January 28, protesters opposed to Mubarak's rule seize Cairo

Today is Wednesday, Jan. 28, the 28th day of 2026. There are 337 days left in the year.

Today in history:

On Jan. 28, 2011, protesters opposed to Hosni Mubarak’s nearly 30-year rule of Egypt seized the streets of Cairo, battling police, burning down ruling party headquarters and defying a military curfew. Hundreds of protesters would be killed in ensuing days in attempts to crush the uprising before Mubarak stepped down as president that February.

Also on this date:

In 1547, England’s King Henry VIII died at age 55; he was succeeded by his 9-year-old son, Edward VI.

In 1813, the novel “Pride and Prejudice” by Jane Austen was first published, anonymously, in London.

In 1922, 98 people were killed when the roof of the Knickerbocker Theatre in Washington, D.C., collapsed under the weight of nearly 2 feet of snow.

In 1956, Elvis Presley made his first national TV appearance on “Stage Show,” a CBS program hosted by Tommy and Jimmy Dorsey.

In 1980, six U.S. diplomats who had avoided being taken hostage at their embassy in Tehran flew out of Iran with the help of Canadian diplomats; the events were later dramatized in the film “Argo.”

In 1985, to raise funds in support of famine relief in Ethiopia, the supergroup USA For Africa recorded the song “We Are the World.”

In 1986, the space shuttle Challenger exploded 73 seconds after liftoff from Cape Canaveral, Florida, killing all seven crew members including schoolteacher Christa McAuliffe.

In 2017, Serena Williams won her record 23rd Open Era Grand Slam singles title, defeating her sister Venus at the Australian Open for what would be her final major championship.

In 2024, three American troops were killed and 25 were injured in a drone strike in Jordan near the border with Syria. President Joe Biden blamed Iran-backed militias for the first U.S. fatalities after months of strikes by the groups against American forces across the Middle East amid the Israel-Hamas war.