What Happened This Day In History - October 29

October 29

1618		Sir Walter Raleigh is executed. After the death of Queen Elizabeth, Raleigh’s enemies spread rumors that he was opposed the accession of King James.
1787		Mozart’s opera Don Giovanni opens in Prague.
1814		The Demologos, the first steam-powered warship, launched in New York City.
1901		Leon Czolgosz is electrocuted for the assassination of US President William McKinley. Czolgosz, an anarchist, shot McKinley on September 6 during a public reception at the Temple of Music in Buffalo, N.Y. Despite early hopes of recovery, McKinley died September 14, in Buffalo, NY.
1927		Russian archaeologist Peter Kozloff apparently uncovers the tomb of Genghis Khan in the Gobi Desert, a claim still in dispute.
1929		Black Tuesday–the most catastrophic day in stock market history, the herald of the Great Depression. 16 million shares were sold at declining prices. By mid-November $30 billion of the $80 billion worth of stocks listed in September will have been wiped out.
1945		The first ball-point pen goes is sold by Gimbell’s department store in New York for a price of $12.
1949		Alonzo G. Moron of the Virgin Islands becomes the first African-American president of Hampton Institute, Hampton, Virginia.
1952		French forces launch Operation Lorraine against Viet Minh supply bases in Indochina.
1964		Thieves steal a jewel collection–including the world’s largest sapphire, the 565-carat "Star of India," and the 100-carat DeLong ruby–from the Museum of Natural History in New York. The thieves were caught and most of the jewels recovered.
1969		The U.S. Supreme Court orders immediate desegregation, superseding the previous "with all deliberate speed" ruling.
1969		First computer-to-computer link; the link is accomplished through ARPANET, forerunner of the Internet.
1972		Palestinian guerrillas kill an airport employee and hijack a plane, carrying 27 passengers, to Cuba. They force West Germany to release 3 terrorists who were involved in the Munich Massacre.
1983		More than 500,000 people protest in The Hague, The Netherlands, against cruise missiles.
1986		The last stretch of Britain’s M25 motorway opens.
1998		South Africa’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission reports condemns both sides on the Apartheid issue for committing atrocities.
1998		John Glenn, at age 77, becomes the oldest person to go into outer space. He is part of the crew of Space Shuttle Discovery, STS-95.
1998		The deadliest Atlantic hurricane on record up to that time, Hurricane Mitch, makes landfall in Honduras (in 2005 Hurricane Wilma surpassed it); nearly 11,000 people died and approximately the same number were missing.
2004		For the first time, Osama bin Laden admits direct responsibility for the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in the US; his comments are part of a video broadcast by the Al Jazeera network.
2008		Delta and Northwest airlines merge, forming the world’s largest airline.
2012		Hurricane Sandy devastates much of the East Coast of the US; nearly 300 die directly or indirectly from the storm.
Born on October 29
1882		Jean Giraudoux, French dramatist, novelist and diplomat, famous for his book Tiger at the Gates.
1891		Fanny Brice, comedian, singer and actress.
1897		Joseph G. Göbbels, German Nazi Propaganda Minister who committed suicide in Hitler’s bunker.
1905		Henry Green, novelist (Living, Party Going).
1910		A. J. Ayer, English philosopher.
1921		Bill Maudlin, American cartoonist whose GI characters "Willie" and "Joe" appeared in Stars and Stripes newspapers during World War II.
1938		Ralph Bakshi, Palestinian-American director of live films and animated full-length films for adults including 1972’s Fritz the Cat (first animated film to be rated X by the Motion Picture Association of America), Wizards (1977) and The Lord of the Rings (1978).
1943		Don Simpson, film producer, screenwriter, actor; (co-producer Flashdance, 1985; Top Gun, 1986).
1945		Melba Moore, disco and R&B singer, actress ("You Stepped into My Life," "Lean on Me").
1946		Peter Green, guitarist, songwriter, founder of the band Fleetwood Mac; regarded as one of the greatest guitarists of all time.
1947		Richard Dreyfuss, actor (American Graffiti, Jaws; won Academy Award for Best Actor for 1977’s The Goodbye Girl).
1948		Kate Jackson, actress, director, producer (original Charlie’s Angels TV series,Scarecrow and Mrs. King TV series).
1954		Lee Child, author; creator of the Jack Reacher novel series.
1958		David Remnick, journals, author, magazine editor (The New Yorker); won Pulitzer Prize for Lenin’s Tomb: The Last Days of the Soviet Empire (1994).
1971		Winona Ryder, actress, producer (Beetlejuice; Girl, Interrupted).