Osun Defender History Corner: October 29th In Focus

Today on the history corner, we take a trip down, in the realm of flashback and were able to recall some events that marked this day.

October 29th, 539BC

Cyrus the Great, founder of the Achaemenid Empire, captured Babylon.

October 29th, 1618

Sir Walter Raleigh, English explorer, was executed for alleged involvement in a plot against King James I.

October 29th, 1787

Mozart’s opera “Don Giovanni” premiered in Prague.

October 29th, 1923

The Republic of Turkey was officially proclaimed, with Mustafa Kemal Atatürk as its first president.

October 29th, 1929

“Black Tuesday” marked the stock market crash and the beginning of the Great Depression in the United States.

October 29th, 1941

The Holocaust: Mass shootings of Jews began in the city of Kaunas, Lithuania.

October 29th, 1956

Suez Crisis: Israeli forces invaded Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula.

October 29th, 1960

Cassius Clay (later known as Muhammad Ali) had his first professional boxing match, winning by a knockout.

October 29th, 1969

The first message was sent over the ARPANET, the precursor to the internet.

October 29th, 1991

The American Galileo spacecraft made its closest approach to Jupiter’s moon, Io.

October 29th, 1998

Space Shuttle Discovery blasted off on mission STS-95 with 77-year-old John Glenn on board, making him the oldest person to go into space.

October 29th, 2004

European heads of state signed the Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe in Rome.

October 29th, 2008

Delta Air Lines and Northwest Airlines merged, creating the world’s largest airline at the time.

October 29th, 2012

Hurricane Sandy made landfall on the East Coast of the United States, causing widespread damage and power outages.

October 29th, 2015

China ended its one-child policy, allowing couples to have two children.

October 29th, 2018

Lion Air Flight 610 crashed into the Java Sea shortly after takeoff, killing all 189 people on board.

October 29th, 2018

Brazil elected Jair Bolsonaro as its new president.

October 29th, 2019

NASA astronauts Christina Koch and Jessica Meir conducted the first all-female spacewalk.

October 29th, 2020

A major earthquake struck the Aegean Sea, leading to casualties in both Greece and Turkey.

October 29th, 2021

NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope was scheduled to launch, although it had been delayed multiple times.

Please note that these are just a few historical events that happened on October 29th. History is full of numerous other significant events on this day, ranging from politics and warfare to cultural and scientific milestones.