July 29

is the 210th day (211th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian Calendar, with 155 days remaining.

Events

1014 - Battle of Kleidion: Byzantine emperor Basil II inflicts a decisive defeat on the Bulgarian army, but his subsequent savage treatment of 15,000 prisoners reportedly causes Tsar Samuil of Bulgaria to die of shock.
1030 - King Olaf II fights and dies in the Battle of Stiklestad, trying to regain his Norwegian throne from the Danes.
1565 - Mary Stuart, widowed, marries Lord Darnley, duke of Albany.
1567 - James VI is crowned King of Scotland at Stirling.
1588 - Battle of Gravelines: The Spanish Armada is defeated by an English naval force under command of Lord Charles Howard and Sir Francis Drake 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 - "Deşteaptă-te, române!" ("Wake up, O, Romania!", Romania's national anthem) is first sung in Râmnicu Vâlcea during the 1848 Revolution.
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 founds the Boy Scouts with the first Scout camp at Brownsea Island. The camp ran from August 1-9, 1907.
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.
1940 - Beginning of the Blitz air attack by Nazi Germany on Great Britain.
1945 - The BBC Light Programme radio station was launched for mainstream light entertainment and music.
1947 - After being shut off on November 9, 1946 for a memory upgrade, ENIAC, the world's first all-electronic digital computer, is reactivated. It will remain in continuous operation until October 2, 1955.
1948 - After a hiatus of 12 years caused by World War II, the first Summer Olympics opened in London, United Kingdom.
1954 - The Fellowship of the Ring, the first part of The Lord of the Rings, is published in the UK.
1957 - The International Atomic Energy Agency is established.
1958 - The U.S. Congress formally 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.
1966 - Musician Bob Dylan crashes his Triumph motorcycle in upstate New York. He goes into seclusion for over a year before reemerging and reinventing himself artistically.
1967 - Vietnam War: Off the coast of North Vietnam the USS Forrestal catches on fire in the worst US naval disaster since World War II, killing 134.
1967 - At the fourth day of celebrating its 400th anniversary, the city of Caracas, Venezuela was shaken by an earthquake, leaving approximately 500 dead.
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 - Lady Diana Spencer marries Charles, Prince of Wales.
1987 - British PM Margaret Thatcher and French president François Mitterrand sign the agreement to build the tunnel under the English Channel (Eurotunnel).
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.
2004 - U.S. Senator John F. Kerry of Massachusetts accepts the Democratic nomination for President of the United States at the 2004 Democratic National Convention in Boston, Massachusetts.
2005 - Astronomers discover 10th planet.

Births

1166 - Henry II of Champagne (d. 1197)
1605 - Simon Dach, German poet (d. 1659)
1801 - George Bradshaw, English publisher (d. 1853)
1805 - Alexis de Tocqueville, French historian and political scientist (d. 1859)
1843 - Johannes Schmidt, German linguist (d. 1901)
1849 - Max Nordau, Austrian author, philosopher, and Zionist leader (d. 1923)
1865 - Alexander Glazunov, Russian composer (d. 1936)
1869 - Booth Tarkington, American author (d. 1946)
1872 - Eric Alfred Knudsen, American author, folklorist (d. 1957)
1874 - James Shaver Woodsworth, Canadian minister, social worker, and politician (d. 1942)
1876 - Maria Ouspenskaya, Russian-born actress (d. 1949)
1878 - Don Marquis, American author (d. 1937)
1883 - Porfirio Barba-Jacob, Colombian poet and writer (d. 1942)
1883 - Benito Mussolini, Italian dictator (d. 1945)
1884 - Ralph A. Bard, U.S. Navy Undersecretary (d. 1975)
1887 - Sigmund Romberg, Hungarian-born composer (d. 1951)
1892 - William Powell, American actor (d. 1984)
1897 - Sir Neil Ritchie, British general (d. 1983)
1898 - Isidor Isaac Rabi, American physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1988)
1900 - Eyvind Johnson, Swedish writer, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1976)
1904 - J. R. D. Tata, Indian pioneer aviator and entrepreneur (d. 1993)
1905 - Clara Bow, American actress (d. 1965)
1905 - Dag Hammarskjöld, Swedish UN Secretary-General, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (d. 1961)
1905 - Stanley Kunitz, American poet
1905 - Thelma Todd, American actress (d. 1935)
1906 - Diana Vreeland, French-born fashion editor (d. 1989)
1907 - Melvin Belli, American lawyer and actor (d. 1996)
1913 - Erich Priebke, Nazi war criminal
1916 - Charlie Christian, The First Great Jazz Soloist
1918 - Edwin O'Connor, American novelist and Pulitzer Prize for Fiction winner (d. 1968)
1920 - Rodolfo Acosta, Mexican actor (d. 1974)
1924 - Lloyd Bochner, Canadian actor
1925 - Mikis Theodorakis, Greek composer
1927 - Harry Mulisch, Dutch author
1929 - Jean Baudrillard, French philosopher
1930 - Paul Taylor, American dancer and choreographer
1932 - Nancy Landon Kassebaum Baker, U.S. Senator
1935 - Peter Schreier, German tenor
1936 - Elizabeth Dole, U.S. senator
1937 - Daniel McFadden, American economist, Nobel Prize laureate
1938 - Peter Jennings, Canadian-born television journalist (d. 2005)
1941 - David Warner, Canadian actor
1942 - Tony Sirico, American actor
1943 - David Taylor, English snooker player
1949 - Vida Blue, baseball player
1953 - Ken Burns, American producer and director
1953 - Geddy Lee, Canadian bassist and vocalist (Rush)
1957 - Nellie Kim, Russian gymnast
1959 - Sanjay Dutt, Indian actor
1959 - Ruud Janssen, Dutch writer and artist
1962 - Scott Steiner, US professional wrestler
1965 - Chang-Rae Lee, Korean-born author
1966 - Martina McBride, American singer
1972 - Wil Wheaton, American actor
1973 - Stephen Dorff, American actor
1973 - Wanya Morris, American singer (Boyz II Men)
1975 - Corrado Grabbi, Italian footballer
1979 - Abs Breen, English singer
1979 - Karim Essediri, Tunisian footballer
1980 - Fernando González, Chilean tennis player
1981 - Fernando Alonso, Spanish race car driver
1993 - Ang Ching Hui, Singaporean Actress

Deaths

238 - Pupienus, Roman Emperor (assassinated)
238 - Balbinus, Roman Emperor (assassinated)
1030 - King Olaf II of Norway (b. 995)
1099 - Pope Urban II (b. 1042)
1108 - King Philip I of France (b. 1081)
1507 - Martin Behaim, German-born navigator and geographer (b. 1459)
1612 - Jacques Bongars, French scholar and diplomat (b. 1554)
1644 - Pope Urban VIII (b. 1568)
1752 - Peter Warren, British admiral
1792 - René Nicolas Charles Augustin de Maupeou, Chancellor of France (b. 1714)
1813 - Jean-Andoche Junot, French general (suicide) (b. 1771)
1833 - William Wilberforce, English campaigner against slavery (b. 1759)
1844 - Franz Xaver Wolfgang Mozart, Austrian composer (b. 1791)
1856 - Robert Schumann, German composer (b. 1810)
1887 - Agostino Depretis, Italian statesman (d. 1813)
1890 - Vincent van Gogh, Dutch painter (b. 1853)
1900 - King Umberto I of Italy (b. 1844)
1913 - Tobias Michael Carel Asser, Dutch jurist, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (b. 1838)
1938 - Nikolai Krylenko, Russian/Soviet jurist and politician (b. 1885)
1951 - Hozumi Shigeto, Japanese author (b. 1883)
1954 - Coen de Koning, Dutch speed skater (b. 1879)
1970 - John Barbirolli, English conductor (b. 1899)
1970 - George Szell, Hungarian conductor (b. 1897)
1973 - Roger Williamson, English racing driver (b. 1948)
1974 - Cass Elliot, American musician (b. 1941)
1974 - Erich Kästner, German author (b. 1899)
1975 - James Blish, American writer (b. 1921)
1979 - Herbert Marcuse, German philosopher (b. 1898)
1979 - Bill Todman, American television producer (b. 1916)
1981 - Robert Moses, New York public works official (b. 1888)
1982 - Vladimir Zworykin, Russian physicist and inventor (b. 1889)
1983 - Luis Buñuel, Spanish director (b. 1900)
1983 - Raymond Massey, Canadian actor (b. 1896)
1983 - David Niven, English actor (b. 1910)
1984 - Fred Waring, American band leader and inventor (b. 1900)
1990 - Bruno Kreisky, Chancellor of Austria (b. 1911)
1994 - Dorothy Crowfoot Hodgkin, British chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1910)
1994 - Megan Kanka, rape victim, basis of Megan's Law (b. 1986)
1996 - Jason Thirsk, American bassist (Pennywise) (b. 1967)
2001 - Edward Gierek, Polish politician (b. 1913)
2001 - Wau Holland, German hacker (b. 1951)
2003 - Henryk Jabłoński, President of Poland (b. 1909)
2003 - Foday Sankoh, Sierra Leonean rebel leader (b. 1937)
2004 - Rena Vlahopoulou, Greek comedian and actress (b. 1923)

Holidays and observations

Norway - St. Olav's Day
Roman Catholicism - the feasts of at least 8 saints:
- St. Olaf (Olaf II of Norway), patron of woodcarvers.
- St. Olaf of Sweden
- St. Martha, sister of Lazarus, patron of cooks and dieticians.
- St. Felix
- Sts. Simplicius, Faustinus, and Beatrice (siblings).
- St. William Pinchon

Faroe Islands - Ólavsøka: opening of the Løgting session
National Anthem Day in Romania

External links

July 28 - July 30 - June 29 - August 29 -- listing of all days

Gourt Home::Gourt :: July 29

Events

Births

Deaths

Holidays and observations

External links