May 29

May 29 in recent years

2024 (Wednesday)

2023 (Monday)

2022 (Sunday)

2021 (Saturday)

2020 (Friday)

2019 (Wednesday)

2018 (Tuesday)

2017 (Monday)

2016 (Sunday)

2015 (Friday)

May 29 is the 149th day of the year (150th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar; 216 days remain until the end of the year.

Events

• 363 – Roman Emperor Julian defeats the Sassanid army in the Battle of Ctesiphon, under the walls of the Sassanid capital, but is unable to take the city.
• 1167 – Battle of Monte Porzio – A Roman army supporting Pope Alexander III is defeated by Christian of Buch and Rainald of Dassel
• 1176 – Battle of Legnano, in which the Lombard League defeats Emperor Frederick I.
• 1414 – Council of Constance.
• 1453 – Byzantine-Ottoman Wars: Ottoman armies under Sultan Mehmed II Fatih capture Constantinople after a siege, ending the Byzantine Empire.
• 2008Computer programmers forum was founded
• 1660 – English Restoration: Charles II (on his birthday – see below) is restored to the throne of Great Britain.
• 1677 – Treaty of Middle Plantation establishes peace between the Virginia colonists and the local Indians.
• 1727 – Peter II becomes Tsar of Russia.
• 1733 – The right of Canadians to keep Indian slaves is upheld at Quebec City.
• 1780 – American Revolutionary War - Battle of Waxhaws: Lieutenant Colonel Banastre Tarleton massacres Colonel Abraham Buford's continentals allegedly after the continentals surrender. 113 Americans are killed.
• 1790 – Rhode Island becomes the last of the original United States colonies to ratify the Constitution and is admitted as the 13th U.S. state.
• 1848 – Wisconsin is admitted as the 30th U.S. state.
• 1864 – Emperor Maximilian of Mexico arrives in Mexico for the first time.
• 1867 – The Austro-Hungarian agreement known as Ausgleich ("the Compromise") is born through Act 12, which establishes the Austro-Hungarian Empire; on June 8 Emperor Franz Joseph is crowned King of Hungary.
• 1868 – The assassination of Michael Obrenovich III, Prince of Serbia, in Belgrade.
• 1886 – Chemist John Pemberton places his first advertisement for Coca-Cola, the ad appearing in the Atlanta Journal.
• 1903 – May coup d'etat: Alexander Obrenovich, King of Serbia, and Queen Draga, are assassinated in Belgrade by the Black Hand (Crna Ruka) organization.
• 1913 – Igor Stravinsky's ballet score The Rite of Spring is premiered in Paris, provoking a riot.
• 1914 – Ocean liner RMS Empress of Ireland sinks in the Gulf of St. Lawrence; 1,024 lives lost.
• 1919 – Einstein's theory of general relativity is tested (later confirmed) by Arthur Eddington's observation of a total solar eclipse in Principe and by Andrew Crommelin in Sobral, Ceará, Brazil.
• 1919 – The Republic of Prekmurje founded
• 1924 – AEK Athens FC is established on the anniversary of the siege of Constantinople by the Turks.
• 1932 – World War I Veterans begin to assemble in Washington, DC in the Bonus Army to request cash bonuses promised to them to be paid in 1945.
• 1942 – Bing Crosby, the Ken Darby Singers and the John Scott Trotter Orchestra record Irving Berlin's "White Christmas", the best-selling Christmas album in history, for Decca Records in Los Angeles.
• 1948 – Creation of the United Nations Peacekeeping Force the United Nations Truce Supervision Organisation
• 1950 – St. Roch, first ship to circumnavigate North America, arrives in Halifax, Nova Scotia .
• 1953 – Sir Edmund Hillary and Sherpa Tenzing Norgay are the first people to reach the summit of Mount Everest, on Tenzing Norgay's (adopted) 39th birthday.
• 1954 – First of the annual Bilderberg conferences.
• 1964 – The Arab League meets in East Jerusalem to discuss the Palestinian situation in Israel, leading to the formation of the Palestinian Liberation Organization.
• 1969 – General strike in Córdoba, Argentina, leading to the Cordobazo civil unrest.
• 1972 – 26 people are killed and dozens more injured when three Japanese gunmen open fire on crowds at Lod International Airport in Tel Aviv, Israel.
• 1973 – Tom Bradley is elected the first black mayor of Los Angeles, California.
• 1982 – Pope John Paul II becomes the first pontiff ever to visit Canterbury Cathedral.
• 1985 – Heysel Stadium disaster: At the European Cup final in Brussels, Belgium, 39 football fans die and hundreds are injured when a dilapidated retaining wall collapses after Liverpool F.C. fans breach a fence separating them from Juventus F.C. fans.
• 1985 – Amputee Steve Fonyo completes cross-Canada marathon at Victoria, British Columbia, after 14 months.
• 1988 – U.S. President Ronald Reagan begins his first visit to the Soviet Union as he arrives in Moscow for a superpower summit with Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev.
• 1990 – Boris Yeltsin is elected president of the Russian SFSR by the Russian parliament.
• 1999 – Olusegun Obasanjo takes office as President of Nigeria, the first elected and civilian head of state in Nigeria after 16 years of military rule.
• 1999 – Space Shuttle Discovery completes the first docking with the International Space Station.
• 1999 – Charlotte Perrelli wins the Eurovision Song Contest 1999 for Sweden in Jerusalem, Israel with the song Take Me to Your Heaven.
• 2001 – U.S. Supreme Court rules that disabled golfer Casey Martin can use a cart to ride in tournaments.
• 2001 – International Day of United Nations Peacekeepers inaugurated.
• 2004 – The World War II Memorial is dedicated in Washington, D.C.

Births

• 1594 – Gottfried Heinrich Graf zu Pappenheim, Bavarian general (d. 1632)
• 1627 – Anne, Duchess of Montpensier, French writer and Princess(d. 1693)
• 1630 – Charles II of England (d. 1685)
• 1675 – Humphry Ditton, English mathematician (d. 1715)
• 1716 – Louis-Jean-Marie Daubenton, French naturalist (d. 1800)
• 1722 – James FitzGerald, 1st Duke of Leinster, Irish politician (d. 1773)
• 1736 – Patrick Henry, American patriot, statesman, and orator (d. 1799)
• 1773 – Princess Sophia of Gloucester (d. 1844)
• 1794 – Johann Heinrich von Mädler, German astronomer (d. 1874)
• 1823 – John H. Balsley, American carpenter (d. 1895)
• 1860 – Isaac Albéniz, Spanish composer (d. 1909)
• 1863 – Arthur Mold, English cricketer (d. 1921)
• 1874 – G. K. Chesterton, English novelist (d. 1936)
• 1880 – Oswald Spengler, German philosopher (d. 1936)
• 1892 – Alfonsina Storni, Argentine writer (d. 1938)
• 1893 – Max Brand, American author and war correspondent (d. 1944)
• 1894 – Beatrice Lillie, Canadian actress (d. 1989)
• 1894 – Josef von Sternberg, Austrian-born writer and film director (d. 1969)
• 1897 – Erich Wolfgang Korngold, Austrian composer (d. 1957)
• 1903 – Bob Hope, British-born comedian and actor (d. 2003)
• 1905 – Sebastian Shaw, English actor (d. 1994)
• 1906 – T.H. White, British author (d. 1964)
• 1907 – Hartland Molson, Canadian businessman and senator (d. 2002)
• 1911 – Armida, Mexican-American stage, vaudeville and film star (d. 1989)
• 1913 – Tony Zale, American boxer (d. 1997)
• 1914 – Stacy Keach, Sr., American actor (d. 2003)
• 1915 – Karl Münchinger, German conductor (d. 1990)
• 1917 – John F. Kennedy, 35th President of the United States (d. 1963)
• 1920 – John Harsanyi, Hungarian-born economist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2000)
• 1922 – Iannis Xenakis, Greek composer and architect, major contributor to musical modernism (d. 2001)
• 1924 – Lars Bo, Danish artist and writer (d. 1999)
• 1926 – Charles Denner, French actor (d. 1995)
• 1927 – Jean Coutu, Quebec businessman (Jean Coutu Group)
• 1929 – Harry Frankfurt, American philosopher
• 1932 – Richie Guerin, former basketball player
• 1932 – Paul R. Ehrlich, American biologist and author who founded the group Zero Population Growth
• 1933 – Helmuth Rilling, German conductor
• 1937 – Charles W. Pickering, American judge
• 1937 – Irmin Schmidt, German musician (Can)
• 1938 – Fay Vincent, baseball commissioner
• 1939 – Al Unser, Sr., American race car driver
• 1940 – Farooq Leghari, President of Pakistan
• 1941 – Doug Scott, British mountaineer
• 1942 – Pierre Bourque, Former mayor of Montreal
• 1942 – Kevin Conway, American actor
• 1943 – Robert W. Edgar, Theologian
• 1945 – Gary Brooker, musician (Procol Harum)
• 1946 – Fernando Buesa, Basque politician (d. 2000)
• 1947 – Gene Robinson, American ecclesiastic
• 1947 – Anthony Geary, American actor
• 1948 – Nick Mancuso, Italian-Canadian actor
• 1949 – Brian Kidd, English footballer
• 1950 – Rebbie Jackson, American musician
• 1951 – Peter Chernin, President of News Corporation
• 1953 – Danny Elfman, American musician (Oingo Boingo)
• 1953 – Aleksandr Abdulov, Russian actor (d. 2008)
• 1955 – John Hinckley, Jr., American attempted assassin
• 1955 – Sut Jhally, Kenyan-born American educator
• 1955 – Ken Schrader, American race car driver
• 1956 – LaToya Jackson, American musician
• 1957 – Jeb Hensarling, Current Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Texas
• 1957 – Ted Levine, American actor
• 1958 – Annette Bening, American actress
• 1958 – Willem Holleeder, Dutch criminal
• 1959 – Rupert Everett, English actor
• 1959 – Adrian Paul, English actor
• 1961 – Melissa Etheridge, American musician
• 1962 – Eric Davis, American baseball player
• 1962 – John D. LeMay, American actor
• 1962 – Fandi Ahmad, Singapore footballer
• 1963 – Blaze Bayley, British singer (ex-Iron Maiden)
• 1963 – Tracey E. Bregman, American actress
• 1963 – Ukyo Katayama, Japanese racing driver
• 1963 – Lisa Whelchel, American actress
• 1964 – Howard Mills III, New York State politician
• 1967 – Noel Gallagher, English musician (Oasis)
• 1967 – Mike Keane, Canadian hockey player
• 1969 – Chan Kinchla, Canadian musician (Blues Traveler)
• 1970 – Natarsha Belling, Australian news presenter
• 1971 – Eric Lucas, Quebec professional boxer
• 1972 – Közi, Japanese visual kei artist
• 1972 – Stanislas Renoult, French singer
• 1972 – Bill Curley, American basketball player
• 1973 – Anthony Azizi, American actor
• 1973 – Mark Lee, American musician (guitarist for Third Day)
• 1973 – Alpay Özalan, Turkish footballer
• 1974 – Myf Warhurst, Australian radio presenter on Triple J and TV personality on Spicks and Specks
• 1974 – Marc Gené, Spanish Formula One driver
• 1975 – Melanie Brown, English musician and actress
• 1975 – Daniel Tosh, American comedian
• 1975 – Anthony Wall, English golfer
• 1976 – David Buckner, American musician (Papa Roach)
• 1976 – Caçapa, Brazilian footballer
• 1976 – Jerry Hairston Jr., American baseball player
• 1976 – Yūsuke Iseya, Japanese model and actor
• 1977 – Antonio Lebo-Lebo, Angolan footballer
• 1977 – Massimo Ambrosini, Italian footballer
• 1977 – Danny Gerard, American actor
• 1978 – Pelle Almqvist, Swedish musician (The Hives)
• 1978 – Sébastien Grosjean, French tennis player
• 1978 – Lorenzo Odone, American patient (d. 2008)
• 1978 – Adam Rickitt,British/New Zealand actor
• 1979 – Brian Kendrick, American professional wrestler
• 1979 – Arne Friedrich, German football player
• 1979 – John Rheinecker, Major League Baseball player
• 1979 – Casey Sheehan, American soldier; son of Cindy Sheehan (d. 2004)
• 1979 – Ahmad Latiff, Singapore footballer
• 1981 – Andrei Arshavin, Russian footballer
• 1982 – Ana Beatriz Barros, Brazilian model
• 1982 – Joanne Borgella, American plus-sized model and singer
• 1982 – Matt Macri, American baseball player
• 1984 – Carmelo Anthony, American basketball player
• 1986 – Dylan Postl, American professional wrestler
• 1986 – Jaslene Gonzalez, Puerto Rican/American fashion model
• 1986 – Valy Hedjasi, Afghan singer
• 1987 – Alessandra Toreson, American actress
• 1987 – Kelvin Maynard, Dutch football player
• 1989 – Danielle Riley Keough, American actress
• 1991 – Kristen Alderson, American actress

Deaths

• 1259 – King Christopher I of Denmark (b. 1219)
• 1379 – King Henry II of Castile (b. 1334)
• 1405 – Philippe de Mézières, advisor to Charles V of France
• 1425 – Hongxi Emperor of China (b. 1378)
• 1453 – Constantine XI Palaeologus, last Byzantine Emperor (b. 1404)
• 1500 – Bartolomeu Dias, Portuguese explorer
• 1546 – David Beaton, Scottish Catholic cardinal
• 1593 – John Penry, Welsh Protestant leader (b. 1559)
• 1660 – Frans van Schooten, Dutch mathematician (b. 1615)
• 1691 – Cornelis Tromp, Dutch admiral (b. 1629)
• 1790 – Israel Putnam, American Revolutionary War general (b. 1718)
• 1796 – Carl Fredrik Pechlin, Swedish politician (b. 1720)
• 1814 – Joséphine de Beauharnais, Empress of France (b. 1763)
• 1829 – Humphry Davy, English chemist (b. 1778)
• 1847 – Emmanuel, marquis de Grouchy, French marshal (b. 1766)
• 1866 – Winfield Scott, American general (b. 1786)
• 1868 – Michael Obrenovich III, Prince of Serbia (b. 1823)
• 1882 – Vasily Perov, Russian painter (b. 1833)
• 1892 – Bahá'u'lláh, Persian founder of the Bahá'í Faith (b. 1817)
• 1896 – Gabriel Auguste Daubrée, French geologist (b. 1814)
• 1903 – Draga Mašin, Queen of Serbia (b. 1864)
• 1903 – Bruce Price, American architect (b. 1845)
• 1910 – Mily Balakirev, Russian composer (b. 1837)
• 1911 – William S. Gilbert, English dramatist (b. 1836)
• 1917 – Kate Harrington, American teacher, writer and poet (b. 1831)
• 1919 – Robert Bacon, 39th United States Secretary of State (b. 1860)
• 1935 – Josef Suk, Czech composer and violinist (b. 1874)
• 1939 – Ursula Julia Ledochowska, Polish-Austrian Catholic saint (b. 1865)
• 1942 – John Barrymore, American actor (b. 1882)
• 1946 – Martin Gottfried Weiss, Commandant of Dachau concentration camp (b. 1905)
• 1948 – Dame May Whitty, English actress (b. 1865)
• 1951 – Fanny Brice, American singer/comedian (b. 1891)
• 1953 – Man Mountain Dean, American professional wrestler (b. 1891)
• 1958 – Juan Ramón Jiménez, Spanish writer, Nobel laureate (b. 1881)
• 1970 – John Gunther, American writer (b. 1901)
• 1972 – Moe Berg, American baseball player and spy (b. 1902)
• 1972 – Stephen Timoshenko, Ukrainian-born mechanical engineer (b. 1878)
• 1973 – P. Ramlee, Malaysian film actor, director, singer and songwriter. (b. 1929)
• 1977 – Ba Maw, Burmese politician (b. 1893)
• 1979 – Mary Pickford, Canadian-born American actress and studio founder (b. 1892)
• 1979 – John H. Wood, Jr., American federal judge (b. 1916)
• 1982 – Romy Schneider, Austrian actress (b. 1938)
• 1983 – Arvīds Pelše, Soviet Latvian statesman (b. 1899)
• 1989 – John Cipollina, American musician (Quicksilver Messenger Service) (b. 1943)
• 1993 – Billy Conn, American boxer (b. 1917)
• 1994 – Erich Honecker, leader of East Germany (b. 1912)
• 1996 – Tamara Toumanova, Ballet star and actress (b. 1919)
• 1997 – Jeff Buckley, American musician (drowned) (b. 1966)
• 1997 – George Fenneman, American radio and television announcer (b. 1919)
• 1998 – Barry M. Goldwater, U.S. Senator from Arizona and presidential candidate (b. 1909)
• 2002 – Mildred Benson, American writer (b. 1905)
• 2003 – David Jefferies, British motorcycle racer (b. 1972)
• 2004 – Archibald Cox, Watergate special prosecutor (b. 1912)
• 2004 – Samuel Dash, American Congressional counsel (b. 1925)
• 2005 – George Rochberg, American composer (b. 1918)
• 2005 – Hamilton Naki, South African medical assistant (b. 1926)
• 2006 – Steve Mizerak, American pool player (b. 1944)
• 2006 – Jacques Bouchard, Quebec advertising executive (b. 1930)
• 2007 – Dave Balon, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1938)
• 2007 – Lois Browne-Evans, Bermudian politician (stroke) (b. 1927)
• 2008 – Luc Bourdon, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1987)
• 2008 – Harvey Korman, American actor (b. 1927)

Holidays and observances

• International Day of United Nations Peacekeepers
• Bahá'í Faith: Ascension of Bahá'u'lláh
• Nepal: Republic Day
• Nigeria: Democracy Day
• Rhode Island, Wisconsin: Statehood Day
• United Kingdom: Oak Apple Day (historic, not widely observed today)
• Blessed Adhemar
• Saint Erwin
• Saint Maximinus of Trier
• Saint Theodosia
• Saint Alexander of Alexandria
• Saint Madeleine Sophie Barat

External links

• BBC: On This Day
• The New York Times: On This Day
• On This Day in Canada

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