January 28

January 28 in history:

• 1573, articles of Warsaw Confederation are signed, sanctioning freedom of religion in Poland

• 1754, Horace Walpole, in a letter to Horace Mann, coins the word serendipity

• 1871, Franco-Prussian War: Siege of Paris ends in French defeat and an armistice

• 1887, in a snowstorm at Fort Keogh, Montana, the world's largest snowflakes are reported, being 15 inches (38 cm) wide and 8 inches (20 cm) thick

• 1909, United States troops leave Cuba with the exception of Guantanamo Bay Naval Base after being there since the Spanish-American War

• 1915, an act of the U.S. Congress creates the United States Coast Guard

• 1917, municipally owned streetcars take to the streets of San Francisco

• 1921, a symbolic Tomb of the Unknown Soldier is installed beneath the Arc de Triomphe in Paris to honour the unknown dead of World War I

• 1932, Japanese forces attack Shanghai

• 1933, the name Pakistan is coined by Choudhary Rehmat Ali Khan and is accepted by the Indian Muslims who then thereby adopted it further for the Pakistan Movement seeking independence

• 1934, the first ski tow in America begins operation in Vermont

• 1935, Iceland becomes the first Western country to legalize therapeutic abortion

• 1973, a cease-fire officially went into effect in the Vietnam War

• 1981, Ronald Reagan lifts remaining domestic petroleum price and allocation controls in the United States helping to end the 1979 energy crisis and begin the 1980s oil glut.

• 1986, STS-51-L mission (Space Shuttle Challenger disaster), Space Shuttle Challenger breaks apart 73 seconds after liftoff killing all seven astronauts onboard, including Christa McAuliffe, who was supposed to be the first teacher in space

• 1994, the first trial of accused murderer Lyle Menendez ends in a mistrial. He and his brother Erik are later found guilty and sentenced to life in prison without parole