May 29: Today in History – Historical Events
Early Centuries – May 29 Historic Events – Before the 1700s
1. 29th May 1176: Emperor Fredrick Barbarossa’s Holy Roman Empire was beaten by the Lombard League at the battle of Legnano.
2. 29th May 1328: In France, the French King Philip VI Valois was crowned at the Cathedral in Reims.
3. 29th May 1414: Pope John XXIII was today deposed by the Council of Constance.
4. 29th May 1453: The capital of the Eastern Roman Empire, Constantinople, fell to the Turks led by Muhammad II, ending the Byzantine Empire.
5. 29th May 1576: The Zierik Sea was conquered by the Spanish army led by Mondragon.
6. 29th May 1592: The Japanese Navy was repelled by the Korean Navy led by Admiral Yi Sun Shin. The Korean Turtle Ship was used for the first time.
7. 29th May 1652: The Dutch Fleet led by Lt Admiral Maarten Tromp was driven out off Folkston, Kent by General at Sea Robert Blake in the battle of Goodwin Sands.
8. 29th May 1660: Charles II, who was living in exile in the Netherlands, returned to London on his 30th birthday to claim the English throne after the Puritan Commonwealth came to an end.
9. 29th May 1667: Peace was established between Virginia Colonists and the local Americans by signing the Treaty of Middleton Plantation.
10. 29th May 1692: Founder’s Day was celebrated at the Royal Hospital Chelsea today.
18th Century – What Happened on May 29 – The 1700s
11. 29th May 1721: This day marks the formal incorporation of South Carolina as a royal colony.
12. 29th May 1727: At the age of eleven, Peter II became the Tsar of Russia today.
13. 29th May 1733: Quebec City today upheld the right of Canadians to keep Indian slaves.
14. 29th May 1790: Rhode Island today ratified the US Constitution. It was the last of the original 13 colonies to ratify the constitution.
19th Century – May 29 This Day That Year – The 1800s
15. 29th May 1848: Today Wisconsin became the 30th US state. began advertising for Coca-Cola today.
20th Century – Important Events On This Day May 29th – The 1900s
16. 29th May 1900: Otis Elevator Company registered its trademark Escalator today.
17. 29th May 1905: An organized massacre of an ethnic group “pogrom” against the Jewish community in Brisk, Lithuania.
18. 29th May 1912: Ballets Ruses today premiered their ballet “L’après-midi d’un faune” (The Afternoon of a Faun, choreographed by Vaskav Nijinsky, in Paris today.
19. 29th May 1912: Curtis Publishing in Philadelphia today sacked 15 young women for dancing the “Turkey Trot” during lunchtime.
20. 29th May 1913: Composer Igor Stravinsky’s ballet score “The Rite of Spring” which premiered in Paris today, provoked a Riot.
21. 29th May 1914: The Canadian ship Empress of Ireland was rammed by a ship on the Saint Lawrence River resulting in the death of 1024 people.
22. 29th May 1916: The Dominican Republic was invaded by the US forces which stayed there till 1924.
23. 29th May 1916: The US today adopted the official flag of the President of the United States.
24. 29th May 1919: Astronomer, Physicist, and Mathematician Arthur Eddington today confirmed Albert Einstein’s light-bending prediction.
25. 29th May 1919: A total solar eclipse was observed in the Gulf of Guinea off the African continent by an expedition sponsored by the Royal Society of London.
26. 29th May 1919: The Republic of Prekmurje, a short-lived unrecognized state was founded today. This was incorporated into the kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes on 6th June 1919, which was renamed in 1929 as Yugoslavia.
27. 29th May 1922: The US Supreme Court today ruled that organized basketball is not subject to antitrust laws as it was a sport and not a business.
28. 29th May 1922: Ecuador gained independence today.
29. 29th May 1928: In an experimental rocket car, Fritz von Opal reached a speed of 200 KMPH today.
30. 29th May 1932: World War I veterans started arriving in Washington DC and marched on Washington demanding that the cash bonus that was scheduled to be paid to them in 1945 be paid to them now. They demanded cash for their bonus certificates.
31. 29th May 1935: In San Diego, The California Pacific Expo was opened today.
32. 29th May 1935: The local museum in Hague opened today.
33. 29th May 1935: The maiden voyage of the French liner Normandy began today. It arrived in New York City on 3rd June.
34. 29th May 1940: In swimming a new world record was established by Adolf Kiefer who swam 100 yards backstroke in 58.8 seconds.
35. 29th May 1940: A British destroyer and six of the biggest merchant ships were sunk in the Dunkirk harbor, in a massive air attack launched by the German air force today.
36. 29th May 1940: Ostend and Ypres in Belgium and Lille in France were captured by Germans today.
37. 29th May 1942: Actor and Singer, Bing Crosby today recorded the world’s bestselling single “White Christmas” which sold an estimated 100 million copies.
38. 29th May 1942: The German army successfully encircled the Kharkiv region of the Soviet Union. The Red Army had lost 250,000 men, including prisoners.
39. 29th May 1943: The rationing of meat and cheese began in the U S today.
40. 29th May 1943: Eisenhower, Marshall and Winston Churchill met today in the Confederacy of Algiers.
41. 29th May 1944: Aprilia in Italy was today occupied by the British troops.
42. 29th May 1945: Shuri Castle in Okinawa was today conquered by the US 1st Marine Division.
43. 29th May 1946: The Provincial National Election in the Netherlands was won by KVP.
44. 29th May 1949: The film “The Best Years of Our Lives” won the best film award in the first British Film and Television Award.
45. 29th May 1951: C. F. Blair today flew to the North Pole in a single-engine plane. He became the first man to achieve this feat.
46. 29th May 1952: The second round Conference between Surinam and the Dutch Antilles came to an end today.
47. 29th May 1953: Climber Edmund Hillary of New Zealand with Sherpa Tensing Norgay of Nepal who was part of a British expedition, reached the summit of Mount Everest today.
48. 29th May 1954: Pope Pious XII today canonized Pope Pious X, born as Giuseppe Melchiorre Sarto. This was the first canonization since 1712.
49. 29th May 1955: In Jordan, the government led by Tewfik Abdul Huda resigned today.
50. 29th May 1957: About 366 collaborators were killed today by Algerian rebels.
51. 29th May 1957: Director of the movie “Frankenstein”, 67-year-old James Whale was found dead in his swimming pool. It was a case of suspected suicide.
52. 29th May 1957: In Laos, the government run by Prince Suvanna Puma resigned today.
53. 29th May 1959: Charles De Gaulle today formed the government in France today.
54. 29th May 1959: The first practical hovercraft, Saunders-Roe SR.N1, performed its first engine run today.
55. 29th May 1962: Singer and Actor Barbra Streisand appeared today on a TV on the “Garry Moore Show”.
56. 29th May 1965: Fred Stolle today won the first Grand Slam tennis championship by beating fellow Australian Tony Roche 3-6, 6-0, 6-2, 6-3 in the French Open men’s championship.
57. 29th May 1966: The LPGA Baton Rouge Ladies Golf Invitational tournament was won by Carol Mann.
58. 29th May 1967: Paul McManus of Australia skied barefoot for 1hr30 min and 19 secs.
59. 29th May 1967: 27 new Cardinals including the archbishop of Krakow, Karol Wojtyla were named today by Pope Paul VI. Karol Wojtyla later became Pope John Paul II.
60. 29th May 1968: The US today resolved sanctions on Rhodesia which was ruled by a white-minority.
61. 29th May 1968: In the US, the US Truth in Lending Act was today signed into Law.
62. 29th May 1969: The Trans-Arctic expedition of Britain made its first crossing of the Arctic Sea ice.
63. 29th May 1969: The Cordoba general strike led to Cordobazo unrest in Argentina.
64. 29th May 1970: The USSR performed an underground nuclear test today.
65. 29th May 1970: In Sri Lanka, Sirimavo Bandaranaike began serving as the 9th Prime Minister. This was Bandaranaike’s second term after serving as the 7th Prime Minister.
66. 29th May 1972: A ceasefire was today announced by the official IRA.
67. 29th May 1973: Los Angeles in California today elected Thomas Bradley as its Mayor. He was the first Afro-American to become a mayor.
68. 29th May 1973: Clive Davis, president of Columbia Records was today fired for misappropriating $100,000. Davis started Arista Records.
69. 29th May 1974: President Nixon today agreed to hand over 1200 pages of edited transcripts of Watergate.
70. 29th May 1974: North Ireland came under direct rule from Westminster on this day.
71. 29th May 1977: The USSR performed its nuclear test at Eastern Kazakhstan, Semipalatinsk, USSR.
72. 29th May 1977: Janet Guthrie drove in the Indianapolis 500 today, becoming the first woman to drive in the Indianapolis 500.
73. 29th May 1978: When the rate of first-class stamps went up from 13 cents to 15 cents the US Postal Service issued the first alphabet stamp, the A stamp. The series ended in 1999 with an H stamp with the rates up to 33 cents.
74. 29th May 1978: A nuclear test was conducted by the USSR at Eastern Kazakhstan, Semipalatinsk in the USSR.
75. 29th May 1979: In Zimbabwe, Bishop Abel Muzorewa was today sworn in as its first black Prime Minister.
76. 29th May 1990: An earthquake strikes North Peru killing at least 200 people.
77. 29th May 1994: In Hungry the parliamentary elections were won by the Socialist Party and Gyula Horn was elected Prime Minister to lead the Socialist-Free Democrat coalition. The new regime promoted free-market democracy.
78. 29th May 1994: Above the North Sea a great comet ice-ball was sighted today.
79. 29th May 1996: In Afghanistan, Gulbuddin Hekmatyar took over as the new Prime Minister today.
80. 29th May 1997: Spanish scientists announced today a new human species in a 780,000-year-old fossil.
81. 29th May 1998: It is reported that 54% of American adults are overweight. 22% of Americans are said to be obese.
82. 29th May 1999: Ending a string of military regimes Olusegun Obasanjo today became the first civilian president of Nigeria in 15 years. He suspended contracts awarded by his predecessors. Ethnic clashes took a toll on 56 people in the oil region.
21st Century – May 29 This Day In History – The 2000s
83. 29th May 2000: Former President of Indonesia Suharto was today put under house arrest pending trials for corruption and abuse of office. The trial however was abandoned because of health concerns.
84. 29th May 2001: India’s offer for peace talks on Kashmir was accepted by Pakistan today.
85. 29th May 2002: Prime Minister Tony Blair of the UK today appointed the first black cabinet minister when he named Paul Boateng as the Deputy Treasury Secretary.
86. 29th May 2002: With four million people staring at starvation due to drought, Zambia’s President Levy Mwanawasa declared a national food crisis.
87. 29th May 2003: Scientists today reported having discovered a “master genie” in stem cells.
88. 29th May 2004: Gunmen shot down security guards and entered two office buildings searching for and murdering anybody who looked western in Khobar in Saudi Arabia.
89. 29th May 2005: The World Association of Newspapers today awarded the 2005 press freedom award to veteran Sudanese Journalist Mahgoub Mohamed Salih today at its meeting in Seoul.
90. 29th May 2006: Bolstering its ties with the Western military alliance in the face of Iran’s nuclear program, Israel announced its full participation in NATO naval exercises for the first time.
91. 29th May 2007: Sweden today said that it would cut the emission of greenhouse gases by 30% by 2020, improving on the EU’s proposal of cutting the emission by 20%.
92. 29th May 2008: In France a draft bill that would effectively scrap the 35-hour work week was presented by President Sarkozy’s government today.
93. 29th May 2009: In Geneva, dozens of years of deadlock were broken, and ways to negotiate the new nuclear arms control treaty were opened up at the 65-nation Conference on Disarmament.
94. 29th May 2010: Three people were killed and ten more were injured by a fire at an Iranian oil well at Naft Shahr border region near Iraq.
95. 29th May 2010: In the worst ever oil spill in the history of the US, Gulf residents on the 40th day clung to weak hopes of BP complex “top kill” operation plugging the gushing well.
96. 29th May 2011: Gunmen today killed two Shiite policemen in Quetta city in Pakistan.
97. 29th May 2012: Prime Minister Erdogan of Turkey today called for legislation to restrict women’s access to abortion.
98. 29th May 2013: To end the long-running tax evasion dispute with the United States, the Swiss government today announced that it will let banks circumvent the country’s strict client secrecy laws.
99. 29th May 2014: A government military helicopter was shot down by rebels in the Ukraine amid heavy fighting near Slovyansk killing 12 soldiers including Gen. Serhiy Kulchytskiy.
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