122 things happened on 29 November, from AD 561 to 2025. UK stories come first, then the rest of the world.
1982 · 44 years ago
Michael Jackson's album Thriller was released. It went on to become the best-selling album of all time. It was produced by Quincy Jones and recorded in Los Angeles. Jackson, known as the 'King of Pop', made dance moves such as the moonwalk and the robot popul…
UK history first: stories from England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
UK story
The Beatles released their song 'I Want to Hold Your Hand' in the United Kingdom. It was written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney, and it was the first Beatles record made using four-track recording equipment. The Beatles were a rock band from Liverpool: John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the most influential band in popular music.
UK story
American Revolutionary War: British reinforcements brought an end to the Patriot attempt to capture Fort Cumberland in Nova Scotia.
UK story
Napoleonic Wars: British troops rendezvoused at Grand Baie to launch an invasion of Isle de France, now known as Mauritius.
The American inventor Thomas Edison demonstrated his phonograph for the first time. It was a machine for recording sound and playing it back. Later machines like it were called gramophones, and then record players. Edison also worked on the electric light bulb and early films, and he registered 1,093 patents in the United States.
The National Diet, Japan's parliament, met for the first time in Tokyo. It was modelled partly on Germany's parliament and partly on Britain's Westminster system. Like the UK Parliament, it has two houses. The Diet makes Japan's laws, and it is also responsible for nominating the prime minister.
The football club FC Barcelona was founded in Barcelona, Spain, by the Swiss football pioneer Joan Gamper. Known as Barça, it plays in La Liga, the top division of Spanish football. It has become one of the most successful clubs in Spain. Football is the most popular sport in the country.
The American naval officer Richard E. Byrd led the first expedition to fly over the South Pole. Byrd was a pioneering pilot and polar explorer. Flights he navigated or led also crossed the Atlantic Ocean and parts of the Arctic Ocean. The South Pole is the southernmost point on Earth, where the Earth's axis of rotation meets its surface.
NASA launched a chimpanzee called Enos into space on the Mercury-Atlas 5 mission. His spacecraft orbited the Earth twice and then splashed down in the sea. Enos is the only chimpanzee ever to have orbited the Earth. Before him, only two people had done so: the Soviet cosmonauts Yuri Gagarin and Gherman Titov.
The company Atari announced the release of Pong, a simple table-tennis video game for arcades. It was one of the first video games to become popular both in arcades and on games consoles at home. Pong was created by Allan Alcorn as a training exercise. Atari's founders were so impressed with his work that they decided to make and sell it.
Michael Jackson's album Thriller was released. It went on to become the best-selling album of all time. It was produced by Quincy Jones and recorded in Los Angeles. Jackson, known as the 'King of Pop', made dance moves such as the moonwalk and the robot popular around the world.
The Tang dynasty scores a decisive victory over their rival Xue Rengao at the Battle of Qianshuiyuan.
The Abbasid Caliphate captured the Qarmatian leadership at the Battle of Hama in Syria, opening the way for the reconquest of Tulunid Egypt.
A large earthquake damages the areas of the Crusaders in the Middle East. Antioch, Mamistra, Marash and Edessa are hit by the shocks.
The papal conclave of 1549–50 begins.
The Battle of Swally takes place, which loosens the Portuguese Empire's hold on India.
San Jose, California, is founded as Pueblo de San José de Guadalupe by José Joaquín Moraga. It is the first civilian settlement, or pueblo, in Alta California.
A 5.3 magnitude earthquake strikes New Jersey.
John VI of Portugal flees Lisbon from advancing Napoleonic forces during the Peninsular War, transferring the Portuguese court to Brazil.
An armed rebellion against Russia's rule in Poland begins.
The Sonderbund is defeated by the joint forces of other Swiss cantons under General Guillaume-Henri Dufour.
The treaty, Punctation of Olmütz, is signed in Olomouc. Prussia capitulates to Austria, which will take over the leadership of the German Confederation.
An estimated crowd of more than 10,000 demonstrators swore allegiance to the Eureka Flag (pictured) as a symbol of defiance in advance of the Eureka Rebellion in Ballarat, Australia.
American Civil War: Union forces under General Ambrose Burnside successfully defend Knoxville, Tennessee from an attack by Confederate forces under General James Longstreet in the Battle of Fort Sanders during the Siege of Knoxville.
American Civil War: The Confederate Army of Tennessee misses an opportunity to crush the Union Army of the Ohio in the Battle of Spring Hill during the Franklin–Nashville campaign.
The Modoc War begins with the Battle of Lost River.
The Armenian Revolutionary Committee declares Armenia to be a Soviet Socialist Republic, starting 71 years of Soviet rule in Armenia
The Bronx County Bird Club was formed and would go on to lead the Audubon Society's Christmas Bird Count in the eastern US for three years in a row.
The second session of the Anti-Fascist Council for the National Liberation of Yugoslavia (AVNOJ), held to determine the post-war ordering of the country, concludes in Jajce (present-day Bosnia and Herzegovina).
Albania is liberated by the Partisans.
The Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia is declared.
The United Nations General Assembly voted to approve the Partition Plan for Palestine, a plan to resolve the Arab–Israeli conflict in Mandatory Palestine by separating the territory into Jewish and Arab states.
U.S. President-elect Dwight D. Eisenhower fulfills a campaign promise by traveling to Korea to find out what can be done to end the conflict.
U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara announces his resignation.
The controversial Tellico Dam project by the Tennessee Valley Authority is completed despite being ordered to shut down from the Supreme Court of the United States' decision in Tennessee Valley Authority v. Hill.
In resolution 67/19, the United Nations General Assembly voted to accord the status of a non-member observer state to Palestine.
The Government of Jordan officially announces the launch of the Amra City development project during a site visit by the Prime Minister.
Every answer is somewhere on this page. Have a go, then check!
In which year was C. S. Lewis born?
A: 1898. 1898 — that’s 128 years ago. Find it on the page
In which year did this happen: “The Beatles release 'I Want to Hold Your Hand' in the UK”?
A: 1963. 1963 — that’s 63 years ago. Find it on the page
Which of these happened first?
B: FC Barcelona football club is founded by Joan Gamper. 1982: Michael Jackson's album Thriller is released · 1899: FC Barcelona football club is founded by Joan Gamper · 1963: The Beatles release 'I Want to Hold Your Hand' in the UK Find it on the page
“John Ambrose Fleming” happened in 1849. How many years ago was that?
A: 177 years. 2026 − 1849 = 177. Find it on the page
Famous people whose birthday is 29 November.
UK story
Clive Staples Lewis was a British author and scholar who taught English literature at the universities of Oxford and Cambridge. He is best known as the author of The Chronicles of Narnia. He also wrote other fiction, including The Screwtape Letters and The Space Trilogy. His non-fiction books about Christianity include Mere Christianity.
UK story
Sir John Ambrose Fleming was an English electrical engineer and physicist, born in Lancaster. He designed the radio transmitter at Poldhu in Cornwall that sent the first radio signal across the Atlantic Ocean in 1901. In 1904 he built the first vacuum tube, which became known as the Fleming valve. He also came up with the 'right-hand rule' used in physics.
Well-known people who died on 29 November.
Festivals, holidays and saints’ days celebrated on 29 November 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 “November 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.