142 things happened on 29 September, from 106 BC to 2022. UK stories come first, then the rest of the world.
1758 · 268 years ago
Horatio Nelson was a British admiral in the Royal Navy. His leadership, clever planning and unusual tactics won Britain several important sea battles against Revolutionary and Napoleonic France. He is widely seen as one of the greatest admirals in history. He…
UK history first: stories from England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
UK story
A Viking army led by Thorkell the Tall had besieged the English city of Canterbury for about three weeks. On this day the Vikings took control of the city. They captured Ælfheah, the Archbishop of Canterbury, who is also known as Alphege. Much of what we know about the siege comes from the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, an old record of English history.
UK story
In the Treaty of Montgomery, King Henry III of England accepted Llywelyn ap Gruffudd as Prince of Wales. In return, Llywelyn had to accept Henry as his overlord, a more powerful ruler he owed loyalty to. It was the only time an English ruler recognised a ruler of the Welsh kingdom of Gwynedd as having power over Wales. Llywelyn is often remembered as Llywelyn the Last.
UK story
The Metropolitan Police was founded to keep law and order in London. It is now usually called the Met and polices Greater London. It is also known as Scotland Yard, after a street called Great Scotland Yard in Whitehall, where its first headquarters stood. Its jobs include protecting the royal family and other important people.
UK story
An electric tramway opened in Blackpool, Lancashire. It is described as the first practical public electric tramway in the world. Trams still run on the line, which stretches about 18 kilometres from Blackpool to Fleetwood. It is one of the oldest electric tramways anywhere, and it carried 4.4 million passengers in 2024–25.
UK story
British, Australian and American soldiers of the British Fourth Army began a major attack at the St Quentin Canal on the Western Front. Their aim was to break through the Hindenburg Line, a heavily defended German line that used the canal as part of its defences. The battle led to the first breach of the line. Historians see it as a key battle of the war.
UK story
The University of East Anglia, known as UEA, was founded in Norwich. People had talked about starting a university in the city since the 1800s. Its campus lies west of the city centre and covers about 150 hectares. As well as teaching students, it is home to research institutes and a teaching hospital.
UK story
Calder Hall, at Sellafield in Cumbria, was the first full-scale nuclear power station to start working anywhere in the world. It ran from 1956 to 2003. Its main job was making material for Britain's nuclear weapons, but it also sent electricity to the National Grid. On this day it was demolished with a controlled explosion.
UK story
The papal bull Universalis Ecclesiae restores the Roman Catholic hierarchy in England and Wales.
UK story
The Mandate for Palestine came into effect, officially creating the protectorates of Mandatory Palestine under British administration and Transjordan as a separate emirate under King Abdullah I.
German composer Johann Sebastian Bach led the first performance of Herr Gott, dich loben alle wir. It is a cantata, a piece of music for singers and instruments, written for the feast of the Archangel Michael. It is based on a hymn about angels, sung to a tune known in English as the Old 100th. Bach is also famous for his Brandenburg Concertos.
Two Royal Australian Air Force training planes collided over Brocklesby in New South Wales, Australia, and stayed locked together. The top plane's engines stopped, but the lower plane's engines kept running. Three crew members jumped out by parachute. The pilot of the top plane steered the joined-up planes down to a safe landing.
The convention, or formal agreement, that set up CERN was signed. CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research, runs the largest particle physics laboratory in the world. Particle physicists study the tiny pieces that everything is made of. CERN is based near Geneva, on the border between France and Switzerland, and now has 25 member states.
Disney's animated film Beauty and the Beast was first shown at the New York Film Festival, before it was even finished. The musical is based on a French fairy tale. In it, a selfish prince is turned into a beast. He must win the love of a young woman called Belle before the last petal falls from a magic rose.
Pompey the Great celebrates his third triumph for victories over the pirates and the end of the Mithridatic Wars on his 45th birthday.
Pope Benedict III is restored by a popular uprising to the papacy after king Louis II of Italy tried to replace him with his favourite candidate.
Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor, is excommunicated by Pope Gregory IX for his failure to participate in the Crusades during the Investiture Controversy.
During the Hundred Years' War, Anglo-Breton forces defeat the Franco-Breton army in Brittany, ending the War of the Breton Succession.
Tegucigalpa, capital city of Honduras, is claimed by the Spaniards.
Michał Korybut Wiśniowiecki is crowned king following the 1669 Polish–Lithuanian royal election.
An earthquake strikes Antigua Guatemala, destroying much of the city's architecture.
Johann Sebastian Bach led the first performance of Es erhub sich ein Streit, a cantata for Michaelmas.
The Williamsburg Bray School, the oldest-surviving school building in the U.S. dedicated to educating Black children, opened at Benjamin Franklin's suggestion.
The United States Department of War first establishes a regular army with a strength of several hundred men.
The Battle of Pákozd is a stalemate between Hungarian and Croatian forces and is the first battle of the Hungarian Revolution.
The Philippine port of Iloilo is opened to world trade by the Spanish administration.
The Treaty of Lisbon defines the boundaries between Spain and Portugal and abolishes the Couto Misto microstate.
The Battle of Chaffin's Farm is fought in the American Civil War.
The cornerstone is laid at the Cathedral Church of Saint Peter and Saint Paul (better known as Washington National Cathedral) in Washington, D.C.
Italy declares war on the Ottoman Empire, In this war , Italy gains Libya which ends Ottoman rule in North Africa .
World War I: Bulgaria signs the Armistice of Salonica ending its participation.
World War I: Germany's Supreme Army Command tells Kaiser Wilhelm II and Imperial Chancellor Georg Michaelis to open negotiations for an armistice to end the war.
Ukrainian War of Independence: The Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic agree to a truce with the Makhnovshchina.
The Mandate for Syria and Lebanon takes effect.
The First American Track and Field championships for women are held.
Last day of the Battle of Boquerón between Paraguay and Bolivia during the Chaco War.
Willie Mays (pictured) of the New York Giants made The Catch, one of the most famous defensive plays in the history of Major League Baseball.
The first Indonesian legislative election resulted in an unexpectedly poor result for the Masyumi Party of incumbent prime minister Burhanuddin Harahap (pictured).
Mafalda, a popular comic strip by Quino, was first published in newspapers in Argentina.
Oman joins the Arab League.
Japan establishes diplomatic relations with the People's Republic of China after breaking official ties with the Republic of China.
WGPR becomes the first black-owned-and-operated television station in the US.
The Lockheed YF-22, the prototype for the F-22 Raptor, made its first flight.
Construction of the Cathedral Church of Saint Peter and Saint Paul (better known as Washington National Cathedral) is completed in Washington, D.C.
The Tampere Hall, the largest concert and congress center in the Nordic countries, is inaugurated in Tampere, Finland.
A Haitian coup d'état occurs.
Brazilian President Fernando Collor de Mello is impeached.
Archaeologists and volunteers began excavation of the remains of Fort Tanjong Katong in Singapore.
The asteroid 4179 Toutatis passes within four lunar distances of Earth.
Burt Rutan's Ansari SpaceShipOne performs a successful spaceflight, the first of two required to win the Ansari X Prize.
John Roberts became the 17th Chief Justice of the United States; he would be the first Chief Justice to serve for twenty years since Melville Fuller in 1908.
Violence and low turnout mar the 2019 Afghan presidential election.
Every answer is somewhere on this page. Have a go, then check!
In which year did this happen: “The University of East Anglia is founded in Norwich”?
B: 1963. 1963 — that’s 63 years ago. Find it on the page
In which year did this happen: “The Battle of St Quentin Canal begins in the First World War”?
B: 1918. 1918 — that’s 108 years ago. Find it on the page
Which of these happened first?
B: Vikings capture Canterbury and take its archbishop prisoner. 1918: The Battle of St Quentin Canal begins in the First World War · 1011: Vikings capture Canterbury and take its archbishop prisoner · 1963: The University of East Anglia is founded in Norwich Find it on the page
“Vikings capture Canterbury and take its archbishop prisoner” happened in 1011. How many years ago was that?
B: 1,015 years. 2026 − 1011 = 1,015. Find it on the page
Famous people whose birthday is 29 September.
UK story
Horatio Nelson was a British admiral in the Royal Navy. His leadership, clever planning and unusual tactics won Britain several important sea battles against Revolutionary and Napoleonic France. He is widely seen as one of the greatest admirals in history. He died in 1805.
Well-known people who died on 29 September.
Festivals, holidays and saints’ days celebrated on 29 September somewhere in the world.
Content note: these entries mention things like war, violence, deaths, disasters or crime. They are part of history, but they can be upsetting. Grown-ups and teachers: you may want to read them first. They come straight from Wikipedia and have not been rewritten for children.
Stories with a heading have been written for young readers by A Day in the Past, using the linked articles as sources. Other entries show text from Wikipedia’s “September 29” page and its “On this day” feed, written by Wikipedia contributors and shared under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 licence. Each “Read more” link goes to the article an entry is based on. Photos are credited under each picture. Spotted a mistake? Please tell us.