The following events occurred in December 1928:
Saturday, December 1, 1928
The Talca earthquake, a 7.9 magnitude tremor, struck Chile, killing 279 people. The Hamilton Tigers won the 16th Grey Cup of Canadian football with a 30–0 win over the Regina Roughriders. President-elect Herbert Hoover visited Ecuador. Estelle Manville, daughter of American industrialist Hiram Manville, married Count Folke Bernadotte of Sweden, the nephew of King Gustav V, in a lavish $750,000 ceremony in Pleasantville, New York. Died: Arthur Gore, 60, British tennis player José Eustasio Rivera, 40, Colombian writer
Sunday, December 2, 1928
Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester joined his brother Edward in abandoning an African trip to rush to the bedside of the ailing King. The Frank Lloyd-directed sound film Adoration starring Billie Dove was released.
Monday, December 3, 1928
The physicians of George V issued an early morning bulletin stating that oxygen had been administered to the King during the night. The Firestone Hour, a classical music program, was first broadcast on the NBC Radio network.
Tuesday, December 4, 1928
Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin announced in the House of Commons that a six-person council headed by Queen Mary had been appointed to handle George V's duties. U.S. President Calvin Coolidge delivered his sixth and final State of the Union message to Congress. As with all his previous messages except the first, it was a written rather than oral statement. "The country can regard the present with satisfaction and anticipate the future with optimism", the message read. "The country is in the midst of an era of prosperity more extensive and of peace more permanent than it has ever before experienced. But, having reached this position, we should not fail to comprehend that it can easily be lost." Cosmo Lang was installed as the new Archbishop of Canterbury. The musical comedy Whoopee! by Walter Donaldson and Gus Kahn premiered at the New Amsterdam Theatre on Broadway.
Wednesday, December 5, 1928
US Presidential-electee Herbert Hoover visited Peru. England won the 1st Test cricket match against Australia by a record 675 runs.
Thursday, December 6, 1928
The Banana massacre occurred at Colombia in Ciénaga when the army fired on striking workers for the United Fruit Company, killing at least 47 people. The government of New Zealand Prime Minister Gordon Coates fell on a motion of no confidence. Paraguayan and Bolivian forces clashed in the disputed Gran Chaco region.
Friday, December 7, 1928
Fascist Italy passed a decree putting an aristocrat's estate into the hands of a special agricultural board. The aristocrat had failed to comply with a government demand that estate holders must cultivate their lands extensively to help the country increase its farming production. Born: Noam Chomsky, linguist, philosopher and activist, in Philadelphia
Saturday, December 8, 1928
After several days of losses, the crashing New York Stock Exchange bottomed out with a mass selling spree. Between Wednesday and Saturday the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 33 points and the six market leaders alone lost over $800 million of their value on paper. Big single-day losses on Saturday included Radio Corporation of America (72 points), Wright Aeronautical (26 points), Montgomery Ward (24 points) and Kolster Radio (17 points). The U.S. District Court for the Western District of New York ruled that making wine at home, or selling concentrated grapes with instructions for making wine from them at home, was permitted under Section 29 of the Volstead Act.
Sunday, December 9, 1928
Italy passed a new law giving the Grand Council of Fascism the right to approve the succession to the throne, as well as the monarch's powers. King Victor Emmanuel III was opposed to the law, but did little except grumble. The dramatic play Journey's End by R. C. Sherriff was first performed at the Apollo Theatre in London. The partly talking romantic drama film The Barker, starring Milton Sills and Dorothy Mackaill, was released. Born: Dick Van Patten, American actor, in Kew Gardens, New York (d. 2015) Joe DeMaestri, U.S. baseball player, in San Francisco, California (d. 2016)