October 28

97 – Roman emperor Nerva is forced by the Praetorian Guard to adopt general Marcus Ulpius Trajanus as his heir and successor. 306 – Maxentius is proclaimed Roman emperor. 312 – Constantine I defeats Maxentius, becoming the sole Roman emperor in the West. 969 – The Byzantine Empire recovers Antioch from Arab rule. 1344 – The lower town of Smyrna is captured by Crusaders in response to Aydınid piracy. 1420 – Beijing is officially designated the capital of the Ming dynasty when the Forbidden City is completed. 1449 – Christian I is crowned king of Denmark. 1453 – Ladislaus the Posthumous is crowned king of Bohemia in Prague. 1492 – Christopher Columbus lands in Cuba on his first voyage to the New World, surmising that it is Japan. 1516 – Second Ottoman–Mamluk War: Mamluks fail to stop the Ottoman advance towards Egypt at the Battle of Yaunis Khan. 1520 – Ferdinand Magellan reaches the Pacific Ocean. 1531 – Abyssinian–Adal war: The Adal Sultanate seizes southern Ethiopia. 1538 – The Universidad Santo Tomás de Aquino is founded in what is now the Dominican Republic. 1628 – French Wars of Religion: The Siege of La Rochelle ends with the surrender of the Huguenots after fourteen months. 1636 – The Massachusetts Bay Colony votes to establish a theological college, which would later become Harvard University. 1664 – The Duke of York and Albany's Maritime Regiment of Foot, later to be known as the Royal Marines, is established. 1707 – The 1707 Hōei earthquake causes more than 5,000 deaths in Japan. 1726 – The novel Gulliver's Travels written by Jonathan Swift is published. 1776 – American Revolutionary War: British troops attack and capture Chatterton Hill from the Continental Army. 1834 – The Pinjarra massacre occurs in the Swan River Colony. An estimated 30 Noongar people are killed by British colonists. 1835 – The United Tribes of New Zealand are established with the signature of the Declaration of Independence. 1864 – American Civil War: A Union attack on the Confederate capital of Richmond is repulsed.