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1 – Joseph Stalin’s First Five Year Plan Imposes Collectivization on Agriculture

The first five-year plan of the Soviet Union was a list of economic goals, created by General Secretary Joseph Stalin and based on his policy of ‘Socialism in One Country’.

It was implemented between 1928 and 1932.

In 1929, Stalin edited the plan to include the creation of “kolkhoz”, collective farming systems, that stretched over thousands of acres of land and had hundreds of peasants working on them.

The creation of collective farms essentially destroyed the kulaks as a class, and also brought about the slaughter of millions of farm animals that these peasants would rather kill than give up to the gigantic farms.

This disruption led to a famine in Ukraine, Russia, Kazakhstan, as well as areas of the Northern Caucasus.

Public machine and tractor stations were set up throughout the USSR, and peasants were allowed to use these public tractors to farm the land, increasing the food output per peasant. Peasants were allowed to sell any surplus food from the land.

However, government planners failed to take notice of local situations. Grain production fell 32% below average, leading to a disruption causing famine to break out in several districts.

2 – Mickey Mouse Made his First Ever Appearance 

Mickey Mouse is a funny animal cartoon character and the official mascot of The Walt Disney Company.

He was created by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks at the Walt Disney Studios on November 18, 1928.

An anthropomorphic mouse typically wearing red shorts, large yellow shoes, and white gloves, Mickey has become one of the world’s most recognizable characters.

Mickey first was seen in a single test screening of Plane Crazy. Mickey officially debuted in the short film Steamboat Willie (1928), one of the first sound cartoons. He went on to appear in over 130 films.

Ten of Mickey’s cartoons were nominated for the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film, with ‘Lend a Paw’ winning the award in 1942.

In 1978, Mickey became the first cartoon character to have a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

3 – Sliced Bread was Sold for the First Time 

Otto Frederick Rohwedder of Davenport, Iowa, United States invented the first loaf-at-a-time bread-slicing machine.

A prototype he built in 1912 was destroyed in a fire, and it was not until 1928 that Rohwedder had a fully working machine ready.

The first commercial use of the machine was by the Chillicothe Baking Company of Chillicothe, Missouri, which produced their first slices on July 7, 1928.

Their product, “Kleen Maid Sliced Bread”, proved a success. Battle Creek, Michigan has a competing claim as the first city to sell bread sliced by Rohwedder’s machine.

However, historians have produced no documentation backing up Battle Creek’s claim. The bread was advertised as “the greatest forward step in the baking industry since bread was wrapped.”

4 – Amelia Earhart Becomes the First Woman to Fly Across the Atlantic Ocean

In 1928, Amelia Earhart received a phone call that would change her life. She was invited to become the first woman passenger to cross the Atlantic Ocean in a plane.

On June 17, Amelia Earhart flew in a plane named ‘Friendship’ with co-pilots Wilmer Stultz and Louis Gordon.

The plane landed at Burry Port, South Wales, with only a small amount of fuel left.

Earhart’s first trip across the Atlantic took 20 hours 40 minutes. After that flight, Earhart became a media sensation.

Following the trip, she was given a ticker-tape parade down Broadway in New York City, and President Coolidge called to congratulate her on crossing the Atlantic.

She went on to set many other records and wrote best-selling books about her flying experiences, before her disappearance in 1937.