On this day: March 29

Events on March 29

• 1430 After an eight-year siege, the Ottoman Empire captured the city of Thessalonica from the Republic of Venice. Wikipedia
• 1430 The Ottoman Empire under Murad II captures Thessalonica from the Republic of Venice. Wikipedia
• 1549 The city of Salvador, Bahia, the first capital of Brazil, is founded. Wikipedia
• 1632 Treaty of Saint-Germain is signed returning Quebec to French control after the English had seized it in 1629. Wikipedia
• 1792 King Gustav III of Sweden dies after being shot in the back at a midnight masquerade ball at Stockholm's Royal Opera 13 days earlier. Wikipedia
• 1800 William Matthews was ordained as the first Catholic priest born in British America. Wikipedia
• 1867 Queen Victoria gives Royal Assent to the British North America Act which establishes Canada on July 1. Wikipedia
• 1941 Second World War: British and Australian ships defeated Italian Regia Marina vessels at the Battle of Cape Matapan. Wikipedia
• 1941 World War II: British Royal Navy and Royal Australian Navy forces defeat those of the Italian Regia Marina off the Peloponnesian coast of Greece in the Battle of Cape Matapan. Wikipedia
• 1951 Hypnosis murders in Copenhagen. Wikipedia
• 1961 The Twenty-third Amendment to the United States Constitution is ratified, allowing residents of Washington, D.C., to vote in presidential elections. Wikipedia
• 1962 Arturo Frondizi, the president of Argentina, is overthrown in a military coup by Argentina's armed forces, ending an 11+1⁄2 day constitutional crisis. Wikipedia
• 1968 The funeral of Yuri Gagarin, the first man in space, began in Moscow with tens of thousands of people in attendance. Wikipedia
• 1968 The funeral of Yuri Gagarin, the first man in space, begins in Moscow, with thousands of people in attendance. Wikipedia
• 1973 Operation Barrel Roll, a covert American bombing campaign in Laos to stop communist infiltration of South Vietnam, ends. Wikipedia
• 1974 NASA's Mariner 10 became the first space probe to make a flyby of Mercury. Wikipedia
• 1974 NASA's Mariner 10 becomes the first space probe to fly by Mercury. Wikipedia
• 1982 Queen Elizabeth II granted royal assent to the Canada Act 1982, which ended any remaining constitutional dependence of Canada on the United Kingdom by a process known as patriation. Wikipedia
• 1982 The Canada Act 1982 receives the Royal Assent from Queen Elizabeth II, setting the stage for the Queen of Canada to proclaim the Constitution Act, 1982. Wikipedia
• 1990 The Czechoslovak parliament is unable to reach an agreement on what to call the country after the fall of Communism, sparking the so-called Hyphen War. Wikipedia
• 1999 The Chamoli earthquake, one of the strongest to hit the foothills of the Himalayas in more than 90 years, killed at least 100 people. Wikipedia
• 2002 In reaction to the Passover massacre two days prior, Israel launches Operation Defensive Shield against Palestinian militants, its largest military operation in the West Bank since the 1967 Six-Day War. Wikipedia
• 2004 Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia, and Slovenia join NATO as full members. Wikipedia
• 2015 Air Canada Flight 624 skids off the runway at Halifax Stanfield International Airport, after arriving from Toronto shortly past midnight. All 133 passengers and five crews on board survive, with 23 treated for minor injuries. Wikipedia
• 2017 British prime minister Theresa May invoked Article 50 of the Treaty on European Union, formally beginning the United Kingdom's withdrawal from the European Union. Wikipedia
• 2017 Prime Minister Theresa May invokes Article 50 of the Treaty on European Union, formally beginning the United Kingdom's withdrawal from the European Union. Wikipedia

Born on March 29

• 1187 Arthur I, Duke of Brittany, grandson of King Henry II of England (died 1203) Wikipedia
• 1769 Jean-de-Dieu Soult, French general and politician, 12th Prime Minister of France (died 1851) Wikipedia
• 1790 John Tyler, American lawyer and politician, 10th President of the United States (died 1862) Wikipedia
• 1799 Edward Smith-Stanley, 14th Earl of Derby, English politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (died 1869) Wikipedia
• 1874 Lou Henry Hoover, American philanthropist and geologist, 33rd First Lady of the United States (died 1944) Wikipedia
• 1895 Ernst Jünger, German philosopher and author (died 1998) Wikipedia
• 1899 Lavrentiy Beria, Georgian-Russian general and politician (died 1953) Wikipedia
• 1900 John McEwen, Australian farmer and politician, 18th Prime Minister of Australia (died 1980) Wikipedia
• 1918 Sam Walton, American businessman, founded Walmart and Sam's Club (died 1992) Wikipedia
• 1927 John Vane, English pharmacologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 2004) Wikipedia
• 1929 Lennart Meri, Estonian director and politician, 2nd President of Estonia (died 2006) Wikipedia
• 1943 John Major, English banker and politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Wikipedia
• 1943 Vangelis, Greek keyboard player and songwriter (died 2022) Wikipedia
• 1943 Eric Idle, English actor, comedian, musician and writer Wikipedia
• 1952 Bola Tinubu, Nigerian politician, President-elect of Nigeria Wikipedia
• 1955 Brendan Gleeson, Irish actor Wikipedia
• 1957 Christopher Lambert, American-French actor Wikipedia
• 1960 Jo Nesbø, Norwegian writer, musician and football player Wikipedia
• 1967 Michel Hazanavicius, French director, producer, and screenwriter Wikipedia
• 1968 Lucy Lawless, New Zealand actress Wikipedia
• 1976 Jennifer Capriati, American tennis player Wikipedia
• 1991 N'Golo Kanté, French footballer Wikipedia

Died on March 29

• 500 Gwynllyw, Welsh king and religious figure Wikipedia
• 1058 Pope Stephen IX (born 1020) Wikipedia
• 1772 Emanuel Swedenborg, Swedish astronomer, philosopher, and theologian (born 1688) Wikipedia
• 1792 Gustav III, Swedish king (born 1746) Wikipedia
• 1891 Georges Seurat, French painter (born 1859) Wikipedia
• 1912 Robert Falcon Scott, English lieutenant and explorer (born 1868) Wikipedia
• 1982 Carl Orff, German composer and educator (born 1895) Wikipedia
• 1982 Walter Hallstein, German academic and politician, 1st President of the European Commission (born 1901) Wikipedia
• 2016 Patty Duke, American actress (born 1946) Wikipedia
• 2017 Alexei Abrikosov, Russian physicist, 2003 Nobel laureate in Physics (born 1928) Wikipedia
• 2019 Agnès Varda, French film director (born 1928) Wikipedia
• 2020 Krzysztof Penderecki, Polish composer and conductor (born 1933) Wikipedia
• 2024 Gerry Conway, English folk and rock drummer/percussionist (born 1947) Wikipedia
• 2025 Richard Chamberlain, American actor (born 1934) Wikipedia

Holidays and observances

• Christian feast day: Armogastes Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Berthold of Calabria Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Gwynllyw Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Jonas and Barachisius Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Ludolph of Ratzeburg Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: March 29 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics) Wikipedia
• Boganda Day (Central African Republic) Wikipedia
• Commemoration of the 1947 Rebellion (Madagascar) Wikipedia
• National Vietnam War Veterans Day (United States) Wikipedia
• Day of the Young Combatant (Chile) Wikipedia
• Youth Day (Taiwan) Wikipedia

The events, births, deaths and observances above are from the English Wikipedia article “March 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.