On October 28, 1997, the Dow rose 337.17 points, the biggest one-day point rise in history, to that date, and coming the day after the worst point loss to date, erasing most of the 554 drop the previous day.  For the haunted week of October 27-31, 1997, the Dow fell 272.61 points.

Two of the worst daily losses (in percentage terms) in market history came one day after another, on October 28 and 29 (Black Tuesday), 1929.  Monday's drop was the worst day of 1929, but nobody calls it Black Monday.  The Dow fell 13.5%, from 301 to 260, and Black Tuesday's drop was 11.7%, to 230. The two-day 71-point drop was 23.2%, more than October 19, 1987 (-22.6%).

On the same day, October 28, 1929: The first child was born in an aircraft, over Miami, Florida.

Prohibition!

On October 28, 1919, Congress passed the Volstead Act (alcohol prohibition) over President Woodrow Wilson's veto of the previous day.  The Volstead Act provided for the enforcement of the 18th Amendment, passed by Congress on December 18, 1917, and ratified by three-fourths of the states on January 29, 1919, banning the manufacture, sale or transport of intoxicating liquors.

1636: First American College Born

The college that would later be known as Harvard University was founded by an act of the General Court of Massachusetts Bay Colony.  In 1638, the college was named after its first big donor, John Harvard of Charlestown, a young minister who, upon his death, left his library and half his estate to the college.  Harvard's first class consisted of nine students and a single master.

1962: The Cuban Missile Crisis Finally Ended

The Cuban Missile Crisis effectively ended, as Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev announced his government's intention to dismantle and remove all offensive Soviet weapons from Cuba, in exchange for a U.S. pledge not to invade Cuba, and an agreement to dismantle some U.S. missile sites in Turkey.  At 5:00pm, Soviet technicians began dismantling the missile sites, and the world avoided its closest brush with nuclear war during the 45-year nuclear-armed Cold War.

Business Birthday: Bill Gates

October 28, 1955 is the birthday of Bill Gates, founder and CEO of Microsoft. For his 44th birthday, Microsoft was added to the Dow Jones Industrial Stock Index in 1999. Gates and his high school chum, Paul Allen, first started writing programs to predict the traffic patterns in their native Seattle.  Gates dropped out of Harvard in 1975 and found Microsoft with Paul Allen, in 1977.  Their big break came in 1981, when IBM chose their PC operating system.  Now, commuters in Seattle wish they would return to their original project and find a traffic solution.

Other Highlights from History on October 28

• 1790: New York State gave up all claims to Vermont, for $30,000. 
• 1793: Eli Whitney applied for a patent on his cotton gin.
• 1886: The Statue of Liberty was dedicated by President Grover Cleveland, which was celebrated by the first confetti (ticker tape?) parade in the city.
• 1922: The first coast-to-coast radio broadcast of a football game took place, and Benito Mussolini took control of Italy's government on the same day.

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