On this day in History - Jul 29

• 0238 - Pupienus and Balbinus die (assassinated). Roman emperors.
• 1014 - Byzantine-Bulgarian Wars: Battle of Kleidion: Byzantine emperor Basil II inflicts a decisive defeat on the Bulgarian army, but his subsequent savage treatment of 15,000 prisoners reportedly causes Tsar Samuil of Bulgaria to die of shock.
• 1030 - Ladejarl-Fairhair succession wars: Battle of Stiklestad - King Olaf II fights and dies trying to regain his Norwegian throne from the Danes.
• 1030 - Olaf II of Norway dies (b. 995).
• 1099 - Pope Urban II dies (b. 1042).
• 1108 - King Philip I of France dies.
• 1166 - Henry II of Champagne was born (d. 1197).
• 1507 - Martin Behaim dies (b. 1459). Navigator and geographer.
• 1565 -The widowed Mary Queen of Scots marries Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley, Duke of Albany at Holyrood Palace in Edinburgh, Scotland.
• 1567 - James VI is crowned King of Scotland at Stirling.
• 1588 - Anglo-Spanish War: Battle of Gravelines - English naval forces under command of Lord Charles Howard and Sir Francis Drake defeats the Spanish Armada off the coast of Gravelines, France.
• 1605 - Simon Dach was born (d. 1659). German poet.
• 1612 - Jacques Bongars dies (b. 1554). French scholar and diplomat.
• 1644 - Pope Urban VIII dies (b. 1568).
• 1693 - War of the Grand Alliance: Battle of Landen - France wins a Pyrrhic victory over Allied forces in the Netherlands.
• 1752 - Peter Warren dies. British admiral.
• 1763 - Philip Charles Durham was born (d. 1845). Royal Navy Admiral.
• 1781 - Johann Kies dies (b. 1713). German astronomer and mathematician.
• 1792 - René Nicolas Charles Augustin de Maupeou dies (b. 1714). Chancellor of France.
• 1793 - John Graves Simcoe decides to build a fort and settlement at Toronto, having sailed into the bay there.
• 1797 - Daniel Drew was born (d. 1879). American financier.
• 1801 - George Bradshaw was born (d. 1853). English publisher.
• 1805 - Alexis de Tocqueville was born (d. 1859). French historian and political scientist.
• 1813 - Jean-Andoche Junot dies (b. 1771). French general.
• 1830 - Abdication of Charles X of France.
• 1833 - William Wilberforce dies (b. 1759). English abolicionist.
• 1836 - Inauguration of the Arc de Triomphe in Paris.
• 1839 - Gaspard de Prony dies (b. 1755). French mathematician.
• 1843 - Johannes Schmidt was born (d. 1901). German linguist.
• 1844 - Franz Xaver Wolfgang Mozart dies (b. 1791). Austrian composer.
• 1846 - Princess IsabelIsabel Cristina Leopoldina Augusta Micaela Gabriela Rafaela Gonzaga de Bragança was born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (d. 14 Nov 1921).
• 1847 - Cumberland School of Law founded in Lebanon, Tennessee, USA. At the end of 1847 only 15 law schools exist in the United States.
• 1848 - Irish Potato Famine: Tipperary Revolt - In Tipperary, an unsuccessful nationalist revolt against British rule is put down by police.
• 1849 - Max Nordau was born (d. 1923). Austrian author, philosopher and Zionist leader.
• 1851 - Annibale de Gasparis discovers asteroid 15 Eunomia.
• 1856 - Robert Schumann dies (b. 1810). German composer.
• 1856 - Manuel Patrício de Bastos dies (b. c. 1800). Portuguese composer.
• 1857 - Thomas Dick dies (b. 1774). Scottish scientific teacher and writer.
• 1858 - United States and Japan sign the Harris Treaty.
• 1864 - American Civil War: Confederate spy Belle Boyd is arrested by Union troops and detained at the Old Capitol Prison in Washington, DC.
• 1869 - Booth Tarkington was born (d. 1946). American author.
• 1872 - Eric Alfred Knudsen was born (d. 1957). American folklorist.
• 1874 - James Shaver Woodsworth was born (d. 1942). Canadian methodist minister, social worker and politician.
• 1876 - Maria Ouspenskaya was born (d. 1949). Russian-born actress.
• 1878 - Don Marquis was born (d. 1937). American author.
• 1880 - Alfredo Cortez was born in Estremoz (d. 7 Apr. 1946). Portuguese dramatist.
  
• 1883 - Benito Mussolini was born (d. 1945). Italian dictator.
• 1883 - Porfirio Barba-Jacob was born (d. 1942). Colombian poet and writer.
• 1884 - Ralph A. Bard was born (d. 1975). U.S. Navy Under Secretary.
• 1885 - Theda Bara was born (d. 1955). American film actress.
• 1887 - Sigmund Romberg was born (d. 1951). Hungarian-born composer.
• 1887 - Agostino Depretis dies (b. 1813). Italian statesman.
• 1890 - Vincent van Gogh dies (b. 1853). Dutch painter.
• 1892 - William Powell was born (d. 1984). American actor.
• 1897 - Sir Neil Ritchie was born (d. 1983) . British general.
• 1898 - Isidor Isaac Rabi was born (d. 1988). American physicist, Nobel Prize laureate.
• 1899 - The First Hague Convention was signed.
• 1899 - Walter Beall was born (d. 1959). American baseball player.
• 1900 - In Italy, King Umberto I of Italy is assassinated by Italian-born anarchist Gaetano Bresci.
• 1900 - Eyvind Johnson was born (d. 1976). Swedish writer, Nobel Prize Laureate.
• 1900 - Don Redman was born (d. 1964). American musician.
• 1900 - King Umberto I of Italy dies (b. 1844).
• 1901 - The Socialist Party of America is founded.
• 1904 - J. R. D. Tata was born (d.1993). Indian industrialist.
• 1905 - Clara Bow was born (d. 1965). American actress.
• 1905 - Dag Hammarskjöld was born (d. 1961). Swedish 2nd UN Secretary-General,.
• 1905 - Stanley Kunitz was born (d. 2006). American poet.
• 1905 - Thelma Todd was born (d. 1935). American actress.
• 1906 - Diana Vreeland was born (d. 1989). French-born fashion editor.
• 1907 - Sir Robert Baden-Powell sets up the Brownsea Island Scout camp in Poole Harbour on the south coast of England. The camp ran from August 1-9, 1907, and is regarded as the founding of the Scouting movement.
• 1907 - Melvin Belli was born (d. 1996). American lawyer and actor.
• 1911 - Foster Furcolo was born (d. 1995). 60th Governor of Massachusetts.
• 1911 - Iakovos, Archbishop of America was born (d. 2005).
• 1913 - Erich Priebke was born. Nazi war criminal.
• 1913 - Tobias Michael Carel Asser dies (b. 1838). Dutch jurist, Nobel Prize Laureate.
• 1914 - Irwin Corey was born. American stand-up comedian.
• 1915 - Bruce R. McConkie was borb (d. 1985). LDS apostle and author.
• 1915 - Francis W. Sargent was born (d. 1998). 64th Governor of Massachusetts.
• 1916 - Budd Boetticher was born (d. 2001). American film director.
• 1916 - Charlie Christian was born (d. 1942). American jazz guitarist.
• 1918 - Edwin O'Connor was born (d. 1968). American novelist and Pulitzer Prize winner.
• 1918 - Ernest William Christmas dies (b. 1863). Australian painter.
• 1920 - Construction of the Link River Dam begins as part of the Klamath Reclamation Project.
• 1920 - Neville Jeffress was born (d. 2007). Australian founder of Media Monitors Australia.
• 1920 - Rodolfo Acosta was born (d. 1974). Mexican character actor.
• 1921 - Adolf Hitler becomes leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party.
• 1921 - Richard Egan was born (d. 1987). American actor.
• 1923 - Gordon Mitchell was born (d. 2003). American actor.
• 1923 - Jim Marshall was born. Founder of Marshall Amplification.
• 1924 - Elizabeth Short was born (d. 1947). Victim in the Black Dahlia case.
• 1924 - Lloyd Bochner was born (d. 2005). Canadian actor.
• 1924 – Robert Horton was born. American actor.
• 1925 - Mikis Theodorakis was born. Greek composer.
• 1925 - Ted Lindsay was born. Canadian hockey player.
• 1926 - Don Carter was born in Miami. American bowler, 6-time Bowler of Year, 1953-54, 57-58, 60-61.
• 1927 - Harry Mulisch was born. Dutch author.
• 1929 - Jean Baudrillard was born. French philosopher.
• 1930 - Paul Taylor was born. American dancer and choreographer.
• 1932 - Great Depression: In Washington, DC, US troops disperse the last of the "Bonus Army" of World War I veterans.
• 1932 - Nancy Landon Kassebaum Baker was born. U.S. Senator from Kansas.
• 1933 - Colin Davis was born. British racing driver.
• 1933 - Lou Albano was born. American pro wrestling manager.
  
• 1933 - Robert Fuller was born. American actor.
• 1934 - Didier Pitre dies (b. 1883). French Canadian ice hockey player.
• 1935 - Peter Schreier was born. German tenor.
• 1936 - Elizabeth Dole was born. U.S. Senator from North Carolina.
• 1936 - Henrique Viana was born. Portuguese actor.
• 1936 - Roberto DaMatta was born. Brazilian anthropologist and sociologist.
• 1937 - Tongzhou Incident.
• 1937 - Daniel McFadden was born. American economist, Nobel Prize Laureate.
• 1938 - Jean Rochon was born. Quebec politician.
• 1938 - Peter Jennings was born. Canadian-born television news anchor.
• 1938 - Nikolai Krylenko dies (b. 1885). Russian/Soviet jurist and politician.
• 1940 – Amarildo Tavares da Silveira was born. Brazilian footballer.
• 1941 - David Warner was born. English actor.
• 1941 - Jennifer Dunn was born (d. 2007). American politician.
• 1942 - Tony Sirico was born. American actor.
• 1943 - David Taylor was born. English snooker player.
• 1945 - The BBC Light Programme radio station was launched for mainstream light entertainment and music.
• 1945 - Mircea Lucescu was born. Romanian football manager.
• 1946 - Diane Keen was born. English actress.
• 1946 - Neal Doughty was born. American keyboardist (REO Speedwagon).
• 1946 - Ximena Armas was born. Chilean painter.
• 1947 - After being shut off on November 9, 1946 for a memory upgrade, ENIAC, the world's first all-electronic digital computer, is reactivated. It will remain in continuous operation until October 2, 1955.
• 1947 - Dick Harmon was born (d. 2006). American golf instructor.
• 1948 - After a hiatus of 12 years caused by World War II, the first Summer Olympics opened in London, United Kingdom.
• 1948 - Olympic Games: The Games of the XIV Olympiad - After a hiatus of 12 years caused by World War II, the first Summer Olympics to be held since the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin opened in London.
• 1949 - Leslie Easterbrook was born. American actress.
• 1950 - Joe Fry dies (b. 1915). British racing driver.
• 1951 - Dan Driessen was born. American baseball player.
• 1951 – Dean Pitchford was born. American songwriter, filmmaker and novelist.
• 1951 - Hozumi Shigeto dies (b. 1883). Japanese author.
• 1953 - Geddy Lee was born. Canadian musician (Rush).
• 1953 - Ken Burns was born. American television producer and director.
• 1953 - Patti Scialfa was born. American singer, guitarist and songwriter.
• 1953 - Tim Gunn was born. American television personality.
• 1954 - The Fellowship of the Ring, the first part of The Lord of the Rings, is published in the UK.
• 1954 - Coen de Koning dies (b. 1879). Dutch speed skater.
• 1955 - Dave Stevens was born. American illustrator.
• 1955 - Jean-Hugues Anglade was born. French actor.
• 1956 - Ronnie Musgrove was born. Former Governor of Mississippi.
• 1956 - Teddy Atlas was born. American boxing trainer and commentator.
• 1957 – Alessandra Marc was born. American operatic soprano.
• 1957 - Nellie Kim was born. Russian gymnast.
• 1958 - U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower signs into law the National Aeronautics and Space Act, which creates the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).
• 1959 - First U.S. Congress elections in Hawaii as a state of the Union.
• 1959 - Dave LaPoint was born. American baseball player.
• 1959 - John Sykes was born. British guitarist (Thin Lizzy, Whitesnake, Tygers of Pan Tang).
• 1959 - Ruud Janssen was born. Dutch writer and artist.
• 1959 - Sanjay Dutt was born. Indian actor.
• 1962 - Oceano was born in Cape Vert. Portuguese footballer.
  
• 1962 - Scott Steiner was born. American professional wrestler.
• 1962 - Vincent Rousseau was born. Belgian athlete.
• 1963 - Alexandra Paul was born. American actress.
• 1963 - Graham Poll was born. English football referee.
• 1963 - Jim Beglin was born. Irish football commentator.
• 1964 - Vean Gregg dies (b. 1885). American baseball player.
• 1965 - Vietnam War: The first 4,000 101st Airborne Division paratroopers arrive in Vietnam, landing at Cam Ranh Bay.
• 1965 - Chang-Rae Lee was born. Korean-born author.
• 1965 - Dean Haglund was born. Canadian actor.
• 1965 - Gail Simone was born. Comic book writer.
• 1965 - Luis Alicea was born. Baseball coach.
• 1966 - Musician Bob Dylan crashes his Triumph motorcycle in upstate New York. He goes into seclusion for over a year before reemerging and reinventing himself artistically.
• 1966 - American magazine Datebook releases issue with the Beatles article from the London Evening Standard four months ago which includes John Lennon's "bigger than Jesus" statement, setting off a furor resulting the trashing and burning of Beatles records and merchandise and the banning of Beatles songs on radio.
• 1966 - Martina McBride was born. American country singer.
• 1966 - Richard Steven Horvitz was born. American comic voice actor.
• 1967 - Vietnam War: Off the coast of North Vietnam the USS Forrestal catches on fire in the worst U.S. naval disaster since World War II, killing 134.
• 1967 - At the fourth day of celebrating its 400th anniversary, the city of Caracas, Venezuela was shaken by an earthquake, leaving approximately 500 dead.
• 1968 - Paavo Lotjonen was born. Finnish Cellist from the band Apocalyptica.
• 1969 - Adele Stevens was born. English model and erotic actress.
• 1970 – Andi Peters was born. British TV presenter.
• 1970 - John Rennie was born. Former Zimbabwean cricketer.
• 1970 - George Szell dies. Hungarian conductor.
• 1970 - John Barbirolli dies (b. 1899). English conductor.
• 1971 - Lisa Ekdahl was born. Swedish singer songwriter.
• 1971 - Monica Calhoun was born. American actress.
• 1972 - Wil Wheaton was born. American actor.
• 1973 - Stephen Dorff was born. American actor.
• 1973 - Wanya Morris was born. American singer (Boyz II Men).
• 1973 - Norm Smith dies (b. 1915). Australian rules footballer and coach.
• 1973 - Roger Williamson dies (b. 1948). English racing driver.
• 1974 – Afroman was born. American rapper.
• 1974 - Josh Radnor was born. American actor.
• 1974 - Cass Elliot dies (b. 1941). American musician.
• 1974 - Erich Kästner dies (b. 1899). German author.
• 1975 - Corrado Grabbi was born. Italian footballer.
• 1975 – Lanka de Silva was born. Former Sri Lankan cricketer.
• 1975 - James Blish dies (b. 1921). American writer.
• 1976 - In New York City, the "Son of Sam" pulls a gun from a paper bag, killing one person and seriously wounding another in the first of a series of attacks that terrorized the city for the next year.
• 1976 - Josh Radnor was born. American actor.
• 1976 - Mickey Cohen dies (b. 1913). American gangster.
• 1977 - Rodney "Darkchild" Jerkins was born. American songwriter and record producer.
• 1979 - Abs Breen was born. English singer.
• 1979 - Karim Essediri was born. Tunisian footballer.
• 1979 - Ronald Murray was born. American basketball player.
• 1979 - Bill Todman dies (b. 1916). American game show producer.
• 1979 - Herbert Marcuse dies (b. 1898). German philosopher.
• 1980 - Fernando González was born. Chilean tennis player.
• 1980 - Rachel Miner was born. American actress.
• 1980 - Ryan Braun was born. Canadian baseball player.
• 1981 - Marriage of Charles, Prince of Wales to Lady Diana Spencer.
• 1981 - Andrés Madrid was born. Argentine footballer.
• 1981 - Fernando Alonso was born. Spanish two time formula 1 world champion.
• 1981 - Troy Perkins was born. American soccer player.
• 1981 - Robert Moses dies (b. 1888). American urban planner.
• 1982 - Allison Mack was born. American actress.
• 1982 - Janez Aljančič was born. Slovenian footballer.
  
• 1982 - Jônatas Domingos was born. Brazilian footballer.
• 1982 - Harold Sakata dies (b. 1920). Japanese-American actor.
• 1982 - Vladimir Zworykin dies (b. 1889). Russian physicist and inventor.
• 1983 - Alexei Kaigorodov was born. Russian hockey player.
• 1983 - David Niven dies (b. 1910). English actor.
• 1983 - Raymond Massey dies (b. 1896). Canadiian actor.
• 1983 - Luis Buñuel dies (b. 1900). Spanish film director.
• 1984 - Chad Billingsley was born. American baseball player.
• 1984 - Fred Waring dies (b. 1900). American band leader and inventor.
• 1985 - Besart Berisha was born. Albanian footballer.
• 1986 - Portugal: Associação Portuguesa de Jovens Empresários - ANJE - is created.
• 1987 - British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and President of France François Mitterrand sign the agreement to build the tunnel under the English Channel (Eurotunnel).
• 1987 - Prime Minister of India Rajiv Gandhi and Sri Lankan President J. R. Jayawardene sign the Indo-Lankan Pact on ethnic issue.
• 1987 - Sabra Johnson was born. American dancer.
• 1987 - Bibhutibhushan Mukhopadhyay dies (b. 1894). Bengali author.
• 1990 - Bruno Kreisky dies (b. 1911). Chancellor of Austria.
• 1990 - Pedro Lopes was born. Portuguese cyclist.
• 1991 - Miki Ishikawa was born. American actress and singer.
• 1992 - Michel Larocque dies (b. 1952). French Canadian ice hockey goaltender.
• 1993 - The Israeli Supreme Court acquits accused Nazi death camp guard John Demjanjuk of all charges and he is set free.
• 1993 - Munro Chambers was born. Canadian actor.
• 1994 - Dorothy Crowfoot Hodgkin dies (b. 1910). British chemist, Nobel Prize Laureate.
• 1994 - Megan Kanka dies (b. 1986). Rape victim, basis of Megan's Law.
• 1994 - Mussum dies (b. 1941). Brazilian musician and humourist.
• 1995 - Les Elgart dies (b. 1917). American jazz musician and bandleader.
• 1996 - The controversial child protection portion of the Communications Decency Act (1996) is struck down as too broad by a US federal court.1996 - Ric Nordman dies (b. 1919). Canadian politician.
• 1996 - Jason Thirsk dies (b. 1967). American bassist (Pennywise).
• 1996 - Marcel-Paul Schützenberger dies (b. 1920). French mathematician.
• 1998 - Jorge Pacheco Areco dies. President of Uruguay (1967-1972).
• 1998 - Uruguay signs the Kyoto Protocol (V. Status of Kyoto Protocol).
• 1998 - Jerome Robbins dies (b. 1918). American choreographer.
• 2001 - Edward Gierek dies (b. 1913). Polish politician.
• 2001 - Henryk Jablonski dies. President of Poland.
• 2001 - Wau Holland dies (b. 1951). German hacker.
• 2003 - Foday Sankoh dies (b. 1937). Sierra Leonean rebel leader.
• 2004 - Rena Vlahopoulou dies (b. 1923). Greek actress and singer.
• 2004 - U.S. Senator John F. Kerry of Massachusetts accepts the Democratic nomination for President of the United States at the 2004 Democratic National Convention in Boston, Massachusetts.
• 2005 - Astronomers announce their discovery of Eris, a possible tenth planet.
• 2007 - Marvin Zindler dies (b. 1921). American television reporter.
• 2007 - Michel Serrault dies (b. 1928). French actor.
  
• 2007 - Mike Reid dies (b. 1940). English comedian and actor.
• 2007 - Tom Snyder dies (b. 1936). American television personality.
• 2008 - Ishmeet Singh Sodhi dies (b. 1989). Indian playback singer.
• Faroe Islands - Ólavsøka: opening of the National Anthem Day in Romania.
• Norway - St. Olav's Day - Feast of Saint Olaf (Olaf II of Norway), patron of woodcarvers.
• Feast of Saint Martha, sister of Lazarus, patron of cooks and dieticians.