Summary of the Day ✨ 29 January (29/01)
Two aviation disasters claimed 87 lives when American Elsewhere, Canadian protesters rallied against COVID restrictions, a gunman attacked a Quebec mosque killing six, and the Afrin Canton declared autonomy from Syria.
Historical Events 📜
- 2025: American Eagle Flight 5342 collided mid-air with a Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk operated by the United States Army and crashed into the Potomac River, killing all 67 people onboard both aircraft.
- 2025: A chartered Beechcraft 1900 crashes near the Unity oilfield in South Sudan, killing 20 people.
- 2022: Canadian truck drivers and pedestrians gathered to rally and protest on Parliament Hill against Canadian COVID-19 restrictions, which caused traffic and closures around the city.
- 2017: A gunman opens fire at the Islamic Cultural Centre of Quebec City, killing six people and wounding 19 others in a spree shooting.
- 2014: Rojava conflict: The Afrin Canton declares its autonomy from the Syrian Arab Republic.
- 2013: SCAT Airlines Flight 760 crashes near the Kazakh city of Almaty, killing 21 people.
- 2009: Governor of Illinois Rod Blagojevich is removed from office following his conviction of several corruption charges, including solicitation of personal benefit in exchange for an appointment to the United States Senate as a replacement for then-U.S. president-elect Barack Obama.
- 2008: An Egyptian court rules that people who do not adhere to one of the three government-recognised religions, while not allowed to list any belief outside of those three, are still eligible to receive government identity documents.
- 2005: The first direct commercial flights from mainland China (from Guangzhou) to Taiwan since 1949 arrived in Taipei. Shortly afterwards, a China Airlines flight lands in Beijing.
- 2002: In his State of the Union address, President George W. Bush describes “regimes that sponsor terror” as an Axis of evil, in which he includes Iraq, Iran and North Korea.
- 2001: Thousands of student protesters in Indonesia storm parliament and demand that President Abdurrahman Wahid resign due to alleged involvement in corruption scandals.
- 1996: President Jacques Chirac announces a “definitive end” to French nuclear weapons testing.
- 1991: Gulf War: The Battle of Khafji, the first major ground engagement of the war, as well as its deadliest, begins between Iraq and Saudi Arabia.
- 1989: Cold War: Hungary establishes diplomatic relations with South Korea, making it the first Eastern Bloc nation to do so.
- 1983: Singapore cable car crash: Panamanian-registered oil rig, Eniwetok, strikes the cables of the Singapore Cable Car system linking the mainland and Sentosa Island, causing two cabins to fall into the water and killing seven people and leaving thirteen others trapped for hours.
Famous Births 👶
- 2003: Jarell Quansah, English footballer
- 2001: Lee Dae-hwi, South Korean singer
- 1997: Joel Eriksson Ek, Swedish ice hockey player
- 1997: Jack Roslovic, American ice hockey player
- 1993: Kyary Pamyu Pamyu, Japanese singer
- 1992: Markel Brown, American basketball player
- 1992: Maxi Kleber, German basketball player
- 1989: Mohamed Abou Gabal, Egyptian footballer
- 1989: Kevin Shattenkirk, American ice hockey player
- 1988: Ayobami Adebayo, Nigerian author
- 1988: Jake Auchincloss, American politician, businessman, and Marine veteran
- 1988: Hank Conger, American baseball player
- 1988: Shay Logan, English footballer
- 1987: José Abreu, Cuban baseball player
- 1987: Alex Avila, American baseball player
Notable Deaths 🕊️
- 2025: Salwan Momika, Iraqi refugee and anti-Islam activist (born 1986)
- 2025: Richard Williamson, British Catholic traditionalist bishop (born 1940)
- 2025: Victims in the 2025 Potomac River mid-air collision:
- 2025: Victims in the 2025 Potomac River mid-air collision:
- 2025: Victims in the 2025 Potomac River mid-air collision:
- 2025: Victims in the 2025 Potomac River mid-air collision:
- 2023: Hazel McCallion, Canadian businesswoman and politician, 5th Mayor of Mississauga (born 1921)
- 2023: Will Steffen, American-Australian chemist (born 1947)
- 2023: Gero Storjohann, German politician (born 1958)
- 2022: Howard Hesseman, American actor (born 1940)
- 2021: Walker Boone, Canadian actor (born 1944)
- 2019: George Fernandes, Indian politician (born 1930)
- 2019: James Ingram, American musician (born 1952)
- 2016: Jean-Marie Doré, Guinean lawyer and politician, 11th Prime Minister of Guinea (born 1938)
- 2016: Jacques Rivette, French director, screenwriter, and critic (born 1928)
Holidays & Observances 🎉
- Christian feast day:
Aphrahat - Christian feast day:
Gildas - Christian feast day:
Sabinian of Troyes - Christian feast day:
Sulpitius I of Bourges - Christian feast day:
Blessed Villana de’ Botti - Christian feast day:
January 29 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics) - Earliest day on which Fat Thursday can fall, while March 4 is the latest; celebrated on Thursday before Ash Wednesday. (Christianity)
- Kansas Day (Kansas, United States)