Explore This Day in History and learn about the incredible inventions, important political milestones, cultural revolutions, and acts of heroism that have occurred. Together, we’ll uncover the legacies that influence our lives even now at www.hrce.in.
Events on May 29
363: The Roman emperor Julian defeats the Sasanian army in the Battle of Ctesiphon, under the walls of the Sasanian capital, but is unable to take the city.
1108: Battle of Uclés: Almoravid troops under the command of Tamim ibn Yusuf defeat a Castile and León alliance under the command of Prince Sancho Alfónsez.
1167: Battle of Monte Porzio: A Roman army supporting Pope Alexander III is defeated by Christian of Buch and Rainald of Dassel.
1176: Battle of Legnano: The Lombard League defeats Emperor Frederick I.
1233: Mongol-Jin war: The Mongols entered Kaifeng after a successful siege and began looting in the fallen capital of the Jin dynasty.
1328: Philip VI is crowned King of France.
1416: Battle of Gallipoli: The Venetians under Pietro Loredan defeat a much larger Ottoman fleet off Gallipoli.
1453: Fall of Constantinople: Ottoman armies under Sultan Mehmed II capture Constantinople after a 53-day siege, ending the Roman Empire after over 2,000 years.
1658: Battle of Samugarh: decisive battle in the struggle for the throne during the Mughal war of succession (1658-1659).
1660: English Restoration: Charles II is restored to the throne of England, Scotland and Ireland.
1733: The right of settlers in New France to enslave natives is upheld at Quebec City.
1780: American Revolutionary War: At the Waxhaws Massacre, the British continue attacking after the Continentals lay down their arms, killing 113 and critically wounding all but 53 that remained.
1790: Rhode Island becomes the last of North America’s original Thirteen Colonies to ratify the Constitution and become one of the United States.
1798: United Irishmen Rebellion: Between 300 and 500 United Irishmen are executed as rebels by the British Army in County Kildare, Ireland.
1807: Mustafa IV became Sultan of the Ottoman Empire and Caliph of Islam.
1825: The Coronation of Charles X of France takes place in Reims Cathedral, the last ever coronation of a French monarch.
1851: Sojourner Truth delivers her famous Ain’t I a Woman? speech at the Woman’s Rights Convention in Akron, Ohio.
1852: Jenny Lind leaves New York after her two-year American tour.
1861: The Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce is founded, in Hong Kong.
1864: Emperor Maximilian I of Mexico arrives in Mexico for the first time.
1867: The Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1867 (“the Compromise”) is born through Act 12, which establishes the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
1886: The pharmacist John Pemberton places his first advertisement for Coca-Cola, which appeared in The Atlanta Journal.
1900: N’Djamena is founded as Fort-Lamy by the French commander Émile Gentil.
1903: In the May Coup, Alexander I, King of Serbia, and Queen Draga, are assassinated in Belgrade by the Black Hand (Crna Ruka) organization.
1913: Igor Stravinsky’s ballet score The Rite of Spring receives its premiere performance in Paris, France, provoking a riot.
1914: The Ocean liner RMS Empress of Ireland sinks in the Gulf of Saint Lawrence with the loss of 1,012 lives.
1918: Armenia defeats the Ottoman Army in the Battle of Sardarabad.
1919: Albert Einstein’s theory of general relativity is tested (later confirmed) by Arthur Eddington and Andrew Claude de la Cherois Crommelin.
1920: The Louth flood of 1920 was a severe flash flooding in the Lincolnshire market town of Louth, resulting in 23 fatalities in 20 minutes. It has been described as one of the most significant flood disasters in the United Kingdom during the 20th century.
1931: Michele Schirru, a citizen of the United States, is executed by a Royal Italian Army firing squad for intent to kill Benito Mussolini.
1932: World War I veterans begin to assemble in Washington, D.C., in the Bonus Army to request cash bonuses promised to them to be paid in 1945.
1935: First flight of the Messerschmitt Bf 109 fighter aeroplane.
1945: First combat mission of the Consolidated B-32 Dominator heavy bomber.
1947: United Airlines Flight 521 crashes at LaGuardia Airport, killing 43.
1948: United Nations Truce Supervision Organization is founded.
1950: The St. Roch, the first ship to circumnavigate North America, arrives in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada.
1953: Edmund Hillary and Sherpa Tenzing Norgay become the first people to reach the summit of Mount Everest, on Tenzing Norgay’s (adopted) 39th birthday.
1964: The Arab League meets in East Jerusalem to discuss the Palestinian question, leading to the formation of the Palestine Liberation Organization.
1964: Having deposed them in a January coup South Vietnamese leader Nguyễn Khánh had rival Generals Trần Văn Đôn and Lê Văn Kim convicted of “lax morality”.
1973: Tom Bradley is elected the first black mayor of Los Angeles, California.
1974: SETA, a Finnish LGBT rights organisation, is founded in Helsinki.
1982: Pope John Paul II becomes the first pontiff to visit Canterbury Cathedral.
1982: Falklands War: the British Army defeats the Argentine Army at the Battle of Goose Green.
1985: Heysel Stadium disaster: Thirty-nine association football fans die and hundreds are injured when a dilapidated retaining wall collapses.
1985: Amputee Steve Fonyo completes cross-Canada marathon at Victoria, British Columbia, after 14 months.
1988: U.S. President Ronald Reagan begins his first visit to the Soviet Union when he arrives in Moscow for a superpower summit with the Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev.
1989: Signing of an agreement between Egypt and the United States, allowing the manufacture of parts of the F-16 jet fighter plane in Egypt.
1990: The Congress of People’s Deputies of Russia elects Boris Yeltsin as President of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic.
1993: The Miss Sarajevo beauty pageant is held in war-torn Sarajevo drawing global attention to the plight of its citizens.
1999: Olusegun Obasanjo takes office as President of Nigeria, the first elected and civilian head of state in Nigeria after 16 years of military rule.
1999: Space Shuttle Discovery completes the first docking with the International Space Station.
2001: The U.S. Supreme Court rules that the disabled golfer Casey Martin can use a cart to ride in tournaments.
2004: The National World War II Memorial is dedicated in Washington, D.C.
2005: France rejects the Constitution of the European Union in a national referendum.
2008: A doublet earthquake, of combined magnitude 6.1, strikes Iceland near the town of Selfoss, injuring 30 people.
2012: A 5.8-magnitude earthquake hits northern Italy near Bologna, killing at least 24 people.
2015: One World Observatory at One World Trade Center opens.
2021: A Cessna Citation I/SP crashes into Percy Priest Lake in Tennessee, killing all six people on board, including actor Joe Lara and his wife Gwen Shamblin Lara.