29 March History
- 1461 - The armies of two kings, Henry VI and Edward IV, collide at Towton.
- 1638 - A permanent European colony is established in present-day Delaware.
- 1827 - Composer Ludwig van Beethoven is buried in Vienna amidst a crowd of over 10,000 mourners.
- 1847 - U.S. troops under General Winfield Scott take possession of the Mexican stronghold at Vera Cruz.
- 1867 - The United States purchases Alaska from Russia for $7.2 million dollars.
- 1879 - British troops of the 90th Light Infantry Regiment repulse a major attack by Zulu tribesmen in northwest Zululand.
- 1886 - Coca-Cola goes on sale for the first time at a drugstore in Atlanta. Its inventor, Dr. John Pemberton, claims it can cure anything from hysteria to the common cold.
- 1903 - A regular news service begins between New York and London on Marconi's wireless.
- 1913 - The German government announces a raise in taxes in order to finance the new military budget.
- 1916 - The Italians call off the fifth attack on Isonzo.
- 1936 - Italy firebombs the Ethiopian city of Harar.
- 1941 - The British sink five Italian warships off the Peloponnesus coast in the Mediterranean.
- 1951 - The Chinese reject Gen. Douglas MacArthur's offer for a truce in Korea.
- 1951 - Rodgers and Hammerstein's musical The King and I opens on Broadway starring Gertrude Lawrence and Yul Brynner.
- 1952 - President Harry Truman removes himself from the presidential race.
- 1961 - The 23rd amendment, allowing residents of Washington, D.C. to vote for president, is ratified.
- 1962 - Cuba opens the trial of the Bay of Pigs invaders.
- 1966 - Leonid Brezhenev becomes First Secretary of the Soviet Communist Party. He denounces the American policy in Vietnam and calls it one of aggression.
- 1967 - France launches its first nuclear submarine.
- 1971 - Lt. William L. Calley Jr. is found guilty for his actions in the My Lai massacre.
- 1973 - The last U.S. troops withdraw from South Vietnam.
- 1975 - Egyptian president Anwar Sadat declares that he will reopen the Suez Canal on June 5, 1975.
- 1976 - Eight Ohio National Guardsmen are indicted for shooting four Kent State students during an anti-war protest on May 4, 1970.
- 1986 - A court in Rome acquits six men in a plot to kill the Pope.
29 March Birthdays
- 1790 - John Tyler, 10th President of the United States (1841-1845).
- 1819 - Edwin Drake, drilled the first productive oil well.
- 1835 - Elihu Thomson, the English-born American inventor of electric welding and arc lighting.
- 1867 - Cy Young, major league baseball pitcher with the most wins (509 or 511 total).
- 1875 - Lou Henry Hoover, first lady President Herbert Hoover.
- 1881 - Raymond Hood, architect.
- 1888 - James E. Casey, founder of the United Parcel Service
- 1910 - Helen Wells, author of the Cherry Ames series.
- 1916 - Eugene McCarthy, U.S. senator and presidential candidate.
- 1918 - Pearl Bailey, singer and actress.
- 1936 - Judith Guest, novelist (Ordinary People).