On this day: 29 March

Pope Innocent II issues the bull Omne datum optimum in which he endorses the Knights Templar and approves the Templar Rule.

After an eight-year siege, the Ottoman Empire captured the city of Thessalonica from the Republic of Venice.

The city of Salvador, Bahia, the first capital of Brazil, is founded.

Construction is authorized of the Great National Pike, better known as the Cumberland Road, becoming the first United States federal highway.

German astronomer Heinrich Wilhelm Matthias Olbers discovered Vesta, the brightest asteroid and second-most massive body in the asteroid belt.

King Gustav IV Adolf of Sweden abdicates after a coup d'état.

At the Diet of Porvoo, Finland's four Estates pledge allegiance to Alexander I of Russia, commencing the secession of the Grand Duchy of Finland from Sweden.

Joaquín de Oreamuno led a coup d'état that overthrew Rafael Francisco Osejo, attempting to restore allegiance to the Mexican Empire.

Mexican–American War: United States forces led by General Winfield Scott take Veracruz after a siege.

American Civil War: The Appomattox campaign opened with the Battle of Lewis's Farm, in which the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia was forced into a series of retreats that would culminate in their surrender.

The Knights of Columbus, the world's largest Catholic fraternal service organization, was founded by Michael J. McGivney in New Haven, Connecticut, U.S.

Sunbeam 1000hp breaks the land speed record at Daytona Beach, Florida.

The 1936 German parliamentary election and referendum seeks approval for the recent remilitarization of the Rhineland.

The North American Regional Broadcasting Agreement to define technical standards for AM band radio stations came into effect.

The Malagasy Uprising against French colonial rule begins in Madagascar.

The King and I, a musical about Mongkut of Siam by Rodgers and Hammerstein, premiered on Broadway.

The New York, Ontario and Western Railway makes its final run, the first major U.S. railroad to be abandoned in its entirety.

The Twenty-third Amendment to the United States Constitution is ratified, allowing residents of Washington, D.C., to vote in presidential elections.

Arturo Frondizi, the president of Argentina, is overthrown in a military coup by Argentina's armed forces, ending an 11+1⁄2 day constitutional crisis.

The funeral of Yuri Gagarin, the first man in space, began in Moscow with tens of thousands of people in attendance.

Vietnam War: The last United States combat soldiers leave South Vietnam.

NASA's Mariner 10 became the first space probe to make a flyby of Mercury.

A group of farmers in the Chinese province of Shaanxi discovered a vast collection of terracotta statues (pictured) depicting the armies of Qin Shi Huang, the first emperor of China.

The Baltimore Colts load their possessions onto fifteen Mayflower moving trucks in the early morning hours and transfer their operations to Indianapolis.

The Czechoslovak parliament is unable to reach an agreement on what to call the country after the fall of Communism, sparking the so-called Hyphen War.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average closes above the 10,000 mark (10,006.78) for the first time, during the height of the dot-com bubble.

Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia, and Slovenia join NATO as full members.

The Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat certifies Taipei 101 as the world's tallest building, based on the building having been topped out on 1 July 2003, even though the building was not completed until 31 December 2004.

The ship Ever Given is dislodged from the Suez Canal.