Apr 28 in History
1192 — Conrad of Montferrat (Conrad I), de facto
King of Jerusalem by marriage to Isabella I, daughter of Amalric I, from November 24 1190, is assassinated in Tyre by two members of Hashshashin (a sect of assassins), two days after the barons of the Kingdom of Jerusalem unanimously elected him as king.
1503 — The Battle of Cerignola, one of the first in European history won by small-arms fire using gunpowder, is fought in southern Italy. The Spanish force of 6,300 men armed with more than 1,000 arquebusiers (a form of long gun) and 20 cannons defeat the 9,000-strong French force of mainly heavy-cavalry gendarmes and Swiss mercenary pikemen, with about 40 cannons. The French assault is shattered by the fire of Spanish arquebusiers.
1881 — Billy the Kid, famed outlaw of the American West, escapes from Lincoln County Courthouse jail near Carrizozo, New Mexico, killing two guards. On July 14, he is ambushed and killed at age 21 by Sheriff Pat Garrett at a ranch house near Fort Sumner.
1920 — Azerbaijan Democratic Republic becomes Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic after a Red Army invasion which started four days earlier.
1923 — Wembley Stadium, officially named Empire Stadium, opens with the FA Cup final between
Bolton Wanderers and West Ham United. Between 240,000 and 300,000 people overflow onto the pitch of the 127,000-seat national stadium. Mounted police, including Police Constable George Scorey and his white horse Billy, slowly push the masses back. Play starts just 45 minutes late. In honour of Billy, the footbridge outside the new Wembley Stadium has been named the White Horse Bridge. Bolton win 2-0. 1968 — Andy Flower, Zimbabwe cricketer, is born in Cape Town.
1973 — Andrew Mehrtens, All Black flyhalf, is born in Durban.
1986 — High levels of radiation resulting from the April 26 Chernobyl disaster in the Ukraine are detected at a nuclear power plant in Sweden, forcing the Soviets to announce the accident to the world. 1988 — Chief flight attendant Clarabelle “CB” Lansing, 58, is blown out of a Boeing 737 and falls 7,315m to her death when a large part of the plane’s fuselage rips off in mid-flight near Maui, Hawaii. Aloha Airlines Flight 243 is 23 minutes into its 50-minute flight from Hilo to Honolulu with a crew of six and 89 passengers. Captain Robert Schornstheimer lands at Kahului Airport, with no further fatalities (65 are injured, eight seriously). Lansing’s body is never found. 1996 — At about 7.30am, a gas line explodes in the middle of an intersection in Taegu, South Korea, crowded with traffic, killing 101 people (60 of them children on their way to school) with hundreds injured.