What Happened On
Clinton Admits Marijuana Use
March 29, 1992
U.S. Presidential candidate Bill Clinton states, "…when I was in England I experimented with marijuana a time or two, and I didn't like it. I didn't inhale it, and never tried it again." In 2010, a former Oxford classmate would claim in his memoirs that Clinton didn't inhale because he preferred marijuana brownies.
Recently released U.S. POWs returning home
Recently released U.S. POWs returning home
Vietnam War
March 29, 1973
The last U.S. prisoners of war held by Communist forces in Vietnam are released and the last U.S. troops are withdrawn from South Vietnam.
On the Cover of the Rolling Stone
March 29, 1973
Dr. Hook and the Medicine Show make the cover of Rolling Stone magazine. Their song lamenting their inability to get on the Cover of the Rolling Stone was released just months earlier. But did he buy five copies for his mother?
Kemmler's execution
Kemmler's execution
First Electric-Chair Execution
March 29, 1889
William Kemmler, of New York, murders his common-law wife with a hatchet, for which he was executed the following year.
Royal Albert Hall
March 29, 1871
London's Royal Albert Hall opens. It was then that its famous echo was discovered, due to the cove of its ceiling, causing some to remark, "the only place where a British composer could be sure of hearing his work twice". This was remedied in the 1960s by hanging acoustic diffusers from the ceiling.
Vesta, dwarf planet Ceres, and Moon size comparison
Vesta, dwarf planet Ceres, and Moon size comparison
Only Asteroid Visible to the Naked Eye
March 29, 1807
Vesta is discovered by Wilhelm Olbers of Germany. It was named after Vesta, the virgin goddess of home and hearth from Roman mythology. It was the fourth asteroid discovered; the first was Ceres.
Michael Milken
March 29, 1989
The "Junk Bond King" is indicted on 98 charges of securities fraud, racketeering, mail fraud, etc. He would later plead guilty, serve 22 months in jail, and pay $1.1 billion in fines.
Desperately Seeking Susan
March 29, 1985
The movie Desperately Seeking Susan premieres, starring Madonna and Rosanna Arquette.
Desegregation
March 29, 1967
Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas are ordered by the Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals to complete school desegregation by the fall term.
23rd Amendment
March 29, 1961
23rd Amendment ratified, providing electors for the District of Columbia.
Ethel and Julius after being found guilty
Ethel and Julius after being found guilty
Julius and Ethel Rosenberg Convicted
March 29, 1951
The married couple, Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, along with Morton Sobell, are convicted of selling top secret information to the Soviets. They were executed in 1953, making them the first U.S. citizens executed for treason during peace time and the first married couple executed together in the U.S.
First Wedding In the White House
March 29, 1812
President James Madison's sister-in-law (she was also the widow of George Washington's nephew) marries U.S. Supreme Court Justice Thomas Todd.
Birthdays
Walmart's first store (1962, Wal-Mart Discount City in Rogers, Arkansas)
Walmart's first store (1962, Wal-Mart Discount City in Rogers, Arkansas)
Founder of Wal-Mart
Samuel Moore Walton
Born March 29, 1918 d. 1992
American businessman, founder of Walmart (1962) and Sam's Club (1983).
Pennsylvania oil well c1862
Pennsylvania oil well c1862
Pioneered Oil Well Drilling
Edwin Drake
Born March 29, 1819 d. 1880
American oil industry pioneer. He pioneered the use pipes to drill oil and drilled the first successful U.S. oil well (1859, near Titusville, Pennsylvania). He devised the idea to drive a pipe into the ground to prevent the drill hole from collapsing. Until then, oil production was limited to collecting surface oil. The ability to drill for oil launched the oil industry. The drilling of Drake's first well was slow, only progressing about three feet per day. Crowds would gather and jeer at his well, calling it "Drake's Folly." He drilled down to a depth of 69.5 feet (21 m) before striking oil, which was then hand pumped out of the well.
Unfortunately, while others grew rich from the oil industry he started, he died broke.
John Tyler
Born March 29, 1790 d. 1862
American politician. 10th U.S. President (1841-45) and 10th U.S. Vice-President (1841). He took office after President William Henry Harrison died after having served only 31 days. He was the first U.S. President to marry while in office and the only President to elope (1844), and the first President to decline to run for a second term. Siding with the South during the Civil War, he was elected to the House of Representatives of the Confederate Congress, but died before he could take office.
Tyler was almost killed when a gun exploded on the USS Princeton. Several others were killed, including his future bride's father. Tyler was supposed to be present, but he had stopped for drinks and was late.
Christopher Lambert
Born March 29, 1957
French actor. Film: Greystoke: Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes (1984, title role), Highlander (1986, title role), and Mortal Kombat (1995, thunder god Raiden).
Bud Cort (Walter Edward Cox)
Born March 29, 1948
American actor. Film: Harold and Maude (1971, Harold) and M*A*S*H (1972, Pvt. Boone).
Eric Idle
Born March 29, 1943
British comedian. TV: Monty Python's Flying Circus.
Billy Carter
Born March 29, 1937 d. 1988
American personality, U.S. President Jimmy Carter's brother.
Wheezer of The Little Rascals
Bobby Hutchins (Robert E. Hutchins)
Born March 29, 1925 d. 1945
American actor. Wheezer of The Little Rascals, he appeared in 58 Our Gang films (1927-33).
Hutchins joined the U.S. Army Air Forces in 1943 and was killed in a mid-air collision during a training exercise in 1945 at the age of 20. Hutchins was killed while trying to land his plane during a training exercise and struck another plane from the same unit in mid air. The other pilot survived. Hutchins was scheduled to graduate from flying school the following week.
He appeared in 58 Our Gang films (1927-33).
There were over 15,000 servicemen killed in U.S. Army Air Forces accidents from 1941 to 1945.
Pearl Bailey
Born March 29, 1918 d. 1990
Tony Award-winning actress, singer, noted for her role in the all-black version of Hello Dolly!
Man o' War
Born March 29, 1917 d. 1947
Thoroughbred race horse. Won 20 of 21 races from 1919-20 and was named the greatest race horse of the first half of the century.
Eugene McCarthy
Born March 29, 1916 d. 2005
U.S. Senator (1959-71). In 1968, he ran against incumbent Lyndon B. Johnson in the New Hampshire Democratic primary, with the intention of influencing the government to curtail its involvement in the Vietnam War. A number of antiwar activists cut their long hair and beards in order to campaign for McCarthy door-to-door, leading to the slogan "Get clean for Gene".
Note: Not to be confused with Senator Joseph McCarthy who led the controversial investigations into communism.
Philip Ahn (Pil Lip Ahn)
Born March 29, 1905 d. 1978
American actor. He was the first Asian-American film actor to receive a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. TV: Kung Fu (1972-75, Master Kan).
James E. Casey
Born March 29, 1888 d. 1983
American businessman, founder of United Parcel Service (UPS).
Cy Young (Denton True Young)
Born March 29, 1867 d. 1955
American baseball Hall of Famer, winningest baseball pitcher ever with 511 wins.
Elihu Thomson
Born March 29, 1853 d. 1937
English-born engineer and inventor. He was awarded over 700 patents and invented the recording wattmeter used in electricity usage meters.
Deaths
Louis Gossett, Jr.
Died March 29, 2024 b. 1936
American Oscar-Emmy-winning actor. Film: An Officer and a Gentleman (1982, Oscar). Stage: A Raisin in the Sun (1959). TV: Roots (1977, Emmy Award).
Patty Duke (Anna Marie Duke)
Died March 29, 2016 b. 1946
American Oscar-Emmy-winning actress. She portrayed Helen Keller in the Broadway (1959) and film (1962, Oscar) versions of The Miracle Worker. TV: The Patty Duke Show (1963-66, "identical cousins" Patty and Cathy).
She testified before the U.S. Senate that her appearance on The $64,000 Question quiz show when she was 12 years old had been rigged and that she had been coached.
Sidney Sheldon, who developed The Patty Duke Show for her, had noticed she had two distinct sides to her personality and developed the concept of identical cousins with contrasting personalities. In 1987, Duke revealed that she had been diagnosed with manic depression (bipolar disorder), subsequently becoming an activist for mental health causes.
Film: Valley of the Dolls (1967, Neely O'Hara). Music: Don't Just Stand There (1965, #8) and Say Something Funny (1965, #22).
Paul Henried (Paul George Julius von Henried)
Died March 29, 1992 b. 1908
Italian-born American actor. Film: Casablanca (1943, Victor Laszlo).
The Singing Nun (Jeannine Deckers)
Died March 29, 1985 b. 1933
Belgian nun. Also known as Sœur Sourire ("Sister Smile" in French), her song Dominique (1963) went to #1 on the U.S. charts and won the Grammy Award for Best Gospel or Other Religious Recording (Musical) in 1964, was also a nominee for Grammy Award for Record of the Year, and Sœur Sourire was a nominee for Best Female Vocal Performance. The song also outsold Elvis Presley during its stay on the Billboard Hot 100.
She received very little of the royalties from Dominique as the record label Philips and her producer took about 95% and the most of the rest, over $100,000, went to her religious congregation.
Deckers left the convent in 1966 and was forced by her record label to give up her professional names, "Sœur Sourire" and "The Singing Nun". She attempted to restart her music career, but was unsuccessful and then opened a school for autistic children which closed due to financial reasons in 1982.
Citing financial difficulties, in 1985 she and her long-time female roommate committed suicide together by taking overdoses of barbiturates and alcohol. In their suicide note, they wrote that they wished to be buried together.
Gustavus Franklin Swift
Died March 29, 1903 b. 1839
American merchant, founder of Swift and Co. He developed refrigerated railroad cars.
Hark! The Herald Angels Sing
Charles Wesley
Died March 29, 1788 b. 1707
English clergyman and hymnist. He helped his brother John Wesley establish Methodism and wrote over 6,500 hymns including Hark! The Herald Angels Sing (1739), which was based on the Bible verse Luke 2:14.
Stephen IX
Died March 29, 1058 b. ????
religious leader, 154th Pope (1057-58).