What happened This day in History on March 29th

For Those With Birthdays 29th March looking for specific year these years are Included on this date 1936, 1943, 1950, 1951, 1967, 1971, 1973, 1981, 1982, 1999, 2002, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2010, 2012, 2013, Born This Day,
1967 England Torrey Canyon 29th March, 1967: The British Royal Navy continues it's attempt to sink the remains of the supertanker Torrey Canyon just off the coast of Lands End, hoping to ignite a fire and burn off the massive oil slick near the ship containing tens of thousands of tons of oil. This is now the second day the navy has tried and has so far dropped 62,000lbs of bombs, 5,200 gallons of petrol, 11 rockets and large quantities of napalm onto the ship.
The ship was eventually sunk the next day


2006 Palestine Hamas 29th March, 2006: Hamas ( Harakat al-Muqawama al-Islamiyya ) the Palestinian Islamist militant organization and political party which is listed as a terrorist organization by Canada, the European Union, Israel, Japan, and the United States, wins the Palestinian parliamentary elections, taking 76 of the 132 seats in the chamber,and formally took over the Palestinian government, with Ismail Haniyeh sworn in as the new prime minister.

1936 Germany Germany Re-Occupies Rhineland 29th March, 1936: The German people voted overwhelmingly in favor of reoccupying the demilitarized Rhineland zone and abandon the clauses of the Versailles treaty restricting the military, with 99% of the votes supporting Hitler.

1943 U.S.A. War Rationing 29th March, 1943: The rationing of meat, cheese, butter and cooking oils goes into effect when Americans are given ration books allowing the purchase of a certain amount of meat, cheese, butter and cooking oils each month. This followed earlier rationing of Gasoline.


1950 U.S.A. The Mad Bomber New York 29th March, 1950: A note is sent to police in New York warning of a bomb planted at Grand Central Station in New York City, the bomb squad do mange to diffuse the bomb.
The Mad Bomber had been targeting New York since 1940 taking a break during World War II and left a total of at least 33 bombs, of which 22 exploded until he was caught.
When the Mad Bomber ( George Peter Metesky ) a disgruntled ex-employee of Con Edison, New York's electric utility company, was caught in 1957 he was sent to a mental institution where he stayed until his release in 1973.

1951 U.S.A. Rosenbergs 29th March, 1951: Rosenbergs found guilty of conspiracy to commit espionage for their role in providing nuclear secrets to the Soviet Union.

1951 U.S.A. 23rd Amendment 29th March, 1951: The 23rd Amendment to the Constitution is ratified Available as a downloadable image on our Public Domain Images Page

1971 U.S.A. Charles Manson 29th March, 1971: Charles Manson and three of his followers receive the death penalty for the 1969 murders of actress Sharon Tate and six others.
The California Supreme Court abolished the death penalty before they could be executed in 1972 and the four were given life sentences. They are still incarcerated despite numerous applications for parole .

1971 U.S.A. My Lai Massacre 29th March, 1971: Following the massacre of 500 South Vietnamese civilians in the village of My Lai, Vietnam in 1968 when Lieutenant Calley was in charge of Charlie Company, a unit of the American Division's 11th Infantry Brigade, the unit committed crimes which included murder, rape, sodomy, maiming and assault of civilians.
Lieutenant William Calley has been found guilty of murder at a court martial for his part in the My Lai massacre.
He was the only officer ever convicted for the massacre and was sentenced to life imprisonment with hard labor but was released within three days , pending appeal, on the personal instructions of President Richard Nixon, and spent the next three years under house arrest at Fort Benning in Georgia.
He was Freed on bail in 1974 his sentence was then cut to 10 years but he was paroled later that year after completing one third of his sentence.


1973 Vietnam US Troops Leave 29th March, 1973: The last United States troops left South Vietnam, ending America's direct military involvement in the Vietnam War.
The US had originally become involved by supplying 50 military advisers in 1960 /1961 and over the coming years escalated first the number of advisers and then direct military involvement.
The Vietnam war had started in 1959 and finally ended in 1975, and was fought between the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (North Vietnam) supported by communist allies and the Republic of Vietnam (South Vietnam) supported by the US and other western Allies. The war resulted in a North Vietnamese victory in 1975 when the North Vietnamese took over the capital Saigon.

1981 England London Marathon 29th March, 1981: The first London Marathon organised by Chris Brasher is run with 7,590 taking part including a number of celebrities including Jimmy Saville raising money for charity.
The London Marathon is now a yearly event attracting 30,000 runners from around the world, including some of the world's greatest athletes and tens of thousands of others who complete the marathon raising many millions for charities along the way and many wearing fancy dress costumes .

1982 Mexico Earthquake 29th March, 1982: An earthquake and a volcanic eruption at El Chichon in southern Mexico, kills many thousands. The eruptions, which continued for over a week, caught many local people unaware and unprepared as the last time the Volcano had erupted was 130 years earlier

1999 U.S.A. Dow Jones 29th March, 1999: The Dow Jones industrial average closed above 10,000 for the first time, at 10,006.78

2002 Palestine Yasser Arafat 29th March, 2002: Israel sends tanks and armored personnel carriers to isolate Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat considered an enemy of Israel in his headquarters compound in the West Bank town of Ramallah.
He is kept confined within his Ramallah compound for over two years by the Israeli army, and dies at the age of 75 in 2004 .
This Day In History For Tomorrow March 30th Day After March 31st Or You Can Use Our Calendar at the top of the page to find the day or month you are looking for


2006 Space A total eclipse 29th March, 2006: A total solar eclipse of has taken place around the world, and observers have been able to see it from 08.36 to 11.46 G.M.T. in places like Eastern Brazil, Western and North Africa, Turkey, Central Asia and Mongolia.

2007 Saudi Arabia King Abdullah describes the U.S. presence in Iraq as illegal 29th March, 2007 : The Saudi monarch has made a forceful appeal for Arab unity, and denounced the U.S. policy in Iraq and Palestinian embargo at the Arab League summit in Riyadh. King Abdullah described the U.S. presence in Iraq as illegal. Arab leaders are meeting to relaunch the plan for peace with Israel that was endorsed five years ago.

2007 United States The Senate passes an Iraq resolution with a timeline for withdrawal 29th March, 2007 : The Senate is ignoring President Bush’s veto threat and has approved the $122 billion spending bill with a timeline for troop withdrawal. The bill, which will continue to fund the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, orders Bush to start withdrawing troops from Iraq 120 days after its passage. As such it sets a nonbinding target date for troop withdrawal by the end of March, 2008.

2009 United States Seven people are killed in a nursing home 29th March, 2009 : A man shot and killed seven patients and a nurse at a nursing home in Carthage, North Carolina. He, himself, was wounded during a shootout with a police officer. Three inhabitants and a visitor to the nursing home were also wounded in the attack. The slain patients ranged in age from 78 to 98, the Moore County District Attorney said. The man accused of carrying out the attack was 45-year-old Robert Stewart. Stewart was not an employee of the Pinelake Health and Rehab Center, and he did not appear to have been related to any of the patients, the D.A. said. Stewart's purpose is unknown.

2010 Russia suicide bombings during rush hour at two stations of the Moscow Metro 29th March, 2010 : Two Female Suicide bombers attack during the morning rush hour two stations of the Moscow Metro (Lubyanka and Park Kultury) leaving at least 40 people dead and over 100 injured.

Poland 2012 Poland Bus Crash in Poland Kills Eight
29th March, 2012 : Eight people were killed and another ten others were injured after a bus crashed into a trailer of a truck in the southern part of the country. Police stated that they did not believe alcohol was involved in the crash, but were unsure what caused the trailer to veer into oncoming traffic.



Sri Lanka
2013 Sri Lanka Muslim Warehouse Attacked

29th March, 2013 : Buddhist monks in Colombo, Sri Lanka led an attack on a Muslim-owned warehouse for the clothing store Fashion Bug. Several people were injured as the attacking group gained numbers as many as five-hundred people. Many believe the attack was a result of extreme Buddhist groups lobbying against the "Muslim lifestyle".