract $230 million in foreign investment.
• North Korean officials promised relaxed oversight allowing foreign investors to operate casinos, nightclubs, or Japanese lounges.

Space Desk

1993 — Galileo Finds First Moon Orbiting an Asteroid

NASA spacecraft photographs reveal tiny Dactyl circling asteroid 243 Ida.

PASADENA, Aug. 28 — Mission member Ann Harch discovered the first known asteroid moon in photographs radioed to Earth by the NASA spacecraft Galileo, scientists announced.

Galileo flew past the asteroid 243 Ida today at 12,400 meters per second, its imager observing from 240,350 kilometers out to a closest approach of 2,390 kilometers. The moon, named Dactyl, is only 1.4 kilometers in diameter.

Ida is the second asteroid visited by a spacecraft and the first found to have a natural satellite. Transmission of the images was delayed by the permanent failure of Galileo's high-gain antenna.

• Galileo flew by asteroid 243 Ida on August 28, 1993, at a speed of 12,400 m/s relative to the asteroid.
• Ida's moon Dactyl, only 1.4 km in diameter, was discovered by mission member Ann Harch in images from Galileo.
• The Galileo spacecraft's onboard imager observed Ida from a distance of 240,350 km to a closest approach of 2,390 km.
• Ida was the second asteroid visited by a spacecraft and the first found to have a natural satellite.
• Transmission of Ida images was delayed due to a permanent failure in Galileo's high-gain antenna.

Imperial Court

1619 — Ferdinand Unanimously Elected Holy Roman Emperor

King of Bohemia chosen in Frankfurt despite deposition by Protestant estates.

FRANKFURT, August 28 — Ferdinand II, King of Bohemia and Hungary, was unanimously elected Holy Roman Emperor here on Aug. 28. The election came four days after the Protestant Bohemian Estates deposed him as their king on Aug. 22, news of which reached Frankfurt the same day as his election.

• Ferdinand was unanimously elected as emperor on 28 August 1619 in Frankfurt.
• The news about Ferdinand's deposition in Bohemia reached Frankfurt on the same day he was elected.
• Ferdinand did not leave Frankfurt until being crowned as Holy Roman Emperor on 9 September.
• The Protestant Bohemian Estates deposed Ferdinand as king of Bohemia on 22 August 1619, four days before his election.
• Johann Schweikhard von Kronberg, Archbishop of Mainz, convoked the electors' meeting to Frankfurt for the election.

Disaster Beat

1909 — Monterrey Hurricane Leaves 4,000 Dead in Mexico

Storm dissipates after devastating city, destroying historic church and stranding thousands.

MONTERREY, Mexico — The hurricane that struck this city has dissipated, leaving an estimated 4,000 people dead throughout Mexico, the deadliest storm in the nation's recorded history.

More than half of Monterrey's structures were flooded, hundreds were destroyed and 20,000 people were left homeless.

• The hurricane killed an estimated 4,000 people in Mexico, making it the deadliest in the country's recorded history.
• More than half of Monterrey's structures were flooded, hundreds destroyed, and 20,000 people left homeless.
• Damage in Mexico exceeded $50 million (1909 USD; $1.79 billion 2026 USD), with $20 million attributed to railroad losses.
• The San Francisco church, built in 1572, was destroyed during the storm.
• Of the fatalities, 800 were in the south side of Monterrey, where four blocks were completely destroyed.

Tennis

1950 — Gibson Breaks Tennis Color Line

First Black woman plays at U.S. Nationals.

Althea Gibson, 23, became the first Black woman to compete in the U.S. National Championships at Forest Hills, days after her birthday. Her invitation followed ATA officials' lobbying and an open letter from Alice Marble. She lost in the second round to Wimbledon champion Louise Brough. Journalist Lester Rodney likened her debut to Jackie Robinson's, calling it a tougher Jim Crow-busting assignment.

• Althea Gibson, then 23, debuted at Forest Hills days after her 23rd birthday, becoming the first Black player at the US Nationals.
• Gibson's invitation followed intense lobbying by ATA officials and an open letter from retired champion Alice Marble in American Lawn Tennis.
• In the second round, Gibson lost a rain-delayed, three-set match to reigning Wimbledon champion Louise Brough.
• Journalist Lester Rodney compared Gibson's debut to Jackie Robinson's breaking baseball's color line, calling it a 'tougher personal Jim Crow-busting assignment'.
• Gibson's participation at the US Nationals received extensive national and international coverage.

Railway Intelligence

1830 — Steam Engine's Race Loss Wins Over Skeptics; B&O Commits to Iron Horse

Tom Thumb's breakdown on the track fails to dampen railroad's faith in steam power.

BALTIMORE, Aug. 28 — The future of steam locomotion on American rails was secured on Friday, even as a horse won the day. The first American-built steam locomotive, Peter Cooper's Tom Thumb, engaged in an impromptu race with a horse-drawn car over eight miles between the Relay House and this city. The engine, constructed in 1829 for the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, suffered a mechanical failure and lost. Yet the demonstration so convinced the company's directors of steam's potential that they have resolved to commit to steam power henceforth. The horse's victory proved fleeting; the iron horse had already won the greater contest.

• Tom Thumb was the first American-built steam locomotive to operate on a common-carrier railroad.
• It was designed and constructed by Peter Cooper in 1829 for the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad.
• The race covered 8 miles between the Relay House and Baltimore.
• The horse won after Tom Thumb suffered a mechanical failure.
• Despite losing, the demonstration convinced the B&O to commit to steam locomotion.

World Desk

1973 — Stockholm Siege Ends as Police Gas Bank; Hostages Had Bonded With Captors

Six-day standoff ends with gas, as hostage Kristin Enmark, 28, criticized officials during the ordeal.

STOCKHOLM, Aug. 28 — The seven-day ordeal at Kreditbanken ended this morning when police fired gas bombs into the vault, freeing four hostages who had come to side with their captor. The siege began with a failed robbery by Jan-Erik Olsson, a convict on parole, who took bank employees hostage. During the standoff, hostage Kristin Enmark publicly criticized Prime Minister Olof Palme for endangering their lives. Police once misidentified Olsson and sent an unrelated 16-year-old boy into the bank; Olsson fired shots at him.

• Swedish police used gas bombs to end the seven-day hostage situation on August 28, 1973.
• Jan-Erik Olsson, a convict on parole, took four employees hostage during a failed bank robbery of Kreditbanken.
• Hostage Kristin Enmark criticized Sweden's prime minister, Olof Palme, for endangering their lives.
• Police misidentified Olsson and sent a 16-year-old unrelated boy into the bank, causing Olsson to fire rounds at him.
• Nils Bejerot, a Swedish criminologist, invented the term Norrmalmstorgssyndromet, later known as Stockholm syndrome.