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This day in history

This day in history: 29 January

Events, births and deaths on this date, ordered by how many people look them up.

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Key facts

312 historical events, births and deaths are listed for 29 January.
Entries come from Wikipedia’s day pages and are ordered by page views.
2025: A chartered Beechcraft 1900 crashes near the Unity oilfield in South Sudan, killing 20 people.

Holidays and observances

Christian feast day: Aphrahat

Christian feast day: Blessed Villana de' Botti

Christian feast day: Gildas

Christian feast day: January 29 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)

Christian feast day: Sabinian of Troyes

Christian feast day: Sulpitius I of Bourges

Earliest day on which Fat Thursday can fall, while March 4 is the latest; celebrated on Thursday before Ash Wednesday. (Christianity)

Kansas Day (Kansas, United States)

Events

2025A chartered Beechcraft 1900 crashes near the Unity oilfield in South Sudan, killing 20 people.

2025American Eagle Flight 5342 collided mid-air with a Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk operated by the United States Army and crashed into the Potomac River, killing all 67 people on board both aircraft.

2022Canadian truck drivers and pedestrians gathered to rally and protest on Parliament Hill against Canadian COVID-19 restrictions, which caused traffic and closures around the city.

2017A gunman opens fire at the Islamic Cultural Centre of Quebec City, killing six people and wounding 19 others in a spree shooting.

2014Rojava conflict: The Afrin Canton declares its autonomy from the Syrian Arab Republic.

2013SCAT Airlines Flight 760 crashes near the Kazakh city of Almaty, killing 21 people.

2009Governor of Illinois Rod Blagojevich is removed from office following his conviction of several corruption charges, including solicitation of personal benefit in exchange for an appointment to the United States Senate as a replacement for t

2008An Egyptian court rules that people who do not adhere to one of the three government-recognised religions, while not allowed to list any belief outside of those three, are still eligible to receive government identity documents.

2005The first direct commercial flights from mainland China (from Guangzhou) to Taiwan since 1949 arrived in Taipei. Shortly afterwards, a China Airlines flight lands in Beijing.

2002In his State of the Union address, President George W. Bush describes "regimes that sponsor terror" as an Axis of evil, in which he includes Iraq, Iran and North Korea.

2001Thousands of student protesters in Indonesia storm parliament and demand that President Abdurrahman Wahid resign due to alleged involvement in corruption scandals.

1996President Jacques Chirac announces a "definitive end" to French nuclear weapons testing.

1991Gulf War: The Battle of Khafji, the first major ground engagement of the war, as well as its deadliest, begins between Iraq and Saudi Arabia.

1989Cold War: Hungary establishes diplomatic relations with South Korea, making it the first Eastern Bloc nation to do so.

1983Singapore cable car crash: Panamanian-registered oil rig, Eniwetok, strikes the cables of the Singapore Cable Car system linking the mainland and Sentosa Island, causing two cabins to fall into the water and killing seven people and leaving

1973EgyptAir Flight 741 crashes into the Kyrenia Mountains in Cyprus, killing 37 people.

1971The last of its many UFO sightings is made at Pudasjärvi, Finland.

1959The first Melodifestivalen is held at Cirkus in Stockholm, Sweden.

1944World War II: Approximately 38 people are killed and about a dozen injured when the Polish village of Koniuchy (present-day Kaniūkai, Lithuania) is attacked by Soviet partisan units.

1944World War II: In Bologna, Italy, the Anatomical theatre of the Archiginnasio is completely destroyed in an air-raid.

1943World War II: The first day of the Battle of Rennell Island, USS Chicago (CA-29) is torpedoed and heavily damaged by Japanese bombers.

1940Three trains on the Nishinari Line; present Sakurajima Line, in Osaka, Japan, collide and explode while approaching Ajikawaguchi Station. One hundred and eighty-one people are killed.

1936The first inductees into the Baseball Hall of Fame are announced.

1918Ukrainian–Soviet War: An armed uprising organized by the Bolsheviks in anticipation of the encroaching Red Army begins at the Kiev Arsenal, which will be put down six days later.

1918Ukrainian–Soviet War: The Bolshevik Red Army, on its way to besiege Kyiv, is met by a small group of military students at the Battle of Kruty.

1911Mexican Revolution: Mexicali is captured by the Mexican Liberal Party, igniting the Magonista rebellion of 1911.

1907Charles Curtis of Kansas becomes the first Native American U.S. Senator.

1891Liliʻuokalani is proclaimed the last monarch and only queen regnant of the Kingdom of Hawaii.

1886Karl Benz patents the first successful gasoline-driven automobile.

1863The Bear River Massacre: A detachment of California Volunteers led by Colonel Patrick Edward Connor engage the Shoshone at Bear River, Washington Territory, killing hundreds of men, women and children.

1861Kansas is admitted as the 34th U.S. state.

1856Queen Victoria issues a Warrant under the Royal sign-manual that establishes the Victoria Cross to recognise acts of valour by British military personnel during the Crimean War.

1850Henry Clay introduces the Compromise of 1850 to the U.S. Congress.

1845"The Raven" is published in The Evening Mirror in New York, the first publication with the name of the author, Edgar Allan Poe.

1819Stamford Raffles lands on the island of Singapore.

1814War of the Sixth Coalition: France engages Russia and Prussia in the Battle of Brienne.

946Caliph al-Mustakfi is blinded and deposed by Mu'izz al-Dawla, ruler of the Buyid Empire. He is succeeded by al-Muti as caliph of the Abbasid Caliphate.

904Sergius III is elected pope, after coming out of retirement to take over the papacy from the deposed antipope Christopher.

Born on this day

2003Jarell Quansah, English footballer

2001Lee Dae-hwi, South Korean singer

1997Jack Roslovic, American ice hockey player

1997Joel Eriksson Ek, Swedish ice hockey player

1993Kyary Pamyu Pamyu, Japanese singer

1992Markel Brown, American basketball player

1992Maxi Kleber, German basketball player

1989Kevin Shattenkirk, American ice hockey player

1989Mohamed Abou Gabal, Egyptian footballer

1988Ayobami Adebayo, Nigerian author

1988Hank Conger, American baseball player

1988Jake Auchincloss, American politician, businessman, and Marine veteran

1988Shay Logan, English footballer

1987Alex Avila, American baseball player

1987Jessica Burkhart, American author

1987José Abreu, Cuban baseball player

1987Vladimír Mihálik, Slovak ice hockey player

1986Chris Bourque, American ice hockey player

1986Jair Jurrjens, Curaçaoan baseball player

1986Thomas Greiss, German ice hockey player

1985Isabel Lucas, Australian actress and model

1985Marc Gasol, Spanish basketball player

1985Rag'n'Bone Man, English singer-songwriter

1983Tim Gleason, American ice hockey player

1982Adam Lambert, American singer, songwriter and actor

1981Jonny Lang, American singer, songwriter and guitarist

1981Tenoch Huerta, Mexican actor

1980Jason James Richter, American actor and musician

1979Andrew Keegan, American actor

1979Christina Koch, American engineer and astronaut

1977Justin Hartley, American actor

1977Sam Jaeger, American actor and screenwriter

1975Kelly Packard, American actress

1975Sara Gilbert, American actress, producer, and talk show host

1975Sharif Atkins, American actor

1973Jason Schmidt, American baseball player

1973Megan McArdle, American journalist

1972Brian Wood, American writer, illustrator and graphic designer

1971Clare Balding, English broadcaster, journalist and author

1970Heather Graham, American actress

Died on this day

2025Richard Williamson, British Catholic traditionalist bishop (born 1940)

2025Salwan Momika, Iraqi refugee and anti-Islam activist (born 1986)

2025Victims in the 2025 Potomac River mid-air collision:

2023Gero Storjohann, German politician (born 1958)

2023Hazel McCallion, Canadian businesswoman and politician, 5th Mayor of Mississauga (born 1921)

2023Will Steffen, American-Australian chemist (born 1947)

2022Howard Hesseman, American actor (born 1940)

2021Walker Boone, Canadian actor (born 1944)

2019George Fernandes, Indian politician (born 1930)

2019James Ingram, American musician (born 1952)

2016Jacques Rivette, French director, screenwriter, and critic (born 1928)

2016Jean-Marie Doré, Guinean lawyer and politician, 11th Prime Minister of Guinea (born 1938)

2015Alexander Vraciu, American commander and pilot (born 1918)

2015Colleen McCullough, Australian neuroscientist, author, and academic (born 1937)

2015Rod McKuen, American singer-songwriter and poet (born 1933)

2012Camilla Williams, American soprano and educator (born 1919)

2012Oscar Luigi Scalfaro, Italian lawyer and politician, 9th President of Italy (born 1918)

2012Ranjit Singh Dyal, Indian general and politician, 10th Lieutenant Governor of Puducherry (born 1928)

2011Milton Babbitt, American composer, educator, and theorist (born 1916)

2009Hélio Gracie, Brazilian martial artist (born 1913)

2009John Martyn, British singer-songwriter and guitarist (born 1948)

2008Margaret Truman, American singer and author (born 1924)

2006Nam June Paik, South Korean-American artist (born 1932)

2005Ephraim Kishon, Israeli author, screenwriter, and director (born 1924)

2004Janet Frame, New Zealand author and poet (born 1924)

2003Frank Moss, American lawyer and politician (born 1911)

2002Harold Russell, Canadian-American soldier and actor (born 1914)

1999Lili St. Cyr, American model and dancer (born 1918)

1994Ulrike Maier, Austrian skier (born 1967)

1993Adetokunbo Ademola, Nigerian lawyer and jurist, 2nd Chief Justice of Nigeria (born 1906)

Quote of the day

“When you arise in the morning, think of what a precious privilege it is to be alive, to breathe, to think, to enjoy, to love.”

Marcus Aurelius

Questions people ask

Where do the entries come from?

From Wikipedia’s on-this-day pages for this language, updated once a day and ordered by how often each article is read.

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