0893 – An earthquake destroyed the city of Dvin, Armenia on the 28th December in the year 893.
1065 – Westminster Abbey was consecrated on the 28th December 1065.
1612 – Galileo Galilei became the first astronomer to observe the planet Neptune on the 28th December 1612, although he mistakenly catalogued it as a fixed star.
1836 – South Australia and Adelaide were founded on the 28th December 1836.
1846 – Iowa was admitted as the 29th U.S. state on the 28th December 1846.
1879 – Tay Bridge disaster: The central part of the Tay Rail Bridge in Dundee, Scotland, United Kingdom collapsed as a train passed over it on the 28th December 1979, killing 75.
1895 – The Lumière brothers performed for their first paying audience on the 28th December 1895, at the Grand Cafe in Boulevard des Capucines, marking the debut of the cinema.
1895 – Wilhelm Röntgen published a paper detailing his discovery of a new type of radiation on the 28th December 1895, which later became known as x-rays.
1908 – A magnitude 7.2 earthquake rocked Messina, Sicily, Italy on the 28th December 1908, killing over 75,000 people.
1912 – The first municipally owned streetcars took to the streets in San Francisco, California on the 28th December 1912.
1921 – Johnny Otis the American singer-songwriter and producer was born on the 28th December 1921 (died 2012).
1922 – Stan Lee the American writer, publisher and producer was born on the 28th December 1922.
1946 – Edgar Winter the American singer-songwriter, musician, and producer was born on the 28th December 1946.
1954 – Denzel Washington the American actor, director, and producer was born on the 28th December 1954.
1960 ~ James Caan the British-Pakistani entrepreneur and television personality from the Dragons’ Den was born Nazim Khan on the 28th December 1960.
1973 – Seth Meyers the American actor was born on the 28th December 1973.
1973 – The Endangered Species Act was passed in the United States on the 28th December 1973.
1981 – Sienna Miller the English actress and fashion designer was born on the 28th December 1981.
1989 – A magnitude 5.6 earthquake hit Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia on the 28th December 1989, killing 13 people.