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Today in History, May 28th

On May 28, 1830, Andrew Jackson signed the Indian Removal Act. Plus the Spanish Armada sails and Washington's first battle.

By Today in History Updated November 10, 2026 3 min read Sources checked

Published May 28, 2026 · Last updated November 10, 2026

May 28 is best known for 1830, when President Andrew Jackson signed the Indian Removal Act, setting the stage for the Trail of Tears. The date also saw the Spanish Armada sail from Lisbon in 1588 and George Washington’s first fight in the French and Indian War in 1754.

The big story: Jackson signs the Indian Removal Act (1830)

The law Andrew Jackson signed on May 28, 1830, read like a land deal. It let the federal government negotiate with Native nations in the Southeast, in states such as Georgia, Tennessee, North Carolina and Florida, to trade their homelands for territory out west. In practice, “negotiate” stretched a long way. Before Jackson left office in 1837, his administration had worked out close to 70 removal treaties, and at least 50,000 Native Americans had been relocated. About 25 million acres opened to white settlers, and much of it went to expanding slavery. Some nations, the Cherokee most famously, refused to go. In 1838 and 1839, the U.S. Army forced them out. Roughly 60,000 people in all were pushed into “Indian Territory,” mostly present-day Oklahoma. The journey became known as the Trail of Tears, and more than 10,000 people died along the way, including an estimated 4,000 Cherokee.

More events on May 28

Year	What happened
1588	The Spanish Armada, about 130 ships carrying 30,000 men, sailed from Lisbon to take control of the English Channel. Storms and English attacks wrecked about half of it.
1754	A Virginia militia led by 22-year-old George Washington ambushed a French scouting party in southwestern Pennsylvania, the first clash of the French and Indian War.
1918	U.S. troops captured the French village of Cantigny from the Germans, the first sustained American offensive of World War I, then held it against seven counterattacks.
1937	Nazi Germany created a state-owned car company to build an affordable “people’s car.” By year’s end it was called Volkswagenwerk.
1957	National League owners voted to let the Brooklyn Dodgers move to Los Angeles and the New York Giants to San Francisco, on the condition that both went.
1961	British lawyer Peter Benenson’s “The Forgotten Prisoners” ran in The Observer, coining “prisoners of conscience” and launching what became Amnesty International.
1964	The Palestine Liberation Organization was founded. Yasir Arafat became its leader in 1969.
1991	Rebel forces led by Meles Zenawi took Addis Ababa, ending 17 years of Marxist military rule in Ethiopia.
2006	Barry Bonds of the San Francisco Giants hit his 715th home run, passing Babe Ruth for second place on the all-time list.

Born on May 28

1759: William Pitt the Younger, British prime minister during the wars with Revolutionary and Napoleonic France, born in Hayes, Kent.
1938: Jerry West, Los Angeles Lakers star known as “Mr. Clutch,” born in West Virginia.
1944: Gladys Knight, the “Empress of Soul” and lead singer of Gladys Knight and the Pips, born in Atlanta.