1542 – Cristovão da Gama, Portuguese soldier who led a force with Ethiopia against the Adal Sultanate, captured and executed at 25 or 26
1769 – Edmond Hoyle, English games expert, dies (birth date unknown)
1782 – Richard Kempenfelt, Royal Navy Admiral drowns in sinking of HMS Royal George at about 64 (exact birthday uncertain)
1799 – Pope Pius VI [Count Giovanni Angelo Braschi], Italian Pope (1775-99), dies at 81
1853 – Charles Napier, British soldier and Major General of the Bombay Army who conquered Sindh and became its Governor (1843-47), dies at 71
1865 – John Brough, US publisher/(gov-R-Ohio), dies at about 54
1983 – Simon Oakland [Weiss], American stage and screen character actor (Toma; Kolchak), dies of colon cancer at 68
1991 – (Christina) “Dixie” Dunbar, American stage and screen dancer, singer and actress (George White’s Scandals; Pigskin Parade), dies of a heart attack at 72
2003 – Michel Constantin, French film actor, dies at 79
2018 – Paul Taylor, American dancer and choreographer (Paul Taylor Dance Company), dies at 88
Author: gil7
Historical Events for 29th August 2026
1932 – United Cigar Stores shuts 800 shops
1954 – San Francisco International Airport (SFO) opens
1964 – James Baldwin’s stage drama “Blues for Mister Charlie,” directed by Burgess Meredith, closes at the ANTA Playhouse in NYC after 148 performances
1969 – Joe Pepitone quits NY Yankees after being fined $500 for leaving the bench
1982 – The synthetic chemical element Meitnerium, atomic number 109, is first synthesized at the Gesellschaft für Schwerionenforschung in Darmstadt, Germany
1987 – 44th Venice Film Festival: “Au revoir les enfants” (“Goodbye, Children”), directed by Louis Malle, wins Golden Lion
2004 – 21st MTV Video Music Awards: OutKast, Beyoncé, and Usher, featuring Lil Jon and Ludacris, win
2018 – Germany returns the human remains of Namibian Herero and Nama people killed during the 1904-08 genocide at a church service in Berlin
Today in History for 29th August 2026
Historical Events
1540 – Holy Roman Emperor Charles V deprives the city Ghent of its definitive rights and privileges
1822 – Domitila de Castro meets her long-term lover Dom Pedro I, then Prince of Portugal and later Emperor of Brazil, for the first time in São Paulo
1906 – US National Championship Men’s Tennis, Newport, RI: William Clothier beats defending champion Beals Wright 6-3, 6-0, 6-4
1992 – Largest wrestling crowd outside the US: 75,000 at Wembley Stadium, London
2007 – 64th Venice Film Festival: “Lust, Caution” directed by Ang Lee wins Golden Lion
Famous Birthdays
1899 – George Macready, American actor (Martin Peyton-Peyton Place), born in Providence, Rhode Island (d. 1973)
1917 – Isabel Sanford, American actress (Louise-Jeffersons/All in the Family), born in New York City (d. 2004)
1920 – Joseph Lesniewski, American Easy Company, soldier in 101st Airborne, born in Erie, Pennsylvania (d. 2012)
1968 – Darren Joseph, Canadian football fullback (Saskatchewan Roughriders), born in Ottawa, Canada
1989 – Charlotte Richie, English actress (Call the Midwives; Ghosts; You) and singer, born in Clapham, London
Famous Deaths
1940 – Arthur De Greef, Belgian composer, dies at 77
1973 – Stringer Davis, English actress (Mouse on the Moon; Miranda), dies at about 77
1980 – Louis Darquier de Pellepoix, French politician and Nazi collaborator (anti-Semite minister in WWII Vichy government), dies at 92
1983 – William Goyen, American writer, dies at 68
2021 – Ed Asner, American Emmy Award-winning actor (The Mary Tyler Moore Show – “Mr. Grant”; Lou Grant, Roots; Up), and activist, dies at 91
Famous Deaths for 28th August 2026
1618 – Albert Frederick, Duke of Prussia (1568–1618), dies at 65
1798 – James Wilson, One of the Founding Fathers of the United States and a signatory of the U.S. Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution, dies at 55
1839 – William Smith, British geologist who is credited with creating the first nationwide geological map (Strata Identified by Organized Fossils), dies at 70
1910 – Paolo Mantegazza, Italian neurologist and anthropologist, dies at 78
1937 – Frederick Burr Opper, American pioneering cartoonist (Happy Hooligan), dies at 80
1948 – Eleni Gatzoyiannis, Greek heroine (subject of “Eleni” by son Nicholas Gage about how she saved her children), shot and killed by communists at 41
1964 – Lumsden Hare, Irish actor (Oregon Trail, Desert Fox, Young Bess), dies at 89
1987 – John Huston, US/Irish actor and director (Maltese Falcon), dies at 81
2018 – Tatyana Kuznetsova, Soviet cosmonaut (youngest person selected for space training at 20 but never flew), dies at 77
2023 – Len Chandler, American folk music singer-songwriter (“Beans in Ears”), and civil rights activist, dies at 88
Historical Events for 28th August 2026
1907 – United Parcel Service is founded by James E. Casey in Seattle, Washington
1949 – Riot prevents Paul Robeson from singing near Peekskill, New York
1968 – Police and anti-war demonstrators clash at Chicago’s Democratic National Convention
1970 – “I’ll Be There” single by The Jackson 5 is released (Billboard Song of the Year 1970)
2011 – 28th MTV Video Music Awards: Katy Perry, Lady Gaga, and Justin Bieber win
2016 – Canadian Open Women’s Golf at Priddis Green Country Club: Ariya Jutanugarn of Thailand wins by four strokes over Kim Sei-young of South Korea
2017 – North Korea launches a missile that flies over Japan, and the country’s J-Alert warning system warns people to take cover
2018 – Chinese ride-sharing firm Didi Chuxing issues a public apology after a second Hitch passenger is killed within three months
Today in History for 28th August 2026
Historical Events
1913 – Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands opens the Peace Palace in The Hague, Netherlands, an international law administrative building housing the Permanent Court of Arbitration
1967 – Asif Iqbal and Intikhab Alam make a 190-run stand for the 9th wicket against England
1977 – NY Yankee Ron Guidry faces just 28 batters in 1-0 win over Texas Rangers
2009 – Noel Gallagher, the guitarist of the British pop-rock band Oasis, quits the band, citing an inability to be with his brother Liam
2017 – North Korea launches a missile that flies over Japan, and the country’s J-Alert warning system warns people to take cover
Famous Birthdays
1828 – William Alexander Hammond, American military physician and Brigadier General (Union Army), born in Annapolis, Maryland (d. 1900)
1892 – Elizabeth Hirsh Fleisher, American architect (Parkway House), born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (d. 1975)
1915 – Max Robertson, British sports commentator (BBC Radio), born in Dacca, Bengal (d. 2009)
1966 – Jerry Fehily, Irish drummer (Hothouse Flowers – “Don’t Go”; “Thing Of Beauty”), born in Cork, Ireland
1970 – Rick Recht, Jewish-American rock singer-songwriter (“Tear Down The Walls”), born in St. Louis, Missouri
Famous Deaths
1798 – James Wilson, One of the Founding Fathers of the United States and a signatory of the U.S. Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution, dies at 55
1927 – Li Dazhao [Ta-chao], Chinese intellectual, revolutionary and co-founder of the Chinese Communist Party with Chen Duxiu, executed as a political prisoner at 37
1937 – Frederick Burr Opper, American pioneering cartoonist (Happy Hooligan), dies at 80
2013 – Rob du Bois, Dutch composer, dies at 79
2025 – Randy Boone, American actor (Cimarron Strip, The Virginian), dies at 83
Famous Deaths for 27th August 2026
1508 – Hieronymus Münzer, German humanist, geographer and physician, toured and wrote about the Iberian peninsula, dies
1664 – Francisco Zurbarán, Spanish painter, dies at 65
1950 – Cesare Pavese, Italian writer (Fuoco Grande), commits suicide at 41
1984 – Bernard Youens [Popley], British actor (Coronation Street, Somewhere in Politics), dies from a heart attack at 69
1991 – Teddy Stauffer, Swiss bandleader “Germany’s swing-king”, dies at 82
1991 – Vince Taylor [Brian Holden], British rock and roll singer (Brand New Cadillac), dies of lung cancer at 52
1995 – Dick Bentley, Australian comedian and actor (The Glums), dies at 88
2015 – Darryl Dawkins, American basketball center (Philadelphia 76ers, NJ Nets; NBA breaking a backboard rule), dies of a heart attack at 58
2020 – David Bryant, English lawn bowler (World Outdoor C’ship singles 1966, 80, 88; 4 x C’wealth Games gold singles), dies at 88
2023 – Franne Lee (née Newman), American Tony Award-winning costume designer (Sweeny Todd; SNL, 1975-80), dies at 81
Historical Events for 27th August 2026
1569 – Pope Pius V names Cosimo I de’Medici, Duke of Florence as Grand Duke of Tuscany
1626 – Battle of Lutter: Catholic League defeats Danish King Christian IV
1928 – US National Championship Women’s Tennis, Forest Hills, NY: Defending champion Helen Wills defeats fellow American Helen Jacobs 6–2, 6–1 for her 5th of 7 US singles crowns
1934 – Harold Arlen, Ira Gershwin, and Yip Harburg’s musical “Life Begins at 8:40,” starring Ray Bolger and Luella Gear, opens at the Winter Garden Theatre, NYC, and runs for 237 performances
1950 – First transmission of a TV program from continental Europe airs on the BBC
1960 – Anita Lonsbrough swims a 200 m breaststroke world and Olympic record of 2:49.5
1972 – The Grateful Dead holds a benefit concert for the Springfield Creamery (a yogurt company owned by writer Ken Kesey’s brother) at the Old Renaissance Faire Grounds in Veneta, Oregon
1984 – The USSR performs an underground nuclear test
Today in History for 27th August 2026
Historical Events
1628 – Java: Sultan Agung of Mataram attacks Batavia
1914 – US war reporter Richard H. Davis visits Leuven in Belgium
1955 – Sandy Koufax fans 14 Reds as both teams combine for a record 23 strikeouts
1961 – Francis the Talking Mule is a mystery guest on “What’s My Line”
1965 – The Beatles spend an evening with Elvis Presley at his Los Angeles, California, home
Famous Birthdays
1896 – Leon Theremin, Russian-Soviet electronic musical instruments inventor, born in St. Petersburg, Russia (d. 1993)
1908 – Lyndon B. Johnson, 36th US President (Democrat: 1963-69), born in Stonewall, Texas (d. 1973)
1930 – John Daly, British trade union leader (National and Local Government Officers’ Association (NALGO)), born in Clerkenwell, England (d. 1999)
1947 – Barbara Bach [Goldbach], American actress (The Spy Who Loved Me, Force 10 from Navarone), born in Queens, New York
1973 – Dietmar Hamann, German soccer midfielder (59 caps; Bayern Munich, Newcastle United, Liverpool, Manchester City), born in Waldsassen, Germany
Famous Deaths
1981 – Joan Edwards, American pop singer on radio (Your Hit Parade) and television (Joan Edwards Show), dies of a heart attack at 62
2008 – Del Martin [Dorothy Taliaferro], American lesbian activist who was part of the first legal same-sex marriage in California, dies at 87
2010 – Corinne Day, British fashion photographer known for shooting Face magazine’s “3rd Summer of Love” cover, dies of cancer at 48
2015 – George Cleve, Austrian-American conductor (Winnipeg Symphony, 1968-70; San Jose Symphony, 1972-92; San Francisco Midsummer Mozart Festival, 1974-2015), dies of liver failure at 79
2025 – (Randall) “Duke” Cunningham, American Navy fighter pilot (Vietnam) and Republican politician (US Representative from California, 1991-2005) who was convicted of accepting bribes, dies at 83
Famous Deaths for 26th August 2026
1278 – Ottokar II, King of Bohemia (1253-78), dies in battle
1921 – Ludwig Thoma, German writer, dies at 54
1937 – Andrew Mellon, American banker (Mellon Bank), industrialist and Secretary of the Treasury (1921-32), dies at 82
1949 – Nico van Suchtelen, Dutch writer and publisher, dies at 70
1974 – Charles Lindbergh, American aviator who was 1st to fly solo across the Atlantic, dies of lymphoma at 72
1977 – Heinz Röttger, German composer (Phaeton), and music director (Landestheater Dessau, 1954-77), dies at 67
1980 – Jimmy Forrest, American jazz saxophonist (Night Train), dies at 60
1987 – John Goddard, West Indian cricket all-rounder and captain (27 Tests @ 30.67; 33 wickets; Barbados), dies at 68
1989 – Irving Stone, American writer (Love is Eternal, Lust for Life), dies at 86
2007 – Edward Brandt Jr., American physician and public health official, dies at 74