On This Day in History – September 29

Major Events

• 522 BC – Darius I of Persia is crowned king after a coup against Bardiya.
• 1066 – William the Conqueror’s forces set up camp at Hastings ahead of the famous battle.
• 1513 – Spanish explorer Vasco Núñez de Balboa becomes the first European to see the Pacific Ocean from the Americas.
• 1789 – The U.S. War Department establishes the first regular army.
• 1829 – London’s Metropolitan Police, the first modern police force, is founded by Sir Robert Peel.
• 1918 – The Allied forces breach the Hindenburg Line during World War I, signaling Germany’s weakening defenses.
• 1954 – The CERN (European Organization for Nuclear Research) is officially established.
• 1957 – The Kyshtym nuclear disaster occurs in the Soviet Union, one of the worst nuclear accidents in history.
• 1972 – Japan and China normalize diplomatic relations after decades of political separation.
• 2008 – The Dow Jones Industrial Average suffers its largest single-day point drop during the global financial crisis.
• 2018 – A 7.5 magnitude earthquake and tsunami strike Sulawesi, Indonesia, causing massive destruction and loss of life.

Famous Birthdays

• 1547 – Miguel de Cervantes, Spanish novelist (d. 1616)
• 1571 – Caravaggio, Italian painter (d. 1610)
• 1758 – Horatio Nelson, British admiral (d. 1805)
• 1901 – Enrico Fermi, Italian-American physicist and Nobel laureate (d. 1954)
• 1912 – Michelangelo Antonioni, Italian film director (d. 2007)
• 1920 – Peter D. Mitchell, British biochemist and Nobel laureate (d. 1992)
• 1935 – Jerry Lee Lewis, American rock and roll musician (d. 2022)
• 1939 – Larry Linville, American actor (d. 2000)
• 1942 – Ian McShane, British actor
• 1951 – Michelle Bachelet, President of Chile
• 1959 – Jon Fosse, Norwegian playwright and Nobel laureate
• 1980 – Zachary Levi, American actor
• 1988 – Kevin Durant, American basketball player

Notable Deaths

• 1560 – Gustav I of Sweden (b. 1496)
• 1902 – Émile Zola, French novelist (b. 1840)
• 1933 – William E. Boeing, American aviation pioneer (b. 1881)
• 1955 – James Dean, American actor (b. 1931)
• 1973 – W. H. Auden, English poet (b. 1907)
• 1982 – Lillian Gish, American actress (b. 1893)
• 1987 – Henry Ford II, American industrialist (b. 1917)
• 2003 – Althea Gibson, American tennis champion (b. 1927)
• 2010 – Tony Curtis, American actor (b. 1925)
• 2020 – Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, Emir of Kuwait (b. 1929)

Holidays

• Michaelmas (Christian feast)
• National Coffee Day (USA)
• Veterans Day in Guatemala
• Inventors’ Day in Argentina

Fun Facts

1. The founding of CERN in 1954 laid the groundwork for groundbreaking discoveries in particle physics.
2. James Dean’s death in 1955 cemented his status as a cultural icon despite his short career.
3. The 2008 financial crisis reshaped global economic policy and banking regulation.
4. Balboa’s sighting of the Pacific Ocean marked a pivotal moment in European exploration.