March 29


March 29 is the 88th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (89th in Leap
years). There are 277 days remaining.

Events

   * 1461 - Wars of the Roses: Battle of Towton - Edward of York defeats
     Queen Margaret to become King Edward IV of England.
   * 1638 - Swedish colonists establish first settlement in Delaware, called
     New Sweden.
   * 1799 - New York passes a law aimed at gradually abolishing slavery in
     the state
   * 1806 - The Great National Pike, better known as the Cumberland Road,
     becomes the first United States federal highway.
   * 1847 - Mexican-American War: United States forces led by General
     Winfield Scott take Veracruz after a siege.
   * 1848 - An upstream ice jam stops almost all water flow over Niagara
     Falls.
   * 1849 - The United Kingdom annexes the Punjab
   * 1865 - American Civil War: Battle of Appomattox Court House begins
   * 1867 - Queen Victoria gives Royal Assent to the British North America
     Act which establishes the Dominion of Canada starting on July 1.
   * 1871 - The Royal Albert Hall is opened by Queen Victoria.
   * 1879 - Anglo-Zulu War: Battle of Kambula: British forces defeat 20,000
     Zulus.
   * 1882 - The Knights of Columbus are established.
   * 1930 - Heinrich BrŸning is appointed German Reichskanzler.
   * 1941 - World War II: Battle of Cape Matapan - Off the Peloponnesus
     coast in the Mediterranean, British naval forces defeat those of Italy
     sinking five warships. Battle started on March 27.
   * 1951 - Red Scare: Ethel and Julius Rosenberg are convicted of
     conspiracy to commit espionage.
   * 1961 - The Twenty-third Amendment to the United States Constitution is
     ratified, allowing residents of Washington, DC to vote in presidential
     elections.
   * 1971 - My Lai massacre: Lieutenant William Calley is convicted of
     premeditated murder and sentenced to life in prison.
   * 1971 - A Los Angeles, California jury recommends the death penalty for
     Charles Manson and three female followers.
   * 1973 - Vietnam War: The last United States soldiers leave South
     Vietnam.
   * 1974 - NASA's Mariner 10 becomes the first spaceprobe flyby Mercury. It
     was launched on November 3, 1973.
   * 1981 - First running of the London Marathon
   * 1982 - The Canada Act 1982 (U.K.) receives the Royal Assent by Queen
     Elizabeth II in London setting the stage for the Queen of Canada to
     proclaim the Constitution Act, 1982 on April 17 at Parliament Hill in
     Canada (see 1867 above).
   * 1982 - Stevie Wonder and Paul McCartney release their single "Ebony and
     Ivory"
   * 1993 - Catherine Callbeck becomes Premier of Prince Edward Island,
     becoming the first female Premier in Canada.
   * 1999 - The Dow Jones Industrial Average closes at 10006.78 which is the
     first time the index closed above the 10,000 mark.

Births

   * 1790 - John Tyler, 10th President of the United States (+ 1862)
   * 1826 - Wilhelm Liebknecht, journalist and politician (+ 1900)
   * 1835 - Gustaf Zander, physician (+ 1920)
   * 1867 - Cy Young, Baseball Hall of Famer (+ 1955)
   * 1874 - Lou Hoover, First Lady (+ 1944)
   * 1889 - Warner Baxter, actor (+ 1951)
   * 1891 - Yvan Goll, lyricist and dramatist (+ 1950)
   * 1895 - Ernst JŸnger, author (+ 1998)
   * 1902 - Marcel AymŽ, narrator and dramatist, humorist and satirist (+
     1967)
   * 1902 - William Walton, composer (+ 1983)
   * 1908 - Arthur O'Connell, actor (+ 1981)
   * 1911 - Brigitte Horney, actress (+ 1988)
   * 1913 - Tony Zale, world champion boxer (+ 1997)
   * 1918 - Pearl Bailey, singer, actress (+ 1990)
   * 1942 - Stingray Davis, musician (P-Funk)
   * 1943 - Evangelos Odysseas Papathanassiou, aka Vangelis, new age
     musician
   * 1943 - Eric Idle, actor, writer, composer
   * 1943 - John Major, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
   * 1945 - Walt Frazier, basketball player
   * 1950 - Bud Cort, actor
   * 1952 - Teofilo Stevenson, boxer
   * 1955 - Earl Campbell, American football star
   * 1956 - Kurt Thomas, gymnast
   * 1957 - Christopher Lambert, actor
   * 1959 - Perry Farrell, musician ("Jane's Addiction", "Porno for Pyros")
   * 1964 - Elle Macpherson, model
   * 1968 - Lucy Lawless, actress, singer

Deaths

   * 1772 - Emanuel Swedenborg, Swedish philosopher and mathematician
   * 1792 - King Gustav III of Sweden, after being shot on March 16
   * 1912 - Robert Falcon Scott, explorer
   * 1937 - Karol Szymanowski, composer
   * 1959 - Barthelemy Boganda, first President of the Central African
     Republic
   * 1972 - Lord J. Arthur Rank, movie theater owner
   * 1980 - Mantovani, musician
   * 1992 - Paul Henreid, actor
   * 1999 - Joe Williams, jazz singer