Historical Events and Current Affairs on July 29

1014: Byzantine-Bulgarian Wars: Battle of Kleidion: Byzantine emperor Basil II inflicts a decisive defeat on the Bulgarian army, and his subsequent savage treatment of 15,000 prisoners reportedly causes Tsar Samuil of Bulgaria to die of shock.
1030: Ladejarl-Fairhair succession wars: Battle of Stiklestad - King Olaf II fights and dies trying to regain his Norwegian throne from the Danes.
1565: Mary Queen of Scots, widowed, marries Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley, Duke of Albany at Holyrood Palace in Edinburgh, Scotland.
1567: James VI is crowned King of Scotland at Stirling.
1588: Anglo-Spanish War: Battle of Gravelines - English naval forces under command of Lord Charles Howard and Sir Francis Drake defeats the Spanish Armada off the coast of Gravelines, France.
1693: War of the Grand Alliance: Battle of Landen - France wins a Pyrrhic victory over Allied forces in the Netherlands.
1793: John Graves Simcoe decides to build a fort and settlement at Toronto, having sailed into the bay there.
1830: Abdication of Charles X of France.
1836: Inauguration of the Arc de Triomphe in Paris.
1847: Cumberland School of Law founded in Lebanon, Tennessee, USA. At the end of 1847 only 15 law schools exist in the United States.
1848: Irish Potato Famine: Tipperary Revolt - In Tipperary, an unsuccessful nationalist revolt against British rule is put down by police.
1851: Annibale de Gasparis discovers asteroid 15 Eunomia.
1858: United States and Japan sign the Harris Treaty.
1864: American Civil War: Confederate spy Belle Boyd is arrested by Union troops and detained at the Old Capitol Prison in Washington, DC.
1899: The First Hague Convention is signed.
1900: In Italy, King Umberto I of Italy is assassinated by Italian-born anarchist Gaetano Bresci.
1907: Sir Robert Baden-Powell sets up the Brownsea Island Scout camp in Poole Harbour on the south coast of England. The camp ran from August 1-9,
1920: Construction of the Link River Dam begins as part of the Klamath Reclamation Project.
1921: Adolf Hitler becomes leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party.
1932: Great Depression: In Washington, DC, U.S. troops disperse the last of the Bonus Army of World War I veterans.
1937: Tongzhou Incident
1945: The BBC Light Programme radio station was launched for mainstream light entertainment and music.
1948: Olympic Games: The Games of the XIV Olympiad - After a hiatus of 12 years caused by World War II, the first Summer Olympics to be held since the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin opened in London.
1957: The International Atomic Energy Agency is established.
1958: President Dwight D. Eisenhower signs into law the National Aeronautics and Space Act, which creates the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).
1959: First Congressional elections in Hawaii as a state of the Union.
1965: Vietnam War: The first 4,000 101st Airborne Division paratroopers arrive in Vietnam, landing at Cam Ranh Bay.
1967: At the fourth day of celebrating its 400th anniversary, the city of Caracas, Venezuela was shaken by an earthquake, leaving approximately 50
1967: Vietnam War: Off the coast of North Vietnam the USS Forrestal catches on fire in the worst U.S. naval disaster since World War II, killing 1
1976: In New York City, the Son of Sam kills one person and seriously wounds another in the first of a series of attacks.
1981: Marriage of Prince Charles to Lady Diana Spencer
1987: British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and President of France François Mitterrand sign the agreement to build the tunnel under the English Channel (Eurotunnel).
1987: Prime Minister of India Rajiv Gandhi and Sri Lankan President J. R. Jayawardene sign the Indo-Lankan Pact on ethnic issues.
1993: The Israeli Supreme Court acquits accused Nazi death camp guard John Demjanjuk of all charges and he is set free.
1996: The controversial child protection portion of the Communications Decency Act (1996) is struck down as too broad by a U.S. federal court.
2005: Astronomers announce their discovery of Eris.
2007: The ruling coalition of Japan lost its majority in the upper house after the election.

News Updates

Birthdays

Death Days

Events