March 29 is the 88th day of the year (89th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 277 days remaining until the end of the year.

Events |

Up to 1900 |

• 
  502 - King Gundobad issues a new legal code (Lex Burgundionum) at Lyon that makes Gallo-Romans and Burgundians subject to the same laws.


• 
  1430 - The Ottoman Empire under Murad II captures the Byzantine city of Thessalonica.


• 
  1461 - Wars of the Roses: In the Battle of Towton, Edward of York defeats Margaret of Anjou to become King Edward IV of England.


• 
  1549 - The city of Salvador, Bahia, northeastern Brazil, is founded.


• 
  1632 - The Treaty of Saint-Germain is signed, returning Quebec to French control after the English had seized it in 1629.


• 
  1638 - Swedish colonists create the first European settlement in Delaware, naming it New Sweden.


• 
  1792 – King Gustav III of Sweden dies, after being shot at a masquerade ball.


• 
  1809 – Gustav IV Adolf of Sweden abdicates, and the Grand Duchy of Finland goes to Russian control.


• 
  1847 - Mexican-American War: US forces led by General Winfield Scott take Veracruz, Mexico, after a siege.


• 
  1848 – Niagara Falls stop flowing for 30 hours, due to ice.


• 
  1849 – The United Kingdom annexes the Punjab.


• 
  1865 - American Civil War: Federal forces under Major General Philip Sheridan move to flank Confederate forces under Robert E. Lee as the Appomattox Campaign begins.


• 
  1867 - Queen Victoria gives Royal Assent to the British North America Act which creates the Dominion of Canada on July 1, 1867.


• 
  1871 - The Royal Albert Hall in London is opened by Queen Victoria.


• 
  1879 - Anglo-Zulu War: Battle of Kambula - British forces defeat an army of 20,000 Zulus.


• 
  1886 – John Pemberton brews the first Coca-Cola in Atlanta.


• 
  1886 - Wilhelm Steinitz becomes the first world champion in chess, after defeating Johannes Zukertort.

1901 – 2000 |

• 
  1930 - Heinrich Brüning becomes Chancellor of Germany during the time of the Weimar Republic.


• 
  1941 - World War II: British Royal Navy and Royal Australian Navy forces defeat those of the Italian Regia Marina off the Peloponnesian coast of Greece in the Battle of Cape Matapan.


• 
  1942 - World War II: RAF Bomber Command carries out a bombing raid on the city of Luebeck in northern Germany.


• 
  1945 - World War II: Last day of V-1 flying bomb attacks on England.


• 
  1945 - World War II: The German 4th Army is almost destroyed by the Soviet Red Army.


• 
  1946 - The Instituto Tecnologico Autonomo de Mexico, one of Mexico's leading universities, is founded.


• 
  1947 - Uprising in Madagascar against French colonial rule.


• 
  1951 – Ethel Rosenberg and Julius Rosenberg are convicted of spying for the Soviet Union.


• 
  1957 - The New York, Ontario and Western Railway is abandoned in its entirety.


• 
  1959 - First showing of the movie Some Like It Hot.


• 
  1961 - The 23rd Amendment to the Constitution of the United States gives people living in Washington, DC the right to vote in Presidential elections.


• 
  1962 - President of Argentina Arturo Frondizi is overthrown in a military coup by the Argentine Armed Forces, after an 11-day constitutional crisis.


• 
  1971 – My Lai massacre: Lieutenant William Calley is found guilty of premeditated murder.


• 
  1973 – The last US combat soldiers leave Vietnam.


• 
  1974 – The Mariner 10 space probe passes by the planet Mercury, sending 2,000 photographs back to Earth.


• 
  1974 - Local farmers near Xi'an, Shaanxi Province, China, discover the Terracotta Army that was buried with Qin Shi Huang, the first Chinese Emperor, in the 3rd century BC.


• 
  1976 – The last British troops leave the Maldives.


• 
  1981 – The first London Marathon takes place.


• 
  1982 - Elizabeth II approves the Canada Act.


• 
  1985 – The first Care Bears Movie is released.


• 
  1990 - In Czechoslovakia the parliament fails to agree on the country's name after the fall of Communism.


• 
  1990 - A magnitude 6.8 earthquake hits Chamoli district in Uttar Pradesh, India, killing 103 people.


• 
  1993 - Catherine Callbeck becomes Premier of Prince Edward Island, becoming the first woman to take this role in a Canadian province.


• 
  1998 - The Vasco da Gama Bridge, 17 kilometers long, is opened, crossing the Tagus in Lisbon, Portugal.


• 
  1999 - A magnitude 6.8 earthquake strikes Chamoli district in Uttar Pradesh, India, killing 103 people.


• 
  1999 – The Dow Jones Industrial Average closes at 10006.78 – above the 10,000 mark for the first time ever.

From 2001 |

• 
  2002 - In response to the Passover massacre, Israel launches Operation Defensive Shield against Palestinian militants.


• 
  2004 – The Republic of Ireland bans smoking in restaurants, pubs and bars.


• 
  2004 – Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia join NATO.


• 
  2006 – A Solar eclipse is seen over the Atlantic Ocean, Africa, Europe and Asia.


• 
  2008 – The first Earth Hour is observed.


• 
  2010 – Two female suicide bombers blow themselves up on the Moscow Metro, killing 39 people.


• 
  2014 - The first Same-sex marriages in England and Wales take place, with the first ones in Scotland taking place on December 31 of the same year.


• 
  2015 - The Australia national cricket team wins the Cricket World Cup, defeating the New Zealand national cricket team at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.


• 
  2017 - British Prime Minister Theresa May triggers Article 50 of the European Union treaty, to start the process of Brexit (the withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union).

Births |

Up to 1900 |

• 
  1602 - John Lightfoot, English churchman (d. 1675)


• 
  1629 - Tsar Alexis of Russia (d. 1676)


• 
  1713 - John Ponsonby, Irish politician (d. 1789)


• 
  1746 – Carlo Buonaparte, father of Napoleon Bonaparte (d. 1785)


• 
  1747 - Johann Wilhelm Hassler, German composer, organist and pianist (d. 1822)


• 
  1751 - Supply Belcher, American composer and singer (d. 1836)


• 
  1769 - Nicolas Jean-de-Dieu Soult, French general and politician (d. 1851)


• 
  1790 – John Tyler, 10th President of the United States (d. 1862)


• 
  1799 – Edward Smith-Stanley, 14th Earl of Derby, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (d. 1869)


• 
  1813 - John Letcher, Governor of Virginia (d. 1884)


• 
  1815 - Costache Caragiale, Romanian actor, writer and theatre director (d. 1877)


• 
  1816 - Tsultrim Gyatso, 10th Dalai Lama (d. 1837)


• 
  1824 - Ludwig Büchner, German philosopher and physician (d. 1899)


• 
  1826 – Wilhelm Liebknecht, German journalist and politician (d. 1900)


• 
  1830 - Eli C. D. Shortridge, Governor of North Dakota (d. 1908)


• 
  1853 - Elihu Thomson, British-American engineer, inventor and businessman (d. 1937)


• 
  1867 – Cy Young, American baseball player (d. 1955)


• 
  1869 - Edwin Lutyens, British architect (d. 1944)


• 
  1870 - Pavlo Melas, Greek officer (d. 1904)


• 
  1873 - Tullio Levi-Civita, Italian mathematician (d. 1941)


• 
  1874 – Lou Henry Hoover, First Lady of the United States (d. 1944)


• 
  1876 - Friedrich Traun, German athlete and tennis player (d. 1908)


• 
  1887 - Phraya Phahon Phonphayuhasena, Prime Minister of Thailand (d. 1947)


• 
  1888 - Enea Bossi, Italian-American engineer and aviation pioneer (d. 1963)


• 
  1889 - Warner Baxter, American actor (d. 1951)


• 
  1890 - Harold Spencer Jones, English astronomer (d. 1960)


• 
  1891 - Alfred Neubauer, German racing team manager (d. 1980)


• 
  1892 - Jozsef Mindszenty, Hungarian cardinal (d. 1975)


• 
  1895 - Ernst Jünger, German writer (d. 1998)


• 
  1899 - Lavrenty Beria, Georgian-Soviet politician (d. 1953)


• 
  1900 – John McEwen, eighteenth Prime Minister of Australia (d. 1980)

1901 – 1950 |

• 
  1902 - William Walton, British composer (d. 1983)


• 
  1907 - Braguinha, Brazilian singer and songwriter (d. 2006)


• 
  1911 - Freya von Moltke, German resistance activist (d. 2010)


• 
  1913 - R. S. Thomas, Welsh poet and Anglican priest (d. 2000)


• 
  1914 - Phil Foster, American actor (d. 1985)


• 
  1914 - Chapman Pincher, British journalist, historian and author (d. 2014)


• 
  1916 - Peter Geach, British philosopher (d. 2013)


• 
  1916 – Eugene McCarthy, American politician (d. 2005)


• 
  1918 – Pearl Bailey, American singer and actress (d. 1990)


• 
  1918 – Sam Walton, American businessman (d. 1992)


• 
  1920 - Pierre Moinot, French writer (d. 2007)


• 
  1923 - Geoff Duke, British motorcycle racer (d. 2015)


• 
  1926 - Moshe Sanbar, Hungarian-born Israeli economist (d. 2012)


• 
  1927 – John Robert Vane, English pharmacologist (d. 2004)


• 
  1927 - John McLaughlin, American television personality and political commentator (d. 2016)


• 
  1929 - Sheila Kitzinger, English childbirth activist (d. 2015)


• 
  1929 - Lennart Meri, Estonian statesman and 2nd President of Estonia (d. 2006)


• 
  1929 - Richard Lewontin, American biologist and philosopher
  


• 
  1930 – Anerood Jugnauth, President of Mauritius
  


• 
  1931 - Aleksei Gubarev, Soviet cosmonaut (d. 2015)


• 
  1931 – Norman Tebbit, English politician


• 
  1931 - Stefan Andrei, Romanian politician (d. 2014)


• 
  1933 - Edvard Grimstad, Norwegian politician (d. 2014)


• 
  1935 - Ruby Murray, English actress and singer (d. 1996)


• 
  1936 - Richard Rodney Bennett, English composer (d. 2012)


• 
  1936 - John A. Durkin, American politician


• 
  1936 - Joseph P. Teasdale, former Governor of Missouri (d. 2014)


• 
  1936 - Judith Guest, American writer


• 
  1937 - Smarck Michel, 6th Prime Minister of Haiti (d. 2012)


• 
  1937 – Bruno Mora, Italian footballer (d. 1986)


• 
  1939 - Terence Hill, Italian actor


• 
  1940 - Ray Davis, American singer and musician


• 
  1940 - Astrud Gilberto, Brazilian singer-songwriter
  


• 
  1940 - John Suchet, British journalist
  


• 
  1941 – Joseph Hooton Taylor, Jr., American astrophysicist


• 
  1941 - Violeta Andrei, Romanian actress
  


• 
  1942 - Larry Pressler, American politician


• 
  1943 – Eric Idle, English actor and comedian


• 
  1943 – John Major, former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
  


• 
  1943 – Vangelis, Greek musician and musician


• 
  1944 - Nana Akufo-Addo, President of Ghana
  


• 
  1944 – Terry Jacks, Canadian musician, songwriter, and activist


• 
  1945 – Walt Frazier, American basketball player


• 
  1946 - Billy Thorpe, Australian singer (d. 2007)


• 
  1946 - Robert J. Shiller, American economist
  


• 
  1947 - Bobby Kimball, American singer


• 
  1948 - Bud Cort, American movie and stage actor, director and writer
  


• 
  1949 - Michael Brecker, American jazz saxophonist and composer (d. 2007)


• 
  1949 – Dave Greenfield, English musician (The Stranglers)


• 
  1949 - Pauline Marois, 30th Premier of Quebec
  


• 
  1949 - Kayahan, Turkish singer-songwriter (d. 2015)


• 
  1949 - Keith Simpson, British politician


• 
  1950 - Mory Kanté, Guinean musician

1951 – 1975 |

• 
  1952 - Teofilo Stevenson, Cuban boxer (d. 2012)


• 
  1954 - Dianne Kay, American actress


• 
  1955 – Rolf Lassgard, Swedish actor


• 
  1955 - Brendan Gleeson, Irish actor and director
  


• 
  1955 - Henry Bellingham, English politician


• 
  1955 - Christopher Lawford, American actor


• 
  1957 – Christopher Lambert, French actor


• 
  1958 - Pedro Bial, Brazilian producer, director, writer, journalist and television presenter


• 
  1958 - Marc Silvestri, American comics artist and publisher


• 
  1959 – Brad McCrimmon, Canadian ice hockey player and coach (d. 2011)


• 
  1960 – Jo Nesbo, Norwegian writer and musician


• 
  1960 - Annabella Sciorra, American actress


• 
  1961 – Amy Sedaris, American actress


• 
  1961 - Michael Winterbottom, British movie director


• 
  1963 - Voula Patoulidou, Greek athlete


• 
  1963 - Joan Garriga, Spanish motorcycle road racer (d. 2015)


• 
  1964 – Elle Macpherson, Australian model


• 
  1965 - Jill Goodacre, American actress and model
  


• 
  1965 - Dominic Littlewood, English television presenter


• 
  1965 - William Ofelein, American astronaut
  


• 
  1966 - Jeroen Dijsselbloem, Dutch politician


• 
  1967 - Michel Hazanavicius, French movie director, producer and screenwriter
  


• 
  1968 – Lucy Lawless, New Zealand actress


• 
  1971 – Robert Gibbs, former US Press Secretary


• 
  1972 - Michel Ancel, French game designer


• 
  1972 - Priti Patel, English politician


• 
  1972 – Rui Costa, Portuguese footballer


• 
  1973 – Marc Overmars, Dutch footballer

From 1976 |

• 
  1976 – Jennifer Capriati, American tennis player


• 
  1979 - Estela Giménez, Spanish rhythmic gymnast


• 
  1979 - Tomoe Shinohara, Japanese actress, singer, fashion designer and producer
  


• 
  1980 - Kim Tae-hee, South Korean actress
  


• 
  1980 - Prince Hamzah bin Al Hussein of Jordan
  


• 
  1981 - Megan Hilty, American actress and singer


• 
  1981 - Jlloyd Samuel, Trinidad and Tobago footballer
  


• 
  1982 - Hideaki Takizawa, Japanese actor and singer


• 
  1983 - Jeremie Aliadiere, French footballer
  


• 
  1984 – Mohamed Bouazizi, Tunisian fruit seller (d. 2011)


• 
  1984 – Roman Kienast, Austrian footballer


• 
  1984 - Juan Monaco, Argentine tennis player


• 
  1985 – Maxim Lapierre, Canadian ice hockey player


• 
  1986 – Sylvan Ebanks-Blake, English footballer


• 
  1986 - Luke Eberl, American actor and director


• 
  1987 - Dimitri Payet, French footballer
  


• 
  1989 - Arnold Peralta, Honduran footballer (d. 2015)


• 
  1990 - Teemu Pukki, Finnish footballer
  


• 
  1990 - Lyle Taylor, British footballer
  


• 
  1991 - Irene, South Korean singer, television host and actress


• 
  1991 - Hayley McFarland, American actress


• 
  1991 - Fabio Borini, Italian footballer
  


• 
  1991 - N'Golo Kanté, French footballer
  


• 
  1992 - Chris Massoglia, American actor


• 
  1994 - Sulli, South Korean actress, singer and dancer
  


• 
  1995 - Marc Musso, American actor


• 
  2012 - Isla Elizabeth Phillips, great-granddaughter of Queen Elizabeth II
  

Deaths |

Up to 1900 |

• 
  87 BC - Emperor Wu of Han of China (b. 156 BC)


• 
  57 - Emperor Gwangwu of Han of China (b. 5)


• 
  1058 – Pope Stephen IX (b. 1020)


• 
  1368 - Emperor Go-Murakami of Japan (b. 1328)


• 
  1461 - Henry Percy, 3rd Duke of Northumberland, English politician (b. 1421)


• 
  1578 - Louis I, Cardinal of Guise, French cardinal (b. 1527)


• 
  1625 – Antonio de Herrera y Tordesillas, Spanish historian (b. 1549)


• 
  1772 – Emanuel Swedenborg, Swedish philosopher and mathematician (b. 1688)


• 
  1792 – King Gustav III of Sweden (b. 1746)


• 
  1826 - Johann Heinrich Voss, German poet (b. 1751)


• 
  1829 - Cornelio Saavedra, Argentine military officer (b. 1759)


• 
  1848 – John Jacob Astor, German-American businessman (b. 1763)


• 
  1855 - Henri Druey, Swiss politician (b. 1799)


• 
  1873 - Francesco Zantedeschi, Italian physicist (b. 1797)


• 
  1877 - Inazuma Raigoro, Japanese sumo wrestler (b. 1802)


• 
  1888 – Charles-Valentin Alkan, French composer (b. 1813)


• 
  1891 – Georges Seurat, French painter (b. 1859)

1901 – 2000 |

• 
  1911 - Alexandre Guilmant, French organist and composer (b. 1837)


• 
  1912 – Henry Robertson Bowers, English explorer (b. 1883)


• 
  1912 – Robert Falcon Scott, English explorer (b. 1868)


• 
  1912 – Edward Adrian Wilson, English explorer (b. 1872)


• 
  1934 - Otto Hermann Kahn, German millionaire (b. 1867)


• 
  1937 – Karol Szymanowski, Polish composer (b. 1882)


• 
  1939 - Gerardo Machado, 5th President of Cuba (b. 1871)


• 
  1940 – Alexander Obolensky, Russian prince and England rugby player (b. 1916)


• 
  1948 - Olev Siinmaa, Estonian architect (b. 1881)


• 
  1956 – Infante Alfonso of Spain (b. 1941)


• 
  1959 – Barthélemy Boganda, President of the Central African Republic (b. 1910)


• 
  1972 - J. Arthur Rank, 1st Baron Rank, English businessman (b. 1888)


• 
  1980 - Mantovani, Italian-born conductor (b. 1905)


• 
  1981 – Eric Williams, 1st Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago (b. 1911)


• 
  1982 – Carl Orff, German composer (b. 1895)


• 
  1982 - Walter Hallstein, German educator and politician (b. 1901)


• 
  1985 – Jeanine Deckers, Belgian nun and singer (b. 1933)


• 
  1985 - Luther Terry, Surgeon General of the United States (b. 1911)


• 
  1986 - Harry Ritz, Austrian-American actor (b. 1907)


• 
  1988 - Maurice Blackburn, Canadian composer, conductor and sound editor (b. 1914)


• 
  1991 - Lee Atwater, American political advisor (b. 1951)


• 
  1994 - Bill Travers, English actor, director and screenwriter (b. 1922)

From 2001 |

• 
  2001 – Helge Ingstad, Norwegian explorer and archaeologist (b. 1899)


• 
  2003 - Carlo Urbani, Italian physician (b. 1956)


• 
  2004 - Joel Feinberg, American philosopher (b. 1926)


• 
  2004 - Simone Renant, French actress (b. 1911)


• 
  2009 – Maurice Jarre, French composer (b. 1924)


• 
  2009 - Vladimir Fedotov, Soviet-Russian footballer (b. 1943)


• 
  2009 - Helen Levitt, American photographer (b. 1913)


• 
  2011 - José Alencar, Vice President of Brazil (b. 1931)


• 
  2011 – Robert Tear, Welsh tenor and conductor (b. 1939)


• 
  2013 - Ralph Klein, 12th Premier of Alberta (b. 1942)


• 
  2014 - Karl Spillman Forester, American judge (b. 1940)


• 
  2014 - Birgitta Valberg, Swedish actress (b. 1916)


• 
  2014 - Yosef Hamadani Cohen, Iranian Jewish leader (b. 1916)


• 
  2014 - Marc Platt, American dancer and actor (b. 1913)


• 
  2014 - Hobart Alter, American surfer and boat designer (b. 1933)


• 
  2014 - Dane Witherspoon, American actor (b. 1957)


• 
  2015 - Juan Carlos Maccarone, Argentine Roman Catholic bishop (b. 1940)


• 
  2016 - Patty Duke, American actress (b. 1946)


• 
  2016 - Jean-Pierre Coffe, French television presenter and food critic (b. 1938)


• 
  2017 - Alexei Alexeyevich Abrikosov, Russian-American theoretical physicist (b. 1928)


• 
  2017 - Ken Sparks, American football player and coach (b. 1944)


• 
  2018 - Emiliano Mondonico, Italian footballer (b. 1947)


• 
  2018 - Stephen Reinhardt, American judge (b. 1931)


• 
  2018 - Rusty Staub, American baseball player (b. 1944)

Observances |

• Boganda Day (Central African Republic)


• Youth Day (Republic of China)