Browse Historical Events by Day: What Happened on March 28th?

Pertinax, Roman Emperor, is assassinated by the Praetorian Guard, leading to the Year of the Five Emperors.

Raymond IV, Count of Toulouse, dies.

King Alexander III of Scotland dies, leading to a succession crisis.

Edward I of England sacks the Scottish town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, beginning the First War of Scottish Independence.

James I of Scotland returns to Scotland after 18 years of captivity in England.

English King Henry VIII's request for a divorce with Catherine of Aragon is denied by Pope Clement VII.

Edward VI is crowned King of England at Westminster Abbey.

France, Cologne, and Bavaria sign the Treaty of Rastatt, ending the War of Spanish Succession.

The three year Spanish Civil War comes to an end as the Republican defenders of Madrid surrender and the victorious Nationalists entered the capital city. It is estimated that up million lives were lost in the most devastating conflict in Spanish history. General Francisco Franco went on to rule Spain as a ruthless dictator until his death in 1975 when Spain finally became a democracy. More

The Three Mile Island Unit 2 nuclear reactor, near Middletown, Pa., partially melts down. This was the most serious accident in U.S. commercial nuclear power plant operating history. A combination of equipment malfunctions, design-related problems and worker errors led to TMI-2’s partial meltdown and very small off site releases of radioactivity. More