April 29 is the 119th day of the year (120th in leap years). 246 days remain until the end of the year. Find out some of the important events that occurred on this day in history.

 

Historical events

1429 — Joan of Arc arrives at the siege of Orleans, leading France to victory over Britain.

1553 — A Flemish woman introduces the practice of starching linen into England.

1670 — Clemens X [Emilio Bonaventura Altieri] is elected Pope.

1672 — Franco-Dutch War: The Sun King of France Louis XIV invades the Netherlands.

1701 — Drenthe, Netherlands, adopts Gregorian calendar, making tomorrow 12th May 1701.

1707 — English and Scottish parliaments accept the Act of Union and create the United Kingdom of Great Britain. It comes into being on 1st May.

1715 — John Flamsteed observes Uranus for the sixth time.

1769 — Scottish engineer James Watt enrols patent for a steam engine with a separate condenser (Patent 913).

1793 — The cornerstone is laid for Groningen’s new town hall.

 

29th April in the 19th Century

1813 —  J.F. Hummel patents rubber.

1834 — Naturalist Charles Darwin’s expedition sees the top of the Andes Mountains from Patagonia.

1845 — Macon B Allen and Robert Morris Jr are first African Americans to open a law practice in the US.

1852 — Lexicographer and Inventor Peter Mark Roget publishes the first edition of his thesaurus.

1853 — Comet C/1853 G1 (Schweizer) approaches within 0.0839 AUs of Earth.

1879 — In Cleveland, OH, electric arc lights used for the first time.

1882 — The “Elektromote” — the forerunner of the trolleybus — tested by Werner von Siemens in Berlin.

 

29th April in the 20th Century

1901 — Antisemitic riot holds in Budapest.

1913 — Gideon Sundback patents an all-purpose zipper.

1941 — The Boston Bees agree to change their name to the Braves.

1945 — In a bunker in Berlin, Adolf Hitler and Eva Braun wed. Hitler designates Admiral Karl Doenitz his successor.

1952 — IBM President Thomas J Watson Jr informs his company’s stockholders that IBM is building “the most advanced, most flexible high-speed computer in the world.” The computer unveils on 7th April 1953 as the IBM 701 Electronic Data Processing Machine.

1953 — The first US experimental 3D-TV broadcast shows an episode of Space Patrol on Los Angeles ABC affiliate KECA-TV.

1967 — Soul singer Aretha Franklin releases “Respect” single (Billboard Song of the Year 1967).

1971 — Boeing receives the contract for Mariner 10, Mercury exploration.

 

More dates

1982 — Alfredo Magana elected President of El Salvador.

1982 — American mafia hitman Richard Kuklinski murders pharmacist Paul Hoffman by beating him with a tire iron.

1990 — Wrecking cranes begin tearing down the Berlin Wall at the Brandenburg Gate.

1991 — Cyclone strikes the Chittagong district in Bangladesh, killing 139,000 people and leaving 10 million homeless.

1991 — Croatia declares independence.

1994 — Last day of voting in the first multi-racial elections in South Africa.

1994 — Israel and the PLO sign an agreement in Paris which grants Palestinians broad authority to set taxes, control trade and regulate banks under self-rule in the Gaza S***p and Jericho.

1995 — The longest sausage ever, at 28.77 miles, is made in Kitchener, Ontario.

1997 — Astronaut Jerry Linenger and cosmonaut Vasily Tsibliyev go on the first U.S.-Russian space walk.

1997 — Chemical Weapons Convention of 1993 comes into force. It outlaws the production, stockpiling and use of chemical weapons among its signatories.

1998 — Brazil announces a plan to protect a large area of Amazon forest. The area was about the size of Colorado.

 

29th April in the 21st Century

2002 — The United Nations Commission on Human Rights reelects the United States, one year after losing the seat it had held for 50 years.

2003 — Mr T (Laurence Tureaud) files a lawsuit against Best Buy Co Inc, that claims the store did not have permission to use his likeness in a print ad.

2012 — International Chemical Weapons Convention deadline for chemical weapon stockpiles comes into effect.

2015 — German Measles declared eradicated from North and South America. It is the first world region to do so.

2016 — Singer-songwriter Drake releases “Views”, his fourth studio album.

2018 — Sweden’s official Twitter account confirms that Swedish meatballs actually originated in Turkey.