August 29: Day of the year

August 29 is the 241st day of the year (242nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 124 days remaining until the end of the year.

Up to 1900

• 708 – Copper coins are first minted in Japan.
• 1261 – Urban IV becomes Pope, the last man to do so without being a Cardinal first.
• 1315 – Battle of Montecatini: The army of the Republic of Pisa, commanded by Uguccione della Faggiuoli, wins a decisive victory against the joint forces of the Kingdom of Naples and Republic of Florence despite being outnumbered (meaning the opposing armies, combined, had more soldiers).
• 1350 – Battle of Winchelsea: An English naval fleet under King Edward III defeats a Castilian fleet of 40 ships.
• 1475 – Treaty of Picquigny ends a brief war between France and England.
• 1484 – Pope Innocent VIII, a staunch supporter of the Spanish Inquisition, is elected Pope.
• 1498 – Vasco da Gama decides to leave Calicut, present-day Kerala, southern India, and return to Portugal.
• 1521 – The Ottoman Turks capture Nándorfehérvár, now known as Belgrade.
• 1526 – Battle of Mohács: The Ottoman Turks led by Suleiman the Magnificent defeat and kill the last Jagiellonian king of Hungary and Bohemia.
• 1541 – The Ottoman Turks capture Buda, the capital of the Hungarian Kingdom.
• 1728 – Nuuk, Greenland, is founded as the fort of Godt-Haab by Danish royal governor Claus Paarss.
• 1741 – The volcanic eruption on Oshima-Oshima Island, Japan, causes tsunamis in the Sea of Japan, which kill around 1600 people.
• 1751 – The world's biggest wine barrel is completed in the cellar of Heidelberg Castle, present-day Germany. It can carry 221,726 liters.
• 1756 – Frederick the Great attacks Saxony, beginning the Seven Years' War.
• 1782 – The British ship HMS Royal George sinks while anchored in the Solent, south coast of England, killing between 800 and 950 people.
• 1786 – Shays' Rebellion, an armed uprising of Massachusetts farmers, begins in response to high debt and tax burdens.
• 1825 – Portugal recognizes Brazil as independent.
• 1831 – Michael Faraday discovers electromagnetic induction.
• 1833 – The United Kingdom legislates the abolition of Slavery in its then-Empire.
• 1842 – The Treaty of Nanking is signed, ending the First Opium War.
• 1861 – American Civil War: A United States Navy squadron captures forts at Hatteras Inlet, North Carolina.
• 1862 – Battle of Aspromonte - Italian royal forces defeat rebels.
• 1871 – Emperor Meiji of Japan orders the establishment of prefectures as local centres of administration.
• 1885 – Gottlieb Daimler patents the world's first motorcycle.
• 1893 – Whitcomb Judson gets a US patent for the zipper.
• 1895 – The formation of the Northern Rugby Union at the George Hotel, Huddersfield.
• 1896 – Chop suey is said to have been invented in New York City on this date.
• 1897 – The first Zionist World Congress is held in Basel, Switzerland.
• 1898 – Goodyear tire company is founded.

1901 – 2000

• 1907 – The Quebec Bridge collapses during construction, killing 75 workers.
• 1910 – The Japan-Korea Treaty of 1910 becomes effective, officially starting the period of Japanese rule on the Korean peninsula.
• 1911 – Ishi, considered the last Stone Age Native American, emerges from the wilderness of northeastern California.
• 1914 – World War I: The then-German colony of Samoa is occupied by New Zealand troops.
• 1915 – United States Navy salvage divers raise F-4, the first US submarine sunk in an accident.
• 1916 – The Mount Field and Freycinet National Parks are created in Tasmania.
• 1916 – The US passes the Philippine Autonomy.
• 1922 – The first radio advertisement is broadcast on WEAF-AM in New York City.
• 1930 – The last 36 remaining inhabitants of the remote Scottish island of Saint Kilda, leave forever.
• 1941 – World War II: Tallinn, Estonia, is occupied by Germany, following its occupation by the Soviet Union.
• 1943 – World War II: German-occupied Denmark scuttles most of its navy; Germany dissolves Danish government
• 1944 – Slovak National Uprising takes place as 60,000 Slovak troops turn against the Nazi rulers.
• 1949 – The Soviet Union tests its first atomic bomb at Semipalatinsk, Kazakhstan.
• 1950 – Korean War: British troops arrive in Korea to support South Korea and the United States.
• 1952 – Premiere of John Cage's 4'33" in Woodstock, New York
• 1958 – United States Air Force Academy opens in Colorado Springs, Colorado.
• 1965 – The Gemini V spacecraft returns to Earth.
• 1966 – Last Beatles concert, in San Francisco
• 1966 – Execution of Sayyid Qutb, an important theoretician of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood.
• 1968 – The future King Harald V of Norway marries Sonja Haraldsen in Oslo.
• 1982 – The synthetic chemical element Meitnerium, atomic number 109, is first synthesized at the Gesellschaft für Schwerionenforschung in Darmstadt, Germany.
• 1991 – Supreme Soviet suspends all activities of the Soviet Communist Party.
• 1995 – An assassination attempt is made on President of Georgia, Eduard Shevardnadze.
• 1996 – A Vnukovo Airlines Tupolev Tu-154 crashes into a mountain on the Arctic island of Spitsbergen, killing all 141 aboard.
• 1997 – At least 98 villagers are killed by the GIA in the Rais massacre, Algeria.
• 1997 – Serial killer Angel Maturino Resendiz bludgeons to death Christopher Maier of Lexington, Kentucky, the first of nine victims.
• 1999 – East Timor votes for independence from Indonesia.

From 2001

• 2003 – Ayatollah Sayed Mohammed Baqir al-Hakim, the Shia Muslim leader in Iraq, was assassinated in a terrorist bombing that killed him along with nearly 100 worshippers as they were leaving a mosque in Najaf.
• 2004 – End of the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens.
• 2004 – Michael Schumacher wins his 7th Formula One world title and his 5th in a row, breaking the record held by Juan Manuel Fangio.
• 2005 – Hurricane Katrina reaches the US' Gulf coast with winds at a speed of 225 kph. The city of New Orleans is among the places that are severely flooded, as over 1,000 people are killed.
• 2008 – US Republican Party Presidential candidate John McCain nominates Sarah Palin as his running mate.
• 2011 – Hurricane Irene dissolves over Eastern Canada, having left a path of destruction over the Caribbean and eastern United States.
• 2012 – The 2012 Summer Paralympics in London begin.
• 2013 – The House of Commons of the United Kingdom votes, by a majority, against military action in Syria.
• 2015 – Three Al-Jazeera journalists are sentenced to three years in prison in Egypt, accused of false reporting and sympathizing with the banned Muslim Brotherhood.
• 2015 – Protests take place in Kuala Lumpur against Malaysia's Prime Minister Najib Razak.
• 2017 – North Korea fires a ballistic missile over the southern part of the Northern Japanese island of Hokkaido.

Up to 1900

• 1434 – Janus Pannonius, Hungarian bishop, poet and diplomat (d. 1472)
• 1619 – Jean-Baptiste Colbert, French statesman (d. 1683)
• 1628 – John Granville, 1st Earl of Bath, English statesman (d. 1701)
• 1632 – John Locke, English philosopher (d. 1704)
• 1664 – Giuseppe Toretti, Italian sculptor (d. 1743)
• 1724 – Giovanni Battista Casti, Italian poet and writer (d. 1803)
• 1725 – Charles Townshend, English politician (d. 1767)
• 1728 – Maria Anna Sophia of Saxony (d. 1797)
• 1756 – Heinrich Graf von Bellegarde, Austrian field marshal and statesman (d. 1845)
• 1756 – Jan Sniadecki, Polish mathematician, philosopher and astronomer (d. 1830)
• 1769 – Rose Philippine Duchesne, French nun and saint (d. 1852)
• 1780 – Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres, French painter (d. 1867)
• 1793 – Josef Naus, Austrian officer and surveyor, first to climb the Zugspitze (d. 1871)
• 1809 – Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr., American physician and writer (d. 1894)
• 1810 – Juan Bautista Alberdi, Argentine politician and writer (d. 1884)
• 1842 – Alfred Shaw, English cricketer, rugby player and umpire (d. 1907)
• 1843 – David B. Hill, 29th Governor of New York (d. 1910)
• 1844 – Edward Carpenter, English poet (d. 1929)
• 1862 – Andrew Fisher, 5th Prime Minister of Australia (d. 1928)
• 1862 – Maurice Maeterlinck, Belgian writer (d. 1949)
• 1871 – Albert Lebrun, President of France (d. 1950)
• 1875 – Leonardo De Lorenzo, Italian flautist and educator (d. 1962)
• 1876 – Charles Franklin Kettering, American inventor (d. 1958)
• 1876 – Kim Gu, Korean politician (d. 1949)
• 1880 – Marie-Louise Meilleur, Canadian supercentenarian (d. 1998)
• 1881 – Albert Henderson, Canadian footballer (d. 1947)
• 1883 – Muriel George, English singer and movie actress (d. 1965)
• 1887 – Jivraj Narayan Mehta, Indian politician, 1st Chief Minister of Gujarat (d. 1978)
• 1888 – Gunichi Mikawa, Japanese admiral (d. 1981)
• 1898 – Preston Sturges, American movie director, screenwriter and playwright (d. 1959)

1901 – 1950

• 1904 – Werner Forssmann, German physician (d. 1979)
• 1905 – Al Taliaferro, American comic artist (d. 1969)
• 1907 – Takeo Wakabayashi, Japanese footballer (d. 1937)
• 1910 – Vivien Thomas, American surgical technician (d. 1985)
• 1912 – Sohn Kee-chung, South Korean runner (d. 2002)
• 1912 – Barry Sullivan, American actor (d. 1994)
• 1912 – Wolfgang Suschitzky, Austrian-Polish cinematographer (d. 2016)
• 1913 – K. Jeyakody, Sri Lankan Tamil politician
• 1913 – Jan Ekier, Polish pianist and composer (d. 2014)
• 1915 – Ingrid Bergman, Swedish actress (d. 1982)
• 1916 – Consuelo Velazquez, Mexican musician and composer (d. 2005)
• 1916 – George Montgomery, American actor (d. 2000)
• 1917 – Isabel Sanford, American actress (d. 2004)
• 1920 – Charlie Parker, American musician (d. 1955)
• 1921 – Paddy Roy Bates, English founder of the Sealand micronation (d. 2012)
• 1922 – Arthur Anderson, American actor (d. 2016)
• 1923 – Richard Attenborough, English actor and movie director (d. 2014)
• 1924 – Maria Dolores Pradera, Spanish singer and actress
• 1924 – Dinah Washington, American singer (d. 1963)
• 1925 – Demetrio B. Lakas, 35th President of Panama (d. 1999)
• 1926 – Helene Ahrweiler, Greek historian and academic
• 1927 – Jimmy C. Newman, American singer (d. 2014)
• 1930 – Atef Sedki, Egyptian politician (d. 2005)
• 1931 – Stelios Kazantzidis, Greek singer (d. 2001)
• 1932 – Shen Chun-shan, Taiwanese physicist and academic (d. 2018)
• 1933 – Sorel Etrog, Romanian-Canadian artist, writer and philosopher (d. 2014)
• 1933 – Arnold Koller, Swiss politician
• 1934 – Horst Szymaniak, German footballer (d. 2009)
• 1935 – William Friedkin, American movie director
• 1935 – Hugo Brandt Corstius, Dutch writer (d. 2014)
• 1936 – John McCain, American pilot and politician, 2008 Presidential candidate (d. 2018)
• 1937 – James Florio, former Governor of New Jersey
• 1938 – Elliott Gould, American actor
• 1938 – Robert Rubin, American politician, former United States Secretary of the Treasury
• 1938 – Carlos Moreno, Argentine actor (d. 2014)
• 1939 – Joel Schumacher, American director
• 1940 – James Brady, American activist and 15th White House Press Secretary (d. 2014)
• 1940 – Wim Ruska, Dutch judoka (d. 2015)
• 1941 – Robin Leach, English writer and television host (d. 2018)
• 1942 – Gottfried John, German actor (d. 2014)
• 1943 – Peter von Bagh, Finnish movie historian (d. 2014)
• 1943 – Arthur B. McDonald, Canadian astrophysicist
• 1945 – Wyonia Tyus, American athlete
• 1946 – Demetris Christofias, Cypriot politician, former President of Cyprus
• 1946 – Bob Beamon, American long jumper
• 1946 – Giorgio Orsoni, Italian lawyer and politician, 17th Mayor of Venice
• 1947 – Temple Grandin, American animal welfare and autism expert
• 1947 – James Hunt, English racing driver (d. 1993)

1951 – 1975

• 1952 – Deborah Van Valkenburgh, American actress
• 1952 – Dave Malone, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
• 1955 – Jacob Lew, American politician
• 1956 – GG Allin, American musician (d. 1993)
• 1958 – Michael Jackson, American singer and entertainer (d. 2009)
• 1958 – Lenny Henry, English comedian, actor and writer
• 1959 – Stephen Wolfram, English mathematician
• 1959 – Rebecca De Mornay, American actress
• 1959 – Chris Hadfield, Canadian astronaut
• 1959 – Eddi Reader, Scottish singer
• 1959 – Ramon Diaz, Argentine footballer
• 1960 – Tony McAlpine, American guitarist, composer and producer
• 1961 – Carsten Fischer, German field hockey player
• 1962 – Jutta Kleinschmidt, German rally driver
• 1962 – Simon Thurley, English architectural historian
• 1963 – Elizabeth Fraser, Scottish singer
• 1963 – Steve Clarke, Scottish footballer and football manager
• 1964 – Zisis Tsekos, Greek footballer
• 1965 – Frances Ruffelle, English actress and singer
• 1967 – Neil Gorsuch, American judge, US Supreme Court Justice
• 1969 – Joe Swail, Northern Irish snooker player
• 1969 – Lucero, Mexican singer and actress
• 1971 – Carla Gugino, American actress
• 1972 – Kentaro Hayashi, Japanese footballer
• 1972 – Bae Yong-jeon, South Korean actor
• 1973 – Daniel Burman, Argentine movie director
• 1974 – Denis Caniza, Paraguayan footballer
• 1974 – Nicola Amoruso, Italian footballer
• 1975 – Kyle Cook, American singer-songwriter and guitarist

From 1976

• 1976 – Pablo Mastroeni, American footballer
• 1976 – Jon Dahl Tomasson, Danish footballer
• 1976 – Stephen Carr, Irish footballer
• 1977 – Jo Weil, German actor
• 1977 – Roy Oswalt, American baseball player
• 1977 – John Hensley, American actor
• 1979 – Justine Pasek, Panamanian model
• 1980 – David Desrosiers, Canadian musician (Simple Plan)
• 1980 – David West, American basketball player
• 1981 – Emilie Duquenne, Belgian actress
• 1982 – Vincent Enyeama, Nigerian footballer
• 1982 – A+, American rapper
• 1982 – Carlos Delfino, Argentine basketball player
• 1985 – Marc Rzepczynski, American baseball player
• 1986 – Lauren Collins, Canadian actress
• 1986 – Lea Michele, American actress and singer
• 1987 – Tony Kane, Irish footballer
• 1988 – Harry Aikines-Aryeetey, British athlete
• 1990 – Patrick van Aanholt, Dutch footballer
• 1990 – Nicole Anderson, American actress
• 1990 – Julia Vlassov, American figure skater
• 1991 – Deshaun Thomas, American basketball player
• 1993 – Liam Payne, English singer (One Direction)
• 1993 – Lucas Cruikshank, American actor
• 1994 – Courtney Stodden, American television personality

Up to 1900

• 886 – Basil I, Byzantine Emperor (b. 811)
• 1093 – Hugh I, Duke of Burgundy
• 1123 – Eystein I of Norway (b. 1088)
• 1315 – Charles of Taranto (b. 1296)
• 1395 – Duke Albert III of Austria (b. 1349)
• 1435 – Isabeau de Bavière, queen of Charles VI of France (b. 1371)
• 1442 – John VI, Duke of Brittany (b. 1389)
• 1526 – King Louis II of Hungary (b. 1506)
• 1533 – Atahualpa, last Inca ruler of Peru (b. 1502)
• 1712 – Gregory King, English genealogist, engraver and statistician (b. 1648)
• 1749 – Matthias Bel, Hungarian pastor and polymath (b. 1684)
• 1769 – Edmund Hoyle, English writer and teacher (b. 1672)
• 1780 – Jacques-Germain Soufflot, French architect (b. 1713)
• 1799 – Pope Pius VI (b. 1717)
• 1816 – Johann Hieronymus Schroeter, German jurist and astronomer (b. 1745)
• 1853 – Charles James Napier, British general (b. 1782)
• 1856 – Mary Anne Schimmelpenninck, English author (b. 1778)
• 1866 – Tokugawa Iemochi, Japanese shogun (b. 1846)
• 1877 – Brigham Young, Mormon leader (b. 1801)
• 1889 – Stefan Dunjov, Bulgarian military officer (b. 1815)
• 1891 – Pierre Lallement, French inventor (b. 1843)

1901 – 2000

• 1904 – Murad V, Ottoman sultan (b. 1840)
• 1918 – Max Dauthendey, German writer (b. 1867)
• 1930 – William Archibald Spooner, writer (b. 1844)
• 1931 – David T. Abercrombie, a founder of American clothing retailer Abercrombie and Fitch (b. 1867)
• 1935 – Queen Astrid of Belgium, mother of King Albert II of Belgium (b. 1905)
• 1946 – Grigory Semyonov, Russian general (b. 1890)
• 1947 – Manolete, Spanish bullfighter (b. 1917)
• 1966 – Sayyid Qutb, Egyptian theoretician (b. 1906).
• 1972 – Lale Andersen, German singer (b. 1905)
• 1973 – Stringer Davis, English actor (b. 1899)
• 1975 – Éamon de Valera, Irish statesman and President of Ireland (b. 1882)
• 1976 – Kazi Nazrul Islam, Bengali poet, musician and philosopher (b. 1899)
• 1981 – Lowell Thomas, travel writer (b. 1892)
• 1982 – Ingrid Bergman, Swedish actress (b. 1915)
• 1982 – Nahum Goldmann, founder of the Jewish World Congress (b. 1895)
• 1984 – Muhammad Naguib, Egyptian politician and President of Egypt (b. 1901)
• 1984 – Pierre Gemayel, Lebanese politician (b. 1905)
• 1987 – Archie Campbell, American comedian, writer and actor (b. 1914)
• 1987 – Lee Marvin, actor (b. 1924)
• 1989 – Peter Scott, English explorer, naturalist and painter (b. 1909)
• 1992 – Teddy Turner, English actor (b. 1917)
• 1995 – Frank Perry, American director (b. 1930)

From 2001

• 2001 – Francisco Rabal, Spanish actor, director and screenwriter (b. 1926)
• 2003 – Michel Constantin, French actor (b. 1924)
• 2003 – Ayatollah Sayed Mohammed Baqir al-Hakim, Iraqi political leader (b.1939)
• 2004 – Hans Vonk, Dutch conductor (b. 1942)
• 2007 – Pierre Messmer, Prime Minister of France (b. 1916)
• 2011 – David Honeyboy Edwards, American blues musician (b. 1915)
• 2013 – Cliff Morgan, Welsh rugby player (b. 1930)
• 2013 – Bruce C. Murray, American scientist (b. 1931)
• 2014 – Bjorn Waldegard, Swedish rally driver (b. 1943)
• 2014 – David Bala, Singaporean comedian and actor (b. 1947)
• 2015 – Kyle Jean-Baptiste, American actor (b. 1993)
• 2015 – Wayne Dyer, American self-help author and motivational speaker (b. 1940)
• 2016 – Gene Wilder, American actor (b. 1933)
• 2017 – Janine Charrat, French ballet dancer and choreographer (b. 1924)
• 2017 – Dmitri Kogan, Russian violinist (b. 1978)
• 2017 – David Tang, Hong Kong businessman (b. 1954)
• 2018 – Stan Brock, English philanthropist (b. 1936)
• 2018 – James Mirrlees, Scottish economist (b. 1936)
• 2018 – Carilda Oliver Labra, Cuban poet (b. 1922)
• 2018 – Marie Severin, American comic book artist (b. 1929)
• 2018 – Paul Taylor, American choreographer (b. 1930)

• Anniversary of the Slovak National Uprising
• Telugu language Day (India)