Holidays
Feast Day of St. John the Baptist
Commemorating his death by order of Herod.
What Happened On
The Fugitive
August 29, 1967
***Spoiler Alert*** The "one-armed man" is killed by Lt. Gerard on the final episode of the TV series The Fugitive (1963-67). This was the most-watched television series episode up to that time, watched by 78 million people. That record was broken by the "Who Shot J.R.?" episode of Dallas.
Last Beatles Concert
August 29, 1966
The Beatles give their last concert. It was held in San Francisco's Candlestick Park. With a capacity of 42,500, only 25,000 tickets were sold at between $4.50 and $6.50 per ticket. Between the Beatles' take of about $90,000, the city of San Francisco getting 15% of paid admissions, and other expenses the concert was a loss for the promoters.
Their last public performance would be an unannounced live appearance in January 1969 on the rooftop of the Apple building.
Russia Becomes a Nuclear Power
August 29, 1949
The USSR makes their first atomic bomb test. The development was aided by blue prints of the original American Trinity bomb design given to the Russians by the spy Klaus Fuchs, a Los Alamos physicist. The discovery of Fuchs' espionage led to the arrest of a spy ring that included husband and wife Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, who were executed for their part in the crime.
The Human Fish
August 29, 1937
The legless swimmer, known as "The Human Fish," completes a six-day 150-mile (241 km) swim. He swam from a pier in Albany, NY to the 125th Street Ferry dock in New York City. Forty-six-year-old Charles Zimmy lost his legs at age nine in an accident and his legless body provided enough buoyancy to float while sleeping.
Last Wild Indian
August 29, 1911
50-year-old Ishi, the last survivor of the Yahi Indian tribe, wanders into Oroville, California. He became widely known as the "Last Wild Indian." The name Ishi was given to him because, according to Yahi tradition, he was not allowed to say his name until formally introduced by another Yahi tribe member. When asked his name, he responded "I have none, because there were no people to name me," meaning that there was no other Yahi to speak his name on his behalf. Ishi means "man" in the Yana language.
In 1865, Ishi and his tribe were attacked in the Three Knolls Massacre, in which 40 of their tribesmen were killed. Cattlemen then killed about half of the 33 who escaped the massacre. The last survivors, including Ishi and his family, went into hiding for the next 44 years, and their tribe was believed to be extinct.
In late 1908, a group of surveyors came across the camp inhabited by Ishi, his uncle, his younger sister, and his mother. The former three fled while his mother, who was too sick to flee, hid herself in blankets. The surveyors ransacked their camp and Ishi's mother died soon after his return. His uncle and sister never returned. Ishi wandered in the wilderness for three years until he was captured while foraging for food.
Ishi was able teach researchers much about the culture and language of the Yahi people.
Photo Credit: Eli Hodapp
Photo Credit: Eli Hodapp
Chop Suey
August 29, 1896
According to food lore, chop suey is invented by the chef of Chinese Ambassador Li Hung-Chang. While visiting New York City, he wanted to serve a meal that would appeal to both American and Chinese tastes. Although, this is one of the more common tales of how the dish came to be, some culinary historians dispute this story.
Abraham Lincoln Uses Moon to Defend Client
August 29, 1857
In what is considered his most famous case, lawyer and future U.S. President Abraham Lincoln used the Moon to defend Duff Armstrong who was accused of murdering James Preston Metzker on August 29, 1857. Lincoln had been friends with Armstrong's recently deceased father and offered to defend him free of charge.
Charles Allen testified at the trial the following year that at just before midnight he saw Armstrong strike Metzker with a slungshot (a weight tied to a leather thong). Allen claimed he was about 150 feet away at the time. When Lincoln asked Allen how he could identify Armstrong in the middle of the night from that distance, Allen claimed he could see by the light of the full Moon. Lincoln then took out an almanac and showed that at the time of the murder the Moon was in its first quarter and riding low on the horizon and just about to set. Lincoln claimed that not only was the witness lying about the full Moon, it would have been impossible to have enough moonlight to see clearly that night, thus proving he was lying. The jury agreed and acquitted Armstrong.
This case became known as "The Almanac Trial".
Faraday's Induction Experiment
Faraday's Induction Experiment
Electromagnetic Induction
August 29, 1831
The principle of magnetic induction is proved by English scientist Michael Faraday.
Photo Credit: Nicolas Shayko
Photo Credit: Nicolas Shayko
Rush Limbaugh
August 29, 2006
On his nationally-syndicated program, Rush Limbaugh the conservative political commentator who once weighed 325-pounds, blames the obesity epidemic on the liberal left, stating, "Didn't teach them how to butcher a -- slaughter a cow to get the butter, we gave them the butter." (Someone should have explained to him how butter is made)
Hurricane Katrina
August 29, 2005
One of the strongest hurricanes ever recorded strikes the U.S. Gulf Coast. The cities of Mobile, Alabama, Waveland and Biloxi, Mississippi, and Slidell, Louisiana were devastated by the storm. Levees separating Lake Pontchartrain from New Orleans were breached by the surge, flooding 80% of the city. At least 1,836 people were killed. With the damage estimated at $81.2 billion, it was the costliest natural disaster in U.S. history.
Mark Spitz
August 29, 1972
Swimmer Mark Spitz wins the third of his seven 1972 Olympic gold medals. Seven was the most Olympic gold medals ever won by a single athlete in a single Olympiad up to that time. That record was broken by Michael Phelps in 2008.
Shoe Clasp
August 29, 1893
The shoe clasp lock is patented, the forerunner to the modern zipper. U.S. Patent #504,038
Birthdays
Michael Jackson
Born August 29, 1958 d. 2009
American Grammy-winning singer, "King of Pop." One of the Jackson Five. His Thriller album sold 38,000,000 copies in 1984 and is the best-selling solo album of all time. Jackson died of acute propofol and benzodiazepine intoxication at his home in Los Angeles. The drugs had been administered by his personal physician to help him sleep.
Eleanor Rigby - from the Beatle's Song
Eleanor Rigby
Born August 29, 1895 d. 1939
English namesake.
"Eleanor Rigby died in the church and was buried along with her name
Nobody came
Father McKenzie wiping the dirt from his hands as he walks from the grave
No one was saved
All the lonely people"
A tombstone with the name Eleanor Rigby is in the graveyard of St Peter's Parish Church in Woolton, Liverpool, where Paul McCartney and John Lennon spent time during their teenage years sunbathing. Just a few yards away from Rigby's tombstone is another with the name McKenzie on it. The names Eleanor Rigby and Father McKenzie were used in the Beatles' 1966 hit song, Eleanor Rigby, written primarily by McCartney. While McCartney claims he just made up the names for the song, he says the coincidence could be a product of his subconscious.
The graveyard, coincidentally, is also close to where McCartney and Lennon first met.
Founder of the ASPCA
Henry Bergh
Born August 29, 1813 d. 1888
American animal rights activist. Founder and first president of the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA, 1866) and helped found the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (1875).
Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.
Born August 29, 1809 d. 1894
American poet, physician, first dean of Harvard Medical School (1847-53). He discovered that the deadly childbed (puerperal) fever was contagious. He believed it was passed between patients by their doctors, for which he was ridiculed - until it was proved true. He coined the term "anesthesia" (1846, from the Greek "no feeling"). He is also the father of the U.S. Supreme Court judge of the same name. Quote: "Man's mind, once stretched by a new idea, never regains its original dimensions."
Jean Lafitte
Born August 29, 1780 d. 1823
French pirate, leader of a band of adventurers off the coast of Louisiana. He served with the U.S. in the War of 1812 in which he helped Andrew Jackson defend New Orleans against the British.
Rebecca De Mornay (Rebecca Jane Pearch)
Born August 29, 1959
American actress. Film: Risky Business (1983, Lana the hooker).
Robin Leach
Born August 29, 1941 d. 2018
English reporter. TV: Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous (1984-95, host, "Champagne wishes and caviar dreams").
James Brady
Born August 29, 1940 d. 2014
U.S. President Ronald Reagan's White House press secretary (1981-86). In 1981, he was shot by John Hinckley, Jr. who was trying to assassinate Reagan to impress Jodie Foster. The gun control law known as the Brady Bill was passed as a result of this shooting.
Dave Nicholson
Born August 29, 1939 d. 2023
American baseball player. He set the record for the longest major-league home run hit during a regular-season game by hitting a 573-feet (175.7 m) home run for the Chicago White Sox over the left-field roof of Chicago's Comiskey Park in 1964.
John McCain (John Sidney McCain III)
Born August 29, 1936 d. 2018
American politician, naval aviator. U.S. Senator (1987-2018, Arizona), U.S. House of Representatives (1983-87, Arizona), and Vietnam prisoner of war (1967-73). He was aboard the USS Forrestal when it caught fire, killing 134 people.
Marion Williams
Born August 29, 1927 d. 1994
American gospel singer. Rolling Stone magazine called her the greatest Gospel singer of all time. Music: Standing Here Wondering Which Way to Go (1971).
Sir Richard Attenborough
Born August 29, 1923 d. 2014
English Oscar-winning director. Film: Gandhi (1982).
Sanford (left) with cast members Sherman Hemsley and Mike Evans
Sanford (left) with cast members Sherman Hemsley and Mike Evans
Isabel Sanford (Eloise Gwendolyn Sanford)
Born August 29, 1917 d. 2004
American Emmy-winning actress. Isabel Sanford was the first African-American actress to win a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series (1981). TV: The Jeffersons (1975-85, Louise "Weezy" Jefferson).
Ingrid Bergman
Born August 29, 1915 d. 1982
Swedish Oscar-Emmy-winning actress. Film: Casablanca (1943, Ilsa Laszlo), Gaslight (1944, Oscar), and Murder on the Orient Express (1974, Oscar).
Founder of the Hallmark Greeting Card Company
Joyce Clyde Hall
Born August 29, 1891 d. 1982
American businessman, founder of the Hallmark Greeting Card Company (1910). "When you care enough to send the very best."
Deaths
Ed Asner (Edward Asner)
Died August 29, 2021 b. 1929
American Emmy-winning actor. Ed Asner is known for playing Lou Grant in two different TV series and has won seven Primetime Emmy Awards, the most for any male actor. He also served as president of the Screen Actors Guild.
TV: The Mary Tyler Moore Show (1970-77, Lou Grant), Lou Grant (1977-82, title role), Roots (1977, Capt. Thomas Davies), and Rich Man, Poor Man (1976, Axel Jordache).
Gene Wilder (Jerome Silberman)
Died August 29, 2016 b. 1933
American actor. Film: The Producers (1968), Blazing Saddles (1974), Young Frankenstein (1974), Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (1971, Wonka), and Stir Crazy (1980).
He was married to comedian Gilda Radner from 1984 till her death in 1989 from ovarian cancer.
Lee Marvin
Died August 29, 1987 b. 1924
American Oscar-winning actor. Film: Cat Ballou (1965, Oscar) and The Dirty Dozen (1967). TV: M Squad (Lt. Frank Ballinger).
Archie Campbell (right) on Hee Haw
Archie Campbell (right) on Hee Haw
Archie Campbell
Died August 29, 1987 b. 1914
American comedian. Known for the Hee Haw song PFFT! You Was Gone and his "Rindercella" routine in which she "slopped her dripper." TV: Hee Haw (1969-87).
Ingrid Bergman
Died August 29, 1982 b. 1915
Swedish Oscar-Emmy-winning actress. Film: Casablanca (1943, Ilsa Laszlo), Gaslight (1944, Oscar), and Murder on the Orient Express (1974, Oscar).
David T. Abercrombie
Died August 29, 1931 b. 1867
American outdoorsman and topographer. He founded Abercrombie Co. (1892) which became Abercrombie & Fitch Co. (1900).
Rev. William Archibald Spooner
Died August 29, 1930 b. 1844
Spoonerisms are named after him (The reversal of parts of words in a sentence). He once called Queen Victoria "queer old dean" and asked if it was "kisstomary to cuss the bride."
Brigham Young
Died August 29, 1877 b. 1801
Mormon leader. Founder of Salt Lake City and first Gov. of Utah. He left behind 17 widows.
Pius VI
Died August 29, 1799 b. 1717
Italian religious leader, 250th Pope (1775-99). He was imprisoned (1798) by Napoleon Bonaparte, where he died.
Edmund Hoyle
Died August 29, 1769 b. 1672
English expert on card games.