1520: Spanish conquistadors are expelled from Tenochtitlan following an Aztec revolt against their rule under Hernan Cortes. Aztec emperor Montezuma II dies in the struggle.
1559: Henry II of France is seriously injured in a jousting match against Gabriel de Montgomery.
1596: English and Dutch fleet reach Cadiz.
1665: The number of deaths in London from the Great Plague during June is recorded as 6,137.
1685: Birth of poet and dramatist John Gay.
1734: The Russian army occupies Danzig.
1859: French acrobat Charles Blondin is the first to cross Niagara Falls on a tightrope.
1876: Serbia declares war on Turkey.
1893: The Excelsior diamond (blue-white 995 carats) then the world’s largest, is discovered in the Jagersfontein Mine, South Africa.
1894: Korea declares independence from China and asks for Japanese aid. On the same day, Tower Bridge opens across the River Thames in London.
1898: Winton Motor Carriage Company publishes the first known car ad in Scientific American using the headline “dispense with a horse.”
1899: Spin bowler Jack Hearne takes England cricket’s first Test hat-trick vs Australia at Headingley.
1902: Laurence Doherty wins his first Wimbledon singles title beating defending champion Arthur Gore 6-4, 6-3, 3-6, 6-0.
1903: Laurence Doherty beats Frank Riseley 7-5, 6-3, 6-0 for his second consecutive Wimbledon men’s singles title.
1905: The crew of the Russian battleship “Georgei Pobiedonosets” mutinies in support of the “Potemkin”, which mutinied three days earlier.
1908: A giant fireball flattens 80 million trees near the Stony Tunguska River in Yeniseysk Governorate, Russia, in the largest impact event in recorded history.
1910: Russia absorbs Finland.
1911: Golfer Harry Vardon wins his fifth British Open
1914: Mahatma Gandhi’s first arrest after campaigning for Indian rights in South Africa.
1916: General Douglas Haig reports “The men are in splendid spirits” the day before the Battle of the Somme begins.
1924: J. B. M. Hertzog becomes head of a coalition government between the National and Labour Parties in South Africa.
1929: Bobby Jones wins his third US Open in a 36-hole playoff.
1933: 50,000 demonstrate against fascism in Antwerp.
1934: Adolf Hitler stages a bloody purge of the Nazi party in “The Night of the Long Knives”, a series of political executions to consolidate his power carried out mostly by the Gestapo.
1936: Ethiopian emperor Haile Selassie asks the League of Nations for sanctions against Italy. On the same day, “Gone with the Wind” by Margaret Mitchell is published.
1937: The world’s first emergency call telephone service is launched in London using the number 999.
1938: Superman first appears in DC’s Action Comic by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster.
1940: German troops begin the invasion of the undefended Channel Islands.
1944: The Battle of Cherbourg ends with the fall of the strategically valuable port to American forces.
1948: Transistors as a substitute for valves announced by Bell Labs in New York.
1954: Millions of people turn to look at the darkening skies as a total eclipse of the sun spreads from America through Europe and on to Asia.
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1960: Zaire declares independence from Belgium.
1962: Rwanda and Burundi become independent.
1967: Following a leader in The Times by editor William Rees-Mogg (father of Jacob) entitled “Who breaks a butterfly on a wheel?” Rolling Stones Mick Jagger and Keith Richards are released from jail and granted bail.
1971: Three Russian cosmonauts are found dead in their Soyuz 11 space capsule after it made what looked like a perfect landing in Kazakhstan.
1974: Soviet dancer Mikhail Baryshnikov defects to the west.
1975: Muhammad Ali retains his world heavyweight boxing crown, beating Joe Bugner by a unanimous points decision in a re-match in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. On the same day, Cher marries Greg Allman four days after divorcing Sonny Bono.
1980: West German Chancellor Helmut Schmidt visits Moscow.
1984: Cocaine growers stage a failed coup in Bolivia. On the same day, the last sixpence is minted in Britain.
1985: 39 Americans being held captive by the Shia Muslim Amal militia in Lebanon are released, after almost three weeks in captivity.
1990: East and West Germany merge their economies.
1991: Singles chart:
- Any Dream Will Do – Jason Donovan
- (Everything I Do) I Do It For You – Bryan Adams
- Chorus – Erasure
- I Wanna Sex You Up – Color Me Badd
- Thinking About You Love – Kenny Thomas
- Do You Want Me – Salt-n-Pepa
- Rush Rush – Paula Abdul
- From A Distance – Bette Midler
- Always There – Incognito ft Jocelyn Brown
- I Touch Myself – Divinyls
Album chart:
- Love Hurts – Cher
- Out Of Time – REM
- Greatest Hits – Eurythmics
- Greatest Hits 1977-1990 – The Stranglers
- Seal – Seal
- Beverley Craven – Beverley Craven
- Holidays In Eden – Marillion
- Vagabond Heart – Rod Stewart
- We Are In Love – Harry Connick Jr
- Pop Symphonies – James Last and his Orchestra
1992: Former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher takes her place in the House of Lords as Baroness Thatcher of Kesteven. On the same day, Nelson Mandela meets with UN Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali at Dakar.
1994: Pre-trial hearings open in LA against O J Simpson. On the same day, the US Ice Skating Federation bans Tonya Harding for life.
1995: Singer Phyllis Hyman commits suicide by overdosing on pentobarbital and secobarbital in her New York apartment aged 45.
1996: Germany beat the Czech Republic, 2-1 in extra time to win the European Championship at Wembley Stadium.
2000: Eight men are trampled to death during Pearl Jam’s performance at the Roskilde festival, near Copenhagen.
2001: Guitarist Chet Atkins dies in Nashville aged 77.
2002: Ronaldo scores twice as Brazil beat Germany, 2-0 to win the World Cup a record fifth time in Japan.
2004: The Kinks guitarist Dave Davies suffers a stroke and is paralysed down his right side. He learns how to play again with help from brother Ray.
2005: Spain legalizes same-sex marriage.
2007: A 4×4 crashes into Glasgow International Airport in an attempted terrorist attack.
2014: Entertainer Rolf Harris is convicted of indecent assault.
2016: Candidates announce their bids for the leadership of the Conservative party including Theresa May and Michael Gove after Boris Johnson rules himself out.
2018: Two members of the public are confirmed poisoned by Novichok nerve agent in Salisbury.
2019: Donald Trump becomes the first sitting US president to set foot in North Korea in a Korean Demilitarized Zone meeting with Kim Jong Un. On the same day, Kylie Minogue finally plays the Pyramid Stage at the Glastonbury Festival 14 years after a cancer diagnosis forced her to cancel.
2020: China’s new national security legislation for Hong Kong comes into force.
2021: Actress Allison Mack is sentenced to three years for her role in the NXVIM sex cult in New York state. On the same day, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court overturns comedian Bill Cosby’s sexual assault conviction, ruling that the prosecutor who brought the case was bound by his predecessor’s agreement not to charge Cosby in return for Cosby’s testimony in a related civil suit. Also, Emilio “Don Millo” Flores Márquez from Puerto Rico is named by the Guinness Book of Records as the world’s oldest man at 112.
2022: Bongbong Marcos, son of Ferdinand Marcos, is sworn in as President of the Philippines.
2023: Former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro is barred from running for office for eight years by the country’s Supreme Electoral Court after he is found guilty of abusing his power.
BIRTHDAYS: Andy Scott, guitarist (Sweet), 75; Stanley Clarke, bassist, 73;Vincent D’Onofrio, actor, 65; Julianne Regan, singer (All About Eve) 62; Rupert Graves, actor, 61; Yngwie Malmsteen, guitarist, 61; Gary Pallister, footballer, 59; Mike Tyson, boxer, 58; Phil Anselmo, vocalist (Pantera), 56; James Martin, TV chef, 52; Ralf Schumacher, racing driver, 49; Ryan ten Doeschate, cricketer, 44; Tom Burke, actor, 43; Lizzy Caplan, actress, 42; Ashley Walters, actor/rapper, 42; Cheryl Cole, singer, 41; Katherine Ryan (Koostra), comedian, 41; Michael Phelps, swimmer, 39; Tom Davies, footballer, 26.It happened today – this day in histoy – June 29
