History of 29 April
1913 – Gideon Sundback patented an all-purpose zipper.
1916 – Irish nationalists surrendered to British authorities in Dublin.
1918 – Germany’s Western Front offensive ended in World War I.
1924 – An open revolt broke out in Santa Clara, Cuba.
1927 – Construction of the Spirit of St. Louis was completed for Lindbergh.
1941 – The Boston Bees agreed to change their name to the Braves.
1945 – The German Army in Italy surrendered unconditionally to the Allies.
1945 – In a bunker in Berlin, Adolf Hitler and Eva Braun were married. Hitler designated Admiral Karl Doenitz his successor.
1945 – The Nazi death camp, Dachau, was liberated.
1946 – Twenty-eight former Japanese leaders were indicted in Tokyo as war criminals.
1952 – IBM President Thomas J. Watson, Jr., informed his company’s stockholders that IBM was building “the most advanced, most flexible high-speed computer in the world.” The computer was unveiled on April 7, 1953, like the IBM 701 Electronic Data Processing Machine.
1954 – Ernest Borgnine made his network television debut in “Night Visitor” on NBC-TV.
1961 – ABC’s “Wide World of Sports” premiered.
1974 – Phil Donahue’s TV show, “Donahue” moved to Chicago, IL.
1974 – U.S. President Nixon announced he was releasing edited transcripts of secretly made White House tape recordings related to the Watergate scandal.
1975 – The U.S. embassy in Vietnam was evacuated as North Vietnamese forces fought their way into Saigon.
1981 – Steve Carlton, of the Philadelphia Phillies, became the first left-handed pitcher in the major leagues to get 3,000 career strikeouts.
1984 – In California, the Diablo Canyon nuclear reactor went online after a long delay due to protests.
1985 – Billy Martin was brought back, for the fourth time, to the position of manager for the New York Yankees.
1986 – Roger Clemens of the Boston Red Sox set a major-league baseball record by striking out 20 Seattle Mariner batters.
1988 – The Baltimore Orioles set a new major league baseball record by losing their first 21 games of the season.
1988 – Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev promised more religious freedom.
1990 – The destruction of the Berlin Wall began.
1992 – Exxon executive Sidney Reso was kidnapped outside his Morris Township, NJ, home by Arthur Seale. Seale was a former Exxon security official. Reso died while in captivity.
1992 – Rioting began after a jury decision to acquit four Los Angeles policemen in the Rodney King beating trial. 54 people were killed in 3 days.
1994 – Israel and the PLO signed an agreement in Paris which granted Palestinians broad authority to set taxes, control trade and regulate banks under self-rule in the Gaza Strip and Jericho.
1996 – Former CIA Director William Colby was missing and presumed drowned after an apparent boating accident in Maryland. Colby’s body was later recovered.
1997 – Staff Sgt. Delmar Simpson, a drill instructor at Aberdeen Proving Ground in Maryland, was convicted of raping six female trainees. He was sentenced to 25 years in prison and was dishonorably discharged.
1997 – Astronaut Jerry Linenger and cosmonaut Vasily Tsibliyev went on the first U.S.-Russian space walk.
1998 – The U.S., Canada, and Mexico end tariffs on $1 billion in NAFTA trade.
1998 – Brazil announced a plan to protect a large area of Amazon forest. The area was about the size of Colorado.
2002 – Kelsey Grammer and his production company, Grammnet Inc., were ordered to pay more than $2 million in unpaid commissions to his former talent agency.
2003 – Mr. T (Laurence Tureaud) filed a lawsuit against Best Buy Co. Inc., that claimed the store did not have permission to use his likeness in a print ad.
2009 – NATO expelled two Russian diplomats from NATO headquarters in Brussels over a spy scandal in Estonia. Russia’s Foreign Ministry criticized the expulsions.
2015 – The White Sox beat the Baltimore Orioles 8-2 at Camden Yards. The game was played without a crowd present due to the ongoing riots and protests in Baltimore. This was the first time a Major League Baseball game was played in front of an empty house.
Celebrating Birthday Today
- 1981 – Lisa Allen, English chef
- 1981 – George McCartney, Northern Irish footballer
- 1981 – Émilie Mondor, Canadian runner
- 1983 – Jay Cutler, American football player
- 1983 – Tommie Harris, American football player
- 1983 – David Lee, American basketball player
- 1984 – Kirby Cote, Canadian swimmer
- 1984 – Paulius Jankūnas, Lithuanian basketball player
- 1984 – Lina Krasnoroutskaya, a Russian tennis player
- 1984 – Vassilis Xanthopoulos, Greek basketball player
- 1985 – Jean-François Jacques, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1986 – Byun Yo-han, South Korean actor
- 1986 – Lee Chae-young, South Korean actress
- 1986 – Viljar Veski, Estonian basketball player
- 1986 – Sisa Waqa, Fijian rugby league player
- 1986 – Monique Alfradique, Brazilian actress
- 1987 – Knut Børsheim, Norwegian golfer
- 1987 – Sara Errani, an Italian tennis player
- 1988 – Elías Hernandez, Mexican footballer
- 1988 – Alfred Hui, Hong Kong singer
- 1988 – Jovan Leacock, American football player
- 1988 – Jonathan Toews, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1988 – Younha, South Korean singer-songwriter, and record producer
- 1991 – Adam Smith, English footballer
- 1991 – Jung Hye-sung, South Korean actress
- 1992 – Emilio Orozco, American soccer player
- 1994 – Christina Shakovets, a German tennis player
- 1995 – Victoria Sinitsina, Russian ice dancer
- 1996 – Katherine Langford, Australian actress
- 1998 – Kimberly Birrell, an Australian tennis player
- 2007 – Infanta Sofía of Spain, the Spanish princess