From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
April 29 is the 119th day of the year (120th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 246 days remaining until the end of the year.
[edit] Events
- 711 – Islamic conquest of Hispania: Moorish troops led by Tariq ibn-Ziyad land at Gibraltar to begin their invasion of the Iberian Peninsula (Al-Andalus).
- 1429 – Joan of Arc arrives to relieve the Siege of Orleans.
- 1483 – Gran Canaria, the main of the Canary Islands is conquered by the Kingdom of Castile, very important step in the expansion of Spain.
- 1587 – Francis Drake leads a raid in the Bay of Cádiz, sinking at least 23 ships of the Spanish fleet.
- 1672 – Franco-Dutch War: Louis XIV of France invades the Netherlands.
- 1770 – James Cook arrives at and names Botany Bay, Australia.
- 1781 – American Revolutionary War: British and French ships clash in the Battle of Fort Royal off the coast of Martinique.
- 1832 – Évariste Galois released from prison.
- 1861 – American Civil War: Maryland's House of Delegates votes not to secede from the Union.
- 1862 – American Civil War: New Orleans, Louisiana falls to Union forces under Admiral David Farragut.
- 1864 – Theta Xi fraternity is founded at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, the only fraternity to be founded during the Civil War.
- 1882 – The "Elektromote" – forerunner of the trolleybus – is tested by Ernst Werner von Siemens in Berlin.
- 1903 – A 30 million cubic-metre landslide kills 70 in Frank, Alberta, Canada.
- 1910 – The Parliament of the United Kingdom passes the People's Budget, the first budget in British history with the expressed intent of redistributing wealth among the British public.
- 1916 – World War I: The British 6th Indian Division surrenders to Ottoman Forces at the Siege of Kut in one of the largest surrenders of British forces up to that point.
- 1916 – Easter Rebellion: Martial law in Ireland is lifted and the rebellion is officially over with the surrender of Irish nationalists to British authorities in Dublin.
- 1945 – World War II: The German Army in Italy unconditionally surrenders to the Allies.
- 1945 – World War II: Start of Operation Manna.
- 1945 – World War II – Fuehrerbunker: Adolf Hitler marries his longtime partner Eva Braun in a Berlin bunker and designates Admiral Karl Dönitz as his successor. Both Hitler and Braun will commit suicide the next day.
- 1945 – The Dachau concentration camp is liberated by United States troops.
- 1945 – The Italian commune of Fornovo di Taro is liberated from German forces by Brazilian forces.
- 1946 – The International Military Tribunal for the Far East convenes and indicts former Prime Minister of Japan Hideki Tojo and 28 former Japanese leaders for war crimes.
- 1946 – Father Divine, a controversial religious leader who claims to be God, marries the much-younger Edna Rose Ritchings, a celebrated anniversary in the International Peace Mission movement.
- 1951 – Tibetan delegates to the Central People's Government arrive in Beijing and draft a Seventeen Point Agreement for Chinese sovereignty and Tibetan autonomy.
- 1953 – The first U.S. experimental 3D-TV broadcast showed an episode of Space Patrol on Los Angeles ABC affiliate KECA-TV.
- 1965 – Pakistan's Space and Upper Atmosphere Research Commission (SUPARCO) successfully launches its seventh rocket in its Rehber series.
- 1967 – After refusing induction into the United States Army the day before (citing religious reasons), Muhammad Ali is stripped of his boxing title.
- 1968 – The controversial musical Hair opens on Broadway.
- 1970 – Vietnam War: United States and South Vietnamese forces invade Cambodia to hunt Viet Cong.
- 1974 – Watergate Scandal: President Richard Nixon announces the release of edited transcripts of White House tape recordings related to the scandal.
- 1975 – Vietnam War: Operation Frequent Wind: The U.S. begins to evacuate U.S. citizens from Saigon prior to an expected North Vietnamese takeover. U.S. involvement in the war comes to an end.
- 1986 – A fire at the Central library of the City of Los Angeles Public Library damages or destroys 400,000 books and other items.
- 1991 – A cyclone strikes the Chittagong district of southeastern Bangladesh with winds of around 155 mph, killing at least 138,000 people and leaving as many as 10 million homeless.
- 1992 – Los Angeles riots: Riots in Los Angeles, California, following the acquittal of police officers charged with excessive force in the beating of Rodney King. Over the next three days 53 people are killed and hundreds of buildings are destroyed.
- 1997 – The Chemical Weapons Convention of 1993 enters into force, outlawing the production, stockpiling and use of chemical weapons by its signatories.
- 1999 – The Avala TV Tower near Belgrade is destroyed in the NATO bombing of Yugoslavia.
- 2004 – Dick Cheney and George W. Bush testify before the 9/11 Commission in a closed, unrecorded hearing in the Oval Office.
- 2004 – Oldsmobile builds its final car ending 107 years of production.
- 2005 – Syria completes withdrawal from Lebanon, ending 29 years of occupation.
- 2011 – Wedding of Prince William, Duke of Cambridge and Kate Middleton.
[edit] Births
- 1665 – James Butler, 2nd Duke of Ormonde, Irish statesman and soldier (d. 1745)
- 1667 – John Arbuthnot, English physician and satirist (d. 1735)
- 1686 – Peregrine Bertie, 2nd Duke of Ancaster and Kesteven, English statesman (d. 1742)
- 1727 – Jean-Georges Noverre, French dancer (d. 1810)
- 1745 – Oliver Ellsworth, 3rd Chief Justice of the United States (d. 1807)
- 1758 – Georg Carl von Döbeln, Swedish Lieutenant General and war hero (d. 1820)
- 1762 – Jean-Baptiste Jourdan, French marshal (d. 1833)
- 1769 – Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, Anglo-Irish statesman (d. 1852)
- 1780 – Charles Nodier, French writer (d. 1844)
- 1784 – Samuel Turell Armstrong, American politician and acting Governor of Massachusetts (d. 1850)
- 1810 – Thomas Adolphus Trollope, British author and journalist, (d. 1892)
- 1818 – Tsar Alexander II of Russia (d. 1881)
- 1837 – Georges Boulanger, French general and politician (d. 1891)
- 1842 – Karl Millöcker, Dutch composer (d. 1899)
- 1848 – Raja Ravi Varma,Indian painter (d.1906)
- 1854 – Henri Poincaré, French mathematician and physicist (d. 1912)
- 1863 – William Randolph Hearst, American publisher (d. 1951)
- 1863 – Constantine P. Cavafy, Greek poet (d. 1933)
- 1863 – Maria Theresa Ledochowska, Polish-Austrian Catholic nun (d. 1922)
- 1868 – Alice Keppel, English socialite and mistress of King Edward VII (d. 1947)
- 1872 – Harry Payne Whitney, American businessman (d. 1930)
- 1875 – Rafael Sabatini, Italian/British writer (d. 1950)
- 1876 – Empress Zauditu of Ethiopia (d. 1930)
- 1879 – Thomas Beecham, British conductor (d. 1961)
- 1882 – H. N. Werkman, Dutch artist and printer (d. 1945)
- 1885 – Egon Erwin Kisch, Czech journalist and author (d. 1948)
- 1893 – Harold C. Urey, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1981)
- 1895 – Malcolm Sargent, British conductor (d. 1967)
- 1899 – Duke Ellington, American jazz pianist and bandleader (d. 1974)
- 1901 – Hirohito, Emperor of Japan (d. 1989)
- 1907 – Tino Rossi, French singer and actor (d. 1983)
- 1907 – Fred Zinnemann, Austrian-born American film director (d. 1997)
- 1908 – Jack Williamson, American writer (d. 2006)
- 1909 – Tom Ewell, American actor (d. 1994)
- 1912 – Richard Carlson, American actor (d. 1977)
- 1915 – Donald Mills, American singer (Mills Brothers) (d. 1999)
- 1917 – Maya Deren, Ukraine-born American avant-garde filmmaker (d. 1961)
- 1917 – Celeste Holm, American actress
- 1918 – George Allen, American football player and coach (d. 1990)
- 1919 – Gérard Oury, French film actor and director (d. 2006)
- 1920 – Harold Shapero, American composer
- 1920 – Edward Blishen, English author (d. 1996)
- 1922 – Helmut Krackowizer, Austrian motorcyclist (d. 2001)
- 1922 – Toots Thielemans, Belgian jazz guitarist and harmonica player
- 1924 – Al Balding, Canadian golfer (d. 2006)
- 1924 – Zizi Jeanmaire, French ballet dancer and actress
- 1925 – Ned Austin, American character actor (d. 2007)
- 1925 – John Compton, Saint Lucian Prime Minister (d. 2007)
- 1925 – Iwao Takamoto, American animator, producer and film director (d. 2007)
- 1926 – Elmer Kelton, American Western novelist (d. 2009)
- 1928 – Carl Gardner, American singer (The Coasters)
- 1929 – Ray Barretto, American jazz musician (d. 2006)
- 1929 – Walter Kempowski, German author (d. 2007)
- 1929 – Mickey McDermott, American baseball player (d. 2003)
- 1929 – Peter Sculthorpe, Australian composer
- 1930 – Jean Rochefort, French actor
- 1931 – Frank Auerbach, German-born British painter
- 1931 – Lonnie Donegan, British musician (d. 2002)
- 1932 – Joy Clements, American soprano (d. 2005)
- 1933 – Mark Eyskens, Prime Minister of Belgium
- 1933 – Rod McKuen, American poet and composer
- 1934 – Luis Aparicio, Venezuelan baseball player
- 1934 – Pedro Pires, 3rd President of Cape Verde
- 1934 – Otis Rush, American musician
- 1936 – Zubin Mehta, Indian-born conductor
- 1936 – Adolfo Nicolás, Spanish priest
- 1936 – Lane Smith, American actor (d. 2005)
- 1936 – April Stevens, American singer
- 1937 – Hasil Adkins, Appalachian country, rock and roll, and blues musician (d. 2005)
- 1937 – Jill Paton Walsh, British writer
- 1938 – Fred Dibnah, British television personality (d. 2004)
- 1938 – Bernard Madoff, American convict, Ponzi scheme operator
- 1938 – Klaus Voormann, German musician, artist, and record producer
- 1942 – Galina Kulakova, Soviet cross country skier
- 1944 – Princess Benedikte of Denmark
- 1944 – Richard Kline, American actor and director
- 1944 – Francis Lee, British footballer
- 1945 – Tammi Terrell, American singer (d. 1970)
- 1947 – Serge Bernier, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1947 – Tommy James, American musician
- 1947 – Jim Ryun, American athlete and politician
- 1948 – Bruce Cutler, American attorney
- 1948 – Michael Karoli, German guitarist and violinist (Can) (d. 2001)
- 1950 – Phillip Noyce, Australian film director
- 1950 – Debbie Stabenow, American politician, junior senator of Michigan
- 1951 – Dale Earnhardt, American race car driver (d. 2001)
- 1952 – Nora Dunn, American actress
- 1952 – David Icke, British writer
- 1952 – Bob McClure, American baseball player
- 1952 – Ron Washington, American baseball manager(Texas Rangers)
- 1954 – Jake Burton Carpenter, American snowboarder
- 1954 – Jerry Seinfeld, American comedian
- 1955 – Richard Epcar, American voice actor
- 1955 – Wendee Lee, American voice actress
- 1955 – Kate Mulgrew, American actress
- 1955 – Leslie Jordan, American actor
- 1955 – Gino Quilico, Canadian baritone
- 1956 – Sofia Sakorafa, Greek javelin thrower and politician
- 1956 – Ketil Stokkan, Norwegian singer
- 1957 – Daniel Day-Lewis, British-Irish actor
- 1957 – Mark Kendall, American guitarist
- 1957 – Timothy Treadwell, American ecologist (d. 2003)
- 1958 – Gary Cohen, Baseball broadcaster
- 1958 – Michelle Pfeiffer, American actress
- 1958 – Eve Plumb, American actress
- 1958 – Martin Whitmarsh, British businessman, CEO of McLaren Racing
- 1960 – Phil King, British bassist
- 1960 – Robert J. Sawyer, Canadian writer
- 1960 – Caveh Zahedi, American filmmaker
- 1961 – Fumihiko Tachiki, Japanese seiyū
- 1963 – Mike Babcock, NHL Coach
- 1964 – Melody Barnes, Director of the White House Domestic Policy Council
- 1964 – Federico Castelluccio, Italian-American actor
- 1964 – Mohammad Qatanani, Muslim Imam
- 1966 – Phil Tufnell, British cricketer
- 1967 – Curtis Joseph, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1967 – Master P, American rapper
- 1968 – Carnie Wilson, American singer
- 1969 – Paul Adelstein, American actor
- 1969 – İzel, Turkish singer
- 1970 – Andre Agassi, American tennis player
- 1970 – China Forbes, American singer and songwriter (Pink Martini)
- 1970 – Uma Thurman, American actress
- 1971 – Tamara Johnson-George, American singer (SWV)
- 1971 – Sam Michael, Australian engineer
- 1972 – Dustin McDaniel, American politician
- 1973 – David Belle, French physical educator
- 1973 – Johan Hegg, Swedish heavy metal vocalist (Amon Amarth)
- 1974 – Anggun, Indonesian singer
- 1974 – Pascal Cygan, French footballer
- 1974 – Julian Knowle, Austrian tennis player
- 1974 – Jasper Wood, Canadian violinist
- 1975 – Rafael Betancourt, Venezuelan baseball player
- 1975 – Eric Koston, Thai American professional skateboarder
- 1975 – Béres Zoo, Hungarian radio DJ
- 1976 – Jay Orpin, Swedish composer and producer
- 1977 – Rocío Carrasco, Spanish TV host and socialite
- 1977 – Claus Jensen, Danish footballer
- 1978 – Tony Armas, Jr., Venezuelan baseball player
- 1978 – Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan, American tennis players
- 1978 – Craig Gower, Australian rugby league and union player
- 1979 – Jo O'Meara, British singer (S Club)
- 1979 – Lee Dong-Gook, Korean footballer
- 1979 – Ryan Sharp, British racing driver
- 1979 – Matt Tong, British drummer (Bloc Party)
- 1980 – Mathieu Biron, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1980 – Kian Egan, Irish singer (Westlife)
- 1980 – Kelly Shoppach, American baseball player
- 1980 – Magdalena Tul, Polish pop singer
- 1981 – George McCartney, Northern Irish footballer
- 1981 – Émilie Mondor, Canadian athlete (d. 2006)
- 1981 – Alex Vincent, American actor
- 1982 – Travis Smith, American drummer (Trivium)
- 1983 – Jay Cutler, American football player
- 1983 – Tommie Harris, American football player
- 1983 – David Lee, American basketball player
- 1983 – Sam Jones III, American actor
- 1983 – Yuriko Shiratori, Japanese gravure idol and actress
- 1984 – Taylor Cole, American actress
- 1984 – Firass Dirani, Australian actor
- 1984 – Phạm Văn Quyến, Vietnamese footballer
- 1984 – Vasilis Xanthopoulos, Greek basketball player
- 1986 – Renee Alway, American model
- 1987 – Alicia Morton, American actress
- 1988 – Jonathan Toews, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1989 – Charlotte Francis, English actress
[edit] Deaths
- 926 – Burchard II, Duke of Swabia
- 1380 – Catherine of Siena, Italian saint (b. 1347)
- 1594 – Thomas Cooper, English bishop, lexicographer, and writer
- 1630 – Agrippa d'Aubigné, French poet (b. 1552)
- 1658 – John Cleveland, English poet (b. 1613)
- 1676 – Michiel de Ruyter, Dutch admiral (b. 1607)
- 1688 – Frederick William, Elector of Brandenburg (b. 1620)
- 1698 – Charles Cornwallis, 3rd Baron Cornwallis, First Lord of the British Admiralty (b. 1655)
- 1707 – George Farquhar, Irish dramatist (b. 1678)
- 1743 – Charles-Irénée Castel de Saint-Pierre, French writer (b. 1658)
- 1768 – Georg Brandt, Swedish chemist and minerologist (b. 1694)
- 1771 – Francesco Bartolomeo Rastrelli, Italian-born Russian architect (b. 1700)
- 1776 – Edward Wortley Montagu, British traveler and writer (b. 1713)
- 1782 – Richard Kempenfelt, Royal Navy Admiral (b. 1718)
- 1793 – Yechezkel Landau, Polish rabbi (b. 1713)
- 1793 – John Michell, British scientist (b. 1724)
- 1798 – Nikolaus Poda von Neuhaus, German entomologist (b. 1723)
- 1854 – Henry Paget, 1st Marquess of Anglesey, British general (b. 1768)
- 1903 – Paul du Chaillu, French explorer (b. 1835)
- 1905 – Ignacio Cervantes, Cuban pianist and composer (b. 1847)
- 1916 – Jørgen Pedersen Gram, Danish mathematician (b. 1850)
- 1916 – The O'Rahilly, Irish Nationalist and member of the Easter Rising (b. 1875)
- 1920 – William Henry Seward, Jr., Union Brigadier General in the American Civil War (b. 1839)
- 1933 – Constantine P. Cavafy, Greek poet (b. 1863)
- 1935 – Leroy Carr, American blues singer, songwriter and pianist (b. 1905)
- 1937 – William Gillette, American actor (b. 1853)
- 1944 – Bernardino Machado, President of Portugal (b. 1851)
- 1945 – Matthias Kleinheisterkamp, German SS officer (b. 1893)
- 1947 – Irving Fisher, American economist (b. 1867)
- 1951 – Ludwig Wittgenstein, Austrian-born philosopher (b. 1889)
- 1956 – Wilhelm Ritter von Leeb, German field marshal (b. 1876)
- 1961 – Cisco Houston, American folk singer (b. 1918)
- 1966 – William Eccles, British physicist and radio pioneer (b. 1875)
- 1967 – J. B. Lenoir, American musician (b. 1929)
- 1967 – Anthony Mann, American actor and director (b. 1906)
- 1979 – Hardie Gramatky, American author and animator (b. 1907)
- 1980 – Alfred Hitchcock, British film director (b. 1899)
- 1988 – James McCracken, American tenor (b. 1926)
- 1992 – Mae Clarke, American actress (b. 1910)
- 1993 – Michael Gordon, American film director (b. 1909)
- 1993 – Mick Ronson, British musician (b. 1946)
- 1997 – Mike Royko, American columnist (b. 1932)
- 1998 – Hal Laycoe, Canadian ice hockey player and coach (b. 1922)
- 2000 – Pham Van Dong, Vietnamese politician (b. 1906)
- 2002 – Bob Akin, American industrialist and race car driver (b. 1936)
- 2002 – Lor Tok, Thai comedian and actor (b. 1914)
- 2004 – Sid Smith, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1925)
- 2005 – William J. Bell, American television writer and producer (b. 1927)
- 2005 – Sara Henderson, Australian pastoralist and author (b. 1936)
- 2005 – Mariana Levy, Mexican actress, singer, and television show host (b. 1966)
- 2006 – John Kenneth Galbraith, Canadian-born US economist (b. 1908)
- 2007 – Milt Bocek, American baseball player (b. 1912)
- 2007 – Josh Hancock, American baseball player (b. 1978)
- 2007 – Dick Motz, New Zealand cricketer (b. 1940)
- 2007 – Arve Opsahl, Norwegian actor, known as the leader of Olsenbanden (b. 1921)
- 2007 – Ivica Račan, Prime Minister of Croatia (b. 1944)
- 2007 – Zhang Taofang, Chinese sniper (b. 1931)
- 2008 – Albert Hofmann, Swiss chemist, known as the first to synthesize LSD (b. 1906)
- 2010 – A.S. Douglas, British computer scientist, creator of the first graphical computer game (b. 1921)
[edit] Holidays and observances
[edit] External links
