/year

April 29 in history

168 sourced entries recorded on April 29, from 643 CE to 2024 CE. Every line is quoted from the revision it came from.

Events

  • 801Earthquake in Rome and Spoleto.source
  • 1091Battle of Levounion: Emperor Alexios I, supported by his allies, defeats 80,000 of Pechenegs (including women and children) at the Evros River, near Enos (modern Turkey). The Cumans and Byzantine forces fall upon the enemy camp, slaughtering all in their path. The Pechenegs are butchered so savagely, that this people is almost wiped out.source
  • 1187A delegation under Balian of Ibelin is sent to Tiberias, to reconcile with Raymond III, prince of Galilee. After Easter, a second delegation (supported by the Knights Templar and Knights Hospitaller) is sent to Tripoli, but the situation remains unchanged.source
  • 1384The Parliament of England opens a four-week session at Salisbury at the palace of the Bishop of Salisbury. Sir James Pickering is elected as Speaker of the House of Commons for the third consecutive time of his career.source
  • 1402Jingnan campaign: The Yan Army overwhelms the Imperial Army of Southern China at Linghi, capturing General Ping An.source
  • 1428The coronation of the Vietnamese rebel leader Le Loi as the King of Dai Viet takes place in Hanoi (at the time referred to as Thang Long). King Le Loi renames the Viet capital as "Dong Kinh".source
  • 1429Siege of Orléans: Joan of Arc enters Orléans with a relief expedition.source
  • 1429Joan of Arc arrives to relieve the siege of Orléans.source
  • 1483Gran Canaria, the main island of the Canary Islands, is conquered by the Kingdom of Castile, a very important step in the expansion of Spain. Of 4,000 Castilian troops, 800 are killed and 1,600 others are taken as prisoners of war.source
  • 1507French troops retake the city of Genoa after a seven-day siege, defeating rebels who had taken control in July 1506.source
  • 1514After a month of negotiations at Linz between the Holy Roman Empire and the Kingdom of Denmark, representatives of the two nations sign an alliance agreement, to be secured by the marriage of the Emperor's 13-year-old daughter Isabella, to the new King of Denmark, Christian II, along with payment of a dowry to King Christian of 250,000 Rhenish gulden, equivalent to $118,000,000 USD 500 years later.source
  • 1587Singeing the King of Spain's Beard: On his expedition against Spain, English sailor Sir Francis Drake leads a raid in the Bay of Cádiz, sinking or capturing at least 30 ships of the Spanish fleet, delaying by a year the sailing of the Spanish Armada for England.source
  • 1593Opening of conferences at Suresnes between the king and the deputies of the League.source
  • 1623A fleet of 11 Dutch ships depart for the coast of Peru, seeking to seize Spanish treasure.source
  • 1624Louis XIII of France appoints Cardinal Richelieu to the Conseil du Roi (Royal Council).source
  • 1624Louis XIII appoints Cardinal Richelieu to the Conseil du Roi (Royal Council).source
  • 1634Marquis of Aytona decrees amnesty for 1632 conspirators.source
  • 1636Dutch forces retake Schenkenschans.source
  • 1667April 29–May 1 – Second Anglo-Dutch War: A Dutch flotilla under Admiral van Ghent enters the Firth of Forth in Scotland and bombards Burntisland.source
  • 1670After more than four months, the papal conclave to elect a successor to the late Pope Clement IX selects Cardinal Emilio Altieri with 56 of the 59 votes. Altieri, 79 years old at the time, remains the oldest person ever to be elected pope. He announces that he will take the name of Pope Clement X in honor of Clement IX, who had made him a cardinal. He serves for six years until his death in 1676 shortly after his 86th birthday.source
  • 1680construction of the Royal Hospital Kilmainham in Dublin as a home for retired soldiers begins to the design of Sir William Robinson.source
  • 1705George Bull is consecrated Bishop of St David's.source
  • 1711A rabid wolf fatally injures two shepherds in Roncà, North Italy; it also attacks livestock.source
  • 1728John Essington, a member of the British House of Commons, is expelled from Commons after a successful petition to have him unseated. Essington, deep in debt, dies in Newgate Prison less than year later.source
  • 1734Act prohibits converts from Roman Catholicism to the Church of Ireland from educating their children in the old religion or from becoming Justices of Peace.source
  • 1734Act for relief of creditors of failed banks.source
  • 1745The French Navy frigate Renommée approaches the French colony of Nova Scotia, after having been dispatched to warn French forces at Louisbourg of the impending attack by British American forces. However, the Massachusetts privateer HMS Shirley Galley, commanded by John Rous, attacks the Renommée and forces it to sail away. The command at Louisbourg is thus not warned of the impending attack.source
  • 1751The sport of cricket is first played in the American colonies, as a team of New Yorkers plays against a team of Englishmen and defeats them, 167 to 80, in a match in Greenwich Village. Tom Melville, The Tented Field: A History of Cricket in America (Popular Press, 1998) p5source
  • 1757Inside the house at Stratford-upon-Avon in England known as Shakespeare's Birthplace, a bricklayer, identified only as "Mosely", re-tiling the roof, discovers a supposed pro-Catholic testament of John Shakespeare, father of William Shakespeare, more than 150 years after the elder's death. The finding starts "what remains one of the most controversial topics in Shakespeare studies" because of disagreements over its authenticity and date.source
  • 1758Battle of Cuddalore: A British fleet under Sir George Pocock engages the French fleet of Anne Antoine, Comte d'Aché indecisively near Madras.source
  • 1758the Wide Streets Commission (officially the Commissioners for making Wide and Convenient Ways, Streets and Passages) is established by the Parliament Street Act 1757 (31 Geo. 2. c. 19 (I)) at the request of Dublin Corporation to govern standards on the layout of streets, bridges, buildings and other architectural considerations, influential in the creation of Georgian Dublin.source
  • 1760Representatives of the remaining Penobscot Indian tribes in Maine and New Brunswick make peace with the British at Fort Pownal in Newfoundland.source
  • 1769Scottish inventor James Watt is granted a British patent for "A method of lessening the consumption of steam in steam engines" – the separate condenser, a key improvement (first devised by Watt in 1765) and the basis for the Watt steam engine which stimulates the Industrial Revolution.source
  • 1769James Watt is granted a British patent for "A method of lessening the consumption of steam in steam engines" – the separate condenser, a key improvement (first devised by Watt in 1765 in Glasgow) which stimulates the Industrial Revolution. In September he completes a full-size experimental engine at Kinneil House.source
  • 1770First voyage of James Cook: Captain Cook drops anchor on HMS Endeavour in a wide bay, about 16 km (10 mi) south of the present city of Sydney, Australia. Because the young botanist on board the ship, Joseph Banks, discovers 30,000 specimens of plant life in the area, 1,600 of them unknown to European science, Cook names the place Botany Bay on May 7.source
  • 1776Benjamin Franklin, Samuel Chase and Rev. John Carroll, a Jesuit, urge Canadians to send delegates to Congress, promising toleration. Franklin brings a printer and press, for a newspaper, to mould public opinion. Canadians regard Franklin as an enemy, and the priests remind Father Carroll that, unlike some of the Provinces, Britain tolerates the Romish Church.source
  • 1780American Revolutionary War: The Spanish commander of the Fortress of the Immaculate Conception on the San Juan River in modern-day Nicaragua surrenders it to the British San Juan Expedition.source
  • 1789Joseph II's government in Brussels issues a decree establishing rural representation in the Third Estate of the States of Brabant and abolishing their right to veto taxes.source
  • 1789The Mutiny on the Bounty occurs; Captain William Bligh and 18 others are cast adrift.source
  • 1791April 29–May 8 – The first American ships reach Japan, brigantine Lady Washington captained by John Kendrick of Boston, and the brig Grace.source
  • 1794April 29–May 1 – Battle of Boulou: The French defeat the Spanish and Portuguese forces.source
  • 1794April 29-May 1 - Second Battle of Boulousource
  • 1805Rutger Jan Schimmelpenninck is appointed as Grand Pensionary of the Batavian Republic by Napoleon.source
  • 1817The Rush–Bagot Treaty is signed between the United States and the British Empire, limiting the number of warships on the Great Lakes between the U.S. and Canada in the aftermath of settling the War of 1812.source
  • 1818Arbuthnot and Ambrister incident – Alexander George Arbuthnot and Robert Ambrister are captured by Andrew Jackson's forces and later executed for aiding the Spanish and the Seminoles.source
  • 1827The Fly Whisk Incident in Ottoman Algeria: Hussein Dey slaps French consul Pierre Deval on the face, eventually leading to the Invasion of Algiers in 1830.source
  • 1848Pope Pius IX publishes an allocution announcing his refusal to support Piedmont-Sardinia in its war with Austria, and dispelling hopes that he might serve as ruler of a pan-Italian republic. The allocution, by which Pius is seen to withdraw his moral support for the Italian unification movement, is a key first step in the soon-to-be crushing reaction against the revolutions of 1848.source
  • 1849Brig Hannah carrying emigrants from Newry in Ireland fleeing the Great Famine to Canada hits ice and sinks in the Gulf of St. Lawrence and her senior officers abandon the passengers to their fate. Around one-third of those on board, 49, die.source
  • 1849Brig Hannah carrying emigrants from Newry fleeing the Great Famine to Canada hit ice and sank in the Gulf of St. Lawrence and her senior officers abandoned the passengers to their fate. Around one-third of those on board, 49, died.source
  • 1856The iron-hulled paddle steamer RMS Persia concludes a 9-day 16 hour westbound transatlantic crossing, at an average 13.11 knots (24.28 km/h), regaining the Blue Riband for the Cunard Line.source
  • 1858April 28–May 1 – Battle of Grahovac: The Ottomans are decisively defeated by Montenegrin forces. The Bawani Imli massacre, (April 28) where 52 Indian freedom fighters were hanged to death on a tamarind tree by British colonial forces.source
  • 1859Austrian troops begin to cross the Ticino River to Piedmont.source
  • 1868General William Tecumseh Sherman brokers the Treaty of Fort Laramie, between the federal government of the United States and the Plains Indians.source
  • 1870The Chicago Base Ball Club, later to be known as the Chicago White Stockings and ultimately the Chicago Cubs, play their first game against the St. Louis Unions of the National Association of Base Ball Players, an amateur league.source
  • 1880At the United Kingdom general election, Wales elects 28 Liberal MPs. David Davies, Llandinam, is returned unopposed as member for Cardigan.source
  • 1882The Elektromote, the world's first trolleybus, begins operation in Berlin.source
  • 1882the Electromote was the world's first vehicle run like a trolleybus, which was first presented to the public on April 29, 1882, by its inventor Ernst Werner von Siemens in Halensee, a suburb of Berlin, Germany.source
  • 1894Opening of the Roma San Pietro railway station (Stazione di Roma San Pietro) in Rome.source
  • 1898The Paris Auto Show, the first large-scale commercial vehicle exhibition show, is held in Tuileries Garden.source
  • 1899In the U.S., several hundred miners capture a railroad train at Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, arm themselves with guns and dynamite, and advance on the town of Wardner, Idaho, destroying property of mining ccompanies that employ non-unon labor.source
  • 1901Anti-Semitic rioting breaks out in Budapest.source
  • 1903The 30-million-m 3 Frank Slide rockslide kills 70–90 in Frank, Alberta.source
  • 1903The 7.0 Ms Manzikert earthquake affects eastern Turkey, leaving 3,500 dead.source
  • 1903The Frank Slide, The most destructive landslide in Canadian history, kills 70 in Frank, District of Alberta, North-West Territoriessource
  • 1906Belgium national football team play against Netherlands national football team at Antwerp, winning 5–0. Robert De Veen scored a hat-trick in the second half.source
  • 1911Establishment of Tsinghua Universitysource
  • 1916April 24–30 – The Easter Rising occurs in Ireland. Members of the Irish Republican Brotherhood proclaim an Irish Republic, and the Irish Volunteers and Irish Citizen Army occupy the General Post Office and other buildings in Dublin, before surrendering to the British Army. A total of 485 Irish Volunteers, British soldiers and Irish civilians were killed as well as 2,200 wounded and 16 rebel leaders would be executed.source
  • 1916WWI: Mesopotamian campaign – The Siege of Kut ends with the surrender of British Indian Army forces to the Ottoman Empire at Kut-al-Amara on the Tigris in Basra Vilayet.source
  • 1919The Hebrew Scouts Movement is established.source
  • 1920Welwyn Garden City established by Ebenezer Howard. The first house is occupied just before Christmas.source
  • 1923In the general election to elect members to all 409 seats in the Congress of Deputies, the Liberals take power from the Conservatives in accordance with the turno system.source
  • 1927April 22–May 5 – The Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 strikes 700,000 people, in the greatest natural disaster in American history through this time.source
  • 1932Korean pro-independence paramilitary Yun Bong-gil detonates a bomb at a gathering of Japanese government and military officials in Shanghai's Hongkou Park, killing General Yoshinori Shirakawa and injuring Mamoru Shigemitsu and Vice Admiral Kichisaburō Nomura.source
  • 1935The first edition of the Vuelta a España is raced, and goes on to become one of the 3 Grand Tours of road bicycle racing.source
  • 1945General Federation of Belgian Labour founded.source
  • 1945Adolf Hitler marries his longtime mistress Eva Braun, in a closed civil ceremony in the Berlin Führerbunker, and signs his last will and testament.source
  • 1946Trials against war criminals begin in Tokyo; the accused include Hideki Tojo, Shigenori Tōgō and Hiroshi Ōshima.source
  • 1958Food poisoning caused by leakage of Folidol during transportation kills 74 in a Lok Sahayak Sena camp at Sasthamkotta, Kerala.source
  • 1963Buddy Rogers becomes the first WWWF Champion.source
  • 1963Grand Duchess Charlotte pays a state visit to the United States until 4 May.source
  • 1964Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) inaugurates regular scheduled flights from Karachi to Shanghai via Dacca and Canton using a Boeing 720B, becoming the first airline of a non-communist country to fly to the People's Republic of China.source
  • 1964A Nord 2501D Noratlas (4X-FAD/044) of the IAF crashes into a mountain near Mitzpe Ramon, killing all 9 occupants. The crash is currently Israel's deadliest.source
  • 1967Fidel Castro announces that all intellectual property belongs to the people and that Cuba intends to translate and publish technical literature without compensation.source
  • 1970Cambodian campaign: The U.S. incursion into Cambodia begins.source
  • 1972An uprising in Burundi by the Hutu people against the Tutsi-dominated government, began with machete attacks that killed more than 3,000 Tutsi civilians and soldiers. In the words of one observer, "the ferocity of the ensuing repression by the army was beyond imagination", with more than 100,000 Hutus being massacred over the next five months. In the genocide that followed, educated Hutu people—schoolchildren, college students, civil servants—were murdered, "especially anyone wearing glasses".source
  • 1972The fourth anniversary of the Broadway musical Hair is celebrated with a free concert at a Central Park bandshell, followed by dinner at the Four Seasons. There, 13 Black Panther protesters and the show's co-author, Jim Rado, are arrested for disturbing the peace and for using marijuana.source
  • 1975Vietnam War: North Vietnam concludes its East Sea Campaign by capturing all of the Spratly Islands that were being held by South Vietnam.source
  • 1976Sino-Soviet split: A concealed bomb explodes at the gates of the Soviet embassy in China, killing four Chinese. The targets were embassy employees, returning from lunch, but on this day they had returned to the embassy earlier.source
  • 1978April 18– 30 – The Khmer Rouge massacres 3,157 civilians in Ba Chúc, Vietnam.source
  • 1983Erich Honecker cancels planned goodwill visit to Bonn due to escalating nuclear tensions.source
  • 1986The diamond jubilee of Hirohito is held at the Ryōgoku Kokugikan in Tokyo.source
  • 1991A 7.0 Mw earthquake in Racha, Georgia, kills 270 people and leaves 100,000 others homeless.source
  • 1991A tropical cyclone hits Bangladesh, killing an estimated 138,000 people.source
  • 19911991 Bangladesh cyclone kills more than 138,000.source
  • 199129 April – 3 May – A UNESCO seminar was held in Windhoek, where the Windhoek Declaration for the Development of a Free, Independent and Pluralistic Press was made.source
  • 1992Los Angeles riots: The acquittal of four policemen in the Rodney King beating criminal trial triggers massive rioting in Los Angeles. The riots will last for six days resulting in 63 deaths and over $1 billion in damages before order is restored by the military.source
  • 1992A series of attacks on civilians occur in the villages of Alanchipothana, Karapola, Madurangala and Muthugal in the eastern Polonnaruwa District, killing 157.source
  • 1992April 29–May 4 – In Simi Valley, California, a jury acquits four LAPD police officers accused of excessive force in the videotaped beating of black motorist Rodney King, causing the 1992 Los Angeles riots and leading to 53 deaths and $1 billion in damage.source
  • 1997The Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), CWC treaty enters into force.source
  • 2005Chad joins the Arab League as an observer state.source
  • 2008Grand Theft Auto IV is released worldwide, selling over 3.6 million units and earning $310 million during the first day, becoming not only the highest grossing video game release of all time, but also the highest grossing entertainment product release ever.source
  • 2008April 27 – 30 – Local elections were held in the country.source
  • 2010The highest win in the Lotto was won in Elbląg and totalled 24 636 124.00 PLN.source
  • 2011An estimated two billion people watch the wedding of Prince William, Duke of Cambridge and Catherine Middleton at Westminster Abbey in London.source
  • 2013A powerful explosion badly damaged an office building in the center of Prague, injuring up to 43 people.source
  • 2015The World Health Organization (WHO) declares that rubella has been eradicated from the Americas.source
  • 2019Elusive Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi appears in undated footage released by the group, his first appearance on video since 2014.source
  • 2020(52768) 1998 OR2, a near-Earth asteroid that is 2 kilometers (1.2 mi) wide, makes a close approach of 0.042 AU (6.3 million km; 16 LD) to Earth. It will not approach closer than this until 2079.source
  • 2021The China National Space Administration launches the first module of its Tiangong space station, named Tianhe, beginning a two-year effort to build the station in orbit.source
  • 2022A high court in Malawi convicts five people of killing an albino man and seven more people of selling the man's body parts. The body parts are desired by some local residents, who believe that they can bring luck and wealth.source
  • 2024Floods in the Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul cause dozens of deaths and leave thousands homeless.source

Births

  • 1469William II, Landgrave of Hesse (died 1509)source
  • 1631Joseph Bridger, Colonial Governor of Virginia (died 1686)source
  • 1665James Butler, 2nd Duke of Ormonde, Irish statesman and soldier (died 1745)source
  • 1667John Arbuthnot, English physician and writer (died 1735)source
  • 1745Oliver Ellsworth, American founding father and 3rd Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court (died 1807)source
  • 1762Jean-Baptiste Jourdan, French marshal (died 1833)source
  • 1764Ann Hatton ("Ann of Swansea"), English novelist (died 1838)source
  • 1780Charles Nodier, French author (died 1844)source
  • 1843Pedro Américo, Brazilian novelist, poet, scientist, art theorist, essayist, philosopher, politician and professor (died 1905)source
  • 1854Henri Poincaré, French mathematician, physicist (died 1912)source
  • 1863William Randolph Hearst, American newspaper publisher (died 1951)source
  • 1879Sir Thomas Beecham, English conductor (died 1961)source
  • 1899Duke Ellington, African-American jazz musician, bandleader (died 1974)source
  • 1901Hirohito, Emperor of Japan (died 1989)source
  • 1933Willie Nelson, American singer, songwriter, musician, actor, producer, author, poet and activistsource
  • 1938Bernard Madoff, American financial fraudster (died 2021)source
  • 1951Dale Earnhardt, American race car driver (died 2001)source
  • 1958Michelle Pfeiffer, American actresssource
  • 1968Darren Matthews, English professional wrestlersource
  • 1970Andre Agassi, American tennis playersource
  • 1974Anggun, Indonesian-French singer-songwritersource
  • 1978Bob and Mike Bryan, American doubles tennis teamsource

Deaths

  • 643Hou Junji, chancellor of the Tang dynastysource
  • 926Burchard II, duke of Swabiasource
  • 1273Al-Qurtubi, Moorish scholar and writer (born 1214)source
  • 1282Guillaume de Bray, French prelate and cardinalsource
  • 1380Saint Catherine of Siena, Italian theologian (born 1347)source
  • 1386The Lithuanian Army, led by Skirgaila, conquers the Principality of Smolensk in the Battle of the Vikhra River.Prince Sviatoslav IV, who had supported a rebellion by Grand Duke Jolaila's younger brother Andrei of Polotsk, is killed in combat and Smolensk becomes a vassal state of Lithuania.source
  • 1417Louis II, Duke of Anjou, and former claimant to being King of Naples, dies at the age of 39 and is succeeded by his 13-year-old son, Louis III.source
  • 1417Louis II of Anjou (born 1377)source
  • 1417Louis II of Naples, French-born ruler (born 1377)source
  • 1557Lautaro, Mapuche warrior (born 1534)source
  • 1573Guillaume Le Testu, French privateer (born 1509)source
  • 1608Maria Anna of Bavaria (born 1551)source
  • 1630Agrippa d'Aubigné, French poet and soldier (born 1552)source
  • 1630Agrippa d'Aubigné, poet, soldier and chronicler (born 1552)source
  • 1655Cornelis Schut, Flemish painter, draughtsman and engraver (born 1597)source
  • 1655Cornelis Schut (born 1597), paintersource
  • 1676Michiel de Ruyter, Dutch admiral (born 1607)source
  • 1688Friedrich Wilhelm, Elector of Brandenburg (born 1620)source
  • 1707George Farquhar, Irish dramatist (born 1677)source
  • 1729Sir Stephen Glynne, 3rd Baronet, 64source
  • 1752Matthew Michell, English politician (born 1705)source
  • 1760James Davies, Independent ministersource
  • 1767Sir John Morgan, 4th Baronet, of Llangattock, politician, 56source
  • 1771Francesco Bartolomeo Rastrelli, Italian architect who worked mainly in Russia. (born 1700)source
  • 1784Agustín de Jáuregui, Spanish colonial governor (born 1711)source
  • 1793John Michell, English scientist (born 1724)source
  • 1798Nikolaus Poda von Neuhaus, German entomologist (born 1723)source
  • 1815James Stuart, 73, British Army officersource
  • 1827Deborah Sampson, first American female soldier (born 1760)source
  • 1827Rufus King, American lawyer, politician and diplomat (born 1755)source
  • 1854Henry Paget, 1st Marquess of Anglesey, British general (born 1768)source
  • 1912Subh-i-Azal, Persian religious leader.source
  • 1951Ludwig Wittgenstein, Austrian philosopher (born 1889)source
  • 1980Sir Alfred Hitchcock, 80, English filmmaker (Psycho, The Birds, North by Northwest), kidney failure.source
  • 2001Babu Chiri Sherpa, mountaineersource