January 28 AD 1274 Thomas Aquinas Teacher of the Faith feast day.

1338 Salisbury, and English, laid siege to Dunbar castle, in the absence of the Earl of March. The fort was defended by Lady Agnes, daughter of Randolph Earl of Moray. Black Agnes held out for five months and won, when relieved by Sir Alexander Ramsay of Dalhousie, who ran a vessel with supplies,     at night, to the walls. Tytler from Britannica.

1457 Henry VII of England born. Henry Tudor, Earl of Lancaster.

 Young Henry VII, by a French artist (Musée Calvet, Avignon). Ancestor of all English monarchs from 1488, and Scots monarchs from 1513, and various European monarchs.

1499 Raimondo recorded that he went riding with Henry VII and Ayala on 28 January 1499. Despite the success of the treaty of Ayton, early in 1498, Henry VII was perturbed by Pedro de Ayala’s actions in Scottish affairs, so Ferdinand and Isabella sent Fernán Pérez de Ayala to remedy the situation. Fernán was drowned before he reached England. But Ferdinand and Isabella were pleased to hear that the pretender to the English throne, Perkin Warbeck, who had been sponsored by James IV, was captured and Pedro de Ayala had managed to negotiate peace between Scotland and England.

1547 – Henry VIII King of England, dies. His nine year auld son, Edward VI became King, as the second Protestant ruler of England. The intrigue to match Edward with his first cousin once removed, Mary the Queen of Scots leads to the disastrous (for the Scots) Battle of Pinkie and Rough Wooing.

 Battle of Pinkie, woodcut illustration from William Patten, (1548)

1582 – John Barclay, Scottish writer (d. 1621)

1599 never happened in Scotland. The previous January 28^th was the year 1598, the next was 1600 in Scotland. There was no January 1^st 1599 to March 24^th of the year 1599 in Scotland. New Year’s Day began from 1600. The Scottish year 1599 was 10 months from March 25^th to December 31st. Scotland and England kept different calendars (at least from January to March 24) for the next century and a half   For the previous 15 centuries, from the time of Julius Ceasar, the new year began with the Spring Equinox, or March 25^th, called Lady day in England. Hence September was the 7^th month from March, from the Latin Septiem for seven. October the 8^th month from the Latin octo for eight, November the 9^th month from the Latin Novem for nine. And December from the Latin Decem for 10, or the 10^th month of the year. .  From 1155 to 1751 England and its colonies New Year began on 25 March and begin January 1 as start of year in 1752.

1643 Long Parliament sends commissioners to negotiate the Treaty of Oxford (unsuccessful)

1645 – the Long Parliament appoints commissioners to meet with the king’s commissioners at Uxbridge.

1716 Highlanders learn Argyle marching on Perth. (TG 73-419)

1716 – alarm was given in (TG 73-419)Perth of the Duke of Argyle’s approach

1746 [Scotland’s calendar.] The Prince at Bannockburn, where, learning that the Duke of Cumberland was about to join the Government army, he sent Murray of Broughton to Lord George Murray at Falkirk to prepare a plan of battle.

1751 did not occur in England, Ireland, British North America, and British colonies, as 1751 only had 282 days due to the Calendar Act of 1750. As a result of the Act, Scotland adopted the Gregorian calendar in 1752. Chesterfield was behind the Act. He wrote to his son, “Every numerous assembly is a mob, let the individuals who compose it be what they will. Mere sense is never to be talked to a mob; their passions, their sentiments, their senses and their seeming interests alone are to be applied to. Understanding have they collectively none.”

1784 – George Hamilton-Gordon, 4^th Earl of Aberdeen, born, later Prime Minister of the UK (d. 1860).

1822 – Alexander Mackenzie, born, 2nd Prime Minister of Canada (d. 1892)

1833 Gordon Major-General Charles George Gordon, CB (28 January 1833 – 26 January 1885), born, known as Chinese Gordon, Gordon Pasha, and Gordon of Khartoum, was a British army officer, of the Corps of Royal Engineers and administrator. (clan Gordon).

 Major-General Charles George Gordon.

1865 Felice Romani (January 31, 1788 – January 28, 1865) was an Italian poet and scholar of literature and mythology who wrote many librettos for the opera composers Donizetti and Bellini.

 Born Giuseppe Felice Romani in Genoa, he studied law and literature in Pisa and Genoa. Donizetti approached the famed librettist Felice Romani, for Maria Stuarda.

1878 – Yale Daily News becomes the first independent daily college newspaper in the United States. Alumnus Robert Semple, Pulitzer Prize winner and member of The New York Times editorial board

1885 Khartoum. The Sudan Campaign to rescue General Charles Gordon besieged in Khartoum. Brigadier Wilson’s men reached Khartoum on 28th January 1885, Wilson’s steamer having twice grounded. They sailed past the city under heavy fire, but could see only Mahdist troops on the banks. The Mahdi’s forces had taken Khartoum on 26th January 1885, massacring the defenders. General Charles Gordon had been killed on the steps of his palace. The British relief was 2 days too late.

  Memorial service for General Gordon held in the ruins of his palace. In his book ‘The River War’ Winston Churchill described Abu Klea as “The most savage and bluidy action ever fought in the Sudan by British troops….” Major Kitchener, an intelligence officer with the Desert Column, 12 years later in 1897 won the battle of Omdurman and then became Field Marshal Lord Kitchener. Kitchener’s last assignment to negotiate with the Russians, was from Scapa Flow Orkney Islands, leaving 5 June 1916, and disappearing with the sinking of the cruiser HMS Hampshire.

1986 Space Shuttle Challenger disaster. The 10^th mission for Challenger, STS-51-L was scheduled to deploy the 2^nd in a series of Tracking and Data Relay Satellites, carry out the 1^st flight of the Shuttle-Pointed Tool for Astronomy (SPARTAN-203)/ Halley’s Comet Experiment Deployable in order to observe Halley’s Comet.

Space Shuttle Challenger’s smoke plume after its breakup 73 seconds after launch. All seven crew lost. The shuttle program was grounded until September 1988. The Air Force Space program, previously kept alive by the $2 billion, 1985 Pad 41 construction procurement, becomes Plan B for space launches. Legal sufficiency review by the Eastern Test Range was assigned to Major John Choate in the summer of 1985.

In the capsule – Sharon Christa McAuliffe (1948 )Teacher in Space Project (son Scot); and Ronald Ervin McNair, Ph.D. (1950) died 1986.

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