| 28 January 814 | Frankish Kingdom, Carolingian Empire [births and deaths] | Charlemagne (Carolus Magnus), king of the Franks 768–814 and Frankish emperor 800–14, who united much of Western Europe under his rule, dies (in Aachen, modern Germany) (71). |
| 28 January 893 | France [political events] | Following a revolt against King Odo of France organized by Archbishop Fulk of Reims, Charles the Simple, the posthumous son of Louis II the Stammerer, King of the Franks, is crowned king of France in his place. |
| 28 January 1256 | Holy Roman Empire [political events] | The Holy Roman Emperor William of Holland dies. This dashes any chance for the unanimous election of a successor to the former emperor Frederick II; both Conrad IV and Conradin (Frederick's son and grandson) disgraced themselves politically making the continuation of the Hohenstaufen dynasty unpopular. |
| 28 January 1495 | Papal States, Italy, France [political events] | King Charles VIII of France leaves Rome, Italy, for Naples, Pope Alexander VI having agreed to surrender the Italian coastal town of Civitavecchia and to give as a hostage his son Cesare Borgia, who escapes two days later. |
| 28 January 1541 | England [births and deaths] | Sir Francis Drake, most famous English admiral of the Elizabethan Age, circumnavigator of the globe, born in Devonshire, England (–1596). |
| 28 January 1547 | England [births and deaths] | Henry VIII, king of England 1509–47, who broke with the Roman Catholic Church and had six wives, two of whom he executed and two of whom he divorced, dies in London, England (55). |
| 28 January 1547 | England [political events] | Following the death of Henry VIII, king of England 1509–47, at Whitehall, London, England, he is succeeded by his son, Edward VI, aged nine. |
| 28 January 1596 | Panama, England [births and deaths] | Sir Francis Drake, most famous English admiral of the Elizabethan Age, circumnavigator of the globe, dies at sea off Puerto Belo, Panama (c. 50). |
| 28 January 1871 | France, Germany [Franco–Prussian War (1870–71)] | The French capital, Paris, besieged by Prussian forces since September 1870, capitulates and an armistice with Germany is signed. |
| 28 January 1878 | USA [telephone services] | The first commercial telephone exchange opens in New Haven, Connecticut; it has 21 subscribers. The following month the first telephone directory is published by the New Haven Telephone Co. with 50 subscribers listed. |
| 28–30 January 1930 | Spain [political events] | The Spanish dictator Primo de Rivera resigns following the army's withdrawal of its support, and the Liberal general Dámaso Berenguer forms a ministry (30 January) pledged to a restoration of democracy. |
| 28 January 1939 | Ireland [births and deaths] | W B Yeats, Irish poet, dramatist, and nationalist, dies in Roquebrune-Cap-Martin, France (73). |
| 28 January 1986 | USA [space exploration] | The US space shuttle Challenger explodes shortly after take-off, killing the crew of seven and setting the US space programme back years. |
