On this day: September 29

Events on September 29

• 440 Consecration of pope Leo I, later called Leo the Great, following the death of pope Sixtus III in the month before. Wikipedia
• 1227 Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor, is excommunicated by Pope Gregory IX for his failure to participate in the Crusades during the Investiture Controversy. Wikipedia
• 1364 During the Hundred Years' War, Anglo-Breton forces defeat the Franco-Breton army in Brittany, ending the War of the Breton Succession. Wikipedia
• 1567 During the French War of Religion, Protestant coup officials in Nîmes massacre Catholic priests in an event now known as the Michelade. Wikipedia
• 1578 Tegucigalpa, capital city of Honduras, is claimed by the Spaniards. Wikipedia
• 1724 J. S. Bach led the first performance of Herr Gott, dich loben alle wir, BWV 130, based on Paul Eber's hymn in twelve stanzas, for the feast of archangel Michael. Wikipedia
• 1724 J. S. Bach leads the first performance of Herr Gott, dich loben alle wir, BWV 130 for the feast of archangel Michael, based on Paul Eber's hymn in twelve stanzas. Wikipedia
• 1726 Johann Sebastian Bach led the first performance of Es erhub sich ein Streit, a cantata for Michaelmas. Wikipedia
• 1726 J. S. Bach leads the first performance of Es erhub sich ein Streit, BWV 130, for the feast of Michael, the archangel. Wikipedia
• 1760 The Williamsburg Bray School, the oldest-surviving school building in the U.S. dedicated to educating Black children, opened at Benjamin Franklin's suggestion. Wikipedia
• 1833 The Spanish American wars of independence ended with the death of King Ferdinand VII, with what had once been the Spanish Empire disintegrating into independent Latin American states. Wikipedia
• 1864 The Battle of Chaffin's Farm is fought in the American Civil War. Wikipedia
• 1907 The cornerstone is laid at the Cathedral Church of Saint Peter and Saint Paul (better known as Washington National Cathedral) in Washington, D.C. Wikipedia
• 1911 Italy declares war on the Ottoman Empire, In this war , Italy gains Libya which ends Ottoman rule in North Africa . Wikipedia
• 1918 World War I: The Battle of St Quentin Canal took place, which led to the British Fourth Army making the first breach of the German defensive Hindenburg Line. Wikipedia
• 1918 World War I: Bulgaria signs the Armistice of Salonica ending its participation. Wikipedia
• 1918 World War I: Germany's Supreme Army Command tells Kaiser Wilhelm II and Imperial Chancellor Georg Michaelis to open negotiations for an armistice to end the war. Wikipedia
• 1932 Last day of the Battle of Boquerón between Paraguay and Bolivia during the Chaco War. Wikipedia
• 1940 Two Avro Ansons collide in mid-air over New South Wales, Australia, remain locked together, then land safely. Wikipedia
• 1941 During World War II, German forces, with the aid of local Ukrainian collaborators, begin the two-day Babi Yar massacre. Wikipedia
• 1941 The Holocaust: Nazi forces, aided by Ukrainian collaborators, began a massacre of Jews in a ravine in Kyiv, killing more than 30,000 civilians in two days and thousands more in the following months. Wikipedia
• 1971 Oman joins the Arab League. Wikipedia
• 1972 Japan establishes diplomatic relations with the People's Republic of China after breaking official ties with the Republic of China. Wikipedia
• 1979 Equatorial Guinean dictator Francisco Macías Nguema is executed by soldiers from Western Sahara. Wikipedia
• 1990 Construction of the Cathedral Church of Saint Peter and Saint Paul (better known as Washington National Cathedral) is completed in Washington, D.C. Wikipedia
• 1990 The Tampere Hall, the largest concert and congress center in the Nordic countries, is inaugurated in Tampere, Finland. Wikipedia

Born on September 29

• 106 BC Pompey, Roman general and politician (died 48 BC) Wikipedia
• 1511 Michael Servetus, Spanish physician, cartographer, and theologian (died 1553) Wikipedia
• 1547 Miguel de Cervantes, Spanish novelist, poet, and playwright (died 1616) Wikipedia
• 1758 Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson, English admiral (died 1805) Wikipedia
• 1810 Elizabeth Gaskell, English author (died 1865) Wikipedia
• 1864 Miguel de Unamuno, Spanish philosopher and author (died 1936) Wikipedia
• 1881 Ludwig von Mises, Austrian-American economist, sociologist, and philosopher (died 1973) Wikipedia
• 1899 László Bíró, Hungarian-Argentinian journalist and inventor, invented the ballpoint pen (died 1985) Wikipedia
• 1901 Enrico Fermi, Italian-American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1954) Wikipedia
• 1912 Michelangelo Antonioni, Italian director and screenwriter (died 2007) Wikipedia
• 1920 Peter D. Mitchell, English biochemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1992) Wikipedia
• 1931 James Cronin, American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 2016) Wikipedia
• 1931 Anita Ekberg, Swedish-Italian model and actress (died 2015) Wikipedia
• 1936 Silvio Berlusconi, Italian businessman and politician, Prime Minister of Italy (died 2023) Wikipedia
• 1942 Ian McShane, English actor Wikipedia
• 1943 Lech Wałęsa, Polish electrician and politician, 2nd President of Poland, Nobel Prize laureate Wikipedia
• 1951 Michelle Bachelet, Chilean politician, President of Chile Wikipedia
• 1959 Jon Fosse, Norwegian author and dramatist Wikipedia
• 1961 Julia Gillard, Welsh-Australian lawyer and politician, 27th Prime Minister of Australia Wikipedia
• 1966 Bujar Nishani, Albanian politician, 7th President of Albania (died 2022) Wikipedia
• 1984 Per Mertesacker, German footballer Wikipedia
• 1988 Kevin Durant, American basketball player Wikipedia

Died on September 29

• 855 Lothair I, Carolingian emperor (born 795) Wikipedia
• 1560 Gustav I of Sweden (born 1496) Wikipedia
• 1833 Ferdinand VII of Spain (born 1784) Wikipedia
• 1902 Émile Zola, French journalist, author, and playwright (born 1840) Wikipedia
• 1908 Machado de Assis, Brazilian author, poet, and playwright (born 1839) Wikipedia
• 1913 Rudolf Diesel, German engineer, invented the diesel engine (born 1858) Wikipedia
• 1925 Léon Bourgeois, French police officer and politician, 64th Prime Minister of France, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1851) Wikipedia
• 1927 Willem Einthoven, Indonesian-Dutch physiologist and physician, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1860) Wikipedia
• 1930 Ilya Repin, Ukrainian-Russian painter and illustrator (born 1844) Wikipedia
• 1973 W. H. Auden, English-American poet, playwright, and critic (born 1907) Wikipedia
• 1981 Bill Shankly, Scottish footballer and manager (born 1913) Wikipedia
• 2010 Tony Curtis, American actor (born 1925) Wikipedia
• 2020 Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, Kuwaiti Emir (born 1929) Wikipedia
• 2022 Akissi Kouamé, Ivorian army officer (born 1955) Wikipedia

Holidays and observances

• Christian feast day: Charles, Duke of Brittany Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Cyriacus the Anchorite Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Hripsime Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Blessed Francesc de Paula Castelló Aleu Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Guillaume Courtet Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Jean de Montmirail Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: John of Dukla Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: René Goupil Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Theodota of Philippi Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: September 29 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics) Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: the Archangels Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael. One of the four quarter days in the Irish calendar. (England and Ireland). Called Michaelmas in some western liturgical traditions. Wikipedia
• Inventors' Day (Argentina) Wikipedia
• Victory of Boquerón Day (Paraguay) Wikipedia

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