TODAY’S HISTORY LESSON – APRIL 29
1429 Joan of Arc entered the city of Orléans. She would end its months-long siege and would become known as the “Maid of Orléans.”
1624 Louis XIII appoints Cardinal Richelieu chief minister of the Royal Council of France.
1813 Rubber is patented.
1852 The first edition of Peter Roget’s Thesaurus is published.
1861 The Maryland House of Delegates votes against seceding from Union.
1913 Gideon Sundback of Hoboken patents the all-purpose zipper.
1945 A day before committing suicide, Adolf Hitler and Eva Braun marry
1945 The Nazi concentration camp of Dachau is liberated by Allied troops.
1961 ABC’s “Wide World of Sports, debuts
1974 President Richard Nixon said he will release edited tapes made in White House
1975 Hubert van Es takes the famous picture of a helicopter airlift from a Saigon rooftop
1975 Vietnam War: US begins to evacuate its citizens from Saigon in Operation Frequent Wind in response to advancing North Vietnamese forces, bringing an end to US involvement in the war
1981 Peter Sutcliffe admits he is the Yorkshire Ripper (murdered 13 women)
1991 Croatia declares independence
1992 Four Los Angeles police offices are acquitted of charges stemming from the beating of Rodney King. Rioting ensues.
1994 Ferry boat smashes into Mombasa Harbor Kenya, kills over 300
1994 Israel & PLO sign economic accord
1997 The Chemical Weapons Convention becomes effective
The arms control treaty prohibits the production, storage, and use of chemical weapons. It has so far been ratified by some 190 countries.
2004 The National World War II Memorial between the Lincoln Memorial and the Washington Monument a monument to the 16 million U.S. men and women who served during World War II opened to the public in Washington D.C.
** history.net, onthisday.com, infoplease.com, timeanddate.com, thepeoplehistory.com, on-this-day.com **
