October 28th

Argentina Elects its First Female President. Former First Lady of Argentina, Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, won the elections with over 45% of all votes cast. She was re-elected to office again in 2011, this time with over 50% of the votes cast. Kirchner was not the first woman to serve as Argentina’s president, but she was the first one to be elected. Isabel Martínez de Perón served as the country’s head of state after her husband, President Juan Perón, died in office. When she was sworn in to replace her husband on July 1, 1974, she then became the first woman to be a president of any country to date.

Fire Breaks Out between Two Metro Stations in Baku. Thought to be one of the deadliest subway disasters in history, the fire started as a result of old and faulty wiring. Over 300 people traveling in a train between Ulduz and Narimanov stations in Azerbaijan’s capital city were killed as smoke filled the subway tunnels.

Nikita Khrushchev told the U.S. that he had ordered the dismantling of Soviet missile bases in Cuba.

A new pope was elected—Pope John XXIII.

Italy invaded Greece during World War II.

Germany expels Polish jews. Germany expelled about 17000 Polish jews and sent them to Poland which refused to take them in.

Miner M.de Bruin discovers the infant fossil skull, "Taung child" in a lime quarry in Taung, South Africa. Paleoanthropologist Raymond Dart identifies the fossil as a new hominin species, Australopithecus africanus.

Benito Mussolini took control of the government of Italy.

Congress passed the Volstead Act, or the National Prohibition Act, over President Woodrow Wilson's veto.

Czechoslovakia Gains Independence. The Central European country had been a part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire since the late 1700s. At the end of the First World War, with the end of the Empire on the horizon, nationalists under the leadership of Thomas Masaryk pushed for independence. Masaryk became the country’s first president in November 1918. On January 1, 1993, Czechoslovakia peacefully broke up into two countries – the Czech Republic and the Slovak Republic.

St Louis police try a new investigation method - fingerprints.

The Statue of Liberty was dedicated in New York Harbor by President Grover Cleveland.

Eli Whitney applied for a patent for the cotton gin.

Peruvian cities of Lima and Callao demolished by earthquake, 18,000 die.

The first university in the New World, the Universidad Santo Tomás de Aquino, is established on Hispaniola.

Christopher Columbus discovers Cuba and claims it for Spain.