On This Day in History for July 29

Events 1 - 100 of 153

• 362 Emperor Julianus of Constantinople ends education laws
• 626 Avaren/Slaves under khagan Bajan begin siege of Constantinople
• 904 Thessalonica is sacked by Saracen pirates led by renegade Leo of Tripoli
• 1014 Battle of Strumitsa-valley: Byzantine destroys Bulgarian armies
• 1030 Battle at Stiklestad (Trondheim)
• 1179 Lando Sittino proclaimed (anti-)pope Innocent III
• 1221 Emperor Go-Horikawa aged only 10 years old ascends to the Chrysanthemum Throne of Japan
• 1560 Turkish fleet recaptures Djerba on Spanjaarden

• 1579 Antwerp request union with Utrecht
• 1579 Spanish King Philip II arrests plotters Antonio Perez and Princess van Eboli
• 1585 University of Franeker/ University of Friesland opens in the Netherlands
• 1588 The Battle of Gravelines - Spanish Armada damaged and scattered by the English fleet
• 1588 Duke Farneses troops ready for invasion of England

• 1634 Dutch fleet under Johannes van Walbeeck lands on Curacao
• 1655 Biggest townhall in the world opens in Amsterdam
• 1676 Nathaniel Bacon declared a rebel for assembling frontiersmen to protect settlers from Indians
• 1693 War of the Grand Alliance: Battle of Landen/Neerwinden - France wins Pyrrhic victory over Allied forces in the Netherlands

• 1715 10 Spanish treasure galleons sunk off Florida coast by a hurricane
• 1751 1st international world title prize fight: Jack Stack of England, beats challenger M. Petit of France in 29 mins in England
• 1773 1st schoolhouse west of Allegheny Mountains completed, Schoenbrunn, Ohio
• 1783 Skaptar Volcano on Iceland erupts killing about 9,000
• 1786 1st newspaper published west of Alleghanies, Pitts Gazette
• 1793 John Graves Simcoe decides to build a fort and settlement at Toronto, having sailed into the bay
• 1794 African Episcopal Church of St. Thomas in Philadelphia, dedicated
• 1835 1st sugar plantation in Hawaii begins
• 1836 Inauguration of the Arc de Triomphe in Paris
• 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 - an unsuccessful nationalist revolt against British rule put down by police
• 1851 Annibale de Gasparis discovers asteroid 15 Eunomia
• 1858 Treaty of Amity and Commerce/Harris Treaty signed between US and Japan opening Japanese ports to trade
• 1864 Battle at Deep Bottom Run, Virginia, 3rd and last day
• 1864 Battle of Macon, Georgia (Stoneman's Raid)
• 1864 American Civil War: Confederate spy Belle Boyd is arrested by Union troops and detained at the Old Capitol Prison in Washington, D.C.

• 1899 1st motorcycle race, Manhattan Beach, NY
• 1899 The First Hague Convention is signed.
• 1900 In Italy, King Umberto I of Italy is assassinated by Italian-born anarchist Gaetano Bresci
• 1902 Union of Orthodox Rabbis of US and Canada forms

• 1907 1st helicopter ascent in Douai, France

• 1908 St Louis Browns Rube Waddell strikes out 16 Philadelphia Athletics
• 1910 JWEL Hilgers is 1st Dutchman to fly above Dutch territory
• 1913 Independence of the Principality of Albania recognized by the Conference of London
• 1914 1st transcontinental phone link made between New York City and San Francisco
• 1914 Austrian-Hungary bombs Belgrade
• 1914 British fleet leaves Portland/passes Straits of Dover


• 1914 Russia mobilize troops along Austrian boundary
• 1914 In response to Austria's declaration of war on Serbia, Russian diplomats and general urge general mobilization, but the Tsar calls for partial mobilization
• 1916 Postal check and Girodienst establishes
• 1920 1st transcontinental airmail flight from New York to San Francisco
• 1920 Mexican rebel Pancho Villa surrenders
• 1920 Construction of the Link River Dam begins as part of the Klamath Reclamation Project, Oregon
• 1921 New rules of language assumed (equal rights Flemings/Walen Belgium)

• 1922 Greek troops defeat Turkish forces and are on their way to Constantinople, but the Allies forbid them taking the city

• 1923 KPD holds struggle day against fascism, in Germany
• 1927 1st iron lung installed (Bellevue hospital, NY)
• 1927 Phil Mead scores his 100th 100, Hampshire v Northants

• 1930 115°F (46°C), Holly Springs, Mississippi (state record)
• 1930 Airship R100, 1st passenger-carrying flight from England to Canada
• 1932 Great Depression: in Washington, D.C., U.S. troops disperse the last of the "Bonus Army" of World War I veterans
• 1937 Japanese troops occupies Peking and Tientsin
• 1937 Tongzhou Incident: East Hopei Army mutinies against Japanese troops and civilians
• 1938 Comic strip "Dennis the Menace," 1st appears
• 1942 Eastern Blvd in the Bronx renamed Bruckner Boulevard
• 1943 1 million inhabitants flee Hamburg
• 1943 Nazi's evacuate Hollandsche Theater in Amsterdam
• 1944 Allied air force bomb Germany for 6 hours
• 1944 Frank McCormick (Reds) HR off Ace Adams (Giants) in both games of DH
• 1944 US 4th Armour division occupiers Avranches
• 1945 After delivering the Atomic Bomb across the Pacific, the cruiser USS Indianapolis is torpedoed and sunk by a Japanese submarine
• 1947 Gas leak explodes in a beauty parlor, 10 women die in Harrisonburg, Virginia
• 1949 Moscow ends the blockade of West Berlin
• 1949 BBC radio begins broadcasting
• 1950 Pee Wee Reese, hits the 3,000th Dodger home run
• 1952 1st nonstop transpacific flight by a jet
• 1953 US bomber shot down by Soviet Air Defence Forces in the Sea of Japan, north of Vladivostok
• 1955 Smokey Burgess hits 3 HRs to help Pirates beat Reds 16-5
• 1955 USSR performs nuclear Test

• 1957 International Atomic Energy Agency formed by UN
• 1957 Jack Paar's Tonight show premieres

• 1958 Southern Pacific Bay ferries stop running in San Francisco
• 1959 First United States Congress elections in Hawaii as a state of the Union.
• 1961 Wallis and Futuna Islands become a French overseas territory
• 1965 Gemini 5 returned after 12d 7h 11m 53s
• 1965 USSR performs nuclear Test at Eastern Kazakh/Semipalitinsk USSR
• 1966 In Nigerian counter-coup, Head of State General Aguiyi Ironsi murdered, Yakubu Gowon appointed his successor
• 1967 Fire aboard carrier USS Forrestal in Gulf of Tonkin kills 134
• 1967 Moderate quake (6.5) strikes Caracas Venezuela causing severe damage
• 1968 Gram Parsons refuses to play with the Byrds in South Africa
• 1968 Mount Arenal, Costa Rica kills 80 in Pelee-type eruption

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• 1166 Henry II of Champagne (d. 1197)
• 1605 Simon Dach, Prussian German poet, born in Memel, East Prussia (d. 1659)
• 1620 Nicolaas Heinsius, Dutch philologist/diplomat
• 1758 Antonius van Gils, Dutch RC theologist (opposed Enlightenment)

• 1797 Daniel Drew, American financier (d. 1879)
• 1801 George Bradshaw, British publisher, born in Manchester, England (d. 1853)
• 1805 Alexis de Tocqueville, French statesman/writer (Democracy in America)
• 1817 James Blair Steedman, American Major General (Union Army), born in Northumberland County, Pennsylvania (d. 1883)
• 1820 Clement Laird Vallandigham, MC (Union), (d. 1871)
• 1828 Cuvier Grover, American Brevet Major General (Union Army), born in Bethel, Maine (d. 1885)
• 1830 Alvan Cullom Gillem, American Major General (Union Army), born in Gainesboro, Tennessee (d. 1875)
• 1843 Johannes Schmidt, German linguist (d. 1901)
• 1849 Max Nordau, Austrian author and Zionist leader (d. 1923)
• 1854 Georg Kerschensteiner, German educator (Theory of Education)
• 1861 Alice Hathaway Lee Roosevelt, 1st wife of Theodore Roosevelt, born in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts (d. 1884)
• 1861 Sergei D Sazonov, Russian minister of Foreign Affairs (1910-16)
• 1869 Booth Tarkington, American novelist (17, Magnificent Ambersons)
• 1872 Eric Alfred Knudsen, American folklorist (d. 1957)
• 1874 August Stramm, German poet and playwright, born in Cathedrals (d. 1915)
• 1874 James Shaver Woodsworth, Canadian politician (d. 1942)
• 1878 Don Marquis, Ill, journalist/poet (archy & mehitabel) (d. 1937)

• 1883 Porfirio Barba-Jacob, Colombian poet and writer (d. 1942)
• 1884 Henri Liebrecht, Belgian playwright/journalist
• 1884 Ralph A. Bard, U.S. Navy Undersecretary (d. 1975)

• 1889 Karl Otten, German Expressionist writer, born in Oberkrüchten (d. 1963)
• 1891 Bernhard Zondek, German/Israeli gynaecologist
• 1892 Ernst van Raalte, Dutch journalist (Seen, heard... wrote), born in Rotterdam, South Holland (d. 1975)
• 1897 Sir Neil Ritchie, British general (d. 1983)
• 1898 Isidor Isaac Rabi, Polish physicist (explored atom, Nobel 1944)
• 1900 Eyvind Johnson, Swedish novelist (Return to Ithaca), Nobel Prize (1974), born in Svartbjörnsbyn (d. 1976)
• 1903 Diana Vreeland, French-American fashion editor (Harper's Bazaar, Vogue), born in Paris (d. 1989)
• 1904 J. R. D. Tata, Indian industrialist (d. 1993)
• 1905 Dag Hammarskjöld, Swedish public servant, 2nd Secretary-General of the United Nations (1953-61) and posthumous Nobel Peace Prize winner (1961), born in Jönköping, Sweden (d. 1961)
• 1905 Stanley Kunitz, American poet (d. 2006)
• 1907 Melvin Belli, American lawyer known as "The King of Torts" and "Melvin Bellicose", born in Sonora, California (d. 1996)
• 1910 Henry Brian Boyne, journalist

• 1911 Foster Furcolo, 60th Governor of Massachusetts (d. 1995)
• 1911 Iakovos, Archbishop of America (d. 2005)
• 1913 Erich Priebke, Nazi war criminal
• 1914 Abram Games, graphic artist
• 1914 Dovie Hudson, community activist in rural Mississippi
• 1915 Bruce R. McConkie, LDS apostle and author (d. 1985)
• 1915 Francis W. Sargent, 64th Governor of Massachusetts (d. 1998)
• 1918 Vladimir Dudentzev, Russian writer
• 1919 Miltos Sachtouris, Greek poet (d. 2005)
• 1920 Neville Jeffress, Australian founder of Media Monitors Australia (d. 2007)
• 1921 Aled Eames, Welsh maritime historian, born in Llandudno (d. 1996)
• 1924 Arnold Weinstock, English industrial/multi-millionaire (GEC)

• 1926 Russel Firestone, polo great (Circle F-1959 champs)
• 1926 Don Carter, professional bowler, six-time bowler of the year, born in St. Louis, Missouri (d. 2012)
• 1927 Harry K V Mulisch, writer (Message to King Rat)
• 1928 Li Ka-Shing, Chinese philanthropist and chairman of CK Hutchison Holdings, born in Chaozhou, Guangdong
• 1928 Li Ka-Shing, Hong Kong business magnate (CK Holdings), born in Chaozhou, China
• 1929 Jean Baudrillard, French philosopher
• 1932 Nancy Landon Kassebaum, (Sen-R-Kansas, 1979- )
• 1936 Elizabeth Hanford Dole, US Secretary of Transportation (1983-87)
• 1937 Daniel McFadden, American economist, Nobel Prize Laureate

• 1938 Jean Rochon, Quebec politician
• 1943 David Taylor, English snooker player
• 1946 Bill Forsyth, director (Local Hero, Breaking In, Housekeeping)
• 1949 Marilyn Tucker Quayle, novelist/wife of Vice President Dan Quayle (1989-93)
• 1955 Dave Stevens, American illustrator
• 1956 Ronnie Musgrove, Former Governor of Mississippi
• 1957 Virginia Maria "Ginni" Rometty, American chairwoman, president and CEO of IBM, born in Chigago, Illinois
• 1959 Ruud Janssen, Dutch writer and artist
• 1963 Graham Poll, English football referee
• 1963 Jim Beglin, Irish football commentator
• 1965 Chang-Rae Lee, Korean-born author
• 1966 Richard Steven Horvitz, American comic voiceactor

• 1565 Mary Queen of Scots marries her cousin, Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley

• 238 Pupienus, Roman Emperor ruled 3 months with Balbinus
• 238 Balbinus, Roman Emperor, ruled 3 months with Pupienus
• 1030 Olaf Haraldsson, King of Norway, dies in battle of Stiklestad
• 1095 Ladislaus I Arpad de Heilige, King of Hungary, dies
• 1099 Urban II, [Odo van Lagery], French Pope (1088-99), dies

• 1164 Olaf, King of Norway, dies
• 1507 Martin Behaim, German navigator and geographer, dies at 47
• 1573 Spanish prince of Eboli, dies
• 1573 John Caius, English physician, dies at 62
• 1596 Jacobus Latomus, Flemish poet (Psalms/Jeremias) dies at about 84
• 1612 Jacques Bongars, French scholar and diplomat (b. 1554)
• 1632 Samuel Ampzing, vicar/poet (Biblical Treasures), dies
• 1644 Urban VIII, [Maffeo Barberini], Pope (1623-44), dies
• 1649 David Teniers I, Flemish painter (altaar stukken), dies
• 1752 Peter Warren, British admiral
• 1781 Johann Kies, German astronomer and mathematician (b. 1713)
• 1792 René Nicolas Charles Augustin de Maupeou, Chancellor of France (b. 1714)
• 1813 Jean-Andoche Junot, French general (b. 1771)

• 1839 Gaspard de Prony, French mathematician (b. 1755)
• 1857 Charles LJL Bonaparte, Corsican/French prince of Canino, dies at 54
• 1857 Thomas Dick, Scottish scientific teacher and writer (b. 1774)
• 1863 Edward Needle Kirk, US Union brigadier general, dies in battle at about 35
• 1886 Solomon Gazfried, rabbi/author (Kitzur Shulchan Aruch), dies
• 1887 Agostino Depretis, Italian statesman (d. 1813)

• 1897 Joost G Kist, lawyer/president of High Council (1885-97), dies at 74
• 1900 Umberto I, Italian King (1878-1900) assassinated by Gaetano Bresci
• 1913 Tobias Asser, Dutch advocate of world law (Nobel 1911), dies at 75
• 1918 Ernest William Christmas, Australian painter (b. 1863)
• 1922 Edward Gailliard, Flemish language/archaeologist, dies at 81
• 1938 Nikolai Krylenko, Russian/Soviet jurist and politician (b. 1885)
• 1956 Ludwig Klages, German philosopher (Study of Graves), dies at 83
• 1960 Richard Simon, co-founder (Simon & Shuster), dies
• 1973 Norm Smith, Australian rules footballer and coach (b. 1915)
• 1974 Erich Kästner, German author (b. 1899)
• 1976 Mickey Cohen, American gangster (b. 1913)
• 1979 Herbert Marcuse, philosopher (Eros & Civilization), dies at 81
• 1981 Robert Moses, American urban planner (b. 1888)

• 1982 Cor[nelis R J] Kieboom, resistor/President Feyenoord, dies at 81
• 1982 Richard N Gale, English general/paracommandant, dies at 86
• 1983 J. B. Charles [Willem H. Nagel], Dutch criminologist and writer, dies at 83
• 1983 Luis Buñuel, director (Monk), dies of cirrhosis of liver at 83
• 1987 Bibhutibhushan Mukhopadhyay, Bengali author (b. 1894)
• 1988 Ellin Berlin, [MacKay], Mrs Irving Berlin, dies at 86
• 1990 Bruno Kreisky, union chancellor Austria, dies
• 1992 Tavio Amorin, Togolese politician, murdered
• 1993 AJA Quintus Bosz, Indonesian/Suriname lawyer, dies at 78
• 1994 Dorothy Crowfoot-Hodgkin, British biochemist (B-12, Nobel 1964), dies at 78
• 1994 Francisco Veguillas, Spanish general, murdered at 68
• 1994 John Bayard Britton, abortion doctor, killed by Paul Hill

• 1996 Aruna Asaf Ali, politician, dies at 88
• 1996 Ric Nordman, Canadian politician (b. 1919)
• 1998 Jerome Robbins, American choreographer (b. 1918)
• 2001 Edward Gierek, Polish politician (b. 1913)
• 2001 Wau Holland, German computer hacker (b. 1951)
• 2003 Foday Sankoh, Sierra Leonean rebel leader (b. 1937)
• 2007 Marvin Zindler, American television reporter (b. 1921)
• 2008 Eric Varley, British politician and cabinet minister, dies at 75
• 2009 Gayatri Devi, Ex-Maharani of Indian state Jaipur. (b. 1919)
• 2016 Marta Marzotto, Italian countess and designer, dies at 85

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