On this day, Sept. 28 ...

1920: Eight members of the Chicago White Sox are indicted for allegedly throwing the 1919 World Series against the Cincinnati Reds. (All would be acquitted at trial, but all eight would be banned from the game for life.)

Also on this day:

  • 1542: Portuguese navigator Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo arrives at present-day San Diego.
  • 1781: American forces in the Revolutionary War, backed by a French fleet, begin their successful siege of Yorktown, Va.
  • 1787: The Congress of the Confederation votes to send the just-completed Constitution of the United States to state legislatures for their approval.
  • 1892: The first nighttime football game takes place in Mansfield, Pa., as teams from Mansfield State Normal and Wyoming Seminary play under electric lights to a scoreless tie.
  • 1924: Three U.S. Army planes land in Seattle, having completed the first round-the-world trip by air in 175 days.

Sir Alexander Fleming  (Peter Purdy/BIPs/Getty Images)

  • 1928: Scottish medical researcher Alexander Fleming discovers penicillin, the first effective antibiotic.
  • 1960: Ted Williams hits a home run in his last career at-bat as the Boston Red Sox defeat the Baltimore Orioles 5-4 at Fenway Park.
  • 1962: A federal appeals court finds Mississippi Gov. Ross Barnett in civil contempt for blocking the admission of James Meredith, a Black student, to the University of Mississippi. (Federal marshals would escort Meredith onto the campus two days later.)
  • 1976: Muhammad Ali retains his world heavyweight boxing championship in a close 15-round decision over Ken Norton at New York’s Yankee Stadium.
  • 1989: Deposed Philippine President Ferdinand E. Marcos dies in exile in Hawaii at age 72.

(AP Photo/Doug Mills, File)

  • 1995: Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and PLO chairman Yasser Arafat sign an accord at the White House ending Israel’s military occupation of West Bank cities and laying the foundation for a Palestinian state.
  • 2000: After a 12-year battle, the government approves use of the abortion pill RU-486.
  • 2009: Iran tests its longest-range missiles and warns they could reach any place that threatened the country, including Israel, parts of Europe and U.S. military bases in the Mideast.
  • 2014: In an interview that airs on CBS’ “60 Minutes,” President Barack Obama acknowledges that U.S. intelligence agencies had underestimated the threat from Islamic State militants and overestimated the ability and will of Iraq’s army to fight.
  • 2014: Gov. Jerry Brown announced that he had signed a bill making California the first in the nation to define when “yes means yes” and adopt requirements for colleges to follow when investigating sexual assault reports.
  • 2018: Tesla stock plunges nearly 14% after government regulators accuse Elon Musk of committing securities fraud and seek to oust him as CEO of the electric car maker.
  • 2018: Facebook reports a major security breach in which 50 million user accounts were accessed by unknown attackers; the attackers stole digital keys the company used to keep users logged in.