This Day in History: April 28

1611 Establishment of the Pontifical and Royal University of Santo Tomas

The Catholic University of the Philippines, which is the oldest existing university in Asia and the largest Catholic university in the world, was founded on this year.

1770 Captain James Cook lands at Botany Bay in Australia

British Captain James Cook, aboard the Endeavour, landed at Botany Bay in Australia on this year, marking the beginning of the first recorded European exploration of the east coast of Australia.

1789 Mutiny on HMS Bounty led by Fletcher Christian

Fletcher Christian led a mutiny on HMS Bounty against its captain William Bligh in the South Pacific on this year, resulting in Bligh and his loyalists being set adrift in a small boat and Christian and his mutineers settling on Pitcairn Island.

1910 First night air flight by Claude Grahame-White in England

Claude Grahame-White made the first night air flight in England on this year, flying from London to Manchester in a biplane equipped with navigation lights.

1937 First commercial flight across Pacific operated by Pan Am

On this year, Pan Am operated the first commercial flight across the Pacific, flying from San Francisco to Manila with stops in Honolulu, Midway Island, Wake Island, and Guam.

1947 Thor Heyerdahl begins his journey on Kon-Tiki

Norwegian explorer Thor Heyerdahl and his crew set out on the 101-day journey on the self-built raft Kon-Tiki on this year, with the aim of proving that South Americans could have reached and settled Polynesia in pre-Columbian times.

1969 Charles de Gaulle resigns as President of France

Charles de Gaulle, who founded the French Fifth Republic in 1958 and became its first President a year later, resigned on this year.

1994 Former CIA officer Aldrich Ames admits to spying for the Soviet Union

Aldrich Ames, a former CIA officer, was sentenced to life imprisonment on this year for forwarding U.S. secrets to the Soviet Union. His activities amounted to one of the most damaging spy cases in U.S. history.

2001 Dennis Tito becomes the first space tourist

On this year, the Californian billionaire became the first space tourist in history, traveling to the International Space Station (ISS) aboard a Russian rocket.

2004 Abu Ghraib torture pictures are published

Gross human rights violations, including torture and murder, committed by U.S. soldiers and CIA personnel in the Baghdad prison were exposed on this year through images aired in a 60 Minutes II report.

1977 Baader-Meinhof Gang members jailed for life

Andreas Baader and members of terrorist group the Red Army Faction (Baader-Meinhof Gang) were jailed for life after a trial lasting nearly two years in Stuttgart, Germany, on this year.