March 29Birthdays & History

On this day: March 29 in history

Oldest first. Tap a year to see it on the World Chronicle timeline.

1. 1139Pope Innocent II issues the bull Omne datum optimum in which he endorses the Knights Templar and approves the Templar Rule.Europe
2. 1430The Ottoman Empire under Murad II captures Thessalonica from the Republic of Venice.Middle EastEurope
3. 1461Battle of Towton: Edward of York defeats Queen Margaret to become King Edward IV of England, bringing a temporary stop to the Wars of the Roses.Europe
4. 1549The city of Salvador, Bahia, the first capital of Brazil, is founded.Latin America
5. 1632Treaty of Saint-Germain is signed returning Quebec to French control after the English had seized it in 1629.North AmericaEurope
6. 1792King Gustav III of Sweden dies after being shot in the back at a midnight masquerade ball at Stockholm's Royal Opera 13 days earlier.Europe
7. 1806Construction is authorized of the Great National Pike, better known as the Cumberland Road, becoming the first United States federal highway.North America
8. 1809King Gustav IV Adolf of Sweden abdicates after a coup d'état.Europe
9. 1809At 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.Europe
10. 1847Mexican–American War: United States forces led by General Winfield Scott take Veracruz after a siege.Latin AmericaNorth America
11. 1849The United Kingdom annexes the Punjab.EuropeAsia
12. 1857Sepoy Mangal Pandey of the 34th Regiment, Bengal Native Infantry mutinies against the East India Company's rule in India and inspires the protracted Indian Rebellion of 1857, also known as the Sepoy Mutiny.Asia
13. 1867Queen Victoria gives Royal Assent to the British North America Act which establishes Canada on July 1.EuropeNorth America
14. 1871Royal Albert Hall is opened by Queen Victoria.Europe
15. 1879Anglo-Zulu War: Battle of Kambula: British forces defeat 20,000 Zulus.AfricaEurope
16. 1882The Knights of Columbus is established.North America
17. 1927Sunbeam 1000hp breaks the land speed record at Daytona Beach, Florida.North America
18. 1936The 1936 German parliamentary election and referendum seeks approval for the recent remilitarization of the Rhineland.Europe
19. 1941The North American Regional Broadcasting Agreement goes into effect at 03:00 local time.North America
20. 1941World War II: British Royal Navy and Royal Australian Navy forces defeat those of the Italian Regia Marina off the Peloponnesian coast of Greece in the Battle of Cape Matapan.EuropeOceania
21. 1942The Bombing of Lübeck in World War II is the first major success for the RAF Bomber Command against Germany and a German city.Europe
22. 1947The Malagasy Uprising against French colonial rule begins in Madagascar.AfricaEurope
23. 1951Hypnosis murders in Copenhagen.Europe
24. 1951Julius and Ethel Rosenberg are convicted of conspiracy to commit espionage.North America
25. 1957The New York, Ontario and Western Railway makes its final run, the first major U.S. railroad to be abandoned in its entirety.North America
26. 1961The Twenty-third Amendment to the United States Constitution is ratified, allowing residents of Washington, D.C., to vote in presidential elections.North America
27. 1962Arturo Frondizi, the president of Argentina, is overthrown in a military coup by Argentina's armed forces, ending an 11+1⁄2 day constitutional crisis.Latin America
28. 1968The funeral of Yuri Gagarin, the first man in space, begins in Moscow, with thousands of people in attendance.Europe
29. 1971My Lai massacre: Lieutenant William Calley is convicted of premeditated murder and sentenced to life in prison.North America
30. 1973Operation Barrel Roll, a covert American bombing campaign in Laos to stop communist infiltration of South Vietnam, ends.North AmericaAsia
31. 1973Vietnam War: The last United States combat soldiers leave South Vietnam.AsiaNorth America
32. 1974NASA's Mariner 10 becomes the first space probe to fly by Mercury.North America
33. 1974The Terracotta Army is discovered in Shaanxi province, China.Asia
34. 1979Quebecair Flight 255 crashes after takeoff from Québec City Jean Lesage International Airport in Quebec City, killing 17.North America
35. 1982The Canada Act 1982 receives the Royal Assent from Queen Elizabeth II, setting the stage for the Queen of Canada to proclaim the Constitution Act, 1982.North America
36. 1984The Baltimore Colts load their possessions onto fifteen Mayflower moving trucks in the early morning hours and transfer their operations to Indianapolis.North America
37. 1990The Czechoslovak parliament is unable to reach an agreement on what to call the country after the fall of Communism, sparking the so-called Hyphen War.Europe
38. 1999A magnitude 6.8 earthquake in India strikes the Chamoli district in Uttar Pradesh, killing 103.Asia
39. 1999The Dow Jones Industrial Average closes above the 10,000 mark (10,006.78) for the first time, during the height of the dot-com bubble.North America
40. 2001A Gulfstream III crashes on approach to Aspen/Pitkin County Airport in Aspen, Colorado. All 18 people on board are killed.North America
41. 2002In reaction to the Passover massacre two days prior, Israel launches Operation Defensive Shield against Palestinian militants, its largest military operation in the West Bank since the 1967 Six-Day War.Middle East
42. 2004Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia, and Slovenia join NATO as full members.Europe
43. 2004The Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat certifies Taipei 101 as the world's tallest building, based on the building having been topped out on 1 July 2003, even though the building was not completed until 31 December 2004.Asia
44. 2010Two suicide bombers hit the Moscow Metro system at the peak of the morning rush hour, killing 40.Europe
45. 2013At least 36 people are killed when a 16-floor building collapses in the commercial capital Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.Africa
46. 2014The first same-sex marriages in England and Wales are performed.Europe
47. 2015Air Canada Flight 624 skids off the runway at Halifax Stanfield International Airport, after arriving from Toronto shortly past midnight. All 133 passengers and five crews on board survive, with 23 treated for minor injuries.North America
48. 2017Prime Minister Theresa May invokes Article 50 of the Treaty on European Union, formally beginning the United Kingdom's withdrawal from the European Union.Europe
49. 2021The ship Ever Given is dislodged from the Suez Canal.Middle East

Source: Wikipedia "March 29" / CC BY-SA 4.0