On this day: July 29

Events on July 29

• 904 Arab–Byzantine wars: Thessalonica, the Byzantine Empire's second-largest city, was sacked by Saracen raiders. Wikipedia
• 904 Sack of Thessalonica: Saracen raiders under Leo of Tripoli sack Thessaloniki, the Byzantine Empire's second-largest city, after a short siege, and plunder it for a week. Wikipedia
• 923 Battle of Firenzuola: Lombard forces under King Rudolph II and Adalbert I, margrave of Ivrea, defeat the dethroned Emperor Berengar I of Italy at Firenzuola (Tuscany). Wikipedia
• 1014 Byzantine–Bulgarian wars: Battle of Kleidion: Byzantine emperor Basil II inflicts a decisive defeat on the Bulgarian army, and his subsequent treatment of 15,000 prisoners reportedly causes Tsar Samuil of Bulgaria to die of a heart attack less than three months later, on October 6. Wikipedia
• 1014 Byzantine–Bulgarian wars: Byzantine forces defeated troops of the Bulgarian Empire at the Battle of Kleidion in the mountains of Belasica near present-day Klyuch. Wikipedia
• 1602 Elizabeth I visits Harefield Place at Hillingdon and the Harefield Entertainment is performed. Wikipedia
• 1775 Founding of the U.S. Army Judge Advocate General's Corps: General George Washington appoints William Tudor as Judge Advocate of the Continental Army. Wikipedia
• 1818 French physicist Augustin-Jean Fresnel submitted a memoir on the diffraction of light to the Royal Academy of Sciences, providing strong support for the wave theory of light. Wikipedia
• 1851 Annibale de Gasparis discovers asteroid 15 Eunomia. Wikipedia
• 1862 American Civil War: Confederate spy Belle Boyd is arrested by Union troops and detained at the Old Capitol Prison in Washington, D.C. Wikipedia
• 1900 In Italy, King Umberto I of Italy is assassinated by the anarchist Gaetano Bresci. His son, Victor Emmanuel III, 31 years old, succeeds to the throne. Wikipedia
• 1901 Land lottery begins in Oklahoma. Wikipedia
• 1914 The first shots of World War I were fired by the Austro-Hungarian river monitor Bodrog on Serbian defences near Belgrade. Wikipedia
• 1914 The Cape Cod Canal, connecting Cape Cod Bay and Buzzards Bay in the U.S. state of Massachusetts, opened on a limited basis. Wikipedia
• 1921 Adolf Hitler became leader of the National Socialist German Workers' Party. Wikipedia
• 1921 Adolf Hitler becomes leader of the National Socialist German Workers' Party. Wikipedia
• 1948 Olympic Games: The Games of the XIV Olympiad: After a hiatus of 12 years caused by World War II, the first Summer Olympics to be held since the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin, open in London. Wikipedia
• 1954 The Fellowship of the Ring, the first part of J. R. R. Tolkien's novel The Lord of the Rings, was published by Allen & Unwin. Wikipedia
• 1958 U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower signs into law the National Aeronautics and Space Act, which creates the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). Wikipedia
• 1965 Vietnam War: The first 4,000 101st Airborne Division paratroopers arrive in Vietnam, landing at Cam Ranh Bay. Wikipedia
• 1967 During the fourth day of celebrating its 400th anniversary, the city of Caracas, Venezuela is shaken by an earthquake, leaving approximately 500 dead. Wikipedia
• 1981 After impeachment on June 21, Abolhassan Banisadr flees with Massoud Rajavi to Paris, in an Iranian Air Force Boeing 707, piloted by Colonel Behzad Moezzi, to form the National Council of Resistance of Iran. Wikipedia
• 1981 A worldwide television audience of around 750 million people watch the wedding of Charles, Prince of Wales, and Lady Diana Spencer at St Paul's Cathedral in London. Wikipedia
• 1987 British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and President of France François Mitterrand sign the agreement to build a tunnel under the English Channel (Channel Tunnel). Wikipedia
• 2015 The first piece of suspected debris from Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 is discovered on Réunion Island. Wikipedia
• 2024 Three children are stabbed to death and 10 other people injured at a dance studio in Southport, England. This incident, coupled with widespread online misinformation, leads to various racially motivated riots across the UK. Wikipedia

Born on July 29

• 1805 Alexis de Tocqueville, French historian and philosopher (died 1859) Wikipedia
• 1817 Ivan Aivazovsky, Armenian-Russian painter and illustrator (died 1900) Wikipedia
• 1883 Benito Mussolini, Italian fascist revolutionary and politician, 27th Prime Minister of Italy (died 1945) Wikipedia
• 1885 Theda Bara, American actress (died 1955) Wikipedia
• 1892 William Powell, American actor and singer (died 1984) Wikipedia
• 1898 Isidor Isaac Rabi, American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize Laureate (died 1988) Wikipedia
• 1900 Eyvind Johnson, Swedish novelist and short story writer, Nobel Prize Laureate (died 1976) Wikipedia
• 1904 J. R. D. Tata, French-Indian pilot and businessman, founded Tata Motors and Tata Global Beverages (died 1993) Wikipedia
• 1905 Dag Hammarskjöld, Swedish economist and diplomat, 2nd Secretary-General of the United Nations, Nobel Prize Laureate (died 1961) Wikipedia
• 1905 Clara Bow, American actress (died 1965) Wikipedia
• 1917 Rochus Misch, German SS officer (died 2013) Wikipedia
• 1925 Mikis Theodorakis, Greek composer (died 2021) Wikipedia
• 1927 Harry Mulisch, Dutch author, poet, and playwright (died 2010) Wikipedia
• 1937 Daniel McFadden, American economist and academic, Nobel Prize Laureate Wikipedia
• 1940 Bernard Lafayette, American civil rights movement activist (died 2026) Wikipedia
• 1941 David Warner, English actor (died 2022) Wikipedia
• 1945 Mircea Lucescu, Romanian footballer, coach, and manager (died 2026) Wikipedia
• 1959 Sanjay Dutt, Indian actor, singer, and producer Wikipedia
• 1974 Josh Radnor, American actor and musician Wikipedia
• 1981 Fernando Alonso, Spanish race car driver Wikipedia
• 1982 Allison Mack, American actress and criminal Wikipedia
• 1992 Djibril Sidibé, French footballer Wikipedia

Died on July 29

• 238 Pupienus, Roman emperor (born 178) Wikipedia
• 1099 Pope Urban II (born 1042) Wikipedia
• 1644 Pope Urban VIII (born 1568) Wikipedia
• 1856 Robert Schumann, German composer and critic (born 1810) Wikipedia
• 1890 Vincent van Gogh, Dutch painter and illustrator (born 1853) Wikipedia
• 1900 Umberto I of Italy (born 1844) Wikipedia
• 1913 Tobias Asser, Dutch lawyer and jurist, Nobel Prize Laureate (born 1838) Wikipedia
• 1962 Ronald Fisher, English biologist and statistician (born 1890) Wikipedia
• 1974 Erich Kästner, German author and poet (born 1899) Wikipedia
• 1979 Herbert Marcuse, German sociologist and philosopher (born 1898) Wikipedia
• 1983 Luis Buñuel, Spanish actor, director, and screenwriter (born 1900) Wikipedia
• 1983 David Niven, English military officer and actor (born 1910) Wikipedia
• 1994 Dorothy Hodgkin, Egyptian-English biochemist and biophysicist, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1910) Wikipedia
• 2018 Oliver Dragojević, Croatian recording artist (born 1947) Wikipedia

Holidays and observances

• Christian feast day: Lazarus of Bethany Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Lupus of Troyes Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Martha of Bethany (Catholic, Anglican, and Lutheran Church) Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Mary of Bethany Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Olaf II of Norway Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Simplicius, Faustinus and Beatrix Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: William Pinchon Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: July 29 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics) Wikipedia
• Earliest day on which Somer's Day can fall, while August 4 is the latest; celebrated on Friday before the first Monday in August. (Bermuda) Wikipedia
• International Tiger Day Wikipedia
• Mohun Bagan Day (India) Wikipedia
• National Anthem Day (Romania) Wikipedia
• National Thai Language Day (Thailand) Wikipedia
• Ólavsøka or Olsok, opening of the Løgting session. (Faroe Islands and the Nordic countries) Wikipedia

The events, births, deaths and observances above are from the English Wikipedia article “July 29” and the articles it links to (authors and history), retrieved 2026-10-09 through the Wikimedia “On this day” feed. They are licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0; this selection is shared under the same licence. We picked the 26 events, 22 births and 14 deaths with the widest coverage across Wikipedia's language editions (counted from Wikidata) and sorted them by year; the wording is unchanged apart from removing references to pictures.