April 28: Fun Facts about Today in History

(April 28, 1926)
Harper Lee, an American author best known for her novel To Kill a Mockingbird (1960), was born.

(April 28, 1945)
On this day in 1945, Italian dictator Benito Mussolini, dubbed "Il Duce" after a series of military blunders that made him unpopular even among his own Fascists, was apprehended while attempting to depart Italy and executed.

(April 28, 1947)
Thor Heyerdahl, a Norwegian ethnologist and explorer, and a small crew set sail from Peru on the Kon-Tiki, a rudimentary raft, and landed in Polynesia three and a half months later.

(April 28, 2001)
Dennis Tito, an American businessman, became the first space tourist when he was flown into orbit aboard a Russian supply mission to the International Space Station for a six-day journey that cost him almost $20 million.

(April 28, 2003)
The iTunes Store was launched by Apple in 2003, allowing users to purchase and download music from the Internet directly to their iTunes library; in 2010, the store sold its ten billionth song.

(Died on April 28, 2021)
Michael Collins, American astronaut (b. 1930).