On This Day in History for October 29

Events 1 - 100 of 134

• 539 BC King Cyrus "the Great" of Persia marches into Babylon, freeing Jewish captives and allowing them to return home
• 1268 Conradin, the last legitimate male heir of the German Hohenstaufen dynasty of Kings and Holy Roman Emperors, is executed with Frederick I, Margrave of Baden by Charles I of Sicily
• 1390 First trial for witchcraft in Paris.
• 1467 Battle of Brusthem: Charles the Bold defeats Liege
• 1508 Gelderse troops occupies Kuinre
• 1552 Tsar Ivan IV escapes back to Moscow after battle
• 1591 Giovanni A Facchinetti elected as Pope Innocentius IX

• 1665 Battle of Mbwila [Ambuila],: Portuguese forces defeat forces of the Kingdom of Kongo and decapitate King Antonio I of Kongo / Nvita a Nkanga

• 1692 Court of Oyer and Terminer, convened for Salem witch trials, dissolved
• 1709 England & Netherlands sign anti-French "Barrieretraktaat"
• 1727 Severe earthquake in New England
• 1792 Mount Hood (Oregon) is named after the British naval officer Alexander Arthur Hood by Lt. William E. Broughton who spotted the mountain near the mouth of the Willamette River.
• 1794 French troops occupies Venlo


• 1811 1st Ohio River steamboat leaves Pittsburgh for New Orleans
• 1814 "Demologos", 1st steam-powered warship, is launched
• 1833 1st US college fraternity to have a fraternity house founded
• 1859 Spain declares war on Morocco
• 1863 International Committee of Red Cross forms as result Geneva held conference (Nobel 1917, 1944, 1963)
• 1864 Greek parliament accept new Constitution
• 1867 Mail packets "Rhone" & "Wye" capsize off St Thomas, Virgin Islands
• 1872 J S Risdon patents metal windmill
• 1881 Judge (U.S. magazine) first published.

• 1889 Queen Victoria grants Cecil Rhodes rights to Zambezia
• 1889 Stanley Park dedicated in Vancouver, BC
• 1894 First election of Hawaiian Republic
• 1901 In Amherst, Massachusetts, nurse Jane Toppan is arrested for murdering the Davis family of Boston with an overdose of morphine.
• 1904 First intercity trucking service (Colorado City & Snyder, Texas)
• 1905 Hottentot chief Hendrik Witbooi fatally injured
• 1910 Bob Simpson of Hamilton Tigers kicks record 11 singles in a game
• 1913 Floods in El Salvador kill thousands.
• 1914 Turkish warships storm Black Sea
• 1915 Aristide Briand becomes Prime Minister of France for the 3rd time

• 1918 German sailors refuse to obey orders to fight British naval forces and lead a revolt in the naval ports of Wilhelmshaven, beginning the German Revolution
• 1921 The Link River Dam, a part of the Klamath Reclamation Project, is completed.
• 1923 Army move SPD/KPD-government to German part of Saxon
• 1923 Textile strike against lower wages begins in Enschede, Netherlands


• 1923 Turkey declares independence (successor state to Ottoman Empire)
• 1923 Mustafa Kemal officially confirms Turkey as a republic (Türkiye Cumhuriyeti), commemorated today annually as the Republic Day of Turkey
• 1924 Labour party loses British parliamentary election
• 1929 "Black Tuesday" Wall Street Stock Market crashes triggering the "Great Depression"
• 1930 1st Eastern Canada night CF game: Oshawa vs Toronto Balmy Beach
• 1932 French liner Normandie is launched
• 1939 Golden Gate International Exposition closes (1st closure)
• 1940 Lottery for 1st US WWII draftees held; #158 drawn 1st
• 1940 Secretary of War Henry L Stimson drew 1st number-258-in 1st peacetime military draft in US history
• 1942 Seventh day of battle at El Alamein: Montgomery assault
• 1942 Alaska highway completed
• 1942 Nazis murder 16,000 Jews in Pinsk, Soviet Union
• 1943 Three allied officers escape out camp Stalag Luft 3
• 1944 1st Polish Armoured Division liberates Breda, Netherlands
• 1944 Cabadese 2nd Infantry division frees Goes South-Beveland
• 1945 First ballpoint pen goes on sale, manufactured by Biro

• 1947 Belgium, Luxembourg & Netherlands form Benelux Union
• 1947 Trial of art forger Han van Meegeren begins in Amsterdam
• 1948 Israeli forces liberate Meron & Gush-Halev
• 1948 Safsaf massacre, Israeli defence forces attack Palestinian village of Safsaf in the Galilee
• 1950 British Chancellor of the Exchequer (Minister of Finance) Stafford Cripps resigns
• 1950 Wally Triplett avgs 735 yards on 3 kickoff returns
• 1953 A Baltimore group purchases St Louis Browns
• 1954 Colonel Nasser disbands Muslim Brotherhood
• 1954 Sweden begins experimental TV
• 1955 Belgium signs accord for 5 day work week (45 hours)
• 1955 Emile Zatopek runs world record 15 mile (1:14:01) & 25,000m (1:16:36)
• 1956 International zone of Tangier returns to Morocco
• 1956 Israeli paratroopers drop into Sinai to open Straits of Tiran
• 1957 Hand grenade explodes in Israel's Knesset (Parliament)

• 1958 Dr F Mason Sones is first doctor to perform a coronary angiogram
• 1958 US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site

• 1960 Chartered C46 carrying Cal State's football team crashes, kills 16
• 1961 US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
• 1964 Star of India & other jewels are stolen in NY
• 1964 Town of Karmi'el founded in Galilee
• 1964 The United Republic of Tanganyika & Zanzibar renamed The United Republic of Tanzania
• 1965 US performs underground nuclear test at Amchitka Island Aleutians
• 1966 Lunar Orbiter 1 crashes on moon: 6.7°N 162°E
• 1966 National Organization of Women founded
• 1967 London criminal Jack McVitie is murdered by the Kray twins, leading to their eventual imprisonment and downfall.
• 1968 USSR performs nuclear test at Sary Shagan USSR
• 1969 Supreme Court orders end to all school desegregation "at once"
• 1969 Tom Seaver voted NL Cy Young Award
• 1969 US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
• 1969 USSR performs underground nuclear test
• 1970 The Electoral Reform Society calls for the introduction of Proportional Representation (PR) in elections in Northern Ireland
• 1974 Law bans discrimination of sex or marital status in credit application
• 1975 Boston's Fred Lynn is the overwhelming choice as AL Rookie of Year
• 1975 USSR performs nuclear test at Eastern Kazakh/Semipalitinsk USSR
• 1975 'Yorkshire Ripper' Peter Sutcliffe kills first victim, Wilma McCann
• 1977 Texas' Russell Erideben kicks his 3rd 60 yard field goal of the season
• 1977 USSR performs nuclear test at Eastern Kazakh/Semipalitinsk USSR
• 1979 Billy Martin fired as Yankee manager (2nd time)
• 1982 Car maker John DeLorean indicted for drug trafficking, later acquitted
• 1983 550,000 Dutch demonstrate against cruise missile

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• 1463 Alessandro Achillini, Italian physician/philosopher
• 1507 Fernando Alvarez de Toledo, Spanish viceroy of Neth (1566-73)
• 1682 Pierre François Xavier de Charlevoix, French historian (d. 1761)
• 1690 Martin Folkes, English antiquarian (d. 1754)
• 1704 John Byng, British admiral (d. 1757)
• 1740 James Boswell, Scottish biographer of Samuel Johnson and diarist, born in Edinburgh (d. 1795)
• 1815 Ľudovít Štúr, Slovak politician, author of Slovak language (d. 1856)
• 1816 Ferdinand II AFA, king of Portugal
• 1822 Joost G Kist, Dutch lawyer/president of High Council (1885-97)
• 1822 Mieczysław Halka Ledóchowski, Polish Catholic Cardinal (d. 1902)
• 1824 Joseph Horace Lewis, Brigadier General (Confederate Army), (d. 1904)
• 1827 Marcellin Berthelot, French chemist (d. 1907)
• 1837 Abraham Kuyper, clergyman/Dutch premier (AR, 1908-12)
• 1837 Harriet Powers, American slave/writer (Creation of Animals)
• 1844 Albert von Rothschild, Austrian banker
• 1853 Josephine Beall Bruce, African American activist (NACW) Philadelphia Pa.
• 1855 Paul Bruchési, archbishop of Montreal (d. 1939)
• 1857 Conrad Haebler, German historian (Early printers of Spain/Portugal)
• 1859 Charles Ebbets, (namesake of Ebbets Field, Brooklyn)
• 1861 Andrei Ryabushkin, Russian painter (d. 1904)
• 1871 Narziss Ach, German psychologist (Analyse des Willens)
• 1873 Guillermo Valencia, Colombian poet, translator and statesman
• 1875 Marie, queen consort of Ferdinand I of Romania (1914-27)
• 1878 Alex E von Falkenhausen, German general (China, WW II)
• 1879 Franz JHMM von Papen, German diplomat/chancellor (1932)
• 1879 Alva B. Adams, American politician (d. 1941)
• 1882 Jean Giraudoux, French writer (d. 1944)
• 1890 Claire Goll, German-French writer, born in Nuremberg (d. 1977)
• 1891 Fanny Brice, American singing comedienne (Ziegeld Follies, Baby Snooks), born in NYC, New York (d. 1951)

• 1905 Laurence Dowdall, lawyer
• 1906 Fredric Brown, American sci-fi author (Martians Go Home), born in Cincinnati, Ohio (d. 1972)
• 1910 Alfred J Ayer, England, Neopositivist philosopher/logician
• 1911 Phillip Jack Oppenheimer, diamond trader
• 1918 Bernard Gordon, American writer and producer (d. 2007)
• 1920 Baruj Benacerraf, Venezuelan-born immunologist, Nobel laureate
• 1920 Catholicos Baselios Mar Thoma Didymos I, Indian Catholic
• 1921 Bill Mauldin, American cartoonist famous for his World War II cartoons depicting American soldiers (Pulitzer-1945, 59), born in Mountain Park, New Mexico (d. 2003)
• 1922 Neil Blaney, politician

• 1924 Zbigniew Herbert, writer
• 1925 Geraldine Brooks, American actress (Faraday & Co, Dumplings, Act of Murder), born in NYC, New York
• 1925 Dominick Dunne, American author
• 1927 Hugo Schiltz, Flemish politician
• 1930 Niki de Saint Phalle, French sculptor (d. 2002)
• 1934 Karl Francis Hettinger, Onion Field survivor

• 1940 Connie Mack, (Rep-R-FL, 1983- /Sen-R-FL)
• 1940 Galen Weston, English Canadian multi-millionaire industrialist
• 1940 José Ulises Macías Salcedo, Catholic bishop
• 1944 Fausto Leali, Italian entertainer
• 1944 Otto Wiesheu, German minister
• 1946 Strinivasa Moodley, South African anti-apartheid activist
• 1947 Helen Coonan, Australian politician
• 1950 Abdullah Gul, Turkish President (2007-14), born in Kayseri, Anatolia
• 1951 Dirk Kempthorne, (Sen-R Idaho)
• 1952 Valeri I Tokarev, Russian colonel/cosmonaut
• 1958 David Remnick, American writer and editor of The New Yorker
• 1967 Beth Chapman, Star of Dog the Bounty Hunter
• 1971 Daniel J. Bernstein, American professor
• 1971 Ma Huateng [Pony Ma], Chinese entrepreneur (Tencent), born in Chaoyang District, Shantou
• 1972 Takafumi Horie, Japanese entrepreneur
• 1976 Mohsen Emadi, Iranian Poet
• 1979 Ignasi Giménez Renom, Catalan politician
• 1981 Jonathan Brown, Australian rules footballer

• 437 Valentinian III, Western Roman Emperor, marries Licinia Eudoxia, daughter of his cousin Theodosius II, Eastern Roman Emperor in Constantinople. This unifies the two branches of the House of Theodosius
• 2004 "Jackass" member Chris Pontius (30) weds Claire Nolan in Malibu

• 490 Petrus Mongus, patriarch of Alexandria, dies
• 1038 Aethelnoth, Archbishop of Canterbury
• 1268 Conradin, Duke of Swabia (executed) (b. 1252)
• 1268 Frederick I, Margrave of Baden (beheaded) (b. 1249)
• 1321 Stefanus VI Uros II Milutin, king of Serbia (1282-1321), dies
• 1590 Dirck Volkertsz Coornhert, theologist/philosopher, dies at about 68

• 1650 David Calderwood, Scottish historian (b. 1575)
• 1666 Edmund Calamy the Elder, English Presbyterian leader (b. 1600)
• 1666 James Shirley, English dramatist (b. 1596)

• 1790 Pieter van/of Bleiswijk, pension advisor 1771-87, dies at about 66
• 1804 George Morland, English artist of rural landscapes, dies at 41
• 1822 Dirk van Hogendorp, Dutch minister of War, dies at 61
• 1846 Jean Louis van Aelbroeck, Flemish agronomist, dies at 90
• 1856 Carel SW van Hogendorp, colonial director, dies at 68
• 1873 Ernest Feydeau, French author, dies at 52
• 1873 Johan N M J, king of Saxon (1854-73), dies
• 1873 Leonardus Lightenvelt, minister of RC Worship, dies at 78

• 1885 James Hannington, English missionary, murdered in Uganda
• 1892 William M Harnett, US painter (Old Cupboard Door), dies
• 1901 Leon Czolcosz, assassin of President McKinley, is electrocuted
• 1911 Joseph Pulitzer, Hungarian publisher (St Louis Post-Dispatch, NY World), dies at 64
• 1919 Soen Shaku, Zen abbot of Engakuji monastery in Kamakura, dies at 60
• 1919 A. B. Simpson, Canadian preacher (b. 1843)
• 1924 Frances Hodgson Burnett, British born American playwright and children's author ("Little Lord Fauntleroy"), dies at 74
• 1927 Leonard Nelson, German philosopher (Nelson-Friessche Schule), dies at 45
• 1932 Joseph Babinski, Polish-French neurologist (Babinski reflex), dies at 74
• 1933 Paul, [Prudent] Painlevé, French mathematician/minister/premier, dies
• 1933 Albert Calmette, French physician, bacteriologist and immunologist (Bacillus Calmette-Guérin), dies at 70
• 1936 Ramiro de Maeztu, Spanish writer (Don Quixote & Celestine), dies at 61
• 1939 Dwight B. Waldo, American educator and historian (b. 1864)
• 1943 Adrianus M de Young, writer (Merijntje Gijzen's youth), murdered at 55
• 1945 Hans Erich Blaich [Dr. Owlglass], German writer (Simplicissimus), dies at 72
• 1946 John S Curry, US painter (Baptism in Kansas), dies
• 1947 Frances Cleveland Preston, former 1st lady (1885-89 93-97), dies at 83
• 1949 G. I. Gurdjieff, Armenian mystic (b. 1872)
• 1950 Gustav V, king of Sweden, dies at 92
• 1951 De Raymond, French High Director of Cambodia, murdered
• 1951 Robert G Aitken, US astronomer (New General Catalogue), dies at 86
• 1957 Rosemarie Nitribitt, German call girl (b. 1933)
• 1958 Zoe Akins, American playwright (b. 1886)
• 1965 Mehdi Am Barka, Moroccan socialist leader, murdered in Paris
• 1974 Victor E. van Vriesland, Dutch poet (Mirror of Dutch Poetry), dies at 82
• 1981 William O Walker, publisher of Cleveland Call Post, dies at 85
• 1986 Sem Presser, Dutch press photographer, dies at 68
• 1987 Kamal El Mallakh, dies at 57
• 1990 William French Smith, attorney general (1980), dies at 73 of cancer
• 1991 Donald Churchill, playwright, dies of heart attack at 60
• 1991 Harry Thomas, founder (Flower Festival, Dutch Homofielen Party), dies
• 1991 Mario Scelba, PM of Italia (1954-55), dies
• 1992 Adrienne Canivez, wife of Victor of Vriesland, dies
• 1992 Kenneth MacMillan, British choreographer (Manon, Judas Tree), dies
• 1993 Raymond Lockhart, TV director (Huntley Brinkley Report), dies at 65
• 1994 Andrew Miller-Jones TV pioneer, dies at 84
• 1996 Patrick Johnson, physicist, dies at 92
• 1996 J. Edward Day, 55th U.S. Postmaster General (1961), dies at 82
• 1997 Anton LaVey, American founder of the Church of Satan, dies at 67
• 1999 Michel Regnier (Greg), Belgian comic-book writer and artist (Achille Talon) (b. 1931)
• 2003 Hal Clement [Harry Clement Stubbs], American sci-fi writer (Mission of Gravity), dies at 81
• 2004 Edward Oliver LeBlanc, Dominican politician, dies at 81
• 2004 Peter Twinn, English mathematician (b. 1916)
• 2006 Mohammadu Maccido, 18th Sultan of Sokoto (b. 1928)
• 2011 Jimmy Savile, British entertainer and suspected sexual predator, dies at 84
• 2015 Murphy Anderson, American comic artist (DC Comics), dies at 89
• 2016 Pen Sovann, 1st post-Khmer Rouge Cambodian Prime Minister (1981), dies at 80
• 2016 John D. Roberts, American chemist, received American Institute of Chemists Gold Medal (2013), dies at 98
• 2017 Dennis Banks, American activist (leader of the American Indian Movement), dies at 80

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