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Births on March 27

1928Mar, 27

Jean Dotto

Jean Dotto, French cyclist (d. 2000)
Jean-Baptiste Dotto (27 March 1928, in St-Nazaire – 20 February 2000, in Ollioules, France) was the first French racing cyclist to win the Vuelta a España. He rode the Tour de France 13 times, coming fourth in 1954.

Jean Dotto was born with Italian nationality. He became French in 1937. Dotto was a good climber. He became an independent, or semi-professional, in 1948 and won a race up Mont Ventoux that year and won Marseille-Toulon-Marseille and the climb of La Turbie, near Nice in 1950. He turned professional in 1951 for France-Sport-Dunlop and won five races, including three hill climbs, in his first season. He rode until 1963, winning 35 races, including the Dauphiné-Libéré twice. He won stage 19 of the 1954 Tour de France and next year won the Vuelta by beating Julio Jiménez of Spain and Raphaël Géminiani of France.

Of his era, he said: "We took amphetamine but not all the year. That allowed us to win and it wasn't very dangerous."

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Events on 1928

  • 12Mar

    St. Francis Dam

    In California, the St. Francis Dam fails; the resulting floods kills 431 people.
  • 12Apr

    Junkers W 33

    The Bremen, a German Junkers W 33 type aircraft, takes off for the first successful transatlantic aeroplane flight from east to west.
  • 4Jun

    Zhang Zuolin

    The President of the Republic of China, Zhang Zuolin, is assassinated by Japanese agents.
  • 18Jun

    Amelia Earhart

    Aviator Amelia Earhart becomes the first woman to fly in an aircraft across the Atlantic Ocean (she is a passenger; Wilmer Stultz is the pilot and Lou Gordon the mechanic).
  • 2Oct

    Josemaría Escrivá

    The "Prelature of the Holy Cross and the Work of God", commonly known as Opus Dei, is founded by Josemaría Escrivá.