Historical Events on January 29

  • 1834: United States President Andrew Jackson uses Federal soldiers to suppress a labor dispute. This is the first time that federal troops have been used in this fashion.
  • 1845: The Evening Mirror in New York published The Raven by Edgar Allan Poe.
  • 1850: The Compromise of 1850 is presented to the United States Congress by Henry Clay.
  • 1856: The Victoria Cross is established to recognize acts of valor by British soldiers during the Crimean War.
  • 1861: Kansas is admitted into the Union as the 34th United States’ State.
  • 1863: Colonel Patrick Edward Connor leads an detachment of California volunteers to fight Shoshone Native Americans at Bear River in the Washington Territory. Hundreds of men, women and children are killed during this engagement; An engagement that would become known as the Bear River Massacre.
  • 1907: The first Native American to become a United States’ Senator – Charles Curtis – is elected on this day.
  • 1916: German zeppelins drop bombs on the city of Paris during World War I.
  • 1943: The Battle of Rennell Island begins on this day; A United States cruiser, the USS Chicago is torpedoed and suffers heavy damage by Japanese bombers.
  • 1944: During World War II, almost 40 people are killed when Soviet partisan forces attack the village of Koniuchy, Lithuania.
  • 2002: In a State of the Union Address, U.S President George W. Bush describes Iraq, Iran and North Korea as an Axis of Evil.

Famous Birthdays on January 29

  • Prince of Orange, Frederick Henry is born in 1584.
  • French born German philologist, Franciscus Junius is born in 1591.
  • German scholar Johann Georg Graevius is born in 1632.
  • English-American political essayist, Thomas Paine is born in 1737.
  • American general, politician and founder of Cleveland, Ohio, Moses Cleaveland is born in 1754.
  • American general and politician, Henry Lee III is born in 1756.
  • French composer Daniel Auber is born in 1782.
  • American actor Tom Sellect is born in 1945.
  • American biologist and Nobel Prize laureate, Linda B. Buck is born in 1947.
  • American actress and singer, Ann Jillian is born in 1950.
  • American actor Terry Kinney is born in 1954.
  • American TV talk show host, actress and founder of Harpo Productions, Oprah Winfrey is born in 1954.