29 October History


Month:                           Date:     

  • 1618    -    Sir Walter Raleigh is executed. After the death of Queen Elizabeth, Raleigh's enemies spread rumors that he was opposed the accession of King James.
  • 1787    -    Mozart's opera Don Giovanni opens in Prague.
  • 1813    -    The Demologos, the first steam-powered warship, launched in New York City.
  • 1901    -    Leon Czolgosz is electrocuted for the assassination of President McKinley. Czolgosz, an anarchist, shot McKinley on September 6 during a public reception at the Temple of Music in Buffalo, N.Y. Despite early hopes of recovery, McKinley died September 14, in Buffalo.
  • 1927    -    Russian archaeologist Peter Kozloff apparently uncovers the tomb of Genghis Khan in the Gobi Desert, a claim still in dispute.
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  • 1929    -    Black Tuesday–the most catastrophic day in stock market history, the herald of the Great Depression. 16 million shares were sold at declining prices. By mid-November $30 billion of the $80 billion worth of stocks listed in September will have been wiped out.
  • 1945    -    The first ball-point pen goes is sold by Gimbell's department store in New York for a price of $12.
  • 1949    -    Alonzo G. Moron of the Virgin Islands becomes the first African-American president of Hampton Institute, Hampton, Virginia.
  • 1952    -    French forces launch Operation Lorraine against Viet Minh supply bases in Indochina.
  • 1964    -    Thieves steal a jewel collection–including the world's largest sapphire, the 565-carat "Star of India," and the 100-carat DeLong ruby–from the Museum of Natural History in New York. The thieves were caught and most of the jewels recovered.
  • 1969    -    The U.S. Supreme Court orders immediate desegregation, superseding the previous "with all deliberate speed" ruling.
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  • 1972    -    Palestinian guerrillas kill an airport employee and hijack a plane, carrying 27 passengers, to Cuba. They force West Germany to release 3 terrorists who were involved in the Munich Massacre.

  • 29 October Birthdays

  • 1882    -    Jean Giraudoux, French dramatist, novelist and diplomat, famous for his book Tiger at the Gates.
  • 1891    -    Fanny Brice, comedian, singer and actress.
  • 1897    -    Joseph G. Göbbels, German Nazi Propaganda Minister who committed suicide in Hitler's bunker.
  • 1905    -    Henry Green, novelist (Living, Party Going).
  • 1910    -    A. J. Ayer, English philosopher.
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  • 1921    -    Bill Maudlin, American cartoonist whose GI "Willie" and "Joe" characters appeared in Stars and Stripes newspapers.