Born in 1929

What things cost in 1929

1929 figures are annual averages of the published monthly (or quarterly) values. “Today’s dollars” uses the Consumer Price Index for September 2026; “latest” is the most recent published price. Sources: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Census Bureau, U.S. Department of Labor, via FRED. Average retail prices are only published from 1976 on; 1929 has the CPI alone.

Who was in charge in 1929

United States

Calvin Coolidge, then Herbert Hoover (President)

United Kingdom

George V (King); Stanley Baldwin, then Ramsay MacDonald (Prime minister)

Soviet Union

Joseph Stalin (General Secretary); Mikhail Kalinin (Chairman of the Central Executive Committee of the Congress of Soviets); Alexei Rykov (Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars)

Republic of China (1916–1949)

Chiang Kai-shek (Chairmen); Tan Yankai (Premier)

French Third Republic

Gaston Doumergue (President); Raymond Poincaré, then Aristide Briand, then André Tardieu (President of the Council of ministers)

Weimar Republic of Germany

Paul von Hindenburg (President); Hermann Müller (Chancellor)

Empire of Japan

Hirohito (Emperor); Tanaka Giichi, then Osachi Hamaguchi (Prime minister)

From Wikipedia’s List of state leaders in the 20th century (1901–1950) (revision 1377869146), each name checked against Wikidata. Every country in 1929 →

Famous people born in 1929

• January 1 – Joseph Lombardo, American mafioso (died 2019) source
• July 2 – Imelda Marcos, former First Lady of the Philippines source
• 8 February – Jack Simpson, Victorian politician (died 2015) source
• April 24 – Rajkumar, Indian actor and singer (died 2006) source
• 17 September – Stirling Moss, racing driver (died 2020) source
• 3 January - Ernst Mahle, conductor and composer source
• September 29 – Giorgio Bàrberi Squarotti, Italian academic, poet (died 2017) source
• 29 September – Rolf Kühn, German clarinetist and saxophonist (died 2022). source
• 24 March – Bryant Burns, Queensland politician (died 2007) source
• March 22 – Yayoi Kusama, Japanese contemporary artist (died 2026) source
• May 4 – Audrey Hepburn, Belgian-born British actress and activist (died 1993) source
• 9 March – Werner Grossmann, East German deputy leader of the Ministry for State Security (died 2022) source
• March 9 – Jay Weston, American film producer and restaurant critic (died 2023) source
• Yasser Arafat, Palestine leader who served as President of Palestine between1989 to 2004. (died 2004) source
• 22 November – Keith Rayner, Anglican bishop (died 2025) source

What happened in 1929

• February 9 – "Litvinov's Pact" is signed in Moscow by the Soviet Union, Poland, Estonia, Romania and Latvia, who agree not to use force to settle disputes between themselves. source
• January 6 – 6 January Dictatorship: King Alexander of the Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes suspends his country's constitution. source
• 7 February – The Monetary Act lays down the gold standard for the Romanian leu. source
• January 10 – The first appearance of Hergé's Belgian comic book hero Tintin, as Tintin in the Land of the Soviets (Les Aventures de Tintin, reporter..., au pays des Soviets), begins serialization in the children's newspaper supplement, Le Petit Vingtième. source
• 27 March - The opening of Gueiren Agriculture School in Tainan Prefecture. source
• 21 January – Great fire in Istanbul source
• January 17 – The comic strip hero Popeye first appears in Thimble Theatre. source
• July 24 – Union Airways Pty. Ltd. is founded, to be nationalised as South African Airways, on 1 February 1934. source