On This Day in History - April 29

Once again, it should be reiterated, that this does not pretend to be a very extensive history of what happened on this day (nor is it the most original - the links can be found down below). If you know something that I am missing, by all means, shoot me an email or leave a comment, and let me know!

A lot of the events on these timelines recently have centered on World War II. Indeed, the spring time was a very busy time for the war throughout, beingh conducive to beginning major combat operations and invasions. It makes sense.  But this date also marks the anniversary of the National World War II Memorial in Washington, and that is what this short piece by the History Channel's website focuses on. It can be found at: http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/world-war-ii-monument-opens-in-washington-dc


On April 29, 2004, the National World War II Memorial opens in Washington, D.C., to thousands of visitors, providing overdue recognition for the 16 million U.S. men and women who served in the war. The memorial is located on 7.4 acres on the former site of the Rainbow Pool at the National Mall between the Washington Monument and the Lincoln Memorial. The Capitol dome is seen to the east, and Arlington Cemetery is just across the Potomac River to the west.  

The granite and bronze monument features fountains between arches symbolizing hostilities in Europe and the Far East. The arches are flanked by semicircles of pillars, one each for the states, territories and the District of Columbia. Beyond the pool is a curved wall of 4,000 gold stars, one for every 100 Americans killed in the war. An Announcement Stone proclaims that the memorial honors those "Americans who took up the struggle during the Second World War and made the sacrifices to perpetuate the gift our forefathers entrusted to us: A nation conceived in liberty and justice."  

Though the federal government donated $16 million to the memorial fund, it took more than $164 million in private donations to get it built. Former Kansas Sen. Bob Dole, who was severely wounded in the war, and actor Tom Hanks were among its most vocal supporters. Only a fraction of the 16 million Americans who served in the war would ever see it. Four million World War II veterans were living at the time, with more than 1,100 dying every day, according to government records.  

The memorial was inspired by Roger Durbin of Berkey, Ohio, who served under Gen. George S. Patton. At a fish fry near Toledo in February 1987, he asked U.S. Rep. Marcy Kaptur why there was no memorial on the Mall to honor World War II veterans. Kaptur, a Democrat from Ohio, soon introduced legislation to build one, starting a process that would stumble along through 17 years of legislative, legal and artistic entanglements. Durbin died of pancreatic cancer in 2000.  

The monument was formally dedicated May 29, 2004, by U.S. President George W. Bush. Open 24 hours a day, seven days a week, it received some 4.4 million visitors in 2005.



1091 - Battle at Monte Levunium: Emperor Alexius I beats Petshegenes

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."

1522 - Emperor Charles V names Frans van Holly inquisitor-gen of Netherlands

1540 - Emperor Charles declares all privileges of Gent ended

1550 - Emperor Charles V gives inquisiters additional authority

1553 - Flemish woman introduces practice of starching linen into England

1623 - 11 Dutch ships depart for the conquest of Peru

1628 - Sweden & Denmark sign defense treaty against Duke of Wallenstein

1636 - Prince Frederik Henry occupies Schenkenschans

1644 - Farm leader Li Zicheng becomes emperor of China & flees Peking

1661 - Chinese Ming dynasty occupies Taiwan

1670 - Pope Clemens X elected

1672 - Franco-Dutch War: Louis XIV of France invades the Netherlands.

1701 - Drenthe Neth adopts Gregorian calendar, tomorrow is May 12, 1701

1706 - Emperor Jozef I becomes monarch of Cologne/Bavaria

1707 - English/Scottish parliament accept Act of Union; form Great Britain

1715 - John Flamsteed observes Uranus for 6th time

1781 - French fleet occupies Tobago during American War of Independence

1781 - French fleet stopped Britain from seizing the Cape of Good Hope

1784 - Premiere of Mozart's Sonata in B flat, K454 (Vienna)

1793 - Cornerstone laid for Groningen's new townhall

1813 - Rubber is patented

1834 - Charles Darwin's expedition sees top of Andes from Patagonia

1845 - Macon B Allen & Robert Morris Jr, 1st blacks to open law practice

1852 - First edition of Peter Roget's Thesaurus published

1853 - Comet C/

1853 G1 (Schweizer) approaches within 0.0839 AUs of Earth

1856 - Peace between England and; Russia

1857 - US Army, Pacific Div HQ permanently forms at Presidio (SF)

1861 - Maryland's House of Delegates votes against seceding from Union

1862 - 100,000 federal troops prepare to march into Corinth, Mississippi

1862 - New Orleans fell to Union forces during US Civil War

1863 - Battle of Chancellordville, VA (Fredericksburg, Wilderness Tavern)

1864 - -30] Skirmish at Jenkins' Ferry, Arkansas

1864 - The Theta Xi fraternity is founded at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, New York.

1882 - The "Elektromote" - forerunner of the trolleybus - is tested by Ernst Werner von Siemens in Berlin.

1886 - First public Dutch electricity opens

1888 - Old Kavallison, Congo: Stanley meet Emin Pasha

1892 - Charlie Reilly is baseball's first pinch hitter

1894 - Commonweal of Christ (Coxey's Army) arrives in Wash, DC 500 strong to protest unemployment; Coxey arrested for trespassing at Capitol

1901 - 27th Kentucky Derby: Jimmy Winkfield on His Eminence wins in 2:07.75

1901 - Anti semitic riot in Budapest, Hungary

1903 - Limestone slides at Turtle Mountain kills 9 (Frank Alberta)

1905 - 2" rain falls in 10 mins in Taylor, TX

1905 - Pierre de Brazza lands in Libreville Gabon

1910 - Ex-president Theodore Roosevelt visits Amsterdam

1912 - 108°F (42°C), Tuguegarao, Philippines (Oceania record)

1912 - Frank Wedekind's "Tod und Teufel," premieres in Berlin

1913 - Swedish engineer Gideon Sundback of Hoboken patents all-purpose zipper

1916 - Irish nationalists set post office on fire in Dublin,  the Easter rebellion in Ireland ended with the surrender of Irish nationalists.

1918 - Tris Speaker ties career outfield record of 4 unassisted double plays

1922 - First official Intl Weightlifting Federation Champ (Tallinn, Estonia)

1925 - Netherlands returns to gold standard

1926 - France ad the; United States reach accord on repayment of World War I

1927 - Construction of Spirit of St Louis is completed

1930 - North Sea floodgate at Ijmuiden (biggest in world) officially opens

1930 - Telephone connection England-Australia goes into service

1931 - Cleveland Indian Wes Ferrell no-hits St Louis Browns, 9-0

1936 - 1st pro baseball game in Japan is played Nagoya defeats Daitokyo, 8-5

1939 - Whitestone Bridge connecting Bronx and Queens opens in New York City

1940 - Norwegian King Haakon and exiled government flees to England

1940 - Robert Sherwood's "There Shall be No Night," premieres in NYC

1942 - Japanese troop march into Lashio, cuts off Burma Road

1942 - Jews forced to wear a Jewish Star in Netherlands and in Vichy-France

1943 - Dietrich Bonhoeffer arrested by Nazis

1943 - Noel Coward's "Present Laughter," premieres in London

1943 - US 34th Division occupies Hill 609, North Tunisia

1944 - Surprise attack by Van de Peat on General Landsdrukkerij in the Hague

1945 - 1st food drop by RAF above nazi-occupied Holland (operation Manna)

1945 - Japanese army evacuates Rangoon

1945 - Terms of surrender of German armies in Italy signed

1945 - US liberates 31,601 in Nazi concentration camp in Dachau Germany

1945 - Venice and Mestre were captured by the Allies

1946 - 28 former Japanese leaders indicted in Tokyo as war criminals

1948 - Bradman scores 107 Aust v Worcs, 152 mins, 15 fours

1953 - The first U.S. experimental 3D-TV broadcast showed an episode of Space Patrol on Los Angeles ABC affiliate KECA-TV.

1955 - G Gronchi elected president of Italy

1956 - Betsy Rawls wins LPGA Peach Blossom Golf Open

1956 - WLUC TV channel 6 in Marquette, MI (CBS/NBC/ABC) begins broadcasting

1956 - WSPA TV channel 7 in G'ville-Spartanburg, SC (CBS) begins broadcasting

1956 - WWBT TV channel 12 in Richmond, VA (NBC) begins broadcasting

1957 - First military nuclear power plant dedicated, Fort Belvoir Va

1961 - ABC's "Wide World of Sports, debuts

1964 - US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site

1965 - Australian government announces it would send troops to Vietnam

1965 - Earthquake hits Seattle; 5 die

1965 - Malta is 18th member of Council of Europe

1967 - Aretha Franklin releases "Respect"

1970 - 50,000 American and South Vietnamese troops invade Cambodia

1971 - Boeing receives contract for Mariner 10, Mercury exploration

1971 - US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site

1974 - President Nixon said he will release edited tapes made in White House

1975 - Ethiopia nationalizes all ground/earth

1975 - Vietnam War: Operation Frequent Wind: The U.S. begins to evacuate US citizens from Saigon prior to an expected North Vietnamese takeover. U.S. involvement in the war comes to an end.

1976 - Minister Irene Vorrink begins fluoridating Dutch drinking water

1977 - British Aerospace forms

1980 - Corazones Unidos Siempre Chi Upsilon Sigma National Latin Sorority Inc. is founded.

1981 - Peter Sutcliffe admits he is the Yorkshire Ripper (murdered 13 women)

1982 - Alfredo Magana elected pres of El Salvador

1982 - Nordiques 2-Isles 5-Semifinals-Isles hold 2-0 lead

1983 - Harold Washington sworn in as Chicago's first black mayor

1985 - Sebventeenth space shuttle mission (51-B)-Challenger 7 launched

1985 - Ranger Larry Parrish is 5th to hit 3 HRs in a game in both leagues

1985 - Tony Tubbs TKOs Greg Page in 15 for heavyweight boxing title

1986 - 800,000 books destroyed by fire in Los Angeles Central Library

1987 - Japan's premier Nakasone visits the US

1988 - Orioles beat White Sox 9-0 for first 1988 win after 21 loses

1989 - 2nd government of Lubbers falls

1990 - STS-31 (Discovery 10) lands

1990 - Wrecking cranes began tearing down Berlin Wall at Brandenburg Gate

1991 - Croatia declares independence

1991 - Cyclone strikes Bangladesh, 139,000 die/10 million homeless

1991 - Earthquake in Georgia, kills 100

1992 - Country singer Doug Stone, 35, undergoes quadruple bypass surgery

1992 - Jury acquits Los Aangeles police officers of beating Rodney King, riots begin

1992 - Sheena Easton collapses on stage while performing in "Man of LaMancha"

1992 - Voting ends on choice of Elvis stamps

1994 - Ferry boat smashes into Mombasa Harbor Kenya, kills over 300

1994 - Israel and the PLO sign economic accord

1995 - Longest sausage ever, at 2877 miles, made in Kitchener Ontario

1997 - KC Royal Chili Davis is 75th to hit 300 HRs

1997 - The Chemical Weapons Convention of 1993 enters into force, outlaws the production, stockpiling and use of chemical weapons among its signatories.

1999 - Avala TV Tower near Belgrade is destroyed in NATO bombing of Yugoslavia.

2002 - The United States is re-elected to the United Nations Commission on Human Rights, one year after losing the seat it had held for 50 years.

2004 - Dick Cheney and George W. Bush testify before the 9/11 Commission in a closed, unrecorded hearing in the Oval Office.

2004 - Oldsmobile builds its final car ending 107 years of production.

2005 - Syria completes withdrawal from Lebanon, ending 29 years of occupation. 2005 - New Zealand's first civil union takes place.

2007 - Republic Protests in Turkey.

2012 - International Chemical Weapons Convention deadline for chemical weapon stockpiles comes into effect


The following are the websites that I used to compile this list for this blog entry:

http://www.historyorb.com/events/april/29

http://www.infoplease.com/dayinhistory/April-29

http://on-this-day.com/onthisday/thedays/alldays/apr29.htm

http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/world-war-ii-monument-opens-in-washington-dc