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Today March 29th 2009 this day in history Read more below to view events, deaths, births, Holidays observances and video clips. Last database updated: Jan 17th, 2009
Events
1461 – Wars of the Roses: Battle of Towton – Edward of York defeats Queen Margaret to become King Edward IV of England.
1549 – The city of Salvador da Bahia, the first capital of Brazil, is founded.
1632 – Treaty of Saint-Germain is signed, returning Quebec to French control after the English had seized it in 1629.
1638 – Swedish colonists establish the first settlement in Delaware, naming it New Sweden.
1792 – King Gustav III of Sweden dies after being shot in the back at a midnight masquerade ball at Stockholm s Royal Opera 13 days earlier. He is succeeded by Gustav IV Adolf.
1799 – New York passes a law aimed at gradually abolishing slavery in the state.
1806 – Construction is authorized of the Great National Pike, better known as the Cumberland Road, becoming the first United States federal highway.
1809 – King Gustav IV Adolf of Sweden abdicates after a coup d état. At 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.
1831 – Great Bosnian uprising: Bosniak rebel against Turkey.
1847 – Mexican-American War: United States forces led by General Winfield Scott take Veracruz after a siege.
1849 – The United Kingdom annexes the Punjab.
1857 – Sepoy Mangal Pandey of the 34th Regiment, Bengal Native Infantry revolts against the British rule in India and inspires a long-drawn War of Independence of 1857 also known as the Sepoy Mutiny.
1865 – American Civil War: The Battle of Appomattox Court House begins.
1867 – Queen Victoria gives Royal Assent to the British North America Act which establishes the Dominion of Canada 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.
1886 – Dr. John Pemberton brews the first batch of Coca-Cola in a backyard in Atlanta, Georgia.
1930 – Heinrich Brüning is appointed German Reichskanzler.
1936 – In Germany, Adolf Hitler receives 99% of the votes in a referendum to ratify Germany s illegal reoccupation of the Rhineland, receiving 44.5 million votes out of 45.5 million registered voters.
1941 – World War II: British Royal Navy and Royal Australian Navy forces defeat those of the Italian Regia Marina off the Peloponnesus coast of Greece in the Battle of Cape Matapan.
1942 – The Bombing of Lübeck in World War II was the first major success for the RAF Bomber Command against Germany and a German city.
1945 – World War II: Last day of V-1 flying bomb attacks on England.
1951 – 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, D.C. to vote in presidential elections.
1971 – My Lai massacre: Lt. 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 combat soldiers leave South Vietnam.
1974 – NASA s Mariner 10 becomes the first spaceprobe to fly by Mercury. It was launched on November 3, 1973.
1982 – The Canada Act 1982 (U.K.) receives the Royal Assent from Queen Elizabeth II, setting the stage for the Queen of Canada to proclaim the Constitution Act, 1982.
1987 – WrestleMania III sets a world indoor attendance record at the Pontiac Silverdome with 93,173 fans.
1993 – Catherine Callbeck becomes premier of Prince Edward Island and Canada s first female to be elected in a general election as a premier.
2004 – Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia join NATO as full members.
2004 – The Republic of Ireland becomes the first country in the world to ban smoking in all work places, including bars and restaurants.
Births
1553 – Vitsentzos Kornaros, Greek Renaissance poet
1584 – Ferdinando Fairfax, 2nd Lord Fairfax of Cameron, English general (d. 1648)
1602 – John Lightfoot, English churchman (d. 1675)
1668 – Thomas Coram, Founder of the Foundling Hospital (d. 1751)
1713 – John Ponsonby, Irish politician (d. 1789)
1746 – Carlo Buonaparte, father of Napoleon Bonaparte (d. 1785)
1769 – Nicolas Jean de Dieu Soult, French marshal (d. 1851)
1790 – John Tyler, 10th President of the United States (d. 1862)
1799 – Edward Smith-Stanley, 14th Earl of Derby, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (d. 1869)
1824 – Ludwig Büchner, German philosopher and physician (d. 1899)
1826 – Wilhelm Liebknecht, German journalist and politician (d. 1900)
1867 – Cy Young, American baseball player (d. 1955)
1869 – Aleš Hrdlicka, Czech anthropologist living in the United States (d. 1943)
1870 – Pavlos Melas, Greek officer who organized and participated in the Greek Struggle for Macedonia (d. 1904)
1873 – Tullio Levi-Civita, Italian mathematician (d. 1941)
1874 – Lou Hoover, First Lady of the United States (d. 1944)
1888 – Enea Bossi, Italian-American engineer and aviation pioneer (d. 1963)
1889 – Warner Baxter, American actor (d. 1951)
1891 – Yvan Goll, French-German writer (d. 1950)
1891 – Alfred Neubauer, German racing team manager (Mercedes Benz) (d. 1980)
1892 – József Cardinal Mindszenty, Hungarian Catholic cardinal (d. 1975)
1895 – Ernst Jünger, German author (d. 1998)
1899 – Lavrenty Beria, Soviet Communist leader (d. 1953)
1900 – John McEwen, eighteenth Prime Minister of Australia (d. 1980)
1900 – Bill Aston, British racing driver (d. 1974)
1901 – Andrija Maurovic, Croatian illustrator (d. 1981)
1902 – Marcel Aymé, French writer (d. 1967)
1902 – William Walton, English composer (d. 1983)
1905 – Philip Ahn, American actor (d. 1978)
1906 – E. Power Biggs American concert organist (d. 1977)
1907 – Braguinha, Brazilian songwriter (d. 2006)
1908 – Arthur O Connell, American actor (d. 1981)
1908 – Dennis O Keefe, American actor (d. 1968)
1911 – Brigitte Horney, German actress (d. 1988)
1912 – Hanna Reitsch, German test pilot (d. 1979)
1913 – Tony Zale, American boxer (d. 1997)
1913 – R. S. Thomas, Welsh poet (d. 2000)
1914 – Phil Foster, American actor (d. 1985)
1916 – Eugene McCarthy, American politician (d. 2005)
1917 – Man o War, American thoroughbred racehorse (d. 1947)
1918 – Pearl Bailey, American singer and actress (d. 1990)
1918 – Sam Walton, American businessman (d. 1992)
1919 – Eileen Heckart, American actress (d. 2001)
1920 – John Belk, American head of Belk, Inc. (d. 2007)
1927 – John McLaughlin, American political commentator
1927 – John Robert Vane, English pharmacologist, Nobel laureate (d. 2004)
1928 – Vincent Gigante, American mafioso (d. 2005)
1929 – Lennart Meri, President of Estonia (d. 2006)
1929 – Yayoi Kusama, Japanese artist.
1929 – Richard Lewontin, American biologist
1929 – Utpal Dutt, Indian actor (d. 1993)
1931 – Aleksei Gubarev, Soviet cosmonaut
1931 – Norman Tebbit, British politician
1933 – Jacques Brault, French Canadian poet
1934 – Paul Crouch, American televangelist
1936 – Judith Guest, American author
1936 – Mogens Camre, Danish politician
1937 – Billy Carter, brother of Jimmy Carter (d. 1988)
1939 – Terence Hill, Italian actor
1939 – Roland Arnall, American businessman and diplomat (d. 2008).
1940 – Ray Davis, American musician (d. 2005)
1940 – Astrud Gilberto, Brazilian singer
1941 – Joseph Hooton Taylor, Jr., American astrophysicist, Nobel laureate
1941 – Eden Kane, British singer
1943 – Eric Idle, English actor, writer, and composer
1943 – Sir John Major, former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
1943 – Vangelis, Greek musician and composer
1944 – Terry Jacks, Canadian musician, songwriter, and activist
1944 – Denny McLain, American baseball player
1945 – Walt Frazier, American basketball player
1946 – Billy Thorpe, Australian singer (d. 2007)
1947 – Bobby Kimball, American singer
1948 – Bud Cort, American actor
1949 – Keith Simpson, British politician
1949 – Michael Brecker, American jazz saxophonist (d. 2007)
1949 – John Arthur Spenkelink, American murderer (d. 1979)
1949 – Dave Greenfield, English Keyboardist of The Stranglers
1952 – Teófilo Stevenson, Cuban boxer
1954 – Dianne Kay, American actress
1954 – Karen Ann Quinlan, American right-to-die cause célèbre (d. 1985)
1955 – Earl Campbell, American football player
1955 – Brendan Gleeson, Irish actor
1955 – Christopher Lawford, Irish actor
1955 – Marina Sirtis, English actress
1956 – Patty Donahue, American singer (d. 1996)
1956 – Stephen Cole, English journalist
1956 – Kurt Thomas, American gymnast
1957 – Christopher Lambert, French actor
1958 – Victor Salva, American film director
1959 – Barry Blanchard, Canadian mountaineer
1959 – Perry Farrell, American musician
1959 – Brad McCrimmon, Canadian ice hockey player
1961 – Mike Kingery, American baseball player
1961 – Amy Sedaris, American actress and comedian
1961 – Gary Brabham, Australian racing driver
1964 – Michael A. Jackson, Maryland politician
1964 – Elle Macpherson, Australian model
1965 – William Oefelein, American Astronaut
1965 – Voula Patoulidou, Greek athlete
1965 – Emilios T. Harlaftis, Greek astrophysicist (d. 2005)
1967 – Brian Jordan, American baseball player
1967 – John Popper, American musician
1968 – Sue Foley, Canadian singer and guitarist
1968 – Lucy Lawless, New Zealand actress and singer
1971 – Lara Logan, South-African born journalist and reporter
1972 – Michel Ancel, French game designer
1972 – Rui Costa, Portugal footballer
1972 – Junichi Suwabe, Japanese voice actor
1973 – Marc Overmars, Dutch footballer
1973 – Sebastiano Siviglia Italian footballer
1974 – Kristoffer Cusick, American actor
1974 – Marc Gené, Spanish racing car driver
1974 – Rachel Jones, Radio Producer
1976 – Igor Astarloa, Spanish cyclist
1976 – Jennifer Capriati, American tennis player
1978 – Michael Kaczurak, American singer and actor
1980 – Kim Tae Hee, South Korean actress
1980 – Prince Hamzah bin Al Hussein, of Jordan
1980 – Amy Mathews, Australian actress
1981 – Megan Hilty, American actress
1981 – Jlloyd Samuel, WestIndian-born footballer
1982 – Hideaki Takizawa, Japanese artist
1983 – Luiza Sá, Brazilian musician
1985 – Maxim Lapierre, Canadian ice hockey forward
1985 – Mickey Pimentel, National Football League linebacker
1986 – Sylvan Ebanks-Blake, English footballer
Deaths
1058 – Pope Stephen IX (b. c. 1020)
1368 – Emperor Go-Murakami, Emperor of Japan (b. 1328)
1461 – Henry Percy, 3rd Earl of Northumberland, English politician (b. 1421)
1578 – Arthur Champernowne, English admiral (b. 1524)
1578 – Louis I, Cardinal of Guise, French cardinal (b. 1527)
1625 – Antonio de Herrera y Tordesillas, Spanish historian (b. 1549)
1628 – Tobias Matthew, Archbishop of York (b. 1546)
1629 – Jacob de Gheyn II, Dutch artist (b. 1565)
1683 – Yaoya Oshichi, a young girl burned at the stake for arson in 17th Century Japan (b. 1667)
Holidays and observances
1751 – Thomas Coram, English sea captain and philanthropist
1772 – Emanuel Swedenborg, Swedish philosopher and mathematician (b. 1688)
1788 – Charles Wesley, English Methodist hymnist (b. 1707)
1792 – King Gustav III of Sweden (shot) (b. 1746)
1800 – Marc René, marquis de Montalembert, French military engineer and writer (b. 1714)
1803 – Gottfried van Swieten, Dutch composer (b. 1733)
1826 – Johann Heinrich Voß, German poet (b. 1751)
1848 – John Jacob Astor, American businessman (b. 1763)
1855 – Henri Druey, Swiss Federal Councilor (b. 1799)
1873 – Francesco Zantedeschi, Italian physicist (b. 1797)
1888 – Charles-Valentin Alkan, French composer (b. 1813)
1906 – Slava Raskaj, Croatian painter (b. 1878)
1912 – Henry Robertson Bowers – member of the Scott Expedition to the South Pole (b. 1883)
1912 – Sir Robert Falcon Scott, English explorer – member of the Scott Expedition to the South Pole (b. 1868)
1912 – Edward Adrian Wilson, English physician and naturalist – member of the Scott Expedition to the South Pole (b. 1872)
1924 – Charles Villiers Stanford, Irish composer (b. 1852)
1934 – Otto Hermann Kahn, German millionaire and benefactor (b. 1867)
1937 – Karol Szymanowski, Polish composer (b. 1882)
1940 – Alexander Obolensky, Russian prince and famed Rugby Union footballer who played for England.(b. 1916)
1948 – Olev Siinmaa, Estonian architect (b. 1881)
1956 – Infante Alfonso of Spain (b. 1941)
1957 – Joyce Cary, Irish author (b. 1888)
1959 – Barthelemy Boganda, first President of the Central African Republic (b. 1910)
1970 – Anna Louise Strong, American communist journalist (b. 1885)
1971 – Dhirendranath Datta, Bangladeshi politician (b. 1886)
1972 – Lord J. Arthur Rank, British movie theater owner (b. 1888)
1980 – Mantovani, Italian-born conductor and arranger (b. 1905)
1981 – Eric Williams, first Prime Minister of Trinidad & Tobago (b. 1911)
1982 – Carl Orff, German composer (b. 1895)
1982 – Nathan Twining, USAF general (b. 1897)
1985 – Luther Terry, Surgeon General of the United States (b. 1911)
1985 – Jeanine Deckers, Belgian nun, The Singing Nun (b. 1933)
1986 – Harry Ritz, American actor and comedian (b. 1907)
1988 – Ted Kluszewski, American baseball player (b. 1924)
1989 – Bernard Blier, French actor (b. 1916)
1991 – Lee Atwater, American political consultant (b. 1951)
1992 – Paul Henreid, Austrian actor (b. 1908)
1994 – Bill Travers, British actor (b. 1922)
1995 – Jimmy McShane, Irish frontman, of the group, Baltimora (b. 1957)
1995 – Terry Moore, American baseball player (b. 1912)
1996 – Frank Daniel, Czech-born writer, director, producer and teacher (b. 1926)
1996 – Bill Goldsworthy, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1944)
1999 – Joe Williams, American singer (b. 1918)
2001 – Helge Ingstad, Norwegian explorer (b. 1899)
2001 – John Lewis, American jazz pianist (b. 1920)
2002 – Rico Yan, Philippine Young Movie & TV Actor (b. 1975)
2002 – Rachel Levy and Ayat al-Akhras, Israeli and Palestinian children
2003 – Carlo Urbani, Italian physician (SARS) (b. 1956)
2005 – Johnnie Cochran, American lawyer (b. 1937)
2005 – Mitch Hedberg, American comedian (b. 1968)
2005 – Miltos Sahtouris, Greek poet (b. 1919)
2006 – Salvador Elizondo, Mexican writer (b. 1932)
2007 – Calvin Lockhart, Bahamian actor (b. 1934)
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