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History of Today 29 March – Important Events in World History

Updated on 29 Mar 2026

History of Today in India – 29 March

Explore the history of today 29 March in India, including important events, famous personalities, and milestones for UPSC SSC,Banking & PSC exams.

Last updated on 29 March 2026, 04:21 AM

📜 Important Events on 29 March in World History

  • 29 Mar 2021: The ship Ever Given was dislodged from the Suez Canal. Read more
  • 29 Mar 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. Read more
  • 29 Mar 2016: A United States Air Force F-16 crashes during takeoff from Bagram Airfield in Afghanistan. Read more
  • 29 Mar 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. Read more
  • 29 Mar 2014: The first same-sex marriages in England and Wales are performed. Read more
  • 29 Mar 2013: At least 36 people are killed when a 16-floor building collapses in the commercial capital Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. Read more
  • 29 Mar 2010: Two suicide bombers hit the Moscow Metro system at the peak of the morning rush hour, killing 40. Read more
  • 29 Mar 2004: Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia, and Slovenia join NATO as full members. Read more
  • 29 Mar 2004: The Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat certifies Taipei 101 as the world's tallest building, based on the building having been topped out on 1 July 2003, even though the building was not completed until 31 December 2004. Read more
  • 29 Mar 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. Read more
  • 29 Mar 2001: A Gulfstream III crashes on approach to Aspen/Pitkin County Airport in Aspen, Colorado. All 18 people on board are killed. Read more
  • 29 Mar 1999: The Dow Jones Industrial Average closes above the 10,000 mark (10,006.78) for the first time, during the height of the dot-com bubble. Read more
  • 29 Mar 1999: A magnitude 6.8 earthquake in India strikes the Chamoli district in Uttar Pradesh, killing 103. Read more
  • 29 Mar 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. Read more
  • 29 Mar 1984: The Baltimore Colts load its possessions onto fifteen Mayflower moving trucks in the early morning hours and transfer its operations to Indianapolis. Read more
  • 29 Mar 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. Read more
  • 29 Mar 1979: Quebecair Flight 255 crashes after takeoff from Québec City Jean Lesage International Airport in Quebec City, killing 17. Read more
  • 29 Mar 1974: NASA's Mariner 10 becomes the first space probe to fly by Mercury. Read more
  • 29 Mar 1974: Terracotta Army was discovered in Shaanxi province, China. Read more
  • 29 Mar 1973: Vietnam War: The last United States combat soldiers leave South Vietnam. Read more
  • 29 Mar 1973: Operation Barrel Roll, a covert American bombing campaign in Laos to stop communist infiltration of South Vietnam, ends. Read more
  • 29 Mar 1971: My Lai massacre: Lieutenant William Calley is convicted of premeditated murder and sentenced to life in prison. Read more
  • 29 Mar 1968: The funeral of Yuri Gagarin, the first man in space, started in Moscow, with thousands of people in attendance. Read more
  • 29 Mar 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. Read more
  • 29 Mar 1961: The Twenty-third Amendment to the United States Constitution is ratified, allowing residents of Washington, D.C., to vote in presidential elections. Read more
  • 29 Mar 1957: The New York, Ontario and Western Railway makes its final run, the first major U.S. railroad to be abandoned in its entirety. Read more
  • 29 Mar 1951: Julius and Ethel Rosenberg are convicted of conspiracy to commit espionage. Read more
  • 29 Mar 1951: Hypnosis murders in Copenhagen. Read more
  • 29 Mar 1947: The Malagasy Uprising against French colonial rule begins in Madagascar. Read more
  • 29 Mar 1942: The Bombing of Lübeck in World War II is the first major success for the RAF Bomber Command against Germany and a German city. Read more
  • 29 Mar 1941: The North American Regional Broadcasting Agreement goes into effect at 03:00 local time. Read more
  • 29 Mar 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. Read more
  • 29 Mar 1936: The 1936 German parliamentary election and referendum seeks approval for the recent remilitarization of the Rhineland. Read more
  • 29 Mar 1927: Sunbeam 1000hp breaks the land speed record at Daytona Beach, Florida. Read more
  • 29 Mar 1882: The Knights of Columbus is established. Read more
  • 29 Mar 1879: Anglo-Zulu War: Battle of Kambula: British forces defeat 20,000 Zulus. Read more
  • 29 Mar 1871: Royal Albert Hall is opened by Queen Victoria. Read more
  • 29 Mar 1867: Queen Victoria gives Royal Assent to the British North America Act which establishes Canada on July 1. Read more
  • 29 Mar 1857: Sepoy Mangal Pandey of the 34th Regiment, Bengal Native Infantry mutinies against the East India Company's rule in India and inspires the protracted Indian Rebellion of 1857, also known as the Sepoy Mutiny. Read more
  • 29 Mar 1849: The United Kingdom annexes the Punjab. Read more
  • 29 Mar 1847: Mexican–American War: United States forces led by General Winfield Scott take Veracruz after a siege. Read more
  • 29 Mar 1809: King Gustav IV Adolf of Sweden abdicates after a coup d'état. Read more
  • 29 Mar 1809: At the Diet of Porvoo, Finland's four Estates pledge allegiance to Alexander I of Russia, commencing the secession of the Grand Duchy of Finland from Sweden. Read more
  • 29 Mar 1806: Construction is authorized of the Great National Pike, better known as the Cumberland Road, becoming the first United States federal highway. Read more

🎂 Important Births on 29 March in World History

  • 29 Mar 2004: Kim Ju-chan, South Korean footballer Kim Ju-chan is a South Korean professional footballer who plays as a winger for K League 1 club Gimcheon Sangmu. He made his debut professional appearance in the 2023 K League 1 season with Suwon Samsung Bluewings. Read more
  • 29 Mar 1996: Wade Baldwin IV, American basketball player Wade Manson Baldwin IV is an American professional basketball player for Fenerbahçe of the Turkish Basketbol Süper Ligi (BSL) and the EuroLeague. He primarily plays as combo guard, but he can also play as small forward due to his 6 ft 11 in wingspan. Read more
  • 29 Mar 1994: Jung Jae-won, South Korean rapper, singer-songwriter, and actor Jung Jae-won, better known by stage name One, is a South Korean rapper, singer-songwriter, and actor. He debuted in 2015 as a member of the former hip-hop duo 1Punch with Kim Samuel. The following year he moved to YG Entertainment from D-Business Entertainment. In 2019, Jaewon left YG Entertainment and since moved under his own record label Private Only. He is well known for appearing on the fourth and fifth season of Show Me the Money, as well as appearances on dramas such as A Korean Odyssey (2017), Room No. 9 (2018), and Her Private Life (2019). Read more
  • 29 Mar 1994: Matt Olson, American baseball player Matthew Kent Olson is an American professional baseball first baseman for the Atlanta Braves of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has previously played in MLB for the Oakland Athletics. Read more
  • 29 Mar 1993: Thorgan Hazard, Belgian footballer Thorgan Ganael Francis Hazard is a Belgian professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder or winger for Belgian Pro League club Anderlecht. Read more
  • 29 Mar 1991: Irene, South Korean idol, actress and television host Bae Joo-hyun, better known by her stage name Irene (아이린), is a South Korean singer and actress. She is best known as the member and leader of the South Korean girl group Red Velvet, and its sub-unit Red Velvet – Irene & Seulgi. Read more
  • 29 Mar 1991: N'Golo Kanté, French footballer N'Golo Kanté is a French professional footballer who plays as a defensive midfielder for Süper Lig club Fenerbahçe and the France national team. Regarded as one of the greatest defensive midfielders of his generation, he is known for his stamina and work-rate on the pitch. Read more
  • 29 Mar 1990: Lyle Taylor, English footballer Lyle James Alfred Taylor is a professional footballer who plays as a striker for National League South club Chelmsford City. Born in England, he plays for the Montserrat national team. Read more
  • 29 Mar 1989: James Tomkins, English footballer James Oliver Charles Tomkins is an English former professional footballer who played as a centre-back. He represented England at all levels up to the under-21 team and represented Great Britain at the 2012 London Olympics. He is a product of the West Ham youth academy. Read more
  • 29 Mar 1986: Sylvan Ebanks-Blake, English footballer Sylvan Augustus Ebanks-Blake is an English former professional footballer who played as a striker. Read more
  • 29 Mar 1986: Lucas Elliot Eberl, American actor and director Luke Eberl is an American actor, director, and pianist best known for his role as Birn in the 2001 film Planet of the Apes and for his film Choose Connor. In 2008, Eberl was described by MovieMaker Magazine as one of the "10 Young Americans to Watch". He is currently in production on his second feature film, You Above All. Read more
  • 29 Mar 1985: Fernando Amorebieta, Venezuelan footballer Fernando Gabriel Amorebieta Mardaras is a Venezuelan former professional footballer who played as a central defender. Read more
  • 29 Mar 1983: Efstathios Aloneftis, Greek-Cypriot footballer Stathis Aloneftis is a Cypriot international footballer. He is a winger who tends to play on the left wing, highly regarded for his speed and technique. Read more
  • 29 Mar 1983: Chokwe Antar Lumumba, American attorney, activist and politician Chokwe Antar Lumumba is an American attorney, activist, and politician who served as the 53rd mayor of Jackson, Mississippi, from 2017 to 2025. He was the 7th consecutive African-American to hold the position. In 2024, Lumumba and other officials in the state were indicted on corruption charges. He is the son of former mayor and Black nationalist activist Chokwe Lumumba, who served briefly as mayor of Jackson before his death in 2014. Read more
  • 29 Mar 1981: Jasmine Crockett, American attorney and politician Jasmine Felicia Crockett is an American politician serving as the U.S. representative for Texas's 30th congressional district since 2023. A member of the Democratic Party, she represented the 100th district in the Texas House of Representatives from 2021 to 2023. Read more
  • 29 Mar 1981: Megan Hilty, American actress and singer Megan Hilty is an American actress and singer. She rose to prominence for her roles in Broadway musicals, including her performance as Glinda in Wicked, Doralee Rhodes in 9 to 5: The Musical, and her Tony Award–nominated roles as Brooke Ashton in Noises Off and Madeline Ashton in Death Becomes Her. She also starred as Ivy Lynn on the musical-drama series Smash, on which she sang the Grammy Award-nominated "Let Me Be Your Star", and portrayed Liz on the sitcom Sean Saves the World. Read more
  • 29 Mar 1981: PJ Morton, American musician, singer, songwriter and record producer P.J. Morton is an American musician, singer, songwriter and record producer. In 2010, he joined pop rock band Maroon 5, as a touring member and became an official member after Jesse Carmichael went on a brief hiatus in 2012. During this period, Morton signed with Young Money to release his debut major-label studio album, New Orleans (2013), and later self-released Gumbo, which earned him two Grammy Award nominations for Best R&B Album and Best R&B Song at the 60th Annual Grammy Awards. Since then he has received six Grammy Awards. Read more
  • 29 Mar 1981: Jlloyd Samuel, Trinidadian footballer (died 2018) Jlloyd Tafari Samuel was a professional footballer who played as a defender and midfielder. Born in Trinidad and Tobago, he was raised in England and played for England up to under-21 level. He played two full international matches for Trinidad and Tobago in 2009. Read more
  • 29 Mar 1980: Hamzah bin Hussein, Jordanian prince Hamzah bin Al Hussein is the fourth son of King Hussein of Jordan overall and the first by his American-born fourth wife, Queen Noor. He was named Crown Prince of Jordan on 7 February 1999, a position he held until his older half-brother, King Abdullah II, rescinded it on 28 November 2004. He is a member of the Hashemite dynasty, the royal family of Jordan since 1921, and is a 41st-generation direct descendant of Muhammad. Read more
  • 29 Mar 1980: Molly Brodak, American poet and writer (died 2020) Molly Brodak was an American poet, writer, and baker. She was the author of the poetry collection A Little Middle of the Night and the memoir Bandit. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution described Bandit as: "a book about stories and character, of how events and actions shape who we are, how a father becomes one person, how a daughter grows up to be another." The New York Times called Bandit "a good book, and with good reason," while Kirkus called it: "an intelligent, disturbing, and profoundly honest memoir." Read more
  • 29 Mar 1980: Chris D'Elia, American stand-up comedian, actor and writer Christopher William D'Elia is an American stand-up comedian, actor, writer, and podcast host. He is known for playing Alex Miller on the NBC sitcom Whitney (2011–2013), Danny Burton on the NBC sitcom Undateable (2014–2016), Kenny on the ABC television series The Good Doctor (2017–2018) and Henderson on the Netflix thriller series You (2019). Read more
  • 29 Mar 1980: Bill Demong, American skier William Demong is an American former Nordic combined skier and Olympic gold medalist. Demong is a five-time Olympian, having competed in Nagano, Salt Lake City, Torino, Vancouver and Sochi. Read more
  • 29 Mar 1979: Luis Ortiz, Cuban boxer Luis Ortiz is a Cuban professional boxer. He held the WBA interim heavyweight title from 2015 to 2016, and challenged twice for the WBC heavyweight title in 2018 and 2019. As an amateur, he won a silver medal at the 2005 Boxing World Cup. Nicknamed "King Kong", he is known for his formidable punching power. As of November 2021, he was ranked as the world's eighth-best active heavyweight by The Ring magazine and the Transnational Boxing Rankings Board. Read more
  • 29 Mar 1978: Ian Holding, Zimbabwean writer Ian Holding, is a Caucasian Zimbabwean writer. His first novel, Unfeeling was critically acclaimed on publication in the United Kingdom in 2005, and was one of the first fictional attempts dealing with the complex political and social situation in Zimbabwe, in particular the country's controversial Land Reform Programme. According to South African commentator and academic, Michiel Heyns, "one of the achievements of this remarkable novel is to obtrude, without preaching or moralising, a much more thoughtful and critical assessment of power relations in Zimbabwe." The novel was shortlisted for the 2006 Dylan Thomas Prize and was named as "One of the Year's Best Books" by both Newsweek and The Globe & Mail. Read more
  • 29 Mar 1977: Nina Riggs, American writer and poet (died 2017) Nina Ellen Riggs was an American writer and poet. Her best known work is her memoir, The Bright Hour, detailing her journey as a mother with incurable breast cancer. It was published shortly after her death. The book received critical acclaim. Riggs also contributed an article to New York Times series Modern Love. Read more
  • 29 Mar 1976: Jennifer Capriati, American tennis player Jennifer Maria Capriati is an American former professional tennis player. She was ranked as the world No. 1 in women's singles by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) for 17 weeks. Capriati won 14 WTA Tour-level singles titles, including three majors at the 2001 Australian Open, 2001 French Open, and 2002 Australian Open, and an Olympic gold medal at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics. Read more
  • 29 Mar 1974: Alex Cuba, Cuban-Canadian singer-songwriter Alexis Puentes, better known by his stage name Alex Cuba, is a Cuban-Canadian singer-songwriter who sings in Spanish and English. He has won two Juno Awards for World Music Album of the Year: in 2006 for Humo de Tabaco, and in 2008 for his second album, Agua del Pozo. In 2010 he won the Latin Grammy for Best New Artist. His 2015 album, Healer, earned him a Latin Grammy Award for Best Singer-Songwriter Album and a Grammy Award nomination for Best Latin Pop Album. His 2021 album Mendó won the 2022 Grammy for Best Latin Pop Album. Read more
  • 29 Mar 1973: Marc Overmars, Dutch footballer and coach Marc Overmars is a Dutch former professional footballer and former director of football at Belgian Pro League side Royal Antwerp. He was previously director of football at Ajax. During his football career, he played as a winger and was renowned for his speed and technical skills. Read more
  • 29 Mar 1972: Ernest Cline, American novelist, poet and screenwriter Ernest Christy Cline is an American science fiction novelist, slam poet and screenwriter. He wrote the novels Ready Player One, Armada and Ready Player Two, and co-wrote the screenplay for the film adaptation of Ready Player One, directed by Steven Spielberg. Read more
  • 29 Mar 1972: Stina Leicht, American author Stina Leicht is an American science fiction and fantasy fiction author living in central Texas. She was nominated for the Campbell Award in 2012 and 2013, and was shortlisted for the Crawford Award in 2012. Leicht was mentioned in Locus Magazine's 2012 Recommended Reading List. She is also one of the regular hosts of the Skiffy and Fanty Show. Read more
  • 29 Mar 1972: Priti Patel, British Indian politician, Secretary of State for the Home Department Dame Priti Sushil Patel is a British politician who has served as Shadow Foreign Secretary since November 2024, having previously served as Home Secretary from 2019 to 2022. A member of the Conservative Party, she was Secretary of State for International Development from 2016 to 2017. Patel has served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Witham since 2010. She is ideologically on the right wing of the Conservative Party; she considers herself to be a Thatcherite and has attracted attention for her socially conservative stances. Read more
  • 29 Mar 1971: Robert Gibbs, American political adviser, 28th White House Press Secretary Robert Lane Gibbs is an American communication professional who served as executive vice president and global chief communications officer of McDonald's from 2015 to 2019 and as the 27th White House press secretary from 2009 to 2011. Read more
  • 29 Mar 1971: Lara Logan, South African television and radio journalist and war correspondent Lara Logan is a South African television and radio journalist and war correspondent. Her career began with various South African news organizations in the 1990s. Her public profile rose due to her reports on the American invasion of Afghanistan in 2001, leading to her being hired as a correspondent for CBS News in 2002 and eventually becoming the service's Chief Foreign Affairs Correspondent. Read more
  • 29 Mar 1971: Hidetoshi Nishijima, Japanese actor Hidetoshi Nishijima is a Japanese actor and model. He is widely regarded as one of Japan's leading actors, having appeared in a wide range of films from science fiction films such as Shin Ultraman (2022) to small-scale art films such as Dolls (2002). He gained international recognition for his critically acclaimed leading role in the 2021 film Drive My Car, for which he received the Japan Academy Film Prize for Best Actor. Read more
  • 29 Mar 1970: J. A. Konrath, American author Joseph Andrew Konrath is an American fiction writer working in the mystery, thriller, and horror genres. He writes as J. A. Konrath and Jack Kilborn. Read more
  • 29 Mar 1969: Ted Lieu, American politician and AFRC colonel Ted Win-Ping Lieu is an American lawyer and politician. He is a member of the Democratic Party and has represented California's 36th congressional district in the United States House of Representatives since 2023. He represented the 33rd congressional district from 2015 to 2023. The district includes South Bay and Westside regions of Los Angeles, as well as Beverly Hills, Santa Monica, the Palos Verdes Peninsula, and Beach Cities. Read more
  • 29 Mar 1969: Jimmy Spencer, American football player and coach James Arthur Spencer, Jr. is an American former professional football player who was a cornerback for 12 seasons in the National Football League (NFL) during the 1990s and early 2000s. Spencer played college football for the Florida Gators, and thereafter, he played in the NFL for the New Orleans Saints, Cincinnati Bengals, San Diego Chargers and Denver Broncos. Read more
  • 29 Mar 1968: Chris Calloway, American football player Christopher Fitzpatrick Calloway is an American former professional football player. Read more
  • 29 Mar 1968: Lucy Lawless, New Zealand actress Lucille Frances Lawless is a New Zealand actress, singer, and director. She is best known for her roles as Xena in the television series Xena: Warrior Princess, as D'Anna Biers on the reimagined Battlestar Galactica series, and Lucretia in the television series Spartacus: Blood and Sand and associated series. Since 2019, she has starred as Alexa in the television series My Life Is Murder. Read more
  • 29 Mar 1967: Michel Hazanavicius, French director, producer, and screenwriter Michel Hazanavicius is a French film director, screenwriter, editor, and producer. He is best known for his 2011 film, The Artist, that won the Best Picture and the Best Director at the 84th Academy Awards. He also directed spy film parodies OSS 117: Cairo, Nest of Spies (2006) and OSS 117: Lost in Rio (2009). Read more
  • 29 Mar 1967: Brian Jordan, American baseball player and sportscaster Brian O'Neal Jordan is an American former professional baseball and football player. Jordan played in the National Football League (NFL) for the Atlanta Falcons as a safety from 1989 to 1991, and played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the St. Louis Cardinals, Atlanta Braves, Los Angeles Dodgers, and Texas Rangers as an outfielder from 1992 to 2006. Jordan was an MLB All-Star in 1999. Read more
  • 29 Mar 1967: Edmundo Paz Soldán, Bolivian writer José Edmundo Paz-Soldán Ávila is a Bolivian writer. His work is a prominent example of the Latin American literary movement known as McOndo, in which the magical realism of previous Latin American authors is supplanted by modern realism, often with a technological focus. His work has won several awards. He has lived in the United States since 1991, and has taught literature at Cornell University since 1997. Read more
  • 29 Mar 1966: Dwayne Harper, American football player Dwayne Anthony Harper is an American former professional football player who was a cornerback for 12 seasons in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the South Carolina State Bulldogs and was selected by the Seattle Seahawks in the 11th round of the 1988 NFL draft with the 299th overall pick. Harper started in Super Bowl XXIX for the San Diego Chargers. Read more
  • 29 Mar 1965: Todd F. Davis, American poet and critic Todd F. Davis is a prize-winning American poet and critic. Read more
  • 29 Mar 1965: Ayun Halliday, American writer and actor Ayun Halliday is an American writer and actor. Read more
  • 29 Mar 1965: Brooks Hansen, American novelist, screenwriter and illustrator Brooks Hansen is an American novelist, screenwriter, and illustrator best known for his 1995 book The Chess Garden. He was the recipient of the John Simon Guggenheim Fellowship in 2005. Since 2010, Hansen has lived and worked at the Cate School, where he teaches English and Humanities. He lives with his family in Carpinteria, California. Read more
  • 29 Mar 1965: Maia Szalavitz, American journalist and author Maia Pearl Szalavitz is an American reporter and author who focuses on science, public policy and addiction treatment. Read more
  • 29 Mar 1965: Bradford Tatum, American actor Bradford Steven Tatum is an American actor and author, known for his role as Michael Hubbs in the cult favorite stoner film The Stoned Age (1994). He also played the bully, John Box in Powder (1995). In 1999, Bradford wrote, directed, and starred in the indie film Standing on Fishes. Bradford is married to actress Stacy Haiduk, with whom he guest-starred in the seaQuest DSV episode "Nothing but the Truth". In 2006, Tatum released the indie film Salt: A Fatal Attraction, which he wrote, produced and starred in. This film also featured his wife, Stacy Haiduk, and his daughter, Sophia Tatum. In 2016, he joined the cast of the HBO series Westworld. Read more
  • 29 Mar 1964: Catherine Cortez Masto, American attorney and politician Catherine Marie Cortez Masto is an American lawyer and politician serving as the senior United States senator from Nevada, a seat she has held since 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Cortez Masto served as the 32nd attorney general of Nevada from 2007 to 2015. Read more
  • 29 Mar 1964: Elle Macpherson, Australian model and actress Eleanor Nancy Macpherson is an Australian model, businesswoman, television host, and actress. Read more
  • 29 Mar 1963: Padraic Kenney, American writer, historian and educator Padraic Jeremiah Kenney is an American writer, historian, and educator. He was dean of the University of Kentucky's graduate school until May 2025. Previously Kenney was professor of history and International Studies at Indiana University (IU).
    At IU, he served as an Associate Dean for Social and Historical Sciences and Graduate Education in the College of Arts and Sciences; he also served a two-year tenure as director of Collins Living-Learning Center from 2018 to 2020. Previously, he was Professor of History at the University of Colorado, Boulder. He graduated from Harvard College (BA), University of Toronto (MA), and the University of Michigan (PhD). Read more
  • 29 Mar 1962: Billy Beane, American baseball player and manager William Lamar Beane III is an American former professional baseball player and current front office executive. He is currently senior advisor to owner John Fisher and minority owner of the Athletics of Major League Baseball (MLB) and formerly the executive vice president of baseball operations. He is also a minority owner of soccer clubs Barnsley of the EFL League One in England and AZ Alkmaar of the Eredivisie in the Netherlands. From 1984 to 1989 he played in MLB as an outfielder for the New York Mets, Minnesota Twins, Detroit Tigers, and Oakland Athletics. He joined the Athletics' front office as a scout in 1990, was named general manager after the 1997 season, and was promoted to executive vice president after the 2015 season. Read more
  • 29 Mar 1962: Igor Klebanov, Ukrainian-American theoretical physicist Igor R. Klebanov is an American theoretical physicist. Since 1989, he has been a faculty member at Princeton University, where he is currently a Eugene Higgins Professor of Physics and the director of the Princeton Center for Theoretical Science. In 2016, he was elected to the National Academy of Sciences. Since 2022, he is the director of the Simons Collaboration on Confinement and QCD Strings. Read more
  • 29 Mar 1962: Kirk Triplett, American golfer Kirk Alan Triplett is an American professional golfer who has played on the PGA Tour, Nationwide Tour, and PGA Tour Champions. Read more
  • 29 Mar 1961: Todd G. Buchholz, American economist and author Todd G. Buchholz is an American economist, author, inventor, and business consultant. He served as Director of Economic Policy under George H. W. Bush and as managing director of Tiger Management. Buchholz regularly contributes commentaries on political economy, financial markets, trends in the trout population, business and culture to media outlets such as The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and The Washington Post, as well as major television networks. Read more
  • 29 Mar 1961: Helen Humphreys, Canadian poet and novelist Helen Humphreys is a Canadian poet and novelist. Read more
  • 29 Mar 1961: Amy Sedaris, American actress and comedian Amy Louise Sedaris is an American actress, comedian, and writer. She played Jerri Blank in the Comedy Central comedy series Strangers with Candy (1999–2000) and the prequel film Strangers with Candy (2005), which she also wrote. Read more
  • 29 Mar 1961: Michael Winterbottom, English director and producer Michael Winterbottom is an English film director. He began his career working in British television before moving into features. Three of his films—Welcome to Sarajevo, Wonderland and 24 Hour Party People—have competed for the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival. He and co-director Mat Whitecross won the Silver Bear for Best Director at the 56th Berlin International Film Festival for their work on The Road to Guantanamo. Read more
  • 29 Mar 1960: Jo Nesbø, Norwegian writer, musician and football player Jon "Jo" Nesbø is a Norwegian novelist and musician. His books had sold over 50 million copies worldwide by 2021, making him the most successful Norwegian author to date. He first came to prominence as the singer, rhythm guitarist and principal songwriter of country-pop band Di Derre, when their second album became a big hit in Norway, almost selling enough to make double platinum. The album was initially titled Kvinner & Klær, but had to be renamed and re-released as Jenter & Sånt after the eponymous Norwegian women's fashion magazine filed a complaint. Read more
  • 29 Mar 1959: Brad McCrimmon, Canadian ice hockey player and coach (died 2011) Byron Brad McCrimmon was a Canadian professional ice hockey player and coach. A defenceman, he played over 1,200 games in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Boston Bruins, Philadelphia Flyers, Calgary Flames, Detroit Red Wings, Hartford Whalers and Phoenix Coyotes between 1979 and 1997. He achieved his greatest success in Calgary, where he was named a second team All-Star in 1987–88, played in the 1988 NHL All-Star Game and won the Plus-Minus Award with a league leading total of +48. In 1989, he helped the Flames win their only Stanley Cup championship. His career plus-minus of +444 is the 10th highest total in NHL history, and the highest among players not inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame. Read more
  • 29 Mar 1958: Travis Childers, American businessman and politician Travis Wayne Childers is an American politician who served as the U.S. representative for Mississippi's 1st congressional district from 2008 to 2011. The district included much of the northern portion of the state including New Albany, Columbus, Oxford, Southaven, and Tupelo. A member of the Democratic Party, Childers previously served as Chancery Clerk of Prentiss County from 1992 until his election to Congress. On March 1, 2014, Childers announced that he was running for the United States Senate. He won his party's nomination for the Senate seat in the Democratic primary on June 3. He lost the general election to Republican incumbent Thad Cochran. Read more
  • 29 Mar 1958: Nouriel Roubini, Iranian-American economic consultant, economist and writer Nouriel Roubini is an American economic consultant, economist, speaker, and writer. He is a professor emeritus since 2021 at the Stern School of Business of New York University. Roubini earned a BA in political economics at Bocconi University in Italy and a doctorate in international economics at Harvard University. He was an academic at Yale and a researcher/advisor researching emerging markets. Read more
  • 29 Mar 1957: Elizabeth Hand, American author Elizabeth Hand is an American writer. Read more
  • 29 Mar 1957: Mark Hudson, British writer, journalist and art critic Mark Hudson is a British writer, journalist and art critic. Since 2021 he has been chief art critic of The Independent. He has won multiple awards. Read more
  • 29 Mar 1957: Christopher Lambert, American-French actor Christophe Guy Denis Lambert, often credited as Christopher Lambert, is a French–American actor, producer, and writer. He started his career playing supporting parts in several French films, and became internationally famous for portraying Tarzan in Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes (1984). For his performance in the film Subway (1985), he received the César Award for Best Actor. He is known for his role as Connor MacLeod in the adventure-fantasy film Highlander (1986) and the subsequent television and film franchise of the same name, Raiden in Mortal Kombat (1995), Methodius in Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance (2011), and Arne Seslum in Hail, Caesar! (2016). He also served as executive producer for Nine Months (1995). Read more
  • 29 Mar 1957: Kathryn Tanner, American theologian Kathryn Eileen Tanner is an Episcopal theologian who serves as the Frederick Marquand Professor of Systematic Theology at Yale Divinity School. Read more
  • 29 Mar 1956: Patty Donahue, American singer (died 1996) Patricia Jean Donahue was an American singer. She was the lead vocalist of the American new wave band the Waitresses, known for the singles "I Know What Boys Like" and "Christmas Wrapping". Read more
  • 29 Mar 1956: Mary Gentle, English author Mary Rosalyn Gentle is a British science fiction and fantasy author. Read more
  • 29 Mar 1956: William Gurstelle, American writer and inventor William Gurstelle is an American academic, nonfiction author, magazine writer, and inventor. He has been part of the History of Technology, Science, and Medicine program at the University of Minnesota since 2019. He is a feature columnist for Make magazine, a columnist and contributing editor at Popular Science magazine, and an occasional book reviewer for the Wall Street Journal. Previously, he was the Pyrotechnics and Ballistics Editor at Popular Mechanics magazine. Read more
  • 29 Mar 1956: Ted Staunton, Canadian author Ted Staunton is a Canadian author and teacher, best known for his children's books and numerous series. He has published nearly sixty titles. Read more
  • 29 Mar 1956: Kurt Thomas, American gymnast (died 2020) Kurt Bilteaux Thomas was an American Olympic gymnast and part-time actor. He was a member of the United States men's national artistic gymnastics team and in 1978 he became the first American male gymnast to win a gold medal at the World Artistic Gymnastics Championships. In 1979, he won six medals at the world championship, setting the record for most medals won at a single world championship by an American gymnast, a feat matched only by Simone Biles in 2018. He competed in the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal. Thomas was favored to win a medal at the 1980 Summer Olympics but was unable to compete due to the USA boycott of the 1980 Olympic Games. Read more
  • 29 Mar 1955: Earl Campbell, American football player Earl Christian Campbell, nicknamed "the Tyler Rose", is an American former professional football running back who played in the National Football League (NFL) for eight seasons, primarily with the Houston Oilers. Known for his aggressive, punishing running style, and ability to break tackles, Campbell gained recognition as one of the best power running backs in NFL history. Read more
  • 29 Mar 1955: Gillian Conoley, American poet Gillian Conoley is an American poet. Conoley serves as a professor and poet-in-residence at Sonoma State University. Read more
  • 29 Mar 1955: Brendan Gleeson, Irish actor Brendan Gleeson is an Irish actor. He has received various accolades, including a Primetime Emmy Award, two British Independent Film Awards and three IFTA Awards, along with nominations for an Academy Award, three BAFTA Awards and five Golden Globe Awards. In 2020, he was listed at number 18 on The Irish Times list of Ireland's greatest film actors. He is the father of actors Domhnall Gleeson and Brian Gleeson. Read more
  • 29 Mar 1955: Marina Sirtis, British-American actress Marina Sirtis is a British-American actress. She is best known for her role as Counselor Deanna Troi on the television series Star Trek: The Next Generation and four Star Trek feature films, as well as other appearances in the Star Trek franchise. Read more
  • 29 Mar 1954: Mario Clark, American football player Mario Sean Clark is an American former professional football player who played as a cornerback for the Buffalo Bills and San Francisco 49ers in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at the University of Oregon. Read more
  • 29 Mar 1954: Martha A. Sandweiss, American historian Martha Ann Sandweiss is an American historian, with particular interests in the history of the American West, visual culture, and public history. She is a professor of History at Princeton University, and the author of several books. Sandweiss is the Founder and Project Director of the Princeton & Slavery Project, a large-scale investigation into Princeton University's historical ties to the institution of slavery. Read more
  • 29 Mar 1954: Suzanna Sherry, American legal scholar Suzanna Sherry is an American legal scholar in the area of constitutional law with particular emphasis in the subject of federal courts. She is the Herman O. Loewenstein Chair Emerita at the Vanderbilt University Law School. Read more
  • 29 Mar 1954: Evelyn C. White, American writer and editor Evelyn Corliss White is an American writer and editor. Her books include the collection Black Women's Health Book: Speaking for Ourselves and the biography Alice Walker: A Life. Read more
  • 29 Mar 1952: Jo-Ann Mapson, American author Jo-Ann Mapson is an American author. She is the author of twelve works of fiction, set mainly in the American Southwest. Read more
  • 29 Mar 1952: Teófilo Stevenson, Cuban boxer and engineer (died 2012) Teófilo Stevenson Lawrence was a Cuban amateur boxer who competed from 1966 to 1986. Read more
  • 29 Mar 1952: Bola Tinubu, Nigerian politician, President-elect of Nigeria Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Adekunle Tinubu is a Nigerian politician serving as the 16th and current president of Nigeria since 2023. He previously served as the governor of Lagos State from 1999 to 2007 and senator for Lagos West in the Third Republic. Read more
  • 29 Mar 1952: Alec Wilkinson, American writer Alec Wilkinson is an American writer who has been on the staff of The New Yorker since 1980. Read more
  • 29 Mar 1951: David Cheriton, Canadian computer scientist, mathematician and businessman David Ross Cheriton is a Canadian computer scientist, businessman, philanthropist, and venture capitalist. He is a computer science professor at Stanford University, where he founded and leads the Distributed Systems Group. Read more
  • 29 Mar 1951: William Clarke, American harmonica player (died 1996) William Clarke was an American blues harmonica player and singer. He was chiefly associated with the Chicago blues style of amplified harmonica, but also incorporated elements of jump blues, swing, and soul jazz into his playing. Clarke was a master of both cross and chromatic harmonica styles and many consider him among the blues harmonica greats. Read more
  • 29 Mar 1951: Roger Myerson, American economist and professor Roger Bruce Myerson is an American economist and a Distinguished Service Professor at the University of Chicago's Harris School of Public Policy. In 2007, he was the winner of the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences with Leonid Hurwicz and Eric Maskin for "having laid the foundations of mechanism design theory". He was elected a Member of the American Philosophical Society in 2019. Read more
  • 29 Mar 1951: Nick Ut, Vietnamese-American photographer Huỳnh Công Út, known professionally as Nick Ut, is a Vietnamese-American photographer who worked for the Associated Press in Los Angeles. He won both the 1973 Pulitzer Prize for Spot News Photography and the 1973 World Press Photo of the Year for the 1972 photograph The Terror of War, depicting children running away from a napalm bombing attack during the Vietnam War. Since the release of the documentary The Stringer in 2025, the authorship of the photograph has been disputed; the documentary identified Nguyễn Thành Nghệ as the author, AP stood with the attribution to Ut, and World Press Photo suspended the authorship attribution until more evidence is available. Ut retired in 2017. Examples of his work may be found in the collection of the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC. Read more
  • 29 Mar 1950: Mory Kanté, Guinean vocalist (died 2020) Mory Kanté was a Guinean vocalist and player of the kora harp. He was best known internationally for his 1987 hit song "Yé ké yé ké", which reached number-one in Belgium, Finland, the Netherlands, and Spain. The album it came from, Akwaba Beach, was the best-selling African record of its time. Read more
  • 29 Mar 1949: Michael Brecker, American saxophonist and composer (died 2007) Michael Leonard Brecker was an American jazz saxophonist and composer. Over a four‑decade career, he recorded widely in jazz and popular music and appeared on more than 900 albums as a leader and sideman. He received 15 Grammy Awards from the Recording Academy, was inducted into the DownBeat Hall of Fame in 2007, and received an honorary doctor of music degree from Berklee College of Music in 2004. He died in New York City in 2007 from complications of leukemia following a 2005 diagnosis of myelodysplastic syndrome. Read more
  • 29 Mar 1949: Joe Ehrmann, American football player and writer Joseph Charles Ehrmann is an American former professional football player who was a defensive tackle in the National Football League (NFL) from 1973 through 1982. He played college football for the Syracuse Orangemen and was selected in the first round of the 1973 NFL draft by the Baltimore Colts with the 10th overall pick. Read more
  • 29 Mar 1949: Israel Finkelstein, Israeli archaeologist and professor Israel Finkelstein is an Israeli archaeologist, professor emeritus at Tel Aviv University and the head of the School of Archaeology and Maritime Cultures at the University of Haifa. Finkelstein is active in the archaeology of the Levant and is an applicant of archaeological data in reconstructing biblical history. Finkelstein is the current excavator of Megiddo, a key site for the study of the Bronze and Iron Ages in the Levant. Finkelstein's fieldwork in northern Israel and the West Bank, as well as his development of the "Low Chronology", upended prior archaeological assessments by showing that the Kingdom of Israel was substantially larger and more prosperous when it coexisted alongside the Kingdom of Judah. Finkelstein has used these insights to challenge the biblical narrative that David and Solomon ruled a united monarchy of Israel and Judah from Jerusalem in the 10th century BCE. Read more
  • 29 Mar 1949: Dave Greenfield, English musician (died 2020) David Paul Greenfield was an English keyboardist, singer and songwriter who was a member of rock band the Stranglers. He joined the band in 1975, within a year of its formation, and played with them for 45 years until his death. Read more
  • 29 Mar 1949: Pauline Marois, Canadian social worker and politician, 30th Premier of Quebec Pauline Marois is a retired Canadian politician, who served as the 30th premier of Quebec from 2012 to 2014. Marois had been a member of the National Assembly in various ridings since 1981 as a member of the Parti Québécois (PQ), serving as party leader from 2007 to 2014. She is the first female premier of Quebec. Read more
  • 29 Mar 1949: John Spenkelink, American murderer (died 1979) John Arthur Spenkelink was an American convicted murderer. He was executed in 1979, the first convicted criminal to be executed in Florida after capital punishment was reinstated in 1976, and the second in the United States as well as the first involuntarily executed in about 14 years. Read more
  • 29 Mar 1948: Barbara Clare Foley, American author and educator Barbara Clare Foley is an American literary scholar and a retired Professor of English at Rutgers University-Newark. She has focused her research and teaching on U.S. literary radicalism, African American literature, and Marxist criticism. The author of six books and over seventy scholarly articles, review essays, and book chapters, she has published on literary theory, academic politics, US proletarian literature, the Harlem Renaissance, and the writers Ralph Ellison and Jean Toomer. Throughout her career, her work has emphasized the centrality of antiracism and Marxist class analysis to both literary study and social movements. Read more
  • 29 Mar 1947: Frank Bowe, American academic (died 2007) Frank G. Bowe was a deaf American disability studies academic, activist, author, and the Dr. Mervin Livingston Schloss Distinguished Professor for the Study of Disabilities at Hofstra University. As a disability rights activist, author, and teacher, he accomplished a series of firsts for individuals with disabilities. Read more
  • 29 Mar 1947: Robert Gordon, American singer and actor (died 2022) Robert Gordon was an American rockabilly singer. Read more
  • 29 Mar 1946: Billy Thorpe, English-Australian singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer (died 2007) William Richard Thorpe AM was an English-born Australian singer-songwriter, and record producer. As lead singer of his band Billy Thorpe & the Aztecs, he had success in the 1960s with "Blue Day", "Poison Ivy", "Over the Rainbow", "Sick and Tired", "Baby, Hold Me Close" and "Mashed Potato"; and in the 1970s with "Most People I Know Think That I'm Crazy". Featuring in concerts at Sunbury Pop Festivals and Myer Music Bowl in the early 1970s, the Aztecs also developed the pub rock scene and were one of the loudest groups in Australia. Read more
  • 29 Mar 1945: Speedy Keen, English singer-songwriter, keyboard player, and producer (died 2002) John David Percy "Speedy" Keen was an English musician, songwriter and producer, best known for being the singer and drummer of the rock band Thunderclap Newman. He wrote "Something in the Air" (1969) for the band, which reached No. 1 in the UK singles chart. He also released two solo albums. Read more
  • 29 Mar 1943: John Major, English banker and politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Sir John Major is a British retired politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from 1990 to 1997. He previously held various Cabinet positions under Margaret Thatcher. Major was Member of Parliament (MP) for Huntingdon, formerly Huntingdonshire, from 1979 to 2001. Since stepping down, Major has focused on writing and his business, sporting, and charity work, and commentating on political developments. Read more
  • 29 Mar 1943: Vangelis, Greek keyboard player and songwriter (died 2022) Evangelos Odysseas Papathanassiou, known professionally as Vangelis, was a Greek musician, composer, and producer of electronic, progressive, ambient, and classical orchestral music. He composed the Academy Award-winning score to Chariots of Fire (1981), as well as scores for the films Blade Runner (1982), Missing (1982), Antarctica (1983), The Bounty (1984), 1492: Conquest of Paradise (1992), and Alexander (2004), and the 1980 PBS documentary series Cosmos: A Personal Voyage by Carl Sagan. Read more
  • 29 Mar 1943: Eric Idle, English actor, comedian, musician and writer Eric Idle is an English actor, comedian, songwriter, musician, screenwriter and playwright. He was a member of the British comedy group Monty Python and the parody rock band the Rutles. Idle studied English at Pembroke College, Cambridge, and joined Cambridge University Footlights. He has received a Grammy Award as well as nominations for two Tony Awards. Read more
  • 29 Mar 1942: Scott Wilson, American actor (died 2018) William Delano Wilson, known professionally as Scott Wilson, was an American film and television actor. Read more
  • 29 Mar 1940: Ray Davis, American bass singer (died 2005) Raymond Davis was the original bass singer and one of the founding members of The Parliaments, and subsequently the bands Parliament, and Funkadelic, collectively known as P-Funk. His regular nickname while he was with those groups was "Sting Ray" Davis. Aside from George Clinton, he was the only original member of the Parliaments not to leave the Parliament-Funkadelic conglomerate in 1977. He is a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, inducted in 1997 with fifteen other members of Parliament-Funkadelic. Read more
  • 29 Mar 1939: Roland Arnall, French-American businessman and diplomat, 63rd United States Ambassador to the Netherlands (died 2008) Roland E. Arnall was an American businessman and diplomat. As the owner of ACC Capital Holdings, he became a billionaire with Ameriquest Mortgage. Additionally he funded, financed and was the visionary and co-founder of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, and from 2006 until shortly before his death he was the United States Ambassador to the Netherlands. He was the originator of stated income loans, better known as sub-prime loans. Read more
  • 29 Mar 1939: Hanumant Singh, Indian cricketer (died 2006) Hanumant Singh was an Indian cricketer. He played in 14 Test matches for the Indian cricket team from 1964 to 1969. He was later an International Cricket Council match referee in 9 Tests and 54 One Day Internationals from 1995 to 2002. Read more
  • 29 Mar 1937: Roberto Chabet, Filipino painter and sculptor (died 2013) Roberto "Bobby" Rodríguez Chabet was an artist from the Philippines and widely acknowledged as the father of Philippine conceptual art. Read more
  • 29 Mar 1937: Smarck Michel, Haitian businessman and politician, 6th Prime Minister of Haiti (died 2012) Georges Jean-Jacques Smarck Michel or Smarck Michel was appointed prime minister of Haiti on October 27, 1994, occupying the post from November 8, 1994 to October 16, 1995. Smarck was President Aristide's third prime minister, and the first to be named after the President's return from exile. Read more
  • 29 Mar 1937: Gordon Milne, English footballer Gordon Milne is an English former football player and manager. Read more
  • 29 Mar 1936: Richard Rodney Bennett, English-American composer and educator (died 2012) Sir Richard Rodney Bennett was an English composer and pianist. He was noted for his musical versatility, drawing from such sources as jazz, romanticism, and avant-garde; and for his use of twelve-tone technique and serialism. His body of work included over 200 concert works and 50 scores for film and television. He was also active in jazz, as a composer, a pianist, and an occasional vocalist. Read more
  • 29 Mar 1936: John A. Durkin, American lawyer and politician (died 2012) John Anthony Durkin was an American politician who served as a Democratic U.S. Senator from New Hampshire from 1975 until 1980. Read more
  • 29 Mar 1936: Joseph P. Teasdale, American lawyer and politician, 48th Governor of Missouri (died 2014) Joseph Patrick Teasdale was an American politician. A Democrat, he served as the 48th Governor of Missouri from 1977 to 1981. Teasdale was formerly a prosecutor for Jackson County, Missouri. In 1972, he made his first bid for governor, placing third in the Democratic primary, but attaining name recognition and the nickname "Walking Joe". In 1976, after initially running for U.S. Senate, Teasdale switched races and made a second bid for the Governor's office. He won the nomination and defeated incumbent Kit Bond in an upset. In 1980, Teasdale beat back a primary challenge from State Treasurer Jim Spainhower, but was defeated by Bond in a rematch. After leaving office, Teasdale returned to practicing law until his death. Read more
  • 29 Mar 1935: Ruby Murray, Northern Irish singer (died 1996) Ruby Florence Murray was a Northern Irish singer. One of the most popular singers in Britain and Ireland in the 1950s, she scored ten hits in the UK Singles Chart between 1954 and 1959. She also made pop chart history in March 1955 by having five hits in the Top Twenty in a single week. Read more
  • 29 Mar 1931: Aleksei Gubarev, Russian general, pilot and cosmonaut (died 2015) Aleksei Aleksandrovich Gubarev was a Soviet cosmonaut who flew on two space flights: Soyuz 17 and Soyuz 28. Read more
  • 29 Mar 1931: Norman Tebbit, English journalist and politician, Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster (died 2025) Norman Beresford Tebbit, Baron Tebbit, was a British politician. A member of the Conservative Party, he served in Margaret Thatcher's Cabinet from 1981 to 1987 as Secretary of State for Employment (1981–1983), Secretary of State for Trade and Industry (1983–1985), and Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Chairman of the Conservative Party (1985–1987). He was a member of Parliament (MP) from 1970 to 1992, representing the constituencies of Epping (1970–1974) and Chingford (1974–1992). Read more
  • 29 Mar 1930: Anerood Jugnauth, Mauritian lawyer and politician, 4th President of Mauritius (died 2021) Sir Anerood Jugnauth was a Mauritian statesman, barrister, and politician. He served six terms as Prime Minister, two terms as President and one term as Leader of Opposition. Often called the father of the Mauritian economic miracle, he led Mauritius through unprecedented economic growth and modernization as both Prime Minister and President. Read more
  • 29 Mar 1929: Sheila Kitzinger, English activist, author, and academic (died 2015)

    Sheila Helena Elizabeth Kitzinger was a British social anthropologist, natural childbirth activist, and author on childbirth and pregnancy. With over 30 books, her work is considered influential in changing the worldwide culture surrounding childbirth. Read more

  • 29 Mar 1929: Richard Lewontin, American biologist, geneticist, and academic (died 2021) Richard Charles Lewontin was an American evolutionary biologist, mathematician, geneticist, and social commentator. A leader in developing the mathematical basis of population genetics and evolutionary theory, he applied techniques from molecular biology, such as gel electrophoresis, to questions of genetic variation and evolution. He was a self-described Marxist. Read more
  • 29 Mar 1929: Lennart Meri, Estonian director and politician, 2nd President of Estonia (died 2006) Lennart Georg Meri was an Estonian writer, film director, and statesman. He was the country's foreign minister from 1990 to 1992 and President of Estonia from 1992 to 2001. Read more
  • 29 Mar 1929: Utpal Dutt, Indian actor, director and playwright (died 1993) Utpal Dutt was an Indian actor, director, and writer-playwright. He was primarily an actor in Bengali theatre, where he became a pioneering figure in Modern Indian theatre, when he founded the "Little Theatre Group" in 1949. This group enacted many English, Shakespearean and Brecht plays, in a period now known as the "Epic theatre" period, before it immersed itself completely in highly political and radical theatre. His plays became an apt vehicle for the expression of his Marxist ideologies, visible in socio-political plays such as Kallol (1965), Manusher Adhikar, Louha Manob (1964), Tiner Toloar and Maha-Bidroha. He also acted in over 100 Bengali and Hindi films in a career spanning 40 years, and remains most known for his roles in films such as Mrinal Sen’s Bhuvan Shome (1969), Satyajit Ray’s Agantuk (1991), Gautam Ghose’s Padma Nadir Majhi (1992) and Hrishikesh Mukherjee's breezy Hindi comedies such as Gol Maal (1979) and Rang Birangi (1983). He also did the role of a sculptor, Sir Digindra Narayan, in the episode Seemant Heera of Byomkesh Bakshi on Doordarshan in 1993, shortly before his death. Read more
  • 29 Mar 1928: Romesh Bhandari, Pakistani-Indian politician, 13th Foreign Secretary of India (died 2013) Romesh Bhandari was an Indian diplomat and administrator. Bhandari, during his career, served in various positions, including as the Foreign Secretary, Lieutenant Governor of Delhi and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, and Governor of Tripura, Goa and Uttar Pradesh. Read more
  • 29 Mar 1928: Keith Botsford, Belgian-American journalist, author, and academic (died 2018) Keith Botsford was an American/European writer, professor emeritus at Boston University and editor of News from the Republic of Letters. Read more
  • 29 Mar 1928: Vincent Gigante, American boxer and mobster (died 2005) Vincent Louis Gigante, also known as "Chin", was an American mobster who was boss of the Genovese crime family in New York City between 1981 and 2005. Read more
  • 29 Mar 1927: Martin Fleischmann, British chemist (died 2012) Martin Fleischmann FRS was a British chemist who worked in electrochemistry. The premature announcement of his cold fusion research with Stanley Pons, regarding excess heat in heavy water, caused a media sensation and elicited skepticism and criticism from many in the scientific community. Read more
  • 29 Mar 1927: John McLaughlin, American journalist and producer (died 2016) John Joseph McLaughlin (;
    was an American television personality and political commentator. He created, produced, and hosted the political commentary series The McLaughlin Group from 1982 to 2016, and hosted and produced John McLaughlin's One on One, which ran from 1984 to 2013. Read more
  • 29 Mar 1927: John Vane, English pharmacologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 2004) Sir John Robert Vane was a British pharmacologist who was instrumental in the understanding of how aspirin produces pain-relief and anti-inflammatory effects and his work led to new treatments for heart and blood vessel disease and introduction of ACE inhibitors. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1982 along with Sune Bergström and Bengt Samuelsson for "their discoveries concerning prostaglandins and related biologically active substances". Read more
  • 29 Mar 1926: Vladimir Bolotin, Russian physicist (died 2008) Vladimir Vasilyevich Bolotin was a Soviet and Russian physicist in the field of solid mechanics, Doctor of Sciences, Distinguished Professor at the Moscow Power Engineering Institute, Academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Academician of the Russian Academy of Architecture and Construction Sciences, Honorary Member of the Russian Academy of Engineering, Foreign Member of the United States National Academy of Engineering. Laureate of the 1985 USSR State Prize and of the 2000 State Prize of the Russian Federation. Read more
  • 29 Mar 1923: Geoff Duke, English-Manx motorcycle racer (died 2015) Geoffrey Ernest Duke, born in St. Helens, Lancashire, was a British multiple motorcycle Grand Prix road racing world champion. He raced several brands of motorcycle: Norton, Gilera, BMW, NSU and Benelli. After retirement from competition, he was a businessman based in the Isle of Man. Read more
  • 29 Mar 1923: Betty Binns Fletcher, American lawyer and judge (died 2012) Betty Binns Fletcher was an American lawyer and judge. She served as a United States circuit judge of the San Francisco-based United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit between 1979 and 2012. Fletcher was one of the first women to become a partner in a major American law firm and the second woman to be appointed to the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. Read more
  • 29 Mar 1921: Sam Loxton, Australian cricketer, footballer, and politician (died 2011) Samuel John Everett Loxton was an Australian cricketer, footballer and politician. As a cricket player he played in 12 Tests for Australia from 1948 to 1951. A right-handed all-rounder, Loxton was part of the Invincibles, who went through the 1948 tour of England undefeated, an unprecedented achievement that has never been matched. As well as being a hard-hitting batsman, Loxton was a right-arm swing bowler who liked to aim at the upper bodies of the opposition, and an outfielder with an accurate and powerful throw. After being dropped from the national team, Loxton represented Victoria for seven more seasons before retiring from first-class cricket. He served as an administrator after his playing days were over and spent 24 years as a Liberal Party member of the Victorian Legislative Assembly. Up until 1946, Loxton also played in the Victorian Football League (VFL) for St Kilda as a forward. In all three arenas, he was known for his energetic approach. Read more
  • 29 Mar 1920: John M. Belk, American businessman and politician (died 2007) John Montgomery Belk was an American businessman. He was head of the Belk, Inc. department store chain and member of the Democratic Party, he served as the mayor of Charlotte, North Carolina for four terms (1969–1977). He was the son of William Henry Belk, who founded the first Belk store in Monroe, North Carolina, in 1888. Read more
  • 29 Mar 1920: Clarke Fraser, American-Canadian geneticist and academic (died 2014) Frank Clarke Fraser was a Canadian medical geneticist. Spanning the fields of science and medicine, he was Canada's first medical geneticist, one of the creators of the discipline of medical genetics in North America, and laid the foundations in the field of Genetic Counselling, which has enhanced the lives of patients worldwide. Among his many accomplishments, Fraser pioneered work in the genetics of cleft palate and popularized the concept of multifactorial disease. Read more
  • 29 Mar 1920: Pierre Moinot, French author (died 2007) Pierre Moinot was a French novelist. He was elected to the Académie française on 21 January 1982. Read more
  • 29 Mar 1920: Theodore Trautwein, American lawyer and judge (died 2000) Theodore Walter Trautwein was an American judge from New Jersey who presided over issues related to release of reporter's notes that arose from the 1978 murder trial of "Dr. X" physician Mario Jascalevich, in which Trautwein held a reporter from The New York Times in contempt for refusing to turn over these investigative notes and held the reporter involved in jail for 40 days, triggering a separate set of cases on the limits of shield laws in protecting journalists from testifying about information they collected from their sources. Read more
  • 29 Mar 1919: Eileen Heckart, American actress (died 2001) Anna Eileen Heckart was an American stage and screen actress whose career spanned nearly 60 years. Heckart won an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award, and two Emmy Awards, as well as was nominated for three Tony Awards. In 2000, she received the Tony Honor for Excellence in Theatre. Read more
  • 29 Mar 1918: Pearl Bailey, American actress and singer (died 1990) Pearl Mae Bailey was an American actress, singer, comedian and author. After appearing in vaudeville, she made her Broadway debut in St. Louis Woman in 1946. She received a Special Tony Award for the title role in the all-Black production of Hello, Dolly! in 1968. In 1986, she won a Daytime Emmy award for her performance as a fairy godmother in the ABC Afterschool Special Cindy Eller: A Modern Fairy Tale. Her rendition of "Takes Two to Tango" hit the top ten in 1952. Read more
  • 29 Mar 1918: Lê Văn Thiêm, Vietnamese mathematician and academic (died 1991) Lê Văn Thiêm was a Vietnamese scientist. Together with Hoàng Tụy, he is considered the father of Vietnam Mathematics society. He was the first director of the Vietnam Institute of Mathematics, and the first Headmaster of Hanoi National University of Education and Hanoi University of Science. Read more
  • 29 Mar 1918: Sam Walton, American businessman, founded Walmart and Sam's Club (died 1992) Samuel Moore Walton was an American business magnate best known for co-founding the retailers Walmart and Sam's Club, which he started in Rogers, Arkansas, and Midwest City, Oklahoma, in 1962 and 1983 respectively. Wal-Mart Stores Inc. grew to be the world's largest corporation by revenue as well as the biggest private employer in the world. For a period of time, Walton was the richest person in the United States. His family has remained the richest family in the U.S. for several consecutive years, with a net worth of around $440.62 billion US as of January 2026. In 1992 at the age of 74, Walton died of blood cancer and was buried at the Bentonville Cemetery in his longtime home of Bentonville, Arkansas. Read more
  • 29 Mar 1917: Tommy Holmes, American baseball player (died 2008) Thomas Francis Holmes was an American right and center fielder and manager in Major League Baseball who played nearly his entire career for the Boston Braves. He hit over .300 lifetime (.302) and every year from 1944 through 1948, peaking with a .352 mark in 1945 when he finished second in the National League batting race and was runner-up for the NL's Most Valuable Player Award. Read more
  • 29 Mar 1917: Ieuan Maddock, Welsh scientist and nuclear researcher (died 1988) Sir Ieuan Maddock was a Welsh scientist and nuclear researcher. He played a role in the nuclear weapons tests in Australia in the 1950s and the 1973 Partial Test-Ban treaty. Read more
  • 29 Mar 1916: Peter Geach, English philosopher and academic (died 2013) Peter Thomas Geach was a British philosopher who was Professor of Logic at the University of Leeds. His areas of interest were philosophical logic, ethics, history of philosophy, philosophy of religion and the theory of identity. Read more
  • 29 Mar 1916: Eugene McCarthy, American poet and politician (died 2005) Eugene Joseph McCarthy was an American politician, writer, and academic who represented Minnesota in both houses of the United States Congress for over 22 years, first in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1949 to 1959, then in the U.S. Senate from 1959 until his resignation in 1971. A member of the Democratic Party, McCarthy sought the party's presidential nomination in the 1968 presidential election, challenging incumbent President Lyndon B. Johnson on an anti–Vietnam War platform, and ran unsuccessfully for the Democratic nomination for president four more times. Read more
  • 29 Mar 1914: Chapman Pincher, Indian-English historian, journalist, and author (died 2014) Henry Chapman Pincher was an English journalist, historian and novelist whose writing mainly focused on espionage and related matters, after some early books on scientific subjects. Read more
  • 29 Mar 1913: Phil Foster, American actor (died 1985) Phil Foster was an American actor and performer, best known for his portrayal of Frank DeFazio in Laverne & Shirley. Read more
  • 29 Mar 1913: Jack Jones, British trade union leader, General Secretary of the Transport and General Workers' Union (died 2009) James Larkin Jones, known as Jack Jones, was a British trade union leader and General Secretary of the Transport and General Workers' Union 1968-1978. Read more
  • 29 Mar 1912: Hanna Reitsch, German soldier and pilot (died 1979) Hanna Reitsch was a German aviator and test pilot. Reitsch was among the very last people to meet Adolf Hitler before his suicide in the Führerbunker in April 1945. Following her capture, she provided information about her departure from Berlin and denied that she might have helped Hitler escape. Read more
  • 29 Mar 1909: Moon Mullican, American singer-songwriter and pianist (died 1967) Aubrey Wilson Mullican, known professionally as Moon Mullican and nicknamed "King of the Hillbilly Piano Players", was an American country and western singer, songwriter, and pianist. He was associated with the hillbilly boogie style which influenced rockabilly. Jerry Lee Lewis cited him as a major influence on his own singing and piano playing. Read more
  • 29 Mar 1908: Arthur O'Connell, American actor (died 1981) Arthur Joseph O'Connell was an American stage, film and television actor, who achieved prominence in character roles in the 1950s. He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for both Picnic (1955) and Anatomy of a Murder (1959). Read more
  • 29 Mar 1908: Dennis O'Keefe, American actor and screenwriter (died 1968) Dennis O'Keefe was an American actor. Read more
  • 29 Mar 1907: Braguinha, Brazilian singer-songwriter and producer (died 2006) Carlos Alberto Ferreira Braga, commonly known as Braguinha or João de Barro, was a Brazilian songwriter and occasional singer. Read more
  • 29 Mar 1903: Douglas Harkness, Canadian colonel and politician, Canadian Minister of National Defence (died 1999) Douglas Scott Harkness was a Canadian politician. Read more
  • 29 Mar 1902: Marcel Aymé, French author, playwright, and screenwriter (died 1967) Marcel Aymé was a French novelist and playwright, who also wrote screenplays and works for children. Read more
  • 29 Mar 1902: William Walton, English composer (died 1983) Sir William Turner Walton was an English composer. During a sixty-year career, he wrote music in several classical genres and styles, from film scores to opera. His best-known works include Façade, the cantata Belshazzar's Feast, the Viola Concerto, the First Symphony, and the British coronation marches Crown Imperial and Orb and Sceptre. Read more
  • 29 Mar 1900: John McEwen, Australian farmer and politician, 18th Prime Minister of Australia (died 1980) Sir John McEwen was an Australian politician and farmer who served as the 18th prime minister of Australia from 1967 to 1968, in a caretaker capacity following the disappearance of prime minister Harold Holt. He was the leader of the Country Party from 1958 to 1971, serving as the inaugural deputy prime minister of Australia from 1968 to 1971. Read more
  • 29 Mar 1900: Charles Sutherland Elton, English zoologist and animal ecologist (died 1991) Charles Sutherland Elton was an English zoologist and animal ecologist. He is associated with the development of population and community ecology, including studies of invasive organisms. Read more
  • 29 Mar 1899: Lavrentiy Beria, Georgian-Russian general and politician (died 1953) Lavrentiy Pavlovich Beria was a Soviet politician and one of the longest-serving and most influential of Joseph Stalin's secret police chiefs, serving as head of the NKVD from 1938 to 1945 during the country's involvement in the Second World War. Beria was also a prolific sexual predator who serially raped scores of girls and young women, and murdered some of his victims. Read more
  • 29 Mar 1896: Wilhelm Ackermann, German mathematician (died 1962) Wilhelm Friedrich Ackermann was a German mathematician and logician best known for his work in mathematical logic and the Ackermann function, an important example in the theory of computation. Read more
  • 29 Mar 1895: Ernst Jünger, German philosopher and author (died 1998) Ernst Jünger was a German author, soldier, philosopher, and entomologist who became publicly known for his World War I memoir Storm of Steel. A prolific writer of over forty books, Jünger wrote particularly in the furtherance of conservatism and against what he perceived as the spiritual oppression of man. Read more
  • 29 Mar 1892: József Mindszenty, Hungarian cardinal (died 1975) József Mindszenty was a Hungarian cardinal of the Catholic Church who served as Archbishop of Esztergom and leader of the Catholic Church in Hungary from 1945 to 1973. According to the Encyclopedia Britannica, for five decades "he personified uncompromising opposition to fascism and communism in Hungary". Read more
  • 29 Mar 1891: Yvan Goll, French-German poet and playwright (died 1950) Yvan Goll was a French-German poet who was bilingual and wrote in both French and German. He had close ties to both German expressionism and to French surrealism. Read more
  • 29 Mar 1890: Harold Spencer Jones, English astronomer (died 1960) Sir Harold Spencer Jones KBE FRS FRSE PRAS was an English astronomer. He became renowned as an authority on positional astronomy and served as the tenth Astronomer Royal for 23 years. Although born "Jones", his surname became "Spencer Jones". Read more
  • 29 Mar 1889: Warner Baxter, American actor (died 1951) Warner Leroy Baxter was an American film actor from the 1910s to the 1940s. Baxter is known for his role as the Cisco Kid in the 1928 film In Old Arizona, for which he won the Academy Award for Best Actor at the 2nd Academy Awards. He frequently played womanizing, charismatic Latin bandit types in Westerns, and played the Cisco Kid or a similar character throughout the 1930s, but had a range of other roles throughout his career. Read more
  • 29 Mar 1889: Howard Lindsay, American producer, playwright, librettist, director and actor (died 1968) Howard Lindsay, born Herman Nelke, was an American playwright, librettist, director, actor and theatrical producer. He is best known for his writing work as part of the collaboration of Lindsay and Crouse, and for his performance, with his wife Dorothy Stickney, in the long-running play Life with Father. Read more
  • 29 Mar 1885: Dezső Kosztolányi, Hungarian author and poet (died 1936) Dezső Kosztolányi was a Hungarian writer, journalist, translator, and also a speaker of Esperanto. He wrote in all literary genres, from poetry to essays to theatre plays. Building his own style, he used French symbolism, impressionism, expressionism and psychological realism. He is considered the father of futurism in Hungarian literature. Read more
  • 29 Mar 1883: Donald Van Slyke, Dutch-American biochemist (died 1971) Donald Dexter Van Slyke, nicknamed Van, was a Dutch American biochemist. His achievements included the publication of 317 journal articles and 5 books, as well as numerous awards, among them the National Medal of Science and the first AMA Scientific Achievement Award. The Van Slyke determination, a test of amino acids, is named after him. Read more
  • 29 Mar 1874: Lou Henry Hoover, American philanthropist and geologist, 33rd First Lady of the United States (died 1944) Lou Henry Hoover was an American philanthropist, geologist, and the first lady of the United States from 1929 to 1933 as the wife of President Herbert Hoover. She was active in community organizations and volunteer groups throughout her life, including the Girl Scouts of the USA, which she led from 1922 to 1925 and from 1935 to 1937. Throughout her life, Hoover supported women's rights and women's independence. She was a polyglot, fluent in Mandarin Chinese and well-versed in Latin, and was the primary translator from Latin to English of the complex 16th-century metallurgy text De re metallica. Read more
  • 29 Mar 1873: Tullio Levi-Civita, Italian mathematician and academic (died 1941) Tullio Levi-Civita, was an Italian mathematician, most famous for his work on absolute differential calculus and its applications to the theory of relativity, but who also made significant contributions in other areas. He was a pupil of Gregorio Ricci-Curbastro, the inventor of tensor calculus. His work included foundational papers in both pure and applied mathematics, celestial mechanics, analytic mechanics and hydrodynamics. Read more
  • 29 Mar 1872: Hal Colebatch, English-Australian politician, 12th Premier of Western Australia (died 1953) Sir Harry Pateshall Colebatch was a long-serving figure in Western Australian politics. He was a member of the Western Australian Legislative Council for nearly 20 years, the twelfth Premier of Western Australia for a month in 1919, agent-general in London for five years, and a senator for four years. He was known for supporting free trade, federalism and Western Australian secessionism, and for opposing communism, socialism and fascism. Born in England, his family migrated to South Australia when Colebatch was four years old. He left school aged 11 and worked for several newspapers in South Australia before moving to Broken Hill in New South Wales in 1888 to work as a reporter for the Silver Age. In 1894, he moved to the Western Australian Goldfields following the gold rush there, working for the Golden Age in Coolgardie and the Kalgoorlie Miner in Kalgoorlie. Two years later, he moved to Perth to join the Morning Herald, but after that newspaper collapsed, he moved to Northam where he started The Northam Advertiser. He also became friends with local bank manager James Mitchell and convinced Mitchell to run for state parliament. Colebatch was the mayor of Northam between 1909 and 1912. Read more
  • 29 Mar 1871: Tom Hayward, English cricketer (died 1939) Thomas Walter Hayward was an English first-class cricketer who played for Surrey and England between the 1890s and the outbreak of World War I. He was primarily an opening batsman, noted especially for the quality of his off-drive. Neville Cardus wrote that he "was amongst the most precisely technical and most prolific batsmen of any time in the annals of cricket." He was only the second batsman to reach the landmark of 100 first-class centuries, following WG Grace. In the 1906 English season he scored 3,518 runs, a record aggregate since surpassed only by Denis Compton and Bill Edrich in 1947. Read more
  • 29 Mar 1869: Edwin Lutyens, British architect (died 1944) Sir Edwin Landseer Lutyens was an English architect known for imaginatively adapting traditional architectural styles to the requirements of his era. He designed many English country houses, war memorials and public buildings. In his biography, the writer Christopher Hussey wrote, "In his lifetime (Lutyens) was widely held to be our greatest architect since Wren if not, as many maintained, his superior". The architectural historian Gavin Stamp described him as "surely the greatest British architect of the twentieth century". Read more
  • 29 Mar 1867: Cy Young, American baseball player and manager (died 1955) Denton True "Cy" Young was an American Major League Baseball (MLB) pitcher. Born in Gilmore, Ohio, he worked on his family's farm as a youth before starting his professional baseball career. Young entered the major leagues in 1890 with the National League's Cleveland Spiders and pitched for them until 1898. He was then transferred to the St. Louis Cardinals franchise. In 1901, Young jumped to the American League and played for the Boston Red Sox franchise until 1908, helping them win the 1903 World Series. He finished his career with the Cleveland Naps and Boston Rustlers, retiring in 1911. Read more
  • 29 Mar 1863: Walter James, Australian politician, 5th Premier of Western Australia (died 1943) Sir Walter Hartwell James, was the fifth Premier of Western Australia and an ardent supporter of the federation movement. Read more
  • 29 Mar 1862: Adolfo Müller-Ury, Swiss-American painter (died 1947) Adolfo Müller-Ury, KSG was a Swiss-born American portrait painter and impressionistic painter of roses and still life. Read more
  • 29 Mar 1860: William Benham, New Zealand zoologist (died 1950) Sir William Blaxland Benham was a New Zealand zoologist. Read more
  • 29 Mar 1853: Elihu Thomson, English-American engineer and inventor (died 1937) Elihu Thomson was an English-American engineer and inventor who was instrumental in the founding of major electrical companies in the United States, the United Kingdom and France. Read more
  • 29 Mar 1826: Wilhelm Liebknecht, German journalist and politician (died 1900) Wilhelm Martin Philipp Christian Ludwig Liebknecht was a German social democratic politician, journalist, and a principal founder of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD). His political career was a pioneering project in steering a Marxist-inspired workers' party to electoral success and mass membership. With his long-time political collaborator August Bebel, he was a leading figure in nineteenth-century German socialism. Liebknecht served as a member of the North German Reichstag from 1867 to 1871 and the German Reichstag from 1874 until his death in 1900. Read more
  • 29 Mar 1824: Ludwig Büchner, German physiologist, physician, and philosopher (died 1899) Friedrich Karl Christian Ludwig Büchner was a German philosopher, physiologist and physician who became one of the exponents of 19th-century scientific materialism. Read more
  • 29 Mar 1802: Johann Moritz Rugendas, German landscape painter (died 1858) Johann Moritz Rugendas was a German painter, famous in the first half of the 19th century for his works depicting landscapes and ethnographic subjects in several countries in the Americas. Rugendas is considered "by far the most varied and important of the European artists to visit Latin America." He was influenced by Alexander von Humboldt. Read more

🕊️ Important Deaths on 29 March in World History

  • 29 Mar 2025: Richard Chamberlain, American actor (born 1934) George Richard Chamberlain was an American actor and singer whose career on stage and in film and television spanned over 60 years. He was the recipient of many accolades, including three Golden Globe Awards, four Primetime Emmy Awards nominations, two Drama Desk Award nominations, and a Grammy Award nomination. Read more
  • 29 Mar 2024: Gerry Conway, English folk and rock drummer/percussionist (born 1947) Gerald Conway was an English rock drummer and percussionist. He performed with the backing band for Cat Stevens in the 1970s, with Jethro Tull during the 1980s, and was a member of Fairport Convention from 1998 to 2022. Conway also worked as a session musician. He was married to vocalist Jacqui McShee, the singer of the band Pentangle, of which he was also a member. Read more
  • 29 Mar 2024: Louis Gossett Jr., American actor (born 1936) Louis Cameron Gossett Jr. was an American actor. He made his stage debut at age 17. Shortly thereafter, Gossett successfully auditioned for the Broadway play Take a Giant Step. He continued acting onstage in critically acclaimed plays including A Raisin in the Sun (1959), The Blacks (1961), Tambourines to Glory (1963), and The Zulu and the Zayda (1965). In 1977, Gossett appeared in the popular miniseries Roots, for which he won Outstanding Lead Actor for a Single Appearance in a Drama or Comedy Series at the Emmy Awards. Read more
  • 29 Mar 2023: John Kerin, Australian politician (born 1937) John Charles Kerin was an Australian economist and Labor Party politician who served in the House of Representatives from 1972 to 1975 and again from 1978 to 1993. He held a number of senior ministerial roles in both the Hawke and Keating governments, including six months as Treasurer of Australia and eight years as Minister for Primary Industries and Energy, holding the latter role for the longest period in Australian history. Read more
  • 29 Mar 2023: Vivan Sundaram, Indian contemporary artist (born 1943) Vivan Sundaram was an Indian contemporary artist. He worked in many different media, including painting, sculpture, printmaking, photography, installation, and video art, and his work was politically conscious and highly intertextual in nature. His work constantly referred to social problems, popular culture, problems of perception, memory, identification and history. He was married to art historian and critic Geeta Kapur. Read more
  • 29 Mar 2022: Charles Jeffrey, British botanist (born 1934) Charles Jeffrey was a British botanist. Read more
  • 29 Mar 2022: Jennifer Wilson, English actress (born 1932) Jennifer Wenda Wilson was an English actress. Beginning her on-screen acting career in the 1950s, she played Kate Nickleby in a BBC dramatisation of Nicholas Nickleby in 1957. Wilson's last acting roles were as Mrs. Bradbury in Coronation Street in 2014 and as Nancy Milne in three episodes of the BBC lunchtime soap Doctors between 2014 and 2015. Read more
  • 29 Mar 2021: Bashkim Fino, Albanian politician, 29th Prime Minister of Albania (born 1962) Bashkim Fino was an Albanian socialist politician who served as the 29th Prime Minister of Albania from March to July 1997. Read more
  • 29 Mar 2021: Sarah Onyango Obama, Kenyan educator and philanthropist (born 1921) Sarah Onyango Obama was a Kenyan educator and philanthropist. She was the third wife of Hussein Onyango Obama, the paternal grandfather of U.S. president Barack Obama and helped raise his father, Barack Obama Sr. She was known by her short name as Sarah Obama and was sometimes referred to as Sarah Ogwel, Sarah Hussein Obama, or Sarah Anyango Obama. She lived in Nyang'oma Kogelo village, 48 km west of western Kenya's main city, Kisumu, on the edge of Lake Victoria. Read more
  • 29 Mar 2020: Joe Diffie, American country music singer (born 1958) Joe Logan Diffie was an American country music singer and songwriter. After working as a demonstration singer in the mid 1980s, he signed with Epic Records' Nashville division in 1990. Between then and 2004, Diffie charted 35 singles on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart, five of which peaked at number one – his debut release "Home", "If the Devil Danced ", "Third Rock from the Sun", "Pickup Man", and "Bigger Than the Beatles". In addition to these singles, he had 12 others reach the top 10 and 10 more reach the top 40 on the same chart. He also co-wrote singles for Holly Dunn, Tim McGraw, and Jo Dee Messina, and recorded with Mary Chapin Carpenter, George Jones, and Marty Stuart. Read more
  • 29 Mar 2020: Alan Merrill, American musician (born 1951) Alan Merrill was an American vocalist, guitarist and songwriter. In the early 1970s, he was one of the few resident foreigners in Japan to achieve pop star status there. He wrote the song "I Love Rock 'n' Roll", and was the lead singer on the original recording of it, made by the band the Arrows in 1975. The song became a breakthrough hit for Joan Jett in 1982. Read more
  • 29 Mar 2020: Krzysztof Penderecki, Polish composer and conductor (born 1933) Krzysztof Eugeniusz Penderecki was a Polish composer and conductor. His best-known works include Threnody to the Victims of Hiroshima, Symphony No. 3, his St Luke Passion, Polish Requiem, Anaklasis and Utrenja. His oeuvre includes five operas, eight symphonies and other orchestral pieces, a variety of instrumental concertos, choral settings of mainly religious texts, as well as chamber and instrumental works. Read more
  • 29 Mar 2019: Agnès Varda, French film director (born 1928) Agnès Varda was a Belgian-born French filmmaker, artist, and photographer. Read more
  • 29 Mar 2018: Anita Shreve, American author (born 1946) Anita Hale Shreve was an American writer, chiefly known for her novels. One of her first published stories, Past the Island, Drifting, was awarded an O. Henry Prize in 1976. Read more
  • 29 Mar 2017: Alexei Abrikosov, Russian physicist, 2003 Nobel laureate in Physics (born 1928) Alexei Alexeyevich Abrikosov was a Soviet, Russian and American theoretical physicist whose main contributions are in the field of condensed matter physics. He was the co-recipient of the 2003 Nobel Prize in Physics, with Vitaly Ginzburg and Anthony James Leggett, for theories about how matter can behave at extremely low temperatures. Read more
  • 29 Mar 2016: Patty Duke, American actress (born 1946) Anna Marie Duke, known professionally as Patty Duke, was an American actress. Over the course of her acting career, she was the recipient of an Academy Award, two Golden Globe Awards, three Primetime Emmy Awards, and a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Read more
  • 29 Mar 2015: William Delafield Cook, Australian-English painter (born 1926) William Delafield Cook AM (1936–2015) was an Australian artist who was known for his photorealistic landscapes. He won a number of awards, including the Order of Australia. Read more
  • 29 Mar 2014: Marc Platt, American actor and dancer (born 1913) Marcel Emile Gaston LePlat, known professionally as Marc Platt, was an American ballet dancer, musical theatre performer, and actor. He was best known for his portrayal of Daniel Pontipee, one of the seven brothers in the film Seven Brides for Seven Brothers. Read more
  • 29 Mar 2013: Reginald Gray, Irish-French painter (born 1930) Reginald Gray was an Irish portrait artist. He studied at The National College of Art (1953) and then moved to London, becoming part of the School of London led by Francis Bacon, Lucian Freud and Frank Auerbach. In 1960, he painted a portrait of Bacon which is in the collection of the National Portrait Gallery in London. He subsequently painted portraits from life of writers, musicians and artists such as Samuel Beckett, Harold Pinter, Brendan Behan, Garech Browne, Derry O'Sullivan, Alfred Schnittke, Ted Hughes, Rupert Everett and Yves Saint Laurent. In 1993 Gray had a retrospective exhibition at UNESCO Paris and in 2006, his portrait "The White Blouse" won the Sandro Botticelli Prize in Florence, Italy. Read more
  • 29 Mar 2013: Brian Huggins, English-Canadian journalist and actor (born 1931) Brian Edgar Huggins was a British-Canadian journalist and actor. Read more
  • 29 Mar 2013: Ralph Klein, Canadian journalist and politician, 12th Premier of Alberta (born 1942) Ralph Philip Klein was a Canadian politician and journalist who served as the 12th premier of Alberta and leader of the Progressive Conservative Association of Alberta from 1992 until his retirement in 2006. Klein also served as the 32nd mayor of Calgary from 1980 to 1989. Read more
  • 29 Mar 2013: Art Phillips, Canadian businessman and politician, 32nd Mayor of Vancouver (born 1930) Arthur Phillips served as the 32nd mayor of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada from 1973 to 1977. Prior to being elected to this post, he founded the Vancouver investment firm of Phillips, Hager & North. Phillips was instrumental in founding a reform-minded, centrist municipal-level political party, TEAM, in 1968. Also in that year, he was elected as an alderman to Vancouver City Council. Read more
  • 29 Mar 2012: Pap Cheyassin Secka, Gambian lawyer and politician, 8th Attorney General of the Gambia (born 1942) Pap Cheyassin Secka or Pap Cheyassin Ousman Secka was a Gambian lawyer and politician. He was the minister of justice and the former Attorney General of the Gambia. Read more
  • 29 Mar 2012: Bill Jenkins, American race car driver and engineer (born 1930) William Tyler Jenkins, nicknamed "Grumpy" or "The Grump", was an engine builder and drag racer. Between 1965 and 1975, he won a total of thirteen NHRA events. Most of these wins were won with a four-speed manual transmission. In 1972 he recorded 250 straight passes without missing a shift. Read more
  • 29 Mar 2011: Ângelo de Sousa, Portuguese painter and sculptor (born 1938) Ângelo César Cardoso de Sousa was a Portuguese painter, sculptor, draftsman and professor, better known for continuously experimenting with new techniques in his works. He was seen as a scholar of light and colour who explored minimalism in new radical ways. Read more
  • 29 Mar 2011: Iakovos Kambanellis, Greek author, poet, playwright, and screenwriter (born 1921) Iakovos Kambanellis was a Greek poet, playwright, screenwriter, lyricist, and novelist. Read more
  • 29 Mar 2009: Vladimir Fedotov, Russian footballer and manager (born 1943) Vladimir Grigoryevich Fedotov was a Soviet and Russian football striker and manager who holds the all-time record of caps for CSKA Moscow. He was the son of famous Soviet football and ice hockey player Grigory Fedotov. Read more
  • 29 Mar 2009: Andy Hallett, American actor and singer (born 1975) Andrew Alcott Hallett was an American actor and singer who became best known for playing the part of Lorne in the television series Angel (2000–2004). He used his singing talents often on the show, and performed two songs on the series' 2005 soundtrack album, Angel: Live Fast, Die Never. Read more
  • 29 Mar 2007: Larry L'Estrange, English rugby player and soldier (born 1934) Larry L'Estrange MBE TD was a British paratrooper and rugby player. Read more
  • 29 Mar 2006: Salvador Elizondo, Mexican author and poet (born 1932) Salvador Elizondo Alcalde was a Mexican writer of the 60s Generation of Mexican literature. Read more
  • 29 Mar 2004: Lise de Baissac, Mauritian-born SOE agent (born 1905) Lise Marie Jeanette de Baissac MBE CdeG, code names Odile and Marguerite, was a Mauritian agent in the United Kingdom's clandestine Special Operations Executive (SOE) organization in France during World War II. The purpose of SOE was to conduct espionage, sabotage, and reconnaissance in countries occupied by the Axis powers, especially Nazi Germany. SOE agents allied themselves with resistance groups and supplied them with weapons and equipment parachuted in from England. Read more
  • 29 Mar 2004: Joel Feinberg, American philosopher and academic (born 1926) Joel Feinberg was an American political and legal philosopher. He is known for his work in the fields of ethics, action theory, philosophy of law, and political philosophy as well as individual rights and the authority of the state. Feinberg was one of the most influential figures in American law, jurisprudence and political science over the last fifty years. Read more
  • 29 Mar 2003: Carlo Urbani, Italian physician and microbiologist (born 1956) Carlo Urbani was an Italian physician and microbiologist and the first to identify severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) as probably a new and dangerously contagious viral disease, and his early warning to the World Health Organization (WHO) triggered a swift and global response credited with saving numerous lives. Shortly afterwards, he himself became infected and died. Read more
  • 29 Mar 2001: Helge Ingstad, Norwegian lawyer, academic, and explorer (born 1899) Helge Marcus Ingstad was a Norwegian explorer. In 1960, after mapping some Norse settlements, Ingstad and his wife archaeologist Anne Stine Ingstad found remnants of a Viking settlement in L'Anse aux Meadows in the province of Newfoundland in Canada. They were thus the first to prove conclusively that the Icelandic/Greenlandic Norsemen such as Leif Erickson had found a way across the Atlantic Ocean to North America, roughly 500 years before Christopher Columbus and John Cabot. He also thought that the mysterious disappearance of the Greenland Norse Settlements in the 14th and 15th centuries could be explained by their emigration to North America. Read more
  • 29 Mar 2001: John Lewis, American pianist and composer (born 1920) John Aaron Lewis was an American jazz pianist, composer and arranger, best known as the founder and musical director of the Modern Jazz Quartet. Read more
  • 29 Mar 1999: Joe Williams, American jazz singer (born 1918) Joe Williams was an American jazz singer. He sang with big bands, such as the Count Basie Orchestra and the Lionel Hampton Orchestra, and with small combos. He sang in two films with the Basie orchestra and sometimes worked as an actor. Read more
  • 29 Mar 1997: Norman Pirie, British biochemist and virologist (born 1907) Norman Wingate Pirie FRS, was a British biochemist and virologist who, along with Frederick Bawden, discovered that a virus can be crystallized by isolating tomato bushy stunt virus in 1936. This was an important milestone in understanding DNA and RNA. Read more
  • 29 Mar 1996: Bill Goldsworthy, Canadian ice hockey player (born 1944) William Alfred Goldsworthy was a Canadian professional ice hockey right winger who played for three teams in the National Hockey League for 14 seasons between 1964 and 1978, mostly with the Minnesota North Stars. He retired from playing after two partial seasons in the World Hockey Association. Read more
  • 29 Mar 1995: Mort Meskin, American illustrator (born 1916) Morton Meskin was an American comic book artist best known for his work in the 1940s Golden Age of Comic Books, well into the late-1950s and 1960s Silver Age. Read more
  • 29 Mar 1995: Terry Moore, American baseball player and coach (born 1912) Terry Bluford Moore was an American professional baseball center fielder, manager, and coach. He played for the St. Louis Cardinals, and later coached for them. Moore managed the 1954 Philadelphia Phillies, taking the reins from Steve O’Neill, for the second half of the season. Read more
  • 29 Mar 1994: Bill Travers, English actor, director, and screenwriter (born 1922) William Inglis Lindon Travers was a British actor, screenwriter, director and animal rights activist. Before his show business career, he served in the British Army with Gurkha and special forces units. Read more
  • 29 Mar 1992: Paul Henreid, American actor (born 1908) Paul Henreid was an Austrian-American actor, director, producer, and writer. He is best remembered for several film roles during the Second World War, including Capt. Karl Marsen in Night Train to Munich (1940), Victor Laszlo in Casablanca (1942) and Jerry Durrance in Now, Voyager (1942). Read more
  • 29 Mar 1991: Guy Bourdin, French photographer (born 1928) Guy Bourdin was a French artist and fashion photographer known for his highly stylized and provocative images. From 1955, Bourdin worked mostly with Vogue as well as other publications including Harper's Bazaar. He shot ad campaigns for Chanel, Charles Jourdan, Pentax and Bloomingdale's. Read more
  • 29 Mar 1988: Maurice Blackburn, Canadian composer and conductor (born 1914)

    Joseph Albert Maurice Blackburn was a Canadian composer, conductor, sound editor for film, and builder of string instruments. He is known for his soundtracks for animated film. Read more

  • 29 Mar 1988: Ted Kluszewski, American baseball player and coach (born 1924) Theodore Bernard Kluszewski, nicknamed "Big Klu", was an American professional baseball player, best known as a power-hitting first baseman for the Cincinnati Reds teams of the 1950s. He played from 1947 through 1961 with four teams in Major League Baseball (MLB), spending 11 of those 15 seasons with the Reds, and became famous for his bulging biceps and mammoth home runs. Read more
  • 29 Mar 1985: Luther Terry, American physician and academic, 9th Surgeon General of the United States (born 1911) Luther Leonidas Terry was an American physician and public health official. He was appointed the ninth Surgeon General of the United States from 1961 to 1965, and is best known for his warnings against the dangers and the impact of tobacco use on health. Read more
  • 29 Mar 1985: Janet Watson, British geologist (born 1923) Janet Vida Watson FRS FGS (1923–1985) was a British geologist. She was a professor of Geology at Imperial College, a rapporteur for the International Geological Correlation Program (IGCP) (1977–1982) and a vice president of the Royal Society (1983–1984). In 1982 she was elected president of the Geological Society of London, the first woman to occupy that position. She is well known for her contribution to the understanding of the Lewisian complex and as an author and co-author of several books including Beginning Geology and Introduction to Geology. Read more
  • 29 Mar 1982: Walter Hallstein, German academic and politician, 1st President of the European Commission (born 1901) Walter Hallstein was a German academic, diplomat and statesman who was the first president of the Commission of the European Economic Community and one of the founding fathers of the European Union. Read more
  • 29 Mar 1982: Frederick George Mann, British organic chemist (born 1897) Frederick George Mann was a British organic chemist. Read more
  • 29 Mar 1982: Carl Orff, German composer and educator (born 1895) Carl Heinrich Maria Orff was a German composer and music educator, who composed the cantata Carmina Burana (1937). The concepts of his Schulwerk were influential for children's music education. Read more
  • 29 Mar 1982: Nathan Farragut Twining, American general (born 1897) Nathan Farragut Twining was a United States Air Force general. He was the chief of Staff of the United States Air Force from 1953 until 1957, and the third chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff from 1957 to 1960. He was the first member of the Air Force to serve as Chairman. Twining was a distinguished "mustang" officer, rising from private to four-star general and appointment to the highest post in the United States Armed Forces in the course of his 45-year career. Read more
  • 29 Mar 1981: Eric Williams, Trinidadian historian and politician, 1st Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago (born 1911) Eric Eustace Williams was a Trinidad and Tobago politician. He has been dubbed the "Father of the Nation", having led the then-British Colony of Trinidad and Tobago to majority rule on 28 October 1956, to independence on 31 August 1962, and republic status, on 1 August 1976, leading an unbroken string of general election victories with his political party, the People's National Movement, until his death in 1981. He represented Port of Spain South in the Parliament of Trinidad and Tobago. Read more
  • 29 Mar 1979: Nikos Petzaropoulos, Greece footballer (born 1927) Nikos Pentzaropoulos was a Greek footballer, who played as a goalkeeper, mainly for Panionios. He earned the nickname "the Hero of Tampere" (Greek: ο Ήρωας του Τάμπερε), after his performance with the Greek Olympic team in 1952. Read more
  • 29 Mar 1972: J. Arthur Rank, English businessman, founded Rank Organisation (born 1888) Joseph Arthur Rank, 1st Baron Rank was an English industrialist who was head and founder of The Rank Organisation. Read more
  • 29 Mar 1971: Dhirendranath Datta, Pakistani lawyer and politician (born 1886) Dhirendranath Datta
    was a Bengali lawyer and politician from East Bengal who was a member of the 1st Constituent Assembly of Pakistan. He is best known for proposing Bengali for the national language of Pakistan in the Assembly. He was also active in the politics of undivided Bengal in pre-partition India. Read more
  • 29 Mar 1970: Anna Louise Strong, American journalist and author (born 1885) Anna Louise Strong was an American journalist and activist, best known for her reporting on and support for communist movements in the Soviet Union and the People's Republic of China. She wrote over 30 books and varied articles. Read more
  • 29 Mar 1966: Stylianos Gonatas, Greek Army officer and Prime Minister of Greece (born 1876) Stylianos Gonatas was an officer of the Hellenic Army, Venizelist politician, and Prime Minister of Greece from 1922 to 1924. Read more
  • 29 Mar 1963: Gaspard Fauteux, Canadian dentist and politician, 19th Lieutenant Governor of Quebec (born 1898) Gaspard Fauteux, was a Canadian parliamentarian, Speaker of the House of Commons of Canada (1945–1949), and the 19th Lieutenant Governor of Quebec (1950–1958). Read more
  • 29 Mar 1963: Frances Jenkins Olcott, American author and librarian (born 1872) Frances Jenkins Olcott was the first head librarian of the children's department of the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh in 1898. She also wrote many children's books and books for those in the profession of providing library service to children and youth. Read more
  • 29 Mar 1959: Barthélemy Boganda, African priest and politician, 1st Prime Minister of the Central African Republic (born 1910) Barthélemy Boganda was a Central African politician and independence activist. Boganda was active prior to his country's independence, during the period when the area, part of French Equatorial Africa, was administered by France under the name of Oubangui-Chari. He served as the first Premier of the Central African Republic as an autonomous territory. Read more
  • 29 Mar 1957: Joyce Cary, Anglo-Irish novelist (born 1888) Arthur Joyce Lunel Cary, known as Joyce Cary, was an Anglo-Irish novelist and colonial official. His most notable novels include Mister Johnson and The Horse's Mouth. Read more
  • 29 Mar 1953: Väinö Kivisalo, Finnish politician (born 1882) Väinö Kivisalo was a Finnish politician and member of the Parliament of Finland, the national legislature of Finland. A member of the Social Democratic Party, he represented Häme Province South between August 1929 and July 1948. Prior to being elected, he was imprisoned for political reasons following the Finnish Civil War. Read more
  • 29 Mar 1953: Arthur Fields, Jewish-American singer and composer (born 1888) Arthur Fields was an American baritone and songwriter. Read more
  • 29 Mar 1948: Harry Price, English parapsychologist and author (born 1881) Harry Price was a British psychic researcher and author, who gained public prominence for his investigations into psychical phenomena and exposing fraudulent spiritualist mediums. He is best known for his well-publicised investigation of the purportedly haunted Borley Rectory in Essex, England. Read more
  • 29 Mar 1940: Alexander Obolensky, Russian-English rugby player and soldier (born 1916) Prince Alexander Sergeevich Obolensky was a Rurikid prince of Russian aristocratic descent who became a naturalised Briton, having spent most of his life in England, and who went on to represent England in international rugby union. He was, and remains, popularly known as "The Flying Prince", "The Flying Slav", or simply as "Obo" to many sports fans. Read more
  • 29 Mar 1937: Karol Szymanowski, Polish pianist and composer (born 1882) Karol Maciej Szymanowski was a Polish composer, pianist and writer. He was a member of the modernist Young Poland movement that flourished in the late 19th and early 20th century. Read more
  • 29 Mar 1934: Otto Hermann Kahn, German-American banker and philanthropist (born 1867) Otto Hermann Kahn was a German-born American investment banker, collector, philanthropist, and patron of the arts. Kahn was a well-known figure, appearing on the cover of Time magazine and was sometimes referred to as the "King of New York". In business, he was best known as a partner at Kuhn, Loeb & Co. who reorganized and consolidated railroads. In his personal life, he was a great patron of the arts, where among things, he served as the chairman of the Metropolitan Opera. Read more
  • 29 Mar 1924: Charles Villiers Stanford, Irish composer and conductor (born 1852) Sir Charles Villiers Stanford was an Anglo-Irish composer, music teacher, and conductor of the late Romantic era. Born to a well-off and highly musical family in Dublin, Stanford was educated at the University of Cambridge before studying music in Leipzig and Berlin. He was instrumental in raising the status of the Cambridge University Musical Society, attracting international stars to perform with it. Read more
  • 29 Mar 1921: John Burroughs, American naturalist and nature essayist (born 1837) John Burroughs was an American naturalist and nature essayist, active in the conservation movement in the United States. The first of his essay collections was Wake-Robin in 1871. Read more
  • 29 Mar 1915: William Wallace Denslow, American illustrator and caricaturist (born 1856) William Wallace Denslow was an American illustrator and caricaturist remembered for his work in collaboration with author L. Frank Baum, especially his illustrations of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. Denslow was an editorial cartoonist with a strong interest in politics, which has fueled political interpretations of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. Read more
  • 29 Mar 1912: Henry Robertson Bowers, Scottish lieutenant and explorer (born 1883) Henry Robertson Bowers was one of Robert Falcon Scott's polar party on the ill-fated Terra Nova Expedition of 1910–1913, all of whom died during their return from the South Pole. Read more
  • 29 Mar 1912: Robert Falcon Scott, English lieutenant and explorer (born 1868) Captain Robert Falcon Scott was a British Royal Navy officer and explorer who led two expeditions to the Antarctic regions: the Discovery expedition of 1901–04 and the Terra Nova expedition of 1910–13. Read more
  • 29 Mar 1912: Edward Adrian Wilson, English physician and explorer (born 1872) Edward Adrian Wilson was an English polar explorer, ornithologist, natural historian, physician and artist. Read more
  • 29 Mar 1911: Alexandre Guilmant, French organist and composer (born 1837) Félix-Alexandre Guilmant was a French organist and composer. He was the organist of La Trinité from 1871 until 1901. A noted pedagogue, performer, and improviser, Guilmant helped found the Schola Cantorum de Paris. He was appointed as Professor of Organ in the Conservatoire de Paris in 1896. Read more
  • 29 Mar 1906: Slava Raškaj, Croatian painter (born 1878) Slava Raškaj was a Croatian painter, considered to be the greatest Croatian watercolorist of the late 19th and early 20th century. Deaf since birth, Raškaj was schooled in Vienna and Zagreb, where her mentor was the renowned Croatian painter Bela Čikoš Sesija. In the 1890s her works were exhibited around Europe, including at the 1900 Expo in Paris. In her twenties Raškaj was diagnosed with acute depression and was institutionalised for the last three years of her life before dying in 1906 from tuberculosis in Zagreb. The value of her work was largely overlooked by art historians in the following decades, but in the late 1990s and early 2000s interest in her work was revived. Read more
  • 29 Mar 1903: Gustavus Franklin Swift, American business executive (born 1839) Gustavus Franklin Swift, Sr. was an American business executive. He founded a meat-packing empire in the Midwest during the late 19th century, over which he presided until his death. He is credited with the development of the first practical ice-cooled railroad car, which allowed his company to ship dressed meats to all parts of the country and abroad, ushering in the "era of cheap beef." Swift pioneered the use of animal by-products for the manufacture of soap, glue, fertilizer, various types of sundries, and even medical products. Read more
  • 29 Mar 1891: Georges Seurat, French painter (born 1859) Georges Pierre Seurat was a French post-Impressionist artist. He devised the painting techniques known as chromoluminarism and pointillism and used conté crayon for drawings on paper with a rough surface. Read more
  • 29 Mar 1888: Charles-Valentin Alkan, French pianist and composer (born 1813) Charles-Valentin Alkan was a French composer and virtuoso pianist. At the height of his fame in the 1830s and 1840s he was, alongside his friends and colleagues Frédéric Chopin and Franz Liszt, among the leading pianists in Paris, a city in which he spent virtually his entire life. Read more
  • 29 Mar 1866: John Keble, English priest and poet (born 1792) John Keble was an English Anglican priest and poet who was one of the leaders of the Oxford Movement. Keble College, Oxford, is named after him. Read more
  • 29 Mar 1848: John Jacob Astor, German-American businessman (born 1763) John Jacob Astor was a German-born American businessman, merchant, real estate mogul, and investor. Astor made his fortune mainly in a fur trade monopoly, by exporting opium into the Chinese Empire, and by investing in real estate in or around New York City during the late 18th and early 19th centuries. He was the first prominent member of the Astor family and the first multi-millionaire in the United States. Read more
  • 29 Mar 1830: James Rennell, English geographer, historian and oceanography pioneer (born 1742) Major James Rennell was an English geographer, historian and a pioneer of oceanography. Rennell produced some of the first accurate maps of Bengal at one inch to five miles as well as accurate outlines of India and served as Surveyor General of Bengal. Rennell has been called the Father of Oceanography. In 1830, he was one of the founders of the Royal Geographical Society in London. Read more
  • 29 Mar 1826: Johann Heinrich Voss, German poet, translator and academic (born 1751) Johann Heinrich Voss was a German classicist and poet, known mostly for his translation of Homer's Odyssey (1781) and Iliad (1793) into German. Read more
  • 29 Mar 1824: Hans Nielsen Hauge, Norwegian lay minister, social reformer and author (born 1771) Hans Nielsen Hauge was a 19th-century Norwegian Lutheran lay minister, spiritual leader, business entrepreneur, social reformer and author. He led a noted Pietism revival known as the Haugean movement. Hauge is also considered to have been influential in the early industrialization of Norway. Read more
  • 29 Mar 1822: Johann Wilhelm Hässler, German pianist and composer (born 1747) Johann Wilhelm Hässler, was a German composer, organist and pianist. Read more
  • 29 Mar 1803: Gottfried van Swieten, Dutch-Austrian librarian and diplomat (born 1733) Gottfried Freiherr van Swieten was a Dutch-born diplomat, librarian, and government official who served the Holy Roman Empire during the 18th century. He was an enthusiastic amateur musician and is best remembered today as the patron of several great composers of the Classical era, including Carl Phillip Emanuel Bach, Joseph Haydn, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, and Ludwig van Beethoven. Read more
  • 29 Mar 1800: Marc René, marquis de Montalembert, French general and engineer (born 1714) Maréchal de camp Marc René, marquis de Montalembert was a French Royal Army officer and writer best known for his work on fortifications and writings on military engineering. Read more

Why is 29 March Important in World History?

Several significant political, cultural, educational, and sporting events took place on 29 March, making it an important topic for general knowledge and competitive examinations.

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What happened on 29 March in World history?

On 29 March, several important historical events, notable births, and major milestones occurred in World history.

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