Sunday 28th of October 1466

Humanist and theologian Desiderius Roterodamus Erasmus is born in Rotterdam, Zuid-Holland, Netherlands.

Monday 28th of October 1895

Start of the trial against 34-year-old Serial killer Henry Howard Holmes aka The Torture Doctor for the murder of the Pitezel children in the Court of Oyer and Terminer in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States.

Holmes gave various contradictory accounts of his life, claiming initially innocence and later that he was possessed by Satan.

Friday 28th of October 1898

29-year-old Serial killer Joseph Vacher aka L’Eventreur du Sud-Est is sentenced to death in Bourg-en-Bresse, Rhône-Alpes, France.

Vacher was sentenced for the murder of Victor Portalier only.

Monday 28th of October 1901

'Brother' of Lou Salomé and rival of Friedrich Nietzsche Paul Ludwig Carl Heinrich Rée commits suicide by jumping off a slippery cliff at the age of 52 in Charnadüra-Schlucht, Celerina, Graubünden, Switzerland.

It remains unclear whether Rée's death was an accident or suicide. Rée had not long before his death declared "I have to philosophize. When I run out of material about which to philosophize, it is best for me to die."

Wednesday 28th of October 1903

Writer Evelyn Arthur St. John Waugh is born in Hillfield Road, London, Hampstead, Greater London, United Kingdom.

Thursday 28th of October 1909

Artist Francis Bacon is born in 63 Lower Baggot Street, Dublin, Leinster, Ireland.

Thursday 28th of October 1954

Start of the trial against 54-year-old Murderess Styllou Pantopiou Christofi for murder of her 36-year-old daughter-in-law Hella Christofis, in Old Bailey Criminal Court, London, Greater London, United Kingdom.

Friday 28th of October 1955

Business magnate Bill William Henry Gates known for founding Microsoft Corporation is born in Seattle, Washington, United States.

Saturday 28th of October 1967

Actress Julia Roberts is born in Smyrna, Georgia, United States.

Saturday 28th of October 1967

35-year-old Jack D. McVitie aka Jack the Hat is stabbed to death by gangster Reginald Kray aka Reggie Kray in Evering Road, London, Stoke Newington, Greater London, United Kingdom.

McVitie's body was never recovered, probably thrown from a boat into the sea at Newhaven, Sussex by the Krays friend and associate Freddie Foreman. Following McVitie's murder, the Krays and several other members of their gang were finally arrested by Scotland Yard who had been watching their exploits for years.

Thursday 28th of October 1976

Vice President of Sinn Féin Máire Drumm is shot dead in a joint operation by the Ulster loyalist Red Hand Commando in her hospital bed while recovering from an eye operation at the age of 57 in Mater Infirmorum Hospital, Belfast, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom.

Tuesday 28th of October 1986

25-year-old Mass murderer Jeremy Nevill Bamber aka The White House Farm Murderer is sentenced to five life terms, with a recommendation that he serve a minimum of twenty-five years in Chelmsford, Essex, United Kingdom.

Wednesday 28th of October 1987

Surrealist artist André Aimé-René Masson dies of natural causes at the age of 91 in Paris, Île-de-France, France.

Tuesday 28th of October 1997

Mass murderer Kenneth Ray Ransom is executed by lethal injection at the age of 34 in Huntsville Prison, 815 12th Street, Huntsville, Texas, United States.

Ransom didn’t request a final meal.

Thursday 28th of October 1999

Rapist and murderer Domingo Cantu is executed by lethal injection at the age of 31 in Huntsville Prison, 815 12th Street, Huntsville, Texas, United States.

Then 20-year-old Cantu raped and killed 94-year-old Suda Eller Jones by repeatedly banging her head on the sidewalk on 25 June 1988 in Dallas.

Saturday 28th of October 2006

Noise music band Club Moral play their 122nd concert as Bum Collar in Fundação De Serralves, Porto, Norte, Portugal.

It was the World Premiere of Bum Collar (an anagram of Club Moral).

Saturday 28th of October 2006

The one and only official band photo of Bum Collar depicting Mauro Pawlowski, Paul Mennes, Anne-Mie Van Kerckhoven and Danny Devos in Fundação De Serralves, Porto, Norte, Portugal.

Tuesday 28th of October 2008

Double murderer Masahiro Takashio is executed by hanging at the age of 55 in Sendai, Tōhoku, Japan.

Tuesday 28th of October 2008

Double murderer Michitoshi Kuma is executed by hanging at the age of 70 in Fukuoka Detention Center, Fukuoka, Kyushu, Japan.

Kuma was hanged for the kidnapping and murder of two 7-year-old girls on 20 February 1992 in Iizuka, Fukuoka Prefecture.

Thursday 28th of October 2021

Murderer John Marion Grant is executed by lethal injection at the age of 60 in Oklahoma State Penitentiary, McAlester, Oklahoma, United States.

Grant was strapped to a gurney inside the execution chamber and began convulsing and vomiting after the first drug, the sedative midazolam, was administered. Several minutes later, two members of the execution team wiped the vomit from his face and neck. Before the curtain was raised to allow witnesses to see into the execution chamber, Grant could be heard yelling “Let’s go! Let’s go! Let’s go!” He delivered a stream of profanities before the lethal injection started. He was declared unconscious about 15 minutes after the first of three drugs was administered and declared dead about six minutes after that.

Friday 28th of October 2022

Singer-songwriter and musician Jerry Lee Lewis aka The Killer dies of natural causes at the age of 87 in Southaven, Mississippi, United States.