On this day: July 29

Events on July 29

• 238 The Praetorian guard revolts against emperors Balbinus and Pupienus and arrests them. Wikipedia
• 904 Arab–Byzantine wars: Thessalonica, the Byzantine Empire's second-largest city, was sacked by Saracen raiders. 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
• 1030 Ladejarl-Fairhair succession wars: Battle of Stiklestad: King Olaf II fights and dies trying to regain his Norwegian throne from the Danes. Wikipedia
• 1567 The infant James VI was crowned King of Scotland at Stirling. Wikipedia
• 1588 Anglo-Spanish War: Battle of Gravelines: English naval forces under the command of Lord Charles Howard and Sir Francis Drake defeat the Spanish Armada off the coast of Gravelines, France. Wikipedia
• 1693 Nine Years' War: French troops defeated the forces of the Grand Alliance led by William III of England at the Battle of Landen in present-day Neerwinden, Belgium. 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
• 1836 Inauguration of the Arc de Triomphe in Paris, France. Wikipedia
• 1899 The First Hague Convention is signed. Wikipedia
• 1900 Italian anarchist Gaetano Bresci assassinated King Umberto I of Italy in Monza. Wikipedia
• 1911 In a case later termed a "legal lynching", Will P. Brady obtained a guilty verdict and death sentence against 15-year-old León Martínez Jr., five days after his arrest for killing a white woman. 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
• 1914 The first shots of World War I were fired by the Austro-Hungarian river monitor Bodrog on Serbian defences near Belgrade. Wikipedia
• 1921 Adolf Hitler became leader of the National Socialist German Workers' Party. Wikipedia
• 1938 The Essential Commodities Reserves Act, which allowed the British government to build up reserves of essential commodities in anticipation of war, received royal assent. 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
• 1950 Korean War: Over fears that North Korean soldiers were infiltrating refugee columns, U.S. forces concluded a four-day massacre of hundreds of civilians through shootings and air attacks near the village of Nogeun-ri. 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
• 1957 The International Atomic Energy Agency is established. Wikipedia
• 1980 Iran adopts a new "holy" flag after the Islamic Revolution. Wikipedia
• 1981 An estimated worldwide television audience of 750 million watched the wedding of Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer at St Paul's Cathedral in London. Wikipedia
• 1985 Space Shuttle Challenger launches on STS-51-F. The shuttle ends up in a lower orbit than planned due to an engine failure during ascent. 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
• 2005 Astronomers announce their discovery of the dwarf planet Eris. 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

• 869 Muhammad al-Mahdi, The 12th Imam of Muslims (Shiites) (died 941) Wikipedia
• 1805 Alexis de Tocqueville, French historian and philosopher (died 1859) Wikipedia
• 1817 Ivan Aivazovsky, Armenian-Russian painter and illustrator (died 1900) Wikipedia
• 1846 Isabel, Brazilian princess (died 1921) 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
• 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
• 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
• 1941 David Warner, English actor (died 2022) Wikipedia
• 1945 Mircea Lucescu, Romanian footballer, coach, and manager (died 2026) Wikipedia
• 1957 Nellie Kim, Russian gymnast and coach 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
• 238 Balbinus, Roman emperor (born 165) Wikipedia
• 1099 Pope Urban II (born 1042) Wikipedia
• 1108 Philip I of France (born 1052) 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
• 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

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

Sources

• Wikipedia — “July 29” — events, births, deaths and observances (text under CC BY-SA 4.0) (checked 2026-10-15)
• Wikipedia — “Selected anniversaries/July 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 “July 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 July 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.