March 29
March 29 is the 88th day of the year (89th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 277 days remaining until the end of the year.
Events
- 1461 – Wars of the Roses: Battle of Towton – Edward of York defeats Queen Margaret to become King Edward IV of England.
- 1500 – Cesare Borgia is given the title of Captain General and Gonfalonier by his father Rodrigo Borgia after returning from his conquests in the Romagna.
- 1549 – The city of Salvador da Bahia, the first capital of Brazil, is founded.
- 1632 – Treaty of Saint-Germain is signed returning Quebec to French control after the English had seized it in 1629.
- 1638 – Swedish colonists establish the first European settlement in Delaware, naming it New Sweden.
- 1792 – King Gustav III of Sweden dies after being shot in the back at a midnight masquerade ball at Stockholm's Royal Opera 13 days earlier. He is succeeded by Gustav IV Adolf.
- 1806 – Construction is authorized of the Great National Pike, better known as the Cumberland Road, becoming the first United States federal highway.
- 1809 – King Gustav IV Adolf of Sweden abdicates after a coup d'état. At the Diet of Porvoo, Finland's four Estates pledge allegiance to Alexander I of Russia, commencing the secession of the Grand Duchy of Finland from Sweden.
- 1831 – Great Bosnian uprising: Bosniaks rebel against Turkey.
- 1847 – Mexican-American War: United States forces led by General Winfield Scott take Veracruz after a siege.
- 1849 – The United Kingdom annexes the Punjab.
- 1857 – Sepoy Mangal Pandey of the 34th Regiment, Bengal Native Infantry revolts against the British rule in India and inspires a long-drawn War of Independence of 1857 also known as the Sepoy Mutiny.
- 1865 – American Civil War: Federal forces under Major General Philip Sheridan move to flank Confederate forces under Robert E. Lee as the Appomattox Campaign begins.
- 1867 – Queen Victoria gives Royal Assent to the British North America Act which establishes the Dominion of Canada on July 1.
- 1871 – The Royal Albert Hall is opened by Queen Victoria.
- 1879 – Anglo-Zulu War: Battle of Kambula: British forces defeat 20,000 Zulus.
- 1882 – The Knights of Columbus are established.
- 1886 – Dr. John Pemberton brews the first batch of Coca-Cola in a backyard in Atlanta, Georgia.
- 1911 – The M1911 .45 ACP pistol becomes the official U.S. Army side arm.
- 1930 – Heinrich Brüning is appointed German Reichskanzler.
- 1936 – In Germany, Adolf Hitler receives 99% of the votes in a referendum to ratify Germany's illegal reoccupation of the Rhineland, receiving 44.5 million votes out of 45.5 million registered voters.
- 1941 – The North American Radio Broadcasting Agreement goes into effect at 03:00 local time.
- 1941 – World War II: British Royal Navy and Royal Australian Navy forces defeat those of the Italian Regia Marina off the Peloponnesian coast of Greece in the Battle of Cape Matapan.
- 1942 – The Bombing of Lübeck in World War II is the first major success for the RAF Bomber Command against Germany and a German city.
- 1945 – World War II: Last day of V-1 flying bomb attacks on England.
- 1946 – Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de México, one of Mexico's leading universities, is founded.
- 1951 – Ethel and Julius Rosenberg are convicted of conspiracy to commit espionage.
- 1957 – The New York, Ontario and Western Railway makes its final run, the first major U.S. railroad to be abandoned in its entirety.
- 1961 – The Twenty-third Amendment to the United States Constitution is ratified, allowing residents of Washington, D.C., to vote in presidential elections.
- 1971 – My Lai massacre: Lieutenant William Calley is convicted of premeditated murder and sentenced to life in prison.
- 1971 – A Los Angeles, California jury recommends the death penalty for Charles Manson and three female followers.
- 1973 – Vietnam War: The last United States combat soldiers leave South Vietnam.
- 1973 – Operation Barrel Roll, a covert US bombing campaign in Laos to stop communist infiltration of South Vietnam, ends.
- 1974 – NASA's Mariner 10 becomes the first spaceprobe to fly by Mercury. It was launched on November 3, 1973.
- 1982 – The Canada Act 1982 (U.K.) receives the Royal Assent from Queen Elizabeth II, setting the stage for the Queen of Canada to proclaim the Constitution Act, 1982.
- 1990 – The Czechoslovak parliament is unable to reach an agreement on what to call the country after the fall of Communism, sparking the so-called Hyphen War.
- 1993 – Catherine Callbeck becomes premier of Prince Edward Island and the first woman to be elected in a general election as premier of a Canadian province.
- 1999 – The Dow Jones Industrial Average closes above the 10,000 mark (10,006.78) for the first time, during the height of the internet boom.
- 1999 – A magnitude 6.8 earthquake strikes the Chamoli district in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, killing 103.
- 2002 – In reaction to the Passover massacre two days prior, Israel launches Operation Defensive Shield against Palestinian militants, its largest military operation in the West Bank since the 1967 Six-Day War.
- 2004 – Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia join NATO as full members.
- 2004 – The Republic of Ireland becomes the first country in the world to ban smoking in all work places, including bars and restaurants.
- 2008 – Thirty-five countries and over 370 cities join Earth Hour for the first time.
- 2010 – Two female suicide bombers hit the Moscow Metro system at the peak of the morning rush hour, killing 40.
Births
- 1553 – Vitsentzos Kornaros, Greek Renaissance poet
- 1584 – Ferdinando Fairfax, 2nd Lord Fairfax of Cameron, English general (d. 1648)
- 1602 – John Lightfoot, English churchman (d. 1675)
- 1668 – Thomas Coram, Founder of the Foundling Hospital (d. 1751)
- 1713 – John Ponsonby, Irish politician (d. 1789)
- 1746 – Carlo Buonaparte, father of Napoleon Bonaparte (d. 1785)
- 1769 – Nicolas Jean de Dieu Soult, French marshal (d. 1851)
- 1790 – John Tyler, 10th President of the United States (d. 1862)
- 1799 – Edward Smith-Stanley, 14th Earl of Derby, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (d. 1869)
- 1815 – Costache Caragiale,Romanian actor,writer 1st director of Craiova's National Teather
- 1816 – Tsultrim Gyatso, 10th Dalai Lama (d. 1837)
- 1824 – Ludwig Büchner, German philosopher and physician (d. 1899)
- 1826 – Wilhelm Liebknecht, German journalist and politician (d. 1900)
- 1867 – Cy Young, American baseball player (d. 1955)
- 1869 – Aleš Hrdlička, Czech anthropologist living in the United States (d. 1943)
- 1870 – Pavlos Melas, Greek officer who organized and participated in the Greek Struggle for Macedonia (d. 1904)
- 1873 – Tullio Levi-Civita, Italian mathematician (d. 1941)
- 1874 – Lou Hoover, First Lady of the United States (d. 1944)
- 1885 – Dezső Kosztolányi, Hungarian poet and writer (d. 1936)
- 1888 – Enea Bossi, Italian-American engineer and aviation pioneer (d. 1963)
- 1889 – Warner Baxter, American actor (d. 1951)
- 1891 – Yvan Goll, French-German writer (d. 1950)
- 1891 – Alfred Neubauer, German racing team manager (Mercedes Benz) (d. 1980)
- 1892 – József Mindszenty, Hungarian Catholic cardinal (d. 1975)
- 1895 – Ernst Jünger, German author (d. 1998)
- 1899 – Lavrenty Beria, Soviet Communist leader (d. 1953)
- 1900 – John McEwen, eighteenth Prime Minister of Australia (d. 1980)
- 1900 – Bill Aston, British racing driver (d. 1974)
- 1901 – Andrija Maurović, Croatian illustrator (d. 1981)
- 1902 – Marcel Aymé, French writer (d. 1967)
- 1902 – William Walton, English composer (d. 1983)
- 1902 – Don Miller, American college football player (d. 1979)
- 1905 – Philip Ahn, American actor (d. 1978)
- 1906 – E. Power Biggs American concert organist (d. 1977)
- 1907 – "Braguinha", Brazilian songwriter (d. 2006)
- 1908 – Arthur O'Connell, American actor (d. 1981)
- 1908 – Dennis O'Keefe, American actor (d. 1968)
- 1911 – Brigitte Horney, German actress (d. 1988)
- 1912 – Hanna Reitsch, German test pilot (d. 1979)
- 1913 – R. S. Thomas, Welsh poet (d. 2000)
- 1914 – Phil Foster, American actor (d. 1985)
- 1916 – Eugene McCarthy, American politician (d. 2005)
- 1916 – Peter Geach, British philosopher
- 1917 – Man o' War, American thoroughbred racehorse (d. 1947)
- 1918 – Lê Văn Thiêm, Vietnamese mathematician (d. 1991)
- 1918 – Pearl Bailey, American singer and actress (d. 1990)
- 1918 – Sam Walton, American businessman (d. 1992)
- 1919 – Eileen Heckart, American actress (d. 2001)
- 1920 – John Belk, American head of Belk, Inc. (d. 2007)
- 1920 – Theodore Trautwein, American judge (d. 2000)
- 1927 – John McLaughlin, American political commentator
- 1927 – John Robert Vane, English pharmacologist, Nobel laureate (d. 2004)
- 1928 – Vincent Gigante, American mafioso (d. 2005)
- 1929 – Lennart Meri, President of Estonia (d. 2006)
- 1929 – Richard Lewontin, American biologist
- 1929 – Utpal Dutt, Indian actor (d. 1993)
- 1930 – Anerood Jugnauth, President of Mauritius
- 1931 – Sopubek Begaliev, Soviet-era economist and politician (d. 2002)
- 1931 – Aleksei Gubarev, Soviet cosmonaut
- 1931 – Norman Tebbit, British politician
- 1933 – Jacques Brault, French Canadian poet
- 1934 – Paul Crouch, American televangelist
- 1936 – John A. Durkin, American politician
- 1936 – Judith Guest, American author
- 1936 – Mogens Camre, Danish politician
- 1937 – Billy Carter, brother of Jimmy Carter (d. 1988)
- 1939 – Terence Hill, Italian actor
- 1939 – Roland Arnall, American businessman and diplomat (d. 2008)
- 1940 – Ray Davis, American musician (d. 2005)
- 1940 – Astrud Gilberto, Brazilian singer
- 1941 – Joseph Hooton Taylor, Jr., American astrophysicist, Nobel laureate
- 1941 – Violeta Andrei, Romanian actress
- 1941 – Eden Kane, British singer
- 1943 – Eric Idle, English actor, writer, and composer
- 1943 – Sir John Major, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
- 1943 – Vangelis, Greek musician and composer
- 1944 – Terry Jacks, Canadian musician, songwriter, and activist
- 1944 – Denny McLain, American baseball player
- 1945 – Walt Frazier, American basketball player
- 1946 – Billy Thorpe, Australian singer (d. 2007)
- 1947 – Bobby Kimball, American singer
- 1948 – Bud Cort, American actor
- 1949 – Michael Brecker, American jazz saxophonist (d. 2007)
- 1949 – Dave Greenfield, English Keyboardist of The Stranglers
- 1949 – Keith Simpson, British politician
- 1949 – John Arthur Spenkelink, American murderer (d. 1979)
- 1950 – Norman Snow, American actor
- 1952 – Teófilo Stevenson, Cuban boxer
- 1953 – Tõnis Palts, Estonian politician
- 1954 – Dianne Kay, American actress
- 1954 – Karen Ann Quinlan, American right-to-die cause célèbre (d. 1985)
- 1955 – Earl Campbell, American football player
- 1955 – Brendan Gleeson, Irish actor
- 1955 – Christopher Lawford, American actor
- 1955 – Marina Sirtis, English actress
- 1956 – Patty Donahue, American singer (d. 1996)
- 1956 – Stephen Cole, English journalist
- 1956 – Kurt Thomas, American gymnast
- 1957 – Elizabeth Hand, American writer
- 1957 – Christopher Lambert, French actor
- 1958 – Victor Salva, American film director
- 1959 – Barry Blanchard, Canadian mountaineer
- 1959 – Perry Farrell, American musician
- 1959 – Brad McCrimmon, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 2011)
- 1961 – Gary Brabham, Australian racing driver
- 1961 – Mike Kingery, American baseball player
- 1961 – Amy Sedaris, American actress and comedian
- 1962 – Billy Beane American baseball player and executive
- 1962 – Dan Bittman, romanian singer (Holograf)
- 1963 – Elle Macpherson, Australian model
- 1964 – Michael A. Jackson, American politician
- 1964 – Annabella Sciorra, American actress
- 1965 – Jill Goodacre, American actress and model
- 1965 – Emilios T. Harlaftis, Greek astrophysicist (d. 2005)
- 1965 – William Oefelein, American astronaut
- 1965 – Voula Patoulidou, Greek athlete
- 1967 – Brian Jordan, American baseball player
- 1967 – John Popper, American musician
- 1968 – Sue Foley, Canadian singer and guitarist
- 1968 – Lucy Lawless, New Zealand actress and singer
- 1971 – Robert Gibbs, American White House (Jan. 2009- Feb. 2011) press secretary for President Barack Obama
- 1971 – Lara Logan, South-African journalist and reporter
- 1972 – Michel Ancel, French game designer
- 1972 – Rui Costa, Portugal footballer
- 1972 – Junichi Suwabe, Japanese voice actor
- 1972 – Alex Ochoa, Cuban-American baseball player
- 1973 – Marc Overmars, Dutch footballer
- 1973 – Sebastiano Siviglia Italian footballer
- 1974 – Kristoffer Cusick, American actor
- 1974 – Marc Gené, Spanish racing car driver
- 1974 – Rachel Jones, Radio Producer
- 1976 – Igor Astarloa, Spanish cyclist
- 1976 – Jennifer Capriati, American tennis player
- 1978 – Pierre Faber, French-born German rugby player
- 1978 – Aaron Persico, New Zealand-born Italian rugby player
- 1979 – Estela Giménez, Spanish gymnast
- 1980 – China P. Arnold, American convicted murderer
- 1980 – Bruno Silva, Uruguayan footballer
- 1980 – Bill Demong, American Nordic combined skier
- 1980 – Kim Tae Hee, South Korean actress
- 1980 – Prince Hamzah bin Al Hussein of Jordan
- 1980 – Amy Mathews, Australian actress
- 1981 – Megan Hilty, American actress
- 1981 – Jlloyd Samuel, West Indian-born footballer
- 1982 – Hideaki Takizawa, Japanese artist
- 1983 – Luiza Sá, Brazilian musician
- 1984 – Mohamed Bouazizi, Tunisian vegetable vendor and activist (d. 2011)
- 1984 – Juan Mónaco, Argentine tennis player
- 1984 – Mai Satoda, Japanese singer
- 1985 – Maxim Lapierre, Canadian ice hockey forward
- 1985 – Mickey Pimentel, National Football League linebacker
- 1986 – Sylvan Ebanks-Blake, English footballer
- 1987 – Gianluca Freddi, Italian footballer
- 1988 – Esther Cremer, German athlete
- 1988 – Jürgen Zopp, Estonian tennis player
- 1989 – James Tomkins, English footballer
- 1990 – Lyle Taylor, British footballer
- 1991 – Hayley McFarland, American actress
- 1992 – Chris Massoglia, American actor and dancer
- 1994 – Sulli Choi, South korean singer and dancer
Deaths
- 1058 – Pope Stephen IX (b. c. 1020)
- 1368 – Emperor Go-Murakami, Emperor of Japan (b. 1328)
- 1461 – Henry Percy, 3rd Earl of Northumberland, English politician (b. 1421)
- 1578 – Arthur Champernowne, English admiral (b. 1524)
- 1578 – Louis I, Cardinal of Guise, French cardinal (b. 1527)
- 1625 – Antonio de Herrera y Tordesillas, Spanish historian (b. 1549)
- 1628 – Tobias Matthew, Archbishop of York (b. 1546)
- 1629 – Jacob de Gheyn II, Dutch artist (b. 1565)
- 1683 – Yaoya Oshichi, young girl burned at the stake for arson in 17th Century Japan (b. 1667)
- 1751 – Thomas Coram, English sea captain and philanthropist
- 1772 – Emanuel Swedenborg, Swedish philosopher and mathematician (b. 1688)
- 1788 – Charles Wesley, English Methodist hymnist (b. 1707)
- 1792 – King Gustav III of Sweden (b. 1746)
- 1800 – Marc René, marquis de Montalembert, French military engineer and writer (b. 1714)
- 1803 – Gottfried van Swieten, Dutch/Austrian patron of music (b. 1733)
- 1826 – Johann Heinrich Voß, German poet (b. 1751)
- 1829 – Cornelio Saavedra, Argentine head of state (b. 1759)
- 1848 – John Jacob Astor, American businessman (b. 1763)
- 1855 – Henri Druey, Swiss Federal Councilor (b. 1799)
- 1873 – Francesco Zantedeschi, Italian physicist (b. 1797)
- 1877 – Inazuma Raigorō, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 7th Yokozuna (b. 1802)
- 1888 – Charles-Valentin Alkan, French composer (b. 1813)
- 1906 – Slava Raškaj, Croatian painter (b. 1878)
- 1912 – Henry Robertson Bowers – member of the Scott Expedition to the South Pole (b. 1883)
- 1912 – Sir Robert Falcon Scott, English explorer – member of the Scott Expedition to the South Pole (b. 1868)
- 1912 – Edward Adrian Wilson, English physician and naturalist – member of the Scott Expedition to the South Pole (b. 1872)
- 1924 – Charles Villiers Stanford, Irish composer (b. 1852)
- 1934 – Otto Hermann Kahn, German millionaire and benefactor (b. 1867)
- 1937 – Karol Szymanowski, Polish composer (b. 1882)
- 1940 – Alexander Obolensky, Russian prince and famed Rugby Union footballer who played for England.(b. 1916)
- 1948 – Harry Price, British psychic researcher and writer (b. 1881)
- 1948 – Olev Siinmaa, Estonian architect (b. 1881)
- 1956 – Infante Alfonso of Spain (b. 1941)
- 1957 – Joyce Cary, Irish author (b. 1888)
- 1959 – Barthélemy Boganda, first President of the Central African Republic (b. 1910)
- 1970 – Anna Louise Strong, American communist journalist (b. 1885)
- 1971 – Dhirendranath Datta, Bangladeshi politician (b. 1886)
- 1972 – Lord J. Arthur Rank, British movie theater owner (b. 1888)
- 1980 – Mantovani, Italian-born conductor and arranger (b. 1905)
- 1981 – Eric Williams, first Prime Minister of Trinidad & Tobago (b. 1911)
- 1982 – Carl Orff, German composer (b. 1895)
- 1982 – Nathan Twining, USAF general (b. 1897)
- 1985 – Luther Terry, Surgeon General of the United States (b. 1911)
- 1986 – Harry Ritz, American actor and comedian (b. 1907)
- 1988 – Ted Kluszewski, American baseball player (b. 1924)
- 1989 – Bernard Blier, French actor (b. 1916)
- 1991 – Lee Atwater, American political consultant (b. 1951)
- 1992 – Paul Henreid, Austrian actor (b. 1908)
- 1994 – Bill Travers, British actor (b. 1922)
- 1995 – Jimmy McShane, Irish frontman of the group Baltimora (b. 1957)
- 1995 – Terry Moore, American baseball player (b. 1912)
- 1996 – Frank Daniel, Czech-born writer, director, producer and teacher (b. 1926)
- 1996 – Bill Goldsworthy, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1944)
- 1999 – Joe Williams, American singer (b. 1918)
- 2001 – Helge Ingstad, Norwegian explorer (b. 1899)
- 2001 – John Lewis, American jazz pianist (b. 1920)
- 2002 – Rico Yan, Philippine actor (b. 1975)
- 2002 – Rachel Levy and Ayat al-Akhras, Israeli and Palestinian children
- 2003 – Carlo Urbani, Italian physician (b. 1956)
- 2005 – Johnnie Cochran, American lawyer (b. 1937)
- 2005 – Miltos Sahtouris, Greek poet (b. 1919)
- 2006 – Salvador Elizondo, Mexican writer (b. 1932)
- 2007 – Calvin Lockhart, Bahamian actor (b. 1934)
- 2009 – Vladimir Fedotov, Soviet football striker and manager (b. 1943)
- 2009 – Andy Hallett, American actor and singer (b. 1975)
- 2009 – Maurice Jarre, French composer (b. 1924)
- 2011 – Ângelo de Sousa, Portuguese painter and sculptor (b. 1938)
Holidays and observances
External links