This Day in History - April 28

This Day in History: April 28 — Infoplease.com

1788

Maryland became the 7th state in the United States.

1789

Fletcher Christian led the mutiny aboard the British ship Bounty against Captain William Bligh.

1945

Benito Mussolini was executed.

1947

Thor Heyerdahl and five others began their Pacific Ocean crossing on the raft, Kon-Tiki.

1967

Boxing champion Muhammad Ali refused to be inducted into the Army.

1992

The U.S. Dept. of Agriculture unveiled its first “food pyramid.”

2001

Dennis Tito became the first space tourist.

2004

The Abu Ghraib prison abuse scandalfirst comes to light when graphic photos of U.S. soldiers physicallyabusing and humiliating Iraqi prisoners were shown on CBS's 60 Minutes II.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS

James Monroe
1758–1831, American president, born in Westmoreland County, Va.

Also Born on April 28

• Marie Joseph Chenier
  poet and dramatist (1764)
• Lionel Barrymore
  actor (1878)
• Harper Lee
  author (1926)
• Saddam Hussein
  political leader (1937)
• Jay Leno
  talk-show host (1950)
• Penélope Cruz
  actress (1974)