On this day: 29 August

Copper coins are minted in Japan for the first time (Traditional Japanese date: August 10, 708).

The city of Melite surrenders to an Aghlabid army following a siege, putting an end to Byzantine Malta.

Mainz Cathedral suffers extensive damage from a fire, which destroys the building on the day of its inauguration.

King Amalric of Jerusalem marries Byzantine princess Maria Komnene in the cathedral of Tyre.

The Battle of Fariskur occurs during the Fifth Crusade.

Pope Urban IV succeeds Pope Alexander IV, becoming the 182nd pope.

Battle of Montecatini: The army of the Republic of Pisa, commanded by Uguccione della Faggiuola, wins a decisive victory against the joint forces of the Kingdom of Naples and the Republic of Florence despite being outnumbered.

Timur takes Baghdad from Sultan Ahmad Jalayir for the first time.

Pope Innocent VIII succeeds Pope Sixtus IV.

Vasco da Gama decides to depart Calicut and return to the Kingdom of Portugal.

The Ottoman Turks capture Nándorfehérvár (Belgrade).

The Ottoman Turks capture Buda, the capital of the Hungarian Kingdom.

Toyotomi Hideyoshi issues a nationwide sword hunting ordinance, disarming the peasantry so as to firmly separate the samurai and commoner classes, prevent peasant uprisings, and further centralise his own power.

The Guru Granth Sahib is fully compiled and completed by Guru Arjan.

The city of Nuuk in Greenland is founded as the fort of Godt-Haab by the royal governor Claus Paarss.

Frederick the Great attacks Saxony, beginning the Seven Years' War in Europe.

Angered by high tax burdens and disfranchisement, farmers in western Massachusetts led by Daniel Shays began an armed uprising against the U.S. federal government.

Angered by high tax burdens and disfranchisement, farmers in western Massachusetts led by Daniel Shays began an armed uprising against the U.S. federal government.

Portuguese and Brazilian diplomats sign the Treaty of Rio de Janeiro, which has Portugal recognise Brazilian independence, formally ending the Brazilian War of Independence. The treaty will be ratified by the King of Portugal three months later.

American Civil War: The Battle of Hatteras Inlet Batteries gives Federal forces control of Pamlico Sound.

The Mount Washington Cog Railway opens, making it the world's first mountain-climbing rack railway.

Emperor Meiji orders the abolition of the han system and the establishment of prefectures as local centers of administration. (Traditional Japanese date: July 14, 1871).

Gottlieb Daimler patented the world's first internal-combustion motorcycle, the Reitwagen (replica pictured).

The Goodyear tire company is founded in Akron, Ohio.

Slava, the last of five Borodino-class battleships, was launched by the Imperial Russian Navy.

Slava (pictured), the last of five Borodino-class battleships, was launched by the Imperial Russian Navy.

The Japan–Korea Treaty of 1910, also known as the Japan–Korea Annexation Treaty, becomes effective, officially starting the period of Japanese rule in Korea.

The last member of the Yahi, known as Ishi, emerged from the wilderness near Oroville, California, to join European American society.

The Canadian Naval Service becomes the Royal Canadian Navy.

World War I: Start of the Battle of St. Quentin in which the French Fifth Army counter-attacked the invading Germans at Saint-Quentin, Aisne.

Congress passed the Philippine Autonomy Act, the first formal and official declaration of the U.S.'s commitment to grant independence to the Philippines.

Congress passed the Philippine Autonomy Act, the first formal and official declaration of the U.S.'s commitment to grant independence to the Philippines.

World War I: Bapaume taken by the New Zealand Division in the Hundred Days Offensive.

World War II: German-occupied Denmark scuttles most of its navy; Germany dissolves the Danish government.

The Soviet Union conducted its first nuclear weapons test, detonating the 22-kiloton RDS-1.

American experimental composer John Cage's 4’33” premieres at Maverick Concert Hall, played by American pianist David Tudor.

United States Air Force Academy opens in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

The Gemini V spacecraft returns to Earth, landing in the Atlantic Ocean.

El Tacnazo: Francisco Morales Bermúdez, Peruvian Prime Minister carries out a coup d'état in the city of Tacna, forcing the sitting President of Peru, Juan Velasco Alvarado, to resign and assuming his place as the new President.

Meitnerium, a synthetic chemical element with the atomic number 109, is first synthesized at the Gesellschaft für Schwerionenforschung in Darmstadt, Germany.

Followers of Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh (pictured) began deliberately infecting people in The Dalles, Oregon, with Salmonella in the first and largest bioterrorist attack in United States history.

Followers of Osho began deliberately infecting people in The Dalles, Oregon, with Salmonella in the first and largest bioterrorist attack in United States history.

Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union suspends all activities of the Soviet Communist Party.

Netflix is launched as an internet DVD rental service.

Chen Quanguo became the Chinese Communist Party secretary of Xinjiang, and in that role later oversaw the creation of the Xinjiang internment camps.

2020 Women's FA Community Shield.