What Happened On
Led Zeppelin Robbed of $180,000
July 29, 1973
The rock band Led Zeppelin had $180,000 in cash (1800 one-hundred dollar bills) stolen from a safety-deposit box at their New York City hotel. The band's tour manager said the money had been accounted for earlier that day, but was missing at 7:30 PM. There was no evidence that the box had been tampered with and passports for the band members were still in the box. Opening the safety-deposit box required both the hotel employee's key and the patron's key, which had been in possession of the tour manager. This was the last day of their highly-successful 1973 North American Tour. The crime has never been solved.
Note: The amount stolen was initially erroneously reported as $203,000.
An A-4 Skyhawk burns after its fuel tank was struck by a Zuni missile
An A-4 Skyhawk burns after its fuel tank was struck by a Zuni missile
Forrestal Disaster
July 29, 1967
Fire on USS Forrestal kills 134 people. While the ship was preparing to launch attacks on Vietnam, a rocket from one of its own F-4 Phantom jet fighters accidentally launched and struck several parked A-4 Skyhawk jets which were waiting to take off. One of the parked Skyhawks was piloted by John McCain, the future U.S. senator from Arizona. The fuel from the Skyhawks spilled onto the ship's deck and caught fire. Compounding the disaster were the presence of outdated and volatile bombs that began exploding in the fire. Some of the bombs dated back to 1953 and had been stored on the deck, as it was felt they were too unstable to store with the rest of the ordnance.
It was determined by investigators that a surge in the jet's electrical system caused its rocket to fire. This would have been prevented had proper safety procedures been followed. A pigtail that allowed the rocket to fire was not supposed to be installed until the jet was ready for launch. However, it had been installed earlier in order to speed up the launch procedure. It is also believed that a second safety device, that also would have prevented the rocket launch, had blown off due to high winds.
The Beatles - More Popular than Jesus
July 29, 1966
The U.S. teen magazine DATEbook reprints an earlier quote from March by Beatles' member John Lennon stating that "We're more popular than Jesus now." The cover of the magazine had the quote, "I don't know which will go first - rock 'n' roll or Christianity!" This prompted Beatles Bonfires and the banning of their music by radio stations. Lennon later stated that "if I had said television was more popular than Jesus, I might have got away with it. Christianity will go. It will vanish and shrink. I needn't argue about that; I'm right and I'll be proved right. We're more popular than Jesus now; I don't know which will go first - rock 'n' roll or Christianity. Jesus was all right but his disciples were thick and ordinary. It's them twisting it that ruins it for me."
An apology by Lennon eased tensions and stopped a wave of planned bonfires during their last U.S. tour.
Mark David Chapman would cite this quote and the song Imagine as the reasons he killed Lennon.
Also on the cover was a quote from Paul McCartney about America, "It's a lousy country where anyone black is a dirty n****!" This prompted very little response.
Photo Credit: Jean-Luc Ourlin
Photo Credit: Jean-Luc Ourlin
Bob Dylan Crashes His Motorcycle
July 29, 1966
Folk singer Bob Dylan crashes his Triumph motorcycle near his home in Woodstock, New York, fracturing several vertebrae in his neck. Dylan used this accident to take a much needed break and drop out of the public eye for about eight years while recording with his touring group The Band. Dylan later commented, "I had been in a motorcycle accident and I'd been hurt, but I recovered. Truth was that I wanted to get out of the rat race."
Vietnam Women's Memorial
July 29, 1993
Ground is broken for the first memorial in Washington D.C. to honor women's military service. It honors the 11,500 women who served in Vietnam and the 265,000 uniformed women who served during the war. The memorial was dedicated on November 11, 1993.
First 8-Foot High Jump
July 29, 1989
Cuban high jumper Javier Sotomayor clears 8 ft. 0 inches.
Royal Wedding
July 29, 1981
Prince Charles marries Lady Diana Spencer.
Berkowitz and part of letter he left near victims
Berkowitz and part of letter he left near victims
Son of Sam Killer
July 29, 1976
David Berkowitz claims his first murder victim. He would kill five more times, initially claiming he was acting under orders of his neighbor Sam's demon-possessed dog Harvey, but later stated that was a hoax. He had stabbed two victims the previous December, but they survived. He was called "Son of Sam Killer" after he left a note near the bodies of two of his victims in which he referred to himself as "Son of Sam."
In the mid-1990s, he changed his confession to claim that he had been a member of a Satanic cult that orchestrated the incidents as ritual murder.
Berkowitz was also suspected in a number of unsolved arsons.
Tour de France Begins Drug Testing
July 29, 1966
Tour officials conduct their first drug test on riders. The use of performance-enhancing drugs was considered legal until 1965.
Hitler Becomes President of NAZI Party
July 29, 1921
The future German leader Adolf Hitler becomes president of the National Socialist German Workers (NAZI) party.
Indians Cede Land in the Michigan Territory
July 29, 1829
Chippewa, Ottawa, and Powatomi Indians cede their land in the Michigan territory to the U.S.
Birthdays
Photo Credit: Life
Photo Credit: Life
Edith Shain
Born July 29, 1918 d. 2010
American nurse. She claims to be the recipient of the sailor's kiss in Alfred Eisenstaedt's famous Times Square photo on V-J Day in 1945. It is also believed that Glenn McDuffie was the sailor in the photo.
Clara Bow
Born July 29, 1905 d. 1965
American actress. Clara Bow came to symbolize the Roaring Twenties. A star of both silent and talkie movies, she was the top box office draw and one of the leading sex symbols of the era. Max Fleischer based his cartoon character Betty Boop on her and Helen Kane.
Bara as Cleopatra
Bara as Cleopatra
Theda Bara (Theodosia Burr Goodman)
Born July 29, 1885 d. 1955
American silent film actress. Known as "The Vamp" for her femme fatale roles and is often cited as the first sex symbol of the movies. Film: A Fool There Was (1915, the Vampire) and Cleopatra (1917, title role).
Benito Mussolini
Born July 29, 1883 d. 1945
Italian Fascist dictator. He was executed by partisans who then hanged his body for exhibit in Milan's main square.
Peter Charles Jennings
Born July 29, 1938 d. 2005
Canadian-born TV news reporter. He scored 100 out of 100 on the U.S. citizenship exam. He was a high school drop out.
Robert Fuller (Leonard Leroy Lee)
Born July 29, 1933
American actor. TV: Laramie (1959-63, Jess Harper), Wagon Train (1959-65, Cooper Smith), and Emergency! (1972-78, Dr. Brackett).
Lloyd Bochner
Born July 29, 1924 d. 2005
Canadian actor. TV: Dynasty (1981-88, Cecil Colby) and The Twilight Zone episode "To Serve Man" (1962, the cryptographer trying to decipher the alien text).
The World's Foremost Authority
Professor Irwin Corey
Born July 29, 1914 d. 2017
American comic, "The World's Foremost Authority." In 1959, he ran for president on the Playboy ticket. Quote: "If we don't change direction soon, we'll end up where we're going."
Dag Hammarskjöld
Born July 29, 1905 d. 1961
Swedish statesman, Secretary-General of the United Nations (1953-61). He was killed in a suspicious plane crash while en route to negotiate a cease-fire between U.N. and Congolese forces. He was posthumously awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
Booth Tarkington
Born July 29, 1869 d. 1946
American Pulitzer-winning novelist. Writings: The Magnificent Ambersons (1918, Pulitzer), and Alice Adams (1921, Pulitzer).
Deaths
Mama Cass Elliot (Ellen Naomi Cohen)
Died July 29, 1974 b. 1941
American folk singer, with The Mamas & the Papas. Music: California Dreamin' and Monday, Monday. She claimed she was hit on the head by a pipe that fell at a construction site and it increased her vocal range by three notes. The urban legend that she died from choking on a ham sandwich is false. She actually died of heart failure.
Even though she initially chose the nickname "Mama Cass" at the formation of The Mamas & the Papas, she grew to dislike the name after she later began her solo career.
She died at 32 years old in the same flat Keith Moon would die in four years later, also 32 years old.
Vincent van Gogh
Died July 29, 1890 b. 1853
Dutch ear-cutting (actually only the lobe) postimpressionist painter. Although he created over 900 paintings, which now sell for millions, he sold only one during his lifetime. In 1888, during a fit of dementia, he chopped off part of his ear and gave it to a prostitute. After years of mental illness and poverty, he shot himself in the chest and died 30 hours later of an infection. According to his brother, his final words were, "The sadness will last forever."
Tom Snyder
Died July 29, 2007 b. 1936
American talk show host. TV: Tomorrow Show (1973-82) and The Late Late Show with Tom Snyder (1995-99) and anchor of the primetime NBC News Update, consisting of one-minute capsules of news updates in primetime.
"Fire up a colortini, sit back, relax, and watch the pictures, now, as they fly through the air."
Raymond Massey
Died July 29, 1983 b. 1896
Canadian actor. Film: Abe Lincoln in Illinois (1940, title role). TV: Dr. Kildare (Dr. Gillespie).
David Niven
Died July 29, 1983 b. 1910
British Oscar-winning actor. Film: Around the World in 80 Days (1956, Phileas Fogg) and The Pink Panther (1964, the Phantom).
Crohn's Disease
Burrill Bernard Crohn
Died July 29, 1983 b. 1884
American gastroenterologist. For whom Crohn's disease is named.
Bill Todman
Died July 29, 1979 b. 1916
American TV producer. TV: To Tell the Truth, What's My Line?, The Price Is Right, and Family Feud.
Richard Leo Simon
Died July 29, 1960 b. 1899
American publisher, co-founder of the publishing house of Simon and Schuster (1924). Their first book was the world's first crossword puzzle book.
Richard Pearse
Died July 29, 1953 b. 1877
New Zealand farmer, aviation pioneer. He reportedly built and flew a monoplane craft in March of 1903 - eight months before the Wright brothers.
Urban VIII
Died July 29, 1644 b. 1568
Italian religious leader, 235th Pope (1623-44). He brought Galileo Galilei up before the Roman Inquisition for teaching that the Earth revolved around the Sun (1633).
Urban II
Died July 29, 1099 b. circa 1042
French-born religious leader, 159th Pope (1088-99).