September 29

Events
Up to 1900
61 BC Pompey the Great celebrates his third triumph, for victories over the pirates and the end of the Mithridatic Wars on his 45th birthday.
48 BC Ptolemy XIII of Egypt had Pompey murdered and his head cut off on his 58th birthday. Pompey's head and ring are kept for Julius Caesar (some sources give September 28).
AD 855 Pope Benedict III becomes Pope.
1015 St. Michael's Church in Hildesheim, present-day Lower Saxony, Germany, is consecrated; It is now on the UNESCO World Heritage List.
1227 Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor is excommunicated by Pope Gregory IX for not taking part in the Crusades.
1364 Battle of Auray - English forces defeat French at Brittany; end of the Breton War of Succession
1567 At a dinner, the Duke of Alva arrests the Count of Egmont and the Count of Horne for treason.
1717 An earthquake strikes Antigua, Guatemala, destroying much of the city.
1760 The French surrender at Fort Detroit to the British.
1774 Publication of the Sorrows of Young Werther makes Johann Wolfgang von Goethe famous.
1789 United States War Department first establishes regular army with strength of several hundred men.
1789 First United States Congress adjourns.
1829 London's reorganized police force goes on duty, and later becomes known as Scotland Yard. The Metropolitan Police force is founded.
1850 A Roman Catholic hierarchy is re-established in England, Wales by Pope Pius IX.
1864 American Civil War: Battle of Chaffin's Farm is fought.
1885 The first practical public electric tramway in the world is opened in Blackpool, England, United Kingdom.
1901 2000
1902 Impresario David Belasco's first Broadway theater opens.
1907 The cornerstone is laid at Washington National Cathedral.
1911 Italy declares war on the Ottoman Empire.
1913 Mexican Revolution: The Battle of Torreon is fought.
1918 Hindenburg Line is broken by Allied forces during World War I.
1923 The British mandate for Palestine takes effect.
1932 Chaco War: Last Day of the Battle of Boqueron.
1934 The Palacio de Bellas Artes in Mexico City is opened.
1938 Britain and France, Nazi Germany and Italy sign the Munich Agreement allowing Germany to occupy the Sudetenland region of Czechoslovakia.
1939 World War II: Poland is divided between Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union.
1941 Holocaust: The Babi Yar massacre begins.
1943 World War II: United States General Dwight D. Eisenhower and Italian Marshal Pietro Badoglio sign an armistice aboard the British ship Nelson off the shore of Malta.
1944 World War II: Soviet forces invade Yugoslavia.
1949 The Communist Party of China writes the Common Programme for the future People's Republic of China, which is declared by Mao Zedong two days later, on October 1.
1954 Convention establishing CERN (European Organization for Nuclear Research) is signed.
1960 Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev disrupts the UN General Assembly meeting with a series of angry outbursts.
1961 The New York Times publishes music critic Robert Sheldon's review of a performance from little known singer-songwriter Bob Dylan, which will lead to Dylan's discovery by Columbia Records representative John Hammond
1962 Alouette 1, the first Canadian satellite is launched.
1963 The University of East Anglia is founded in Norwich, England, United Kingdom.
1964 Mafalda, a comic strip by the Argentine cartoonist Quino, first appears in newspapers.
1966 The Chevrolet Camaro, originally named "Panther", is introduced.
1971 Oman joins the Arab League.
1972 Sino-Japanese relations: Japan establishes diplomatic relations with the People's Republic of China after breaking official ties with the Republic of China.
1977 Muhammad Ali defends his heavyweight boxing world title against Earnie Shavers.
1988 NASA resumes space shuttle flights, grounded after the Challenger disaster.
1990 Washington National Cathedral is completed.
1991 A military coup occurs in Haiti.
1992 Fernando Collor de Mello, President of Brazil, resigns.
1995 PlayStation goes on sale in Europe.
1996 Super Mario 64, a well-known Nintendo 64 video game, is released in the US.
From 2001
2002 The 14th Asian Games begin in Busan, South Korea.
2004 The asteroid 4179 Toutatis passes within four lunar distances of Earth.
2006 A plane collision in Brazil kills 154 people on board a Boeing 737. The cargo plane manages an emergency landing.
2007 Calder Hall power station at Sellafield, Cumbria, England, is demolished.
2008 The Dow Jones Industrial Average index falls by 777.68 points in a single day.
2009 A magnitude 8.1 earthquake causes a tsunami near Samoa and American Samoa, killing at least 189 people, including 9 in Tonga.
2013 At least 42 people are killed by members of Boko Haram in Gujba, Nigeria.
2014 Ashraf Ghani is sworn in as President of Afghanistan.
Births
Up to 1800
106 BC Pompey the Great, Roman politician and general (died 48 BC)
1240 Margaret of England, Queen Consort of Scotland (died 1275)
1276 King Christopher II of Denmark (died 1332)
1328 Joan of Kent, mother of King Richard II of England (died 1385)
1388 Thomas of Lancaster, 1st Duke of Clarence, son of Henry IV of England (died 1421)
1511 Michael Servetus, Spanish humanist, theologian, and scientist (died 1553)
1518 Tintoretto, Italian painter (died 1594)
1547 Miguel de Cervantes, Spanish writer (died 1616)
1548 William V, Duke of Bavaria (died 1621)
1561 Adriaan van Roomen, Flemish mathematician (died 1615)
1571 Caravaggio, Italian painter (died 1610)
1636 Thomas Tenison, Archbishop of Canterbury (died 1715)
1678 Adrien-Maurice, 3rd Duke of Noailles, French soldier (died 1766)
1691 Richard Challoner, English bishop (died 1781)
1718 Nikita Ivanovich Panin, Russian statesman (died 1783)
1725 Robert Clive, 1st Baron Clive, British politician (died 1774)
1735 James Keir, Scottish physician and chemist (died 1820)
1758 Horatio Nelson, British admiral (died 1805)
1766 Charlotte, Princess Royal (died 1828)
1786 Guadalupe Victoria, 1st President of Mexico (died 1843)
1801 1900
1803 Jacques Charles Francois Sturm, French mathematician (died 1855)
1810 Elizabeth Gaskell, English writer (died 1865)
1810 Hugh Allan, Scottish-Canadian businessman (died 1882)
1818 Nathaniel B. Baker, 24th Governor of New Hampshire (died 1876)
1820 Henri, Count of Chambord, claimant to the French throne (died 1883)
1843 Mikhail Skobelev, Russian general (died 1882)
1844 Miguel Angel Juarez Colman, President of Argentina (died 1909)
1853 Princess Thyra of Denmark (died 1933)
1863 Hugo Haase, German politician (died 1919)
1864 Miguel de Unamuno, Spanish writer and philosopher (died 1936)
1866 Mykhailo Hrushevskyi, Ukrainian politician (died 1934)
1866 J. E. Casely Hayford, Ghanaian politician, lawyer and writer (died 1930)
1867 Walther Rathenau, German politician (died 1922)
1880 Liberato Pinto, Portuguese general and politician (died 1949)
1881 Ludwig von Mises, Austrian-American economist, sociologist and philosopher (died 1973)
1895 Roscoe Turner, American pilot (died 1970)
1899 Laszlo Biro, Hungarian inventor (died 1985)
1899 Billy Butlin, South African-British holiday entrepreneur (d. 1980)
1900 Auguste van Pels, Dutch Holocaust victim (died 1945)
1900 Michel Koliqi, Albanian cardinal (died 1997)
1901 1950
1901 Enrico Fermi, Italian physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1954)
1901 Lanza del Vasto, Italian philosopher, poet and activist (died 1981)
1902 Miguel Aleman Valdes, President of Mexico (died 1983)
1903 Diana Vreeland, American fashion designer (died 1989)
1904 Greer Garson, British actress (died 1996)
1904 Egon Eiermann, German architect and designer (died 1970)
1907 Gene Autry, American country music singer and actor (died 1998)
1908 Eddie Tolan, American athlete (died 1967)
1910 Virginia Bruce, American actress and singer (died 1982)
1911 Charles Court, English-Australian politician, 21st Premier of Western Australia (died 2007)
1912 Michelangelo Antonioni, Italian movie director (died 2007)
1913 Silvio Piola, Italian footballer (died 1996)
1913 Stanley Kramer, American movie director (died 2001)
1913 Trevor Howard, English actor (died 1988)
1915 Brenda Marshall, American actress (died 1992)
1916 Antonio Buero Vallejos, Spanish playwright (died 2000)
1919 Margot Hielscher, German singer and actress (died 2017)
1919 Kira Zvorykina, Belarussian chess player (died 2014)
1920 Peter D. Mitchell, English chemist (died 1992)
1920 Vaclav Neumann, Czech conductor, violinist and violist (died 1995)
1921 Franny Beecher, American guitarist (died 2014)
1922 Esther Brand, South African athlete (died 2015)
1922 Lizabeth Scott, American actress (died 2015)
1923 Stan Berenstain, American writer and illustrator (died 2005)
1924 Marina Berti, Italian actress (died 2002)
1925 Steve Forrest, American actor (died 2013)
1928 Gerhard Stoltenberg, German politician (died 2001)
1928 Eric Lubbock, 4th Baron Avebury, English politician (died 2016)
1930 Colin Dexter, English writer (died 2017)
1931 Anita Ekberg, Swedish actress (died 2015)
1931 James Watson Cronin, American nuclear physicist (died 2016)
1931 Paul Oestreicher, German-English priest and theologian
1932 Rainer Weiss, German-American physicist, 2017 Nobel laureate
1932 Mehmood, Indian actor (died 2004)
1932 Robert Benton, American director
1933 Samora Machel, President of Mozambique (died 1986)
1935 Jerry Lee Lewis, American early rock and roll musician
1935 Mylene Demongeot, French actress
1935 Ingrid Noll, German writer
1936 Silvio Berlusconi, former Prime Minister of Italy
1937 Nina Wang, Chinese businesswoman (died 2007)
1938 Wim Kok, Dutch politician, former Prime Minister of the Netherlands (died 2018)
1939 Rhodri Morgan, Welsh politician, former First Minister of Wales (died 2017)
1939 Jim Baxter, Scottish footballer (died 2001)
1939 Larry Linville, American actor (died 2000)
1940 Nicola di Bari, Italian singer
1940 Carlos Morales Troncoso, Vice President of the Dominican Republic (died 2014)
1941 Fred West, British serial killer (died 1995)
1942 Ian McShane, British actor
1942 Jean-Luc Ponty, French jazz violinist
1942 Bill Nelson, American politician
1942 Madeline Kahn, American actress (died 1999)
1942 Felice Gimondi, Italian cyclist (died 2019)
1943 Mohammad Khatami, former President of Iran
1943 Wolfgang Overath, German footballer
1943 Lech Walesa, former President of Poland
1945 Nadezhda Chizhova, Russian athlete
1946 Steve Dalachinsky, American poet (died 2019)
1946 Patricia Hodge, English actress
1947 S. H. Kapadia, Chief Justice of India (died 2016)
1948 Theo Jorgensmann, German jazz clarinet player
1948 Mike Pinera, American singer-songwriter, guitarist and producer
1951 1975
1951 Maureen Caird, Australian athlete
1951 Michelle Bachelet, former President of Chile
1951 Pier Luigi Bersani, Italian politician
1951 Jutta Ditfurth, German author and activist
1952 Gabor Csupo, Hungarian-born animator
1952 Patricia Gabancho, Argentine-Spanish writer (d. 2017)
1952 Monika Zehrt, German athlete
1954 Debbie Shapiro, American actress and singer
1955 Ann Bancroft, American adventurer, polar explorer and writer
1955 Gareth Davies, Welsh rugby player
1955 Ken Weatherwax, American actor (died 2014)
1956 Sebastian Coe, English athlete and politician
1957 Chris Broad, English cricketer
1957 Andrew Dice Clay, American comedian and actor
1959 Raffaele Riefoli, Italian singer
1961 Julia Gillard, Welsh-Australian politician, 27th Prime Minister of Australia
1961 Stephanie Miller, American comedienne and radio host
1961 Tom Sizemore, American actor
1962 Janne Andersson, Swedish footballer and manager
1966 Helsey Hawkins, American basketball player
1966 Bujar Nishani, former President of Albania
1968 Luke Goss, English actor and singer
1968 Matt Goss, English singer
1969 Erika Eleniak, American actress and model
1969 Ivica Vastic, Austrian footballer
1970 Emily Lloyd, English actress
1971 Mackenzie Crook, English actor and comedian
1972 Robert Webb, English comedian, actor and screenwriter (Peep Show)
1974 Alexis Cruz, American actor
1975 Albert Celades, Spanish footballer
From 1976
1976 Andriy Shevchenko, Ukrainian footballer
1977 Heath Bell, American baseball player
1978 Ales Fucak, Croatian comedian
1979 Gaitana, Ukrainian singer
1980 Patrick Agyemang, English footballer
1980 Zachary Levi, American actor
1980 Dallas Green, Canadian singer-songwriter and guitarist
1981 Shane Smeltz, New Zealand footballer
1982 Amy Williams, British skeleton bobsledder
1984 Per Mertesacker, German footballer
1984 Rune Almenning Jarstein, Norwegian footballer
1985 Dani Pedrosa, Spanish motorcycle racer
1987 Josh Farro, American bassist (Paramore)
1988 Kevin Durant, American basketball player
1989 Yevhen Konoplyanka, Ukrainian footballer
1990 Doug Brochu, American actor
1990 Sara Bjork Gunnarsdottir, Icelandic footballer
1990 Lena Wermelt, German footballer
1993 Carlos Salcedo, Mexican footballer
1994 Halsey, American singer-songwriter
1994 Andy Polo, Peruvian footballer
1999 Juan Valentin Urdangarin, Spanish royal
2008 Emma Tallulah Behn, member of the extended Norwegian Royal Family
Deaths
Up to 1950
48 BC Pompey the Great, Roman general (assassinated) (b. 106 BC)
722 Leudwinus, Frankish bishop (b. 660)
855 Lothair I, Emperor of the Romans (b. 795)
1364 Charles de Blois, Duke of Brittany (b. 1319)
1560 King Gustav I of Sweden (b. 1496)
1637 Lorenzo Ruiz, Filipino saint (b. 1600)
1800 Michael Denis, Austrian poet (b. 1729)
1804 Michael Hillegas, first Treasurer of the United States (b. 1728)
1833 King Ferdinand VII of Spain (b. 1784)
1862 William "Bull" Nelson, American military officer (b. 1824)
1887 Bernhard von Langenbeck, German surgeon (b. 1810)
1900 Michael Denis, Austrian priest (b. 1729)
1902 Emile Zola, French writer (b. 1840)
1902 William Topaz McGonagall, Scottish poet (b. 1825)
1908 Joaquim Maria Machado de Assis, Brazilian writer (b. 1839)
1910 Winslow Homer, American painter (b. 1836)
1913 Rudolf Diesel, German inventor and engineer (b. 1858)
1925 Leon Bourgeois, French politician (b. 1851)
1927 Willem Einthoven, Dutch doctor, won the 1924 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b. 1860)
1930 Ilya Repin, Ukrainian painter (b. 1844)
1937 Ray Ewry, American athlete (b. 1873)
1951 2000
1952 John Cobb, British racing driver (b. 1899)
1953 Ernst Reuter, German politician (b. 1889)
1958 Aarre Merikanto, Finnish composer (b. 1893)
1964 Fred Tootell, American athlete (b. 1902)
1967 Carson McCullers, American writer (b. 1917)
1970 Edward Everett Horton, actor (b. 1886)
1973 W. H. Auden, English poet (b. 1907)
1975 Casey Stengel, American baseball player and coach (b. 1890)
1981 Bill Shankly, Scottish football manager (b. 1913)
1982 Monty Stratton, American Major League Baseball pitcher (b. 1912)
1987 Henry Ford II, American businessman (b. 1917)
1988 Charles Addams, American cartoonist (b. 1912)
1989 August Anheuser Busch, Jr., American brewer (b. 1899)
1993 Gordon Douglas, American movie director (b. 1907)
1994 Cheb Hasni, Algerian singer (b. 1968)
1996 Leslie Crowther, English comedian, actor and game show host (b. 1933)
1997 Roy Lichtenstein, American artist (b. 1923)
1998 Tom Bradley, Mayor of Los Angeles, California (b. 1917)
From 2001
2001 Nguyen Van Thieu, President of South Vietnam (b. 1923)
2004 Christer Pettersson, Swedish murder suspect (b. 1947)
2006 Louis-Albert Vachon, French-Canadian cardinal and Archbishop of Quebec (b. 1912)
2006 Walter Hadlee, 91, New Zealand cricketer, (b. 1915)
2007 Lois Maxwell, Canadian actress (b. 1927)
2009 Pavel Popovich, Soviet cosmonaut (b. 1930)
2010 Georges Charpak, Polish-born physicist (b. 1924)
2010 Tony Curtis, American actor (b. 1925)
2010 Greg Giraldo, American comedian (b. 1965)
2011 Hella Haasse, Dutch writer (b. 1918)
2012 Hebe Camargo, Brazilian actress, singer and television presenter (b. 1929)
2012 Arthur Ochs Sulzberger, American publisher (b. 1926)
2013 Carl Joachim Classen, German scholar (b. 1928)
2014 Miguel Boyer, French-Spanish economist and politician (b. 1939)
2014 Luis Nishizawa, Mexican painter (b. 1918)
2014 George Shuba, American baseball player (b. 1924)
2015 Phil Woods, American jazz musician, bandleader and composer (b. 1931)
2015 Hellmuth Karasek, German literary critic and journalist (b. 1934)
2016 Miriam Defensor Santiago, Filipina politician (b. 1945)
2017 Tom Alter, Indian actor (b. 1950)
2017 Ludmila Belousova, Russian skater (b. 1935)
2017 Magdalena Ribbing, Swedish etiquette expert, writer and journalist (b. 1940)
2017 Dmitry Smolsky, Belarussian composer and teacher (b. 1937)
2018 Alves Barbosa, Portuguese cyclist (b. 1931)
2018 Otis Rush, American blues guitarist and singer (b. 1935)
2019 Beatriz Aguirre, Mexican actress (b. 1925)
2019 Busbee, American songwriter (b. 1976)
2019 Ilkka Laitinen, Finnish military officer and politician (b. 1962)
2019 Yuriy Meshkov, Russian politician (b. 1945)
2020 Mac Davis, American country singer (b. 1942)
2020 Helen Reddy, Australian-American singer (b. 1941)
Observances
Christian Feast Day of Michaelmas and Feast day of the three Archangels, honouring St. Michael, St. Gabriel and St. Raphael
Inventors' Day in Argentina
International Coffee Day
Victory of Boqueron Day (Paraguay)
Other websites
BBC: On This Day
Days of the year