March 29 History

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.


1461 – Wars of the Roses: Battle of Towton – Edward of York defeats Queen Margaret to become King Edward IV of England.
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 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.
1799 – New York passes a law aimed at gradually abolishing slavery in the state.
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: Bosniak 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: The Battle of Appomattox Court House 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 became 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 – World War II: British Royal Navy and Royal Australian Navy forces defeat those of the Italian Regia Marina off the Peloponnesus coast of Greece in the Battle of Cape Matapan.
1942 – The Bombing of Lübeck in World War II was 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.
1951 – Ethel and Julius Rosenberg are convicted of conspiracy to commit espionage.
1957 – The New York, Ontario and Western Railway makes its final run.
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: Lt. 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.
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.
1987 – WrestleMania III sets a world indoor attendance record at the Pontiac Silverdome with 93,173 fans.
1993 – Catherine Callbeck becomes premier of Prince Edward Island and Canada's first female to be elected in a general election as a premier.
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 – 35 Countries & over 370 cities join Earth Hour for the first time.

[edit] 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)
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)
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 Cardinal 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 Maurovic, Croatian illustrator (d. 1981)
1902 – Marcel Aymé, French writer (d. 1967)
1902 – William Walton, English composer (d. 1983)
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 – Tony Zale, American boxer (d. 1997)
1913 – R. S. Thomas, Welsh poet (d. 2000)
1914 – Phil Foster, American actor (d. 1985)
1916 – Eugene McCarthy, American politician (d. 2005)
1917 – Man o' War, American thoroughbred racehorse (d. 1947)
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)
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 – Yayoi Kusama, Japanese artist.
1929 – Richard Lewontin, American biologist
1929 – Utpal Dutt, Indian actor (d. 1993)
1931 – Aleksei Gubarev, Soviet cosmonaut
1931 – Norman Tebbit, British politician
1933 – Jacques Brault, French Canadian poet
1934 – Paul Crouch, American televangelist
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 – Eden Kane, British singer
1943 – Eric Idle, English actor, writer, and composer
1943 – Sir John Major, former 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 – Keith Simpson, British politician
1949 – Michael Brecker, American jazz saxophonist (d. 2007)
1949 – John Arthur Spenkelink, American murderer (d. 1979)
1949 – Dave Greenfield, English Keyboardist of The Stranglers
1952 – Teófilo Stevenson, Cuban boxer
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, Irish actor
1955 – Marina Sirtis, English actress
1956 – Patty Donahue, American singer (d. 1996)
1956 – Stephen Cole, English journalist
1956 – Kurt Thomas, American gymnast
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
1961 – Mike Kingery, American baseball player
1961 – Amy Sedaris, American actress and comedian
1961 – Gary Brabham, Australian racing driver
1964 – Michael A. Jackson, Maryland politician
1964 – Elle Macpherson, Australian model
1965 – William Oefelein, American Astronaut
1965 – Voula Patoulidou, Greek athlete
1965 – Emilios T. Harlaftis, Greek astrophysicist (d. 2005)
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, US White House Press Secretary
1971 – Lara Logan, South-African born journalist and reporter
1972 – Michel Ancel, French game designer
1972 – Rui Costa, Portugal footballer
1972 – Junichi Suwabe, Japanese voice actor
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 – Michael Kaczurak, American singer and actor
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
1985 – Maxim Lapierre, Canadian ice hockey forward
1985 – Mickey Pimentel, National Football League linebacker
1986 – Sylvan Ebanks-Blake, English footballer