Today in History

On This Day In History, April 29th

1997 The Chemical Weapons Convention becomes effective
The arms control treaty prohibits the production, storage, and use of chemical weapons. It has so far been ratified by some 190 countries.

1992 Deadly riots erupt in Los Angeles
53 people died in the riots, which started after the acquittal of the 4 Los Angeles police officers accused of the brutal beating of Rodney King.

1975 Hubert van Es takes the famous picture of a helicopter airlift from a Saigon rooftop
The image shows South Vietnamese civilians employed by the U.S. trying to escape Saigon on the day before the city's fall. It came to symbolize the American defeat in Vietnam.

1968 The musical Hair Goes to Broadway
As a portrait of the 1960s hippie counterculture and the sexual revolution, it was highly controversial at the time. Some of the musical's songs became anthems of the peace movement during the Vietnam War.

1945 A day before committing suicide, Adolf Hitler and Eva Braun marry
On the same day, U.S. troops liberated the Dachau concentration camp near Munich.
 

Births On This Day, April 29th 🎂

1974 Anggun
Indonesian/French singer-songwriter, producer

1958 Michelle Pfeiffer
American actress, singer

1901 Hirohito
Japanese Emperor

1899 Duke Ellington
American pianist, composer, bandleader

1854 Henri Poincaré
French mathematician, physicist, engineer

Deaths On This Day, April 29th 🪦

2006 John Kenneth Galbraith
Canadian/American economist

1980 Alfred Hitchcock
English director, producer

1951 Ludwig Wittgenstein
Austrian/English philosopher

1937 William Gillette
American actor, author

1921 Arthur Mold
English cricketer
 
29 April 1993
Buckingham Palace opened its doors to the public for the first time in order to raise money to repair the fire-damaged Windsor Castle. The palace will only be open in August and September when the Queen is at her Scottish residence, Balmoral.
 

29 April 2007
Iranian police have been warning barbers not to give men Western hairstyles, or to use make-up on them.
This is part of a fierce crackdown on what is known as bad hijab, or un-Islamic clothing.
Iranian television has said that the crackdown on un-Islamic clothing has started its next phase, in which mobile police units will patrol Tehran in search of those who do not observe Islamic dress sense.
Tehran's public prosecutor has suggested that women who violate dress rules should be exiled from the capital, and forced to live in remote areas of the country.
 
29 April 2010
Women can now serve on U.S. submarines.
Training women for their new duties and the creation of appropriate quarters will mean that it will be more than a year before women can take up their posts. The cramped conditions had previously precluded women, despite their being able to serve alongside men on surface ships.
About 15% of Navy personnel are women.
 
1852
1st edition of English lexigrapher Peter Roget's 'Thesaurus was published in England
1927
construction of mono plane' Spirit of St Louis' which Charles Lindberg flew across the Atlantic is completed
1945
Desmond Dross, U.S. soldier/ conscious objector refused to kill an enemy soldier or carry a gun due to his religious beliefs,instead became a medic. He saved 75 wounded soldiers in Battle of Okinawa at Hacksaw Ridgfe. He was awarded the Medal of Honor,his story was basis of movie' Hacksaw Ridge'
1986
800,000 books were destroyed in a fire at Los Angeles Central Library ,author Susan Olean, wrote a terrific, detailed book about what happen "The Library Book'
2004
Oldsmobile builds its final car and ends 107 yrs of production
 
April 29th Birthdays:
1879
Thomas Beechman- British conductor, co founder& led London Philharmonic 1946-1960
1933
Rod McKuen-poet/ singer songwriter 'Jean, Love's Been Good To Me, Without a Worry In the World'
1957
Daniel Day Lewis- British actor only actor to win 3 Best Actor Oscars for 'My Left Foot'89, There Will Be Blood'07, Lincoln '12,he retired from acting in 2017
1970
Uma Thurman- actress 'Pulp Fiction,, Kill Bill
Deaths:
1864
Abraham Gesner- Canadian geologist who invented Kerosene 66
1980
Alfred Hitchcock- British film director' Psycho, The Birds, Vertigo, Rear Window 80
2014
Bob Hoskins- British actor Long Good Friday, Who Framed Roger Rabbit,Snow White&The Huntsman,Mermaids 71
2018
Robert Mandan- actor best known TV role' Chester Tate' in ABC"s sitcom spoof of soap operas' Soap' 86
 
On This Day In History, April 30th

1993 CERN announces that World Wide Web protocols will remain free
By offering the software required to operate a web server with an open license, the European organization ensured its dissemination, and the WWW flourished.

1993 Tennis ace Monica Seles is stabbed by an obsessed fan
Although the stab wound proved to be relatively harmless, the psychological ramifications meant that Seles did not play any tournaments for over two years.

1975 The fall of Saigon marks the end of the Vietnam War
As Communist forces gained control of Saigon, South Vietnamese President Duong Van Minh, who had only been in office for 2 days, surrendered unconditionally.

1916 Germany and its World War I allies become the first countries to use daylight saving time (DST)
The rationale was to save energy to aid the war effort. Other European countries, such as the United Kingdom, first introduced DST later that year.

1789 George Washington becomes the first U.S. President
Washington took the oath of office on the balcony of Federal Hall in New York City. In the United States, he is venerated as one of the country's founding fathers.
 
Births On This Day, April 30th 🎂

1982 Kirsten Dunst
American actress, singer

1959 Stephen Harper
Canadian politician, 22nd Prime Minister of Canada

1956 Lars von Trier
Danish director, screenwriter

1933 Willie Nelson
American singer-songwriter, guitarist, producer, actor

1777 Carl Friedrich Gauss
German mathematician

Deaths On This Day, April 30th 🪦

1983 Muddy Waters
American singer-songwriter, guitarist

1980 Luis Muñoz Marín
Puerto Rican poet, politician, 1st Governor of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico

1945 Adolf Hitler
Austrian/German politician, Chancellor of Germany

1883 Édouard Manet
French painter

1030 Mahmud of Ghazni
 
1789
George Washington inaugrated as U.S. 1st President at Federal Hall in NYC
1904
Ice cream cone made its debut at St Louis World's Fair by its inventor, Ernest A. Hamwi
1945
Nazi leader, Adolph Hitler & his wife, Eve Braun commit suicide in the Fuherbunker in Berlin as Red Army captures the city
1952
"Mr Potato Head' becomes the 1st toy advertised on TV
1989
WWW{World Wide Web} 1st launched in public domain by computer scientist, Tim Berners-Lee
2022
The world's largest glass bottom bridge, Bach Long Bridge at 632 m opens in Moc Cloud Island Park in Vietnam
 
April 30th BIrthdays:
1908
Eve Arden- actress best known TV role' Connie Brooks' in 50's sitcom 'Our Miss Brooks, played high school prinicipal in movie 'Grease' 78, sequel 'Grease 2 '82
1926
Cloris Leachman- Oscar/ Emmy winning actress ,best known TV role' Phyliss' on MaryTyler Moore Show, won best supp actress Oscar for film' The Last Picture Show'
1954
Jane Campion- New Zealand film director' The Piano, The Power of the Dog'
1975
Johnny Galecki- actor best known TV roles' David Healy' on ABC sitcom 'Roseanne, 'Leonard' on CBS sitcom "The Big Bang Theory"
Deaths:
1883
Edouard Manet- French Impressionist painter 51
1970
Inger Stevens- actress best known TV role' Katy Holstrum' in ABC sitcom' The Farmer's Daughter' 35{suicide}
1974
Agnes Moorehead- actress best known TV role' Endora' In ABC sitcom' Bewitched' 68
2015
Ben E. King- singer' Stand By Me 76
2019
Peter Mayhew- British actor best known film role' Chewbacca' in Star Wars franchise 74
 
On This Day In History, May 1st

1978 Naomi Uemura becomes the first person to reach the North Pole alone
The Japanese adventurer is also credited with the first solo ascent of Mount McKinley and the first solo rafting of the Amazon River. He disappeared in 1984 during a winter ascent of Mount McKinley.

1961 Fidel Castro declares Cuba a socialist nation and banned elections
A month after Cuban troops had fought off a U.S.-backed military invasion at the Bay of Pigs, Castro announces that “The revolution has no time for elections.”

1945 Adolf Hitler's death is announced on German radio
As the Soviet flag is raised over the Reich Chancellery, the German people are informed that “our leader, Adolf Hitler, has fallen for Germany, fighting to his last breath against Bolshevism.”

1925 The world's largest trade union is founded
The All-China Federation of Trade Unions has more than 300 million members.

1840 The world's first adhesive postage stamp is issued in the United Kingdom
The Penny Black shows a portrait of Queen Victoria. Despite its historical significance, the stamp can be bought for around £25 as over 68 million copies were distributed.
 
Births On This Day, May 1st 🎂

1987 Shahar Pe'er
Israeli tennis player

1967 Tim McGraw
American singer-songwriter, actor

1924 Terry Southern
American author, screenwriter

1923 Joseph Heller
American author, playwright

1769 Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington
Irish/English field marshal, politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom

Deaths On This Day, May 1st 🪦

1994 Ayrton Senna
Brazilian race car driver

1990 Sergio Franchi
Italian/American singer, actor

1960 Charles Holden
An English architect designed the Bristol Central Library

1904 Antonín Dvořák
Czech composer

1873 David Livingstone
Scottish missionary, explorer
 
1st May

1517 In 'Evil May Day' riots in London, London apprentices attacked foreign residents. The rioters ransacked areas inhabited by foreign apprentices and traders until the Lords marched in with men-at-arms and quelled the riots in the early hours of 1 May. Contemporary reports suggest as many as 25,000 troops were inside and surrounding central London. Rioters arrested were gibbeted about the town, and many were hung, drawn and quartered.

1707 The Acts of Union, passed by the English and Scottish Parliaments in 1707, led to the creation of the United Kingdom of Great Britain on 1 May of that year. The UK Parliament met for the first time in October 1707.

1759 Josiah Wedgwood founded the Wedgwood pottery company in Burslem, Staffordshire. Wedgewood was a prominent abolitionist of slavery. He mass produced cameos depicting the seal for the Society for the Abolition of the Slave Trade and had them widely distributed. He was also the grandfather of Charles Darwin.

1851 Queen Victoria opened the Great Exhibition in Hyde Park, London. Over 10,000 exhibitors set up eight miles of tables.
 
1863
The oldest U.S. orthopaedic hospital for Ruptured&Crippled opened in NYC
1901
Pan-American Exposition open in Buffalo,NY ran until Nov 2nd
1931
Empire State Building open in NYC
1939
author, Margaret Kinnan Rawlings wins Pulitzer Prize for 'The Yearling' story of a boy who becomes attached to a young deer. The movie version came out in 1946 starring Gregory Peck, Jane Wyman, Claude Jaraman,Jr
1960
Russia shoots down Francis Gary Powers 's U-2 spy plane over Sverlovsk
2009
Carol Ann Duffy of Scotland becomes Britian's 1st female poet Laureate
 
May 1st BIrthdays:
1916
Glenn Ford- Canadian actor Big Heat, Midway, Pocket Full of Miracles, Blackboard Jungle
1939
Judy Collins -gGammy awarding winning singer' Both Sides Now, Send In the Clowns
1950
Dann Florek- actor best known TV role' Capt Cragen' in NBC police drama'Law&Order:SVU left the show after 15yrs in 2014
Deaths:
1965
Spike Jones- U.S. bandleader 53
1989
Douglass Watson- actor best known TV role 'Mac Cory in NBC soap opera' Another World' 68{ heart attack}
2021
Olympia Dukakis- actress Moonstruck, Steel Magnolias 89
 
2 May 1980
Pink Floyd's hit single "Another Brick in the Wall", with its chorus of kids chanting "We Don't Need No Education", is banned by the South African government.
Black children, upset about inferior education, adopt the song as their anthem. The government says the song is "prejudicial to the safety of the state."
 
On This Day In History, May 2nd

2011 Osama bin Laden is killed by a U.S. commando
Bin Laden was the founder of al-Qaeda, a militant group that claimed responsibility for a series of terrorist attacks on U.S. targets on September 11, 2001.

1997 Tony Blair becomes British Prime Minister, ending 18 years of Conservative Party reign
Blair's Labor Party achieved a landslide victory in the general elections. Many of his early fans were bitterly disappointed when he supported the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003.

1989 The Iron Curtain begins to crumble as Hungary dismantles its border fence
By gradually opening its border to Austria, Hungary facilitated the escape of hundreds of East Germans in the months before the Berlin Wall fell.

1982 The British Royal Navy sinks the Argentinian cruiser General Belgrano
323 lives were lost in the attack, more than half of the total number of Argentinian casualties during the Falklands War. The British Sun tabloid newspaper commented on the controversial attack with one of its most notorious headlines: “Gotcha”.

1952 The jet age begins with the first scheduled flight of the De Havilland Comet 1
Precisely one year after the maiden flight from London to Johannesburg, a Comet 1 crashed due to structural problems, killing 43 people. A series of similar accidents soon led to the grounding of the entire Comet fleet.
 

Births On This Day, May 2nd 🎂

1985 Lily Allen
English singer-songwriter

1975 David Beckham
English footballer, coach, and model

1921 Satyajit Ray
Indian director, producer, screenwriter

1808 Emma Darwin
English wife of Charles Darwin

1729 Catherine the Great
Russian wife of Peter III of Russia

Deaths On This Day, May 2nd 🪦

2011 Osama bin Laden
Saudi Arabian terrorist founded al-Qaeda

1972 J. Edgar Hoover
American 1st Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation

1957 Joseph McCarthy
American politician

1864 Giacomo Meyerbeer
German composer

1519 Leonardo da Vinci
Italian painter, sculptor, architect
 
1885
Good Housekeeping magazine is 1st published,cost 10 cents was bi-weekly, now its costs $12/year
1945
more than 1 million German soldiers offically surrender to Western Allies in Austria&Italy
1949
playwright, Arthur miller wins Pulitzer Prize for' Death of a Salesman' story of Willy Loman, an aging salesman who realizes he's past his prime coming to gripes with this, also feels guilty for neglecting his family The movie version came out in 1951 starring Frederic March, Mildred Dummock, Kevin McCarthy
1975
Apple Records ceases production
2011 Osama bin Landin,mastermind behind the U.S. Sept 11th attacks is killed by U.S. Special Forces in Abbottabad, Pakistan
 
May 2nd Birthdays:
1897
J. Fred Coots- U.S. songwriter' Santa Claus Is Coming To Town, Love Letters in the Sand
1930
Bernard Slade- Canadian screenwriter for TV shows' The Flying Nun, The Partridge Family, playwright 'Same Time, Next Year
1939
Tony Asher- British lyrcist God Only, Wouldn't It Be Nice, That's Life
1972
Dwayne Johnson aka'The Rock' former pro wrestler/actor San Andreas, Baywatch, Jumanji, Fast&Furious, Moana
Deaths:
1519
Leonardo da Vinci- Italian painter 67
1972
J.Edgar Hoover- 1st Director of FBI{Federal Bureau of investigation{ 1924-1972} 77
1999
Oliver Reed- British actor' Oliver, Big Sleep,Gladiator 61{heart attack during production of this movie}
2010
Lynn Redgrave- British actress 'Georgy GIrl, Gods&Monsters 67{cancer}
2014
Efrem Zimbalist, Jr -actor best known TV roles' Stu Barnes' on ABC detective drama' 77Sunset Strip', Inspector Lewis Erskine' in ABC police drama' The F.B.I" 95
 
On This Day In History, May 3rd

1999 A tornado produces the highest wind speeds ever recorded
The F5 tornado hitting parts of Oklahoma City caused a record wind speed of about 301 mph (484 km/h). 45 people were killed, and 665 injured.

1979 Margaret Thatcher is elected British Prime Minister
The conservative politician was the first female head of state in Europe. During her 11-year reign, her sweeping economic reforms polarized the British public, and her toughness earned her the nickname The Iron Lady.

1978 The Digital Equipment Corporation sends the world's first spam email
A representative sent out 600 emails and sold computers for $12 million. Unsolicited bulk emails have since become a scourge of the digital age as spammers attempt to achieve similar success.

1958 Truman Capote's book Breakfast at Tiffany's is published
The novella is one of the U.S. author's most popular works. The 1961 film of the same name starring Audrey Hepburn is a classic in its genre.

1913 The first Indian full-length feature film is premiered
The release of Raja Harishchandra marked the birth of the Indian film industry, the world's largest in terms of films produced and ticket sales.
 
Births On This Day, May 3rd 🎂

1933 James Brown
American singer-songwriter, producer, actor

1921 Sugar Ray Robinson
American boxer

1919 Pete Seeger
American singer-songwriter, guitarist

1898 Golda Meir
Israeli educator, politician, 4th Prime Minister of Israel

1469 Niccolò Machiavelli
Italian historian, philosopher

Deaths On This Day, May 3rd 🪦

2014 Jim Oberstar
American politician

1999 Godfrey Evans
English cricketer

1987 Dalida
Egyptian/French singer, actress

1916 Patrick Pearse
Irish activist

1481 Mehmed the Conqueror
Ottoman sultan
 

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