On this day: April 29

Events on April 29

• 1386 The Grand Duchy of Lithuania decisively won the Battle of the Vikhra River, forcibly making the Principality of Smolensk a vassal state. Wikipedia
• 1483 Gran Canaria, the main island of the Canary Islands, is conquered by the Kingdom of Castile. Wikipedia
• 1760 Seven Years' War: France began an unsuccessful attempt to retake Quebec City, which had been captured by Britain. Wikipedia
• 1770 On his first voyage, British explorer James Cook and the crew of HMS Endeavour landed at Botany Bay, making the first recorded European landfall on the eastern coast of Australia. Wikipedia
• 1826 In Parramatta, Australia, Scottish astronomer James Dunlop discovered Centaurus A, which was later recognised as one of the nearest radio galaxies to Earth. Wikipedia
• 1863 Confederate forts at Grand Gulf survived a bombardment by Union gunboats, preventing Ulysses S. Grant's troops from crossing the Mississippi River at that point. Wikipedia
• 1903 A rockslide buried part of the Canadian mining town of Frank under 110 million tonnes of rock, killing around 70 people. Wikipedia
• 1910 Parliament passed the People's Budget, the first budget in British history with the express intent of redistributing wealth. Wikipedia
• 1911 Tsinghua University, one of mainland China's leading universities, is founded. Wikipedia
• 1916 Easter Rising: After six days of fighting, Irish rebel leaders surrender to British forces in Dublin, bringing the Easter Rising to an end. Wikipedia
• 1922 Sixteen-year-old Lilian Salkeld became the first woman to walk from London to Brighton. Wikipedia
• 1943 After suffering train derailments, defections, and outbreaks of dysentery and typhoid fever which killed two members, the Brazilian football club Santa Cruz returned from their Suicidal Tour. Wikipedia
• 1944 Second World War: British agent Nancy Wake parachuted into Auvergne, France, becoming a liaison between the Special Operations Executive and the local Maquis group. Wikipedia
• 1945 World War II: The U.S. Army liberated Dachau, the first Nazi concentration camp, and killed German prisoners of war. Wikipedia
• 1967 After refusing induction into the United States Army the previous day, Muhammad Ali is stripped of his boxing title. Wikipedia
• 1968 The controversial Broadway musical Hair, a product of the counterculture of the 1960s, opened, with its songs becoming anthems of the anti-Vietnam War movement. Wikipedia
• 1970 Vietnam War: South Vietnamese forces began the Cambodian campaign, aiming to attack North Vietnamese jungle bases. Wikipedia
• 1974 Watergate scandal: United States President Richard Nixon announces the release of edited transcripts of White House tape recordings relating to the scandal. Wikipedia
• 1975 Vietnam War: North Vietnam concluded its East Sea Campaign by capturing all of the Spratly Islands held by South Vietnam. Wikipedia
• 1991 A powerful tropical cyclone struck Chittagong, Bangladesh, killing at least 138,000 people and leaving up to 10 million homeless across the region. Wikipedia
• 1992 The acquittal of policemen who had beaten African-American motorist Rodney King sparked six days of civil unrest in Los Angeles, during which 63 people were killed. Wikipedia
• 1995 Before a crowd of about 165,000 at the Rungrado 1st of May Stadium, Ric Flair and Antonio Inoki competed in the main event of Collision in Korea, the highest attended professional wrestling event of all time. Wikipedia
• 1997 The Chemical Weapons Convention entered into force, outlawing the production, stockpiling and use of chemical weapons in the 87 countries that had ratified the convention. Wikipedia
• 2006 Cyclone Mala made landfall near Thandwe, Myanmar, causing 37 deaths. Wikipedia
• 2011 Watched by a worldwide television audience of tens of millions, Prince William and Catherine Middleton were married at Westminster Abbey in London. Wikipedia
• 2015 The ringleaders of the Bali Nine were executed in Indonesia for attempting to smuggle 8.3 kg (18 lb) of heroin to Australia in 2005. Wikipedia

Born on April 29

• 1818 Alexander II of Russia (died 1881) Wikipedia
• 1848 Raja Ravi Varma, Indian painter and academic (died 1906) Wikipedia
• 1854 Henri Poincaré, French mathematician, physicist and engineer (died 1912) Wikipedia
• 1863 Constantine P. Cavafy, Egyptian-Greek journalist and poet (died 1933) Wikipedia
• 1863 William Randolph Hearst, American publisher and politician, founded the Hearst Corporation (died 1951) Wikipedia
• 1893 Harold Urey, American chemist and astronomer, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1981) Wikipedia
• 1895 Vladimir Propp, Russian scholar and critic (died 1970) Wikipedia
• 1899 Duke Ellington, American pianist, composer and bandleader (died 1974) Wikipedia
• 1901 Hirohito, Japanese emperor (died 1989) Wikipedia
• 1907 Fred Zinnemann, Austrian-American director and producer (died 1997) Wikipedia
• 1917 Celeste Holm, American actress and singer (died 2012) Wikipedia
• 1933 Willie Nelson, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, producer and actor Wikipedia
• 1936 Zubin Mehta, Indian conductor Wikipedia
• 1938 Bernie Madoff, American businessman, financier and convicted felon (died 2021) Wikipedia
• 1954 Jerry Seinfeld, American comedian, actor and producer Wikipedia
• 1957 Daniel Day-Lewis, British actor Wikipedia
• 1958 Michelle Pfeiffer, American actress Wikipedia
• 1968 Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović, Croatian politician and diplomat, 4th President of Croatia Wikipedia
• 1970 Uma Thurman, American actress Wikipedia
• 1970 Andre Agassi, American tennis player Wikipedia
• 1989 Domagoj Vida, Croatian footballer Wikipedia
• 2007 Infanta Sofía of Spain, Spanish princess Wikipedia

Died on April 29

• 1380 Catherine of Siena, Italian mystic, philosopher and saint (born 1347) Wikipedia
• 1630 Agrippa d'Aubigné, French soldier and poet (born 1552) Wikipedia
• 1676 Michiel de Ruyter, Dutch admiral (born 1607) Wikipedia
• 1933 Constantine P. Cavafy, Greek poet and journalist (born 1863) Wikipedia
• 1947 Irving Fisher, American economist and statistician (born 1867) Wikipedia
• 1951 Ludwig Wittgenstein, Austrian-English philosopher and academic (born 1889) Wikipedia
• 1956 Wilhelm Ritter von Leeb, German field marshal and convicted war criminal (born 1876) Wikipedia
• 1980 Alfred Hitchcock, English-American director and producer (born 1899) Wikipedia
• 2000 Phạm Văn Đồng, Vietnamese lieutenant and politician, 2nd Prime Minister of Vietnam (born 1906) Wikipedia
• 2006 John Kenneth Galbraith, Canadian-American economist and diplomat, United States Ambassador to India (born 1908) Wikipedia
• 2008 Albert Hofmann, Swiss chemist and academic (born 1906) Wikipedia
• 2011 Joanna Russ, American writer, academic and radical feminist (born 1937) Wikipedia
• 2014 Bob Hoskins, English actor (born 1942) Wikipedia
• 2020 Irrfan Khan, Indian actor (born 1967) Wikipedia

Holidays and observances

• Christian feast day: Catherine of Siena (Catholic, Lutheran and Anglican Church) Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Hugh of Cluny Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Robert of Molesme Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Wilfrid II Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: April 29 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics) Wikipedia
• International Dance Day (UNESCO) Wikipedia
• Shōwa Day, traditionally the start of the Golden Week holiday period, which is April 29 and May 3–5. (Japan) Wikipedia

Sources

• Wikipedia — “April 29” — events, births, deaths and observances (text under CC BY-SA 4.0) (checked 2026-10-15)
• Wikipedia — “Selected anniversaries/April 29” — the anniversaries editors chose for the date and the article each one is about (checked 2026-10-15)
• Wikidata — in how many language editions each entry's own article exists, used to fill the lists (CC0) (checked 2026-10-15)
• vacanza/holidays (open-source holiday rules, MIT licence) — holiday rules used to build the lists (checked 2026-10-15)

The events, births, deaths and observances above are from the English Wikipedia article “April 29” and the articles it links to (authors and history), retrieved 2026-10-15 through the Wikimedia “On this day” feed. They are licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0; this selection is shared under the same licence. Every anniversary that Wikipedia's editors selected for April 29 stays on the list; the remaining places, up to 26 events, 22 births and 14 deaths, go to the entries whose own article — about the event itself, or else the person or thing it is about — appears in the most language editions (counted from Wikidata); an article about a person or thing, which covers far more than one day, counts half. An entry with no article of its own counts, also at half, by the least covered article it links, and one that links only places counts for nothing. Each list runs by year, and the wording is unchanged apart from removing references to pictures, audio and video.