At just eighteen, Vinnie Ream became the first woman entrusted with a federal art commission—tasked by Congress to sculpt Abraham Lincoln on July 28, 1866. She chose realism over reverence: cloak draped, document in hand, gaze turned downward in reflection. Her statue, still standing in the U.S. Capitol Rotunda, is shaped by personal encounter—an artist who knew Lincoln in life and memorialized him in the quiet aftermath of his death.

Jacqueline Lee Bouvier was born on July 28, 1929 in Southampton, New York.

Image of Jackie when she was about six years old in 1935 via Wikimedia Commons, public domain

Photo of an early boarding house in Miami, Florida c. 1896

On July 28, 1896 the City of Miami, Florida was officially incorporated.

via Florida Memory, public domain

On July 28, 1868 Secretary William Seward issued his proclamation certifying the adoption of the Fourteenth Amendment.

Section 1 of the Fourteenth Amendment states: “All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.”

Image: National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution, no known restrictions

On July 28, 1935 the prototype for the Boeing B-17 “Flying Fortress” (Model 299) made her first flight.

Image: Boeing Model 299 in flight, 1935 by USAF Museum via Wikimedia Commons, public domain

Clearing the wreckage of impact and memory—workers sift through the twisted remains on the 78th floor of the Empire State Building, where war collided with architecture. The crash of a B-25 bomber on July 28, 1945 left fourteen dead, countless shaken, and a city stunned by aviation’s reach into its skyline.One woman fell through the wreckage—and lived. Inside the Empire State Building, Betty Lou Oliver plummeted 75 stories in a malfunctioning elevator—an astonishing descent that remains the longest fall ever survived, a quiet miracle amid the chaos of that day.

Image via Wikimedia Commons, public domain

The inventor of Tupperware, Mr. Earl Silas Tupper
was born on July 28, 1907 in Berlin, New Hampshire.

Here’s a vintage ad from 1958 for the famous airtight containers from Florida Memory via Wikimedia Commons, public domain

Officer’s Dining Room inside the U.S. Constellation

The U.S. Constellation was commissioned on July 28, 1855. It was the last of the all-sail U.S. Navy warships.

Image by Richard N Horne CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons

July 28, 1932 – After clashing with police, thousands of Bonus Army demonstrators are evicted from their Washington, DC campsite by US Army troops led by Gen. Douglas MacArthur. The demonstrators, many of whom were unemployed WW1 veterans impacted by the Great Depression, were hoping Congress would pay a promised bonus early to alleviate their suffering.

Image via NARA via Wikimedia Commons, public domain in the US

July 28th is Buffalo Soldiers Day

Photograph of Buffalo Soldiers at Camp Wikoff, New York

c. 1898

via Wikimedia Commons, public domain

Trumpeters of the U.S. Army Band in ceremonial formation at the opening of the 1984 Summer Olympics—Los Angeles, July 28.
Opening Ceremony, 1984

Amid a Cold War atmosphere and international fanfare, trumpet fanfares rang from the U.S. Army Band—an elite component of the broader Olympic All-American Marching Band, an 800-member ensemble drawn from colleges across the nation. With representation from all 50 states and a core formed by the Trojan Marching Band, their collective sound orchestrated patriotism and pageantry on the global stage.

Image via Wikimedia Commons, public domain

America’s Polka King, Frankie Yankovic was born on July 28, 1915 in Davis, West Virginia.

He sold over thirty million records.

Image via Wikimedia Commons, public domain

Barbara La Marr (1896–1926)—born Reatha Dale Watson and known variously as Folly Lyell, briefly Beth Lytelle (a childhood name she once revived), and finally Barbara—crafted a life of reinvention. Celebrated as Hollywood’s “Girl Who Is Too Beautiful,” she was first a screenwriter before captivating audiences in 27 silent films over just six years. She died at 29, leaving behind a young son, Marvin, whose care she entrusted to actress ZaSu Pitts. Her legacy endures in glamour, versatility, and the quiet devotion that shaped her final years.

Image via Wikimedia Commons, public domain