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October 29th
What Happened on the day you were born on This day in History

1929 U.S.A. Stock Market Crash

29th October, 1929 : The Stock Market Crash on Black Tuesday on the New York Stock Exchange . Billions of dollars were lost, wiping out thousands of investors, and stock tickers ran hours behind because the machinery could not handle the tremendous volume of trading. Partly due to the crash America and the rest of the industrialized world spiraled downward into the Great Depression of the 30's . Some of the closing prices from that day are listed below

US Steel 175

Westinghouse Electric 125

American Telephone 220

American Can 119



1921 U.S.A. Tuberculosis

29th October, 1921 : Clinics are being opened in many cities across the country in an attempt to discover the number of cases of incipient tuberculosis, from the results so far the numbers are much higher than first thought and in some areas as many as 80% of those going for tests are infected.



1927 Brazil Italian Liner Mafalda Sinks

29th October, 1927 : As more of the passengers rescued from the Italian Liner Mafalda are being bought to Rio De Janeiro tales of steerage passengers and stewards looting passengers and a wild scramble to the lifeboats with fights occurring on the lifeboats . As the ship was sinking a call was made for women and children from first class to board the lifeboats but steerage immigrants and the ships stokers rushed the lifeboats leaving the ship in chaos and 3 of the lifeboats overturned. Charges that the lifeboats onboard could only carry 500 of the total 1286 on board led to the panic. Currently 331 are still missing presumed dead as the waters where the ship went down is heavily infested with sharks who were taking people as they entered the water. Shortly before the ships departure engineers at Genoa had declared the ship unsafe.



1942 World War II Rommel

29th October, 1942 : The push against Rommel forces by the 8th Army in North Africa continues to gain ground as heavy losses are inflicted on Rommels Tank's by the British army and American Fighter Pilots are pounding the supply lines to stop the enemy from getting much needed reinforcements.



1948 U.S.A. Deadly Smog

29th October, 1948 : A poison cloud of deadly smog settles on Donora Pennsylvania causing the deaths of 19 and hospitalization of 50, the poison in the cloud was caused by a local company which was smelting Zinc causing it to combine with the smog.



1956 Middle East Israel Invades Egypt

29th October, 1956 : After Egypt nationalises the Suez Canal Israel invades Egypt causing the start of the Suez Crisis .



1964 U.S.A. The Star of India

29th October, 1964 : The Star of India ( 563.35 carat (112.67 g) star sapphire ) and the Eagle Diamond ( 16.25 carat discovered in Eagle Wisconsin ) are stolen from the American Museum of Natural History in New York City. The Star of India is later recovered but the Eagle Diamond is never found.



1967 U.S.A. Hair Opens

29th October, 1967 : Hair Opens at The Shakespeare Public Theater in New York City and runs from October 29, 1967 - December 10, 1967. Hair was the first musical based on long-haired, peace-loving, freewheeling hippy era. The show struggled to find a longer term home but in 1968 The show opened on Broadway at the Biltmore Theater on April 29, 1968. and ran for 4 yrs with 1,742 performances.



1967 UK Jack McVitie

29th October, 1967 : Jack McVitie the notorious London drug dealer and hitman is murdered by Reggie Kray. Reggie Kray was found guilty of the murder in 1969 and received life imprisonment.



1969 U.S.A. ARPANET

29th October, 1969 : The first host-to-host connection over the ARPANET ( predecessor of the Internet ) is made when the first message is sent between two computers at University of California, Los Angeles



1975 Spain Franco Resigns

29th October, 1975 : Following a long term illness Franco resigns as head of state after ruling the country for 36 years, Prince Juan Carlos will become the first King of Spain for 44 years since the Spanish Civil War.



1982 Australia Dingo took Baby Case

29th October, 1982 : Lindy Chamberlain found guilty of the murder of her 9 week old daughter after a jury dismissed her claim that a dingo took the baby.



1983 Netherlands Cruise Missile Demonstrations

29th October, 1983 : The largest mass demonstration in Dutch history when 500,000 people demonstrate against against the deployment of cruise missiles on Netherland soil.



1986 UK M25 Completed

29th October, 1986 : The final stretch of the M25 motorway is opened by British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. The M25 circles Greater London from Dartford Crossing A282 to Dartford Crossing A282 ( Which provides the link across the River Thames ).



1998 Honduras Hurricane Mitch

29th October, 1998 : Hurricane Mitch strikes Honduras, although by the time is struck Honduras it had decreased significantly from a Catagory 5 hurricane, it is one of the most deadly hurricanes on record due to it's slow speed accross the country and severe rainfalls. Because of the rainfall ( with reports of 3 to 6ft of rain ) flooding and landslides never seen before make it the second deadliest Atlantic hurricane in history when over 11,000 people are killed in Honduras and Nicaragua.



1998 South Africa Truth and Reconciliation Commission

29th October, 1998 : The Truth and Reconciliation Commission which was to "was to uncover the truth about past abuse, using amnesty as a means of allowing perpetrators of crimes relating to human rights violations, to appologise rather than to be punished past crimes". The commision presented its report on this day in history which condemned both sides for committing atrocities



1999 India Cyclone

29th October, 1999 : A cyclone with winds up to 160MPH sweeps through the state of Orissa in eastern India leaving thousands more homeless after a tidal wave runs across the low lying plains along the coast.



2002 Vietnam Deadly Fire

29th October, 2002 : A deadly fire at the International Trade Centre in Ho Chi Minh City a modern state of the art Mall containing 400 stores and restaurants in the southern commercial center of the country claims the lives of 60 and injured a further 100



2004 Italy European Constitution

29th October, 2004 : The European Constitution is established when 25 European heads of state sign the Treaty in Rome. The treaty required each member state to ratify before becoming law but French and Dutch voters rejected the treaty in referendums and the treaty is not implemented.



2005 India Terrorist Bombs

29th October, 2005 : Three terrorist bombs explode in crowded marketplace bazaars within minutes of each other, killing at least 61 people.



2007 Argentina Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner

29th October, 2007 : Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner ( Justicialist Party ) becomes the first elected female President of Argentina. Isabel Perón was the first female President of Argentina ( after the death of her husband Juan Perón ) but not through election.



This day in History 29th October



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