March 29 is the 88th day of the year (89th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 277 days remaining until the end of the year.
Holidays
- Boganda Day (Central African Republic)
- Christian feast day:
- John Keble (commemoration, Anglican Communion)
- Commemoration of the 1947 Rebellion (Madagascar)
- Day of the Young Combatant (Chile)
- Earliest day on which the Octave Day of Easter can fall, while May 2 is the latest; observed on the Sunday after Easter. (Christianity)
- National Vietnam War Veterans Day (United States)
- Youth Day (Taiwan)
History
In 502, King Gundobad issues a new legal code (Lex Burgundionum) at Lyon that makes Gallo-Romans and Burgundians subject to the same laws.
In 845, Paris is sacked by Viking raiders, probably under Ragnar Lodbrok, who collects a huge ransom in exchange for leaving.
In 1430, The Ottoman Empire under Murad II captures the Byzantine city of Thessalonica.
In 1461, Wars of the Roses: Battle of Towton – Edward of York defeats Queen Margaret to become King Edward IV of England.
In 1500, Cesare Borgia is given the title of Captain General and Gonfalonier by his father Rodrigo Borgia after returning from his conquests in the Romagna.
In 1549, The city of Salvador da Bahia, the first capital of Brazil, is founded.
In 1626, the Plymouth Colony enacts forestry legislation requiring approval for the exportation of lumber.
In 1632, Treaty of Saint-Germain is signed returning Quebec to French control after the English had seized it in 1629.
In 1638, Swedish colonists establish the first European settlement in Delaware, naming it New Sweden.
In 1683, Yaoya Oshichi, 15-year-old Japanese girl, burnt at the stake for an act of arson committed due to unrequited love.
In 1751, Thomas Coram, English captain and philanthropist, founded Foundling Hospital (b. 1668) dies. He was a philanthropist who created the London Foundling Hospital to look after unwanted children in Lamb’s Conduit Fields, Bloomsbury. It is said to be the world’s first incorporated charity. Coram was born in Lyme Regis, Dorset, UK. He spent much of his early life at sea and in the American colonies. From 1694 to 1705, he operated a ship building business at Taunton, Massachusetts. He afterwards became a successful merchant in London. In 1717, he unsuccessfully promoted the idea of founding a colony to be called ‘Georgia’ in what is today Maine as a philanthropic venture. In 1732, he became a trustee of James Oglethorpe’s Georgia colony. In 1735 he sponsored a colony in Nova Scotia for unemployed artisans. As a philanthropist Coram was appalled by the many abandoned, homeless children living in the streets of London. On 17 October 1739 he obtained a Royal Charter granted by George II establishing a “hospital for the maintenance and education of exposed and deserted young children.”
In 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.
In 1800, Marc René, marquis de Montalembert, French engineer (b. 1714) dies. He was a French military engineer and writer, known for his work on fortifications. Besides his masterpiece, he wrote L’Art défensif supérieur à l’offensif (1793; in reply to attacks made upon his earliest work, La Fortification perpendiculaire, of which in later editions it forms part); Mémoire historique sur la fonte des canons (Paris, 1758), and other works on the same subject; Correspondance pendant la guerre de 1757-1760 (London, 1777); Rotation des boulets (Acad., 1755); and Relations du siège de Saint-Jean-d’Acre (Paris, 1789). He also wrote short stories and verse, as well as comedies. He also modelled a complete course of fortification (92 models), which he offered to the Committee of Public Safety. His bust was sculptured by Bonvallet.
Montalembert’s position in the history of fortification may be summed up as a realization of his own wish to do for the defence what Vauban had done for the attack. It was the inability of his contemporaries to see that Vauban’s strength lay in his parallels and batteries and not in his bastions that vitiated their methods, and it was Montalembert’s appreciation of this fact which made him the father of modern fortification. See Tripier, La Fortification déduite de son histoire (Paris, 1866).
In 1806, Construction is authorized of the Great National Pike, better known as the Cumberland Road, becoming the first United States federal highway.
In 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.
In 1812, The first wedding was performed in the White House. Mrs. Lucy Payne Washington, sister-in-law of President James Madison, sister to Mrs. Dolly Payne Madison, married Supreme Court Justice Thomas Dodd.
In 1831, Great Bosnian uprising: Bosniaks rebel against Turkey.
In 1847, Mexican–American War: United States forces led by General Winfield Scott take Veracruz after a siege.
In 1848, John Jacob Astor, German-American businessman (b. 1763) dies. He was a German-born American businessman, merchant, fur trader, and investor who was the first prominent member of the Astor family and the first multi-millionaire in the United States. He was the creator of the first trust in the United States. He emigrated to England as a teenager and worked as a musical instrument manufacturer. Astor moved to the United States after the American Revolutionary War. He entered the fur trade and built a monopoly, managing a business empire that extended to the Great Lakes region and Canada, and later expanded into the American West and Pacific coast. Seeing the decline of demand, he got out of the fur trade in 1830, diversifying by investing in New York City real estate and later becoming a famed patron of the arts. In the 1830s, Astor foresaw that the next big boom would be the build-up of New York, which would soon emerge as one of the world’s greatest cities. Astor withdrew from the American Fur Company, as well as all his other ventures, and used the money to buy and develop large tracts of Manhattan real estate. Astor correctly predicted New York’s rapid growth northward on Manhattan Island, and he purchased more and more land beyond the then-existing city limits. Astor rarely built on his land, and leased it to others for rent and their use. After retiring from his business, Astor spent the rest of his life as a patron of culture. He supported the ornithologist John James Audubon in his studies, art work and travels, and the presidential campaign of Henry Clay.
In 1849, The United Kingdom annexes the Punjab.
In 1852, Ohio makes it illegal for “children under eighteen, and women” to work over ten hours a day.
In 1857, Sepoy Mangal Pandey of the 34th Regiment, Bengal Native Infantry mutinies against the East India Company‘s rule in India and inspires the protracted Indian Rebellion of 1857, also known as the Sepoy Mutiny.
In 1865, American Civil War: Federal forces under Major General Philip Sheridan move to flank Confederate forces under Robert E. Lee as the Appomattox Campaign begins.
In 1867, Queen Victoria gives Royal Assent to the British North America Act which establishes the Dominion of Canada on July 1.
In 1867, Congress passed the first of many bills incorporating a commission to erect a monument for the sixteenth president, the Lincoln Memorial project starts. An American sculptor, Clark Mills, was chosen to design the monument. His plans reflected the nationalistic spirit of the time, and called for a 70-foot (21 m) structure adorned with six equestrian and 31 pedestrian statues of colossal proportions, crowned by a 12-foot (3.7 m) statue of Abraham Lincoln. Subscriptions for the project were insufficient. The matter lay dormant until the start of the 20th century, when, under the leadership of Senator Shelby M. Cullom of Illinois, six separate bills were introduced in Congress for the incorporation of a new memorial commission. The first five bills, proposed in the years 1901, 1902, and 1908, met with defeat because of opposition from Speaker Joe Cannon. The sixth bill (Senate Bill 9449), introduced on December 13, 1910, passed. The Lincoln Memorial Commission had its first meeting the following year and U.S. President William H. Taft was chosen as the commission’s president. Progress continued at a steady pace and by 1913 Congress had approved of the Commission’s choice of design and location.
In 1871, The Royal Albert Hall is opened by Queen Victoria.
In 1879, Anglo-Zulu War: Battle of Kambula: British forces defeat 20,000 Zulus.
In 1882, The Knights of Columbus are established.
In 1886, Dr. John Pemberton brews the first batch of Coca Cola was brewed over a fire in a backyard in Atlanta, GA. Dr. John Pemberton created the concoction as a “hangover” cure and a stomach ache/headache remedy. He advertised it as a “brain tonic and intellectual beverage”. Cocaine was an ingredient of Coke until 1904 when Congress banned it. It went on sale to the public on May eighth that year.
In 1911, The M1911 .45 ACP pistol becomes the official U.S. Army side arm.
In 1930, Heinrich Brüning is appointed German Reichskanzler.
In 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.
In 1941, The North American Radio Broadcasting Agreement goes into effect at 03:00 local time.
In 1941, World War II: British Royal Navy and Royal Australian Navy forces defeat those of the Italian Regia Marina off the Peloponnesian coast of Greece in the Battle of Cape Matapan.
In 1942, The Bombing of Lübeck in World War II is the first major success for the RAF Bomber Command against Germany and a German city.
In 1943, meat, butter & cheese were rationed in U.S. during WW II.
In 1945, World War II: Last day of V-1 flying bomb attacks on England.
In 1945, World War II: The German 4th Army is almost destroyed by the Soviet Red Army.
In 1946, Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de México, one of Mexico’s leading universities, is founded.
In 1947, Malagasy Uprising against French colonial rule in Madagascar.
In 1951, Ethel and Julius Rosenberg are convicted of conspiracy to commit espionage.
In 1957, The New York, Ontario and Western Railway makes its final run, the first major U.S. railroad to be abandoned in its entirety.
In 1961, The Twenty-third Amendment to the United States Constitution is ratified, allowing residents of Washington, D.C., to vote in presidential elections.
In 1962, Arturo Frondizi, the president of Argentina, is overthrown in a military coup by Argentina’s armed forces, ending an 11½ day constitutional crisis.
In 1965, the Supreme Court rules businesses can shut down to avoid unionism.
In 1971, My Lai Massacre: Lieutenant William Calley is convicted of premeditated murder and sentenced to life in prison.
In 1971, A Los Angeles jury recommends the death penalty for Charles Manson and three female followers. (The sentences were later commuted.).
In 1973, Vietnam War: The last United States combat soldiers leave South Vietnam.
In 1973, Operation Barrel Roll, a covert US bombing campaign in Laos to stop communist infiltration of South Vietnam, ends.
In 1974, NASA‘s Mariner 10 becomes the first space probe to fly by Mercury.
In 1974, Local farmers in Lintong District, Xi’an, Shaanxi province, China, discover the Terracotta Army that was buried with Qin Shi Huang, the first Emperor of China, in the third century BCE.
In 1974, eight Ohio National Guardsmen were indicted on charges stemming from the shooting deaths of four students at Kent State University. The guardsmen were acquitted the following November.
In 1982, The Canada Act 1982 receives the Royal Assent from Queen Elizabeth II, setting the stage for the Queen of Canada to proclaim the Constitution Act, 1982.
In 1984, The Baltimore Colts load its possessions onto fifteen Mayflower moving trucks in the early morning hours and transfer its operations to Indianapolis.
In 1988, US Congress refuses continuing aid to Nicaraguan contras.
In 1990, The Czechoslovak parliament is unable to reach an agreement on what to call the country after the fall of Communism, sparking the so-called Hyphen War.
In 1991, Lee Atwater, American political consultant (b. 1951) dies from his brain tumor discovered a year earlier. He was an American political consultant and strategist to the Republican Party. He was an advisor to U.S. Presidents Ronald Reagan and George H. W. Bush and chairman of the Republican National Committee. During the 1970s and the 1980 election, Atwater rose to prominence in the South Carolina Republican party, active in the campaigns of Governor Carroll Campbell and Senator Strom Thurmond. During his years in South Carolina, Atwater became well known for managing hard-edged campaigns based on emotional wedge issues. Atwater’s aggressive tactics were first demonstrated during the 1980 Congressional campaigns. He was a campaign consultant to Republican incumbent Floyd Spence in his campaign for Congress against Democratic nominee Tom Turnipseed. Atwater’s tactics in that campaign included push polling in the form of fake surveys by so-called independent pollsters to inform white suburbanites that Turnipseed was a member of the NAACP. He also sent out last-minute letters from Senator Thurmond telling voters that Turnipseed would disarm America and turn it over to liberals and Communists. After the 1980 election, Atwater went to Washington and became an aide in the Ronald Reagan administration, working under political director Ed Rollins. In 1984, Rollins managed Reagan’s re-election campaign, and Atwater became the campaign’s deputy director and political director. Rollins mentions Atwaters work several times in his 1996 book Bare Knuckles and Back Rooms. He states that Atwater ran a dirty tricks operation against Democratic vice-presidential nominee Geraldine Ferraro, including publicizing the fact that Ferraro’s parents had been indicted on numbers running in the 1940s. Rollins also described Atwater as “ruthless,” “Ollie North in civilian clothes,” and someone who “just had to drive in one more stake.”
In 1993, Catherine Callbeck becomes premier of Prince Edward Island and the first woman to be elected in a general election as premier of a Canadian province.
In 1995, The House of Representatives rejected, 227-204, a constitutional amendment placing term limits on lawmakers. (The rejected proposal would have limited terms to 12 years in the House and Senate.).
In 1996, the House Ethics Committee said Speaker Newt Gingrich violated House rules by having close dealings with a wealthy GOP giver who had business interests affected by congressional legislation. It was the third time in two months the panel had notified Gingrich that he’d broken the rules.
In 1999, The Dow Jones Industrial Average closes above the 10,000 mark (10,006.78) for the first time, during the height of the dot-com bubble.
In 1999, Connecticut beat top-ranked Duke, 77-to-74, for its first NCAA basketball championship.
In 1999, A magnitude 6.8 earthquake strikes the Chamoli district in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, killing 103.
In 2002, In reaction to the Passover massacre two days prior, Israel launches Operation Defensive Shield against Palestinian militants, its largest military operation in the West Bank since the 1967 Six-Day War.
In 2004, Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia join NATO as full members.
In 2004, The Republic of Ireland becomes the first country in the world to ban smoking in all work places, including bars and restaurants.
In 2010, Two female suicide bombers hit the Moscow Metro system at the peak of the morning rush hour, killing 40.
In 2013, At least 36 people are killed when a 16-floor building collapses in the commercial capital Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.
In 2013, A landslide kills 66 people in China’s Tibet Autonomous Region near Lhasa.
In 2014, The first same-sex marriages in England and Wales are performed.
In 2016, Patty Duke, American actress (b. 1946) died of sepsis from a ruptured intestine. She was 69. She won an Academy Award for her portrayal of Helen Keller in The Miracle Worker, a role she had played on Broadway. The following year she was given her own show, The Patty Duke Show, in which she portrayed “identical cousins”. She later progressed to more mature roles such as that of Neely O’Hara in the film Valley of the Dolls (1967). Over the course of her career, she received ten Emmy Award nominations and three Emmy Awards, and two Golden Globe Awards. Duke also served as president of the Screen Actors Guild from 1985 to 1988. Duke was diagnosed with bipolar disorder in 1982, after which she devoted much of her time to advocating for and educating the public on mental health issues.
In 2016, A United States Air Force F-16 crashes during takeoff from Bagram Airfield in Afghanistan.[43]
In 2017, Prime Minister Theresa May invokes Article 50 of the Treaty on European Union, formally beginning the United Kingdom’s withdrawal from the European Union.
