Summary of the Day ✨ 29 August (29/08)
In a day marked by both human tragedy and sporting achievement, Hurricane Katrina devastated the U.S. Gulf Coast with deadly force while Ukraine launched its southern counteroffensive in the ongoing conflict, as the Paralympic Games opened in London and a coal mine disaster in China claimed numerous lives.
Historical Events 📜
- 2022: Russo-Ukrainian war: Ukraine begins its southern counteroffensive in the Kherson Oblast, eventually culminating in the liberation of the city of Kherson.
- 2020: 2020 Women’s FA Community Shield.
- 2012: At least 26 Chinese miners are killed and 21 missing after a blast in the Xiaojiawan coal mine, located at Panzhihua, Sichuan Province.
- 2012: The XIV Paralympic Games open in London, England, United Kingdom.
- 2005: Hurricane Katrina devastates much of the U.S. Gulf Coast from Louisiana to the Florida Panhandle, killing up to 1,392 people and causing $125 billion in damage.
- 2003: Sayed Ayatollah Mohammed Baqir al-Hakim, the Shia Muslim leader in Iraq, is assassinated in a terrorist bombing, along with nearly 100 worshippers as they leave a mosque in Najaf.
- 2001: Four people are killed when Binter Mediterráneo Flight 8261 crashes into the N-340 highway near Málaga Airport.
- 1998: Eighty people are killed when Cubana de Aviación Flight 389 crashes during a rejected takeoff from the Old Mariscal Sucre International Airport in Quito, Ecuador.
- 1997: Netflix is launched as an internet DVD rental service.
- 1997: At least 98 villagers are killed by the Armed Islamic Group of Algeria GIA in the Rais massacre, Algeria.
- 1996: Vnukovo Airlines Flight 2801, a Tupolev Tu-154, crashes into a mountain on the Arctic island of Spitsbergen, killing all 141 aboard.
- 1991: Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union suspends all activities of the Soviet Communist Party.
- 1991: Libero Grassi, an Italian businessman from Palermo, is killed by the Sicilian Mafia after taking a solitary stand against their extortion demands.
- 1987: Odaeyang mass suicide: Thirty-three individuals linked to a religious cult are found dead in the attic of a cafeteria in Yongin, South Korea. Investigators attribute their deaths to a murder-suicide pact.
- 1982: Meitnerium, a synthetic chemical element with the atomic number 109, is first synthesized at the Gesellschaft für Schwerionenforschung in Darmstadt, Germany.
Famous Births 👶
- 2008: Rio Ngumoha, English footballer
- 1996: Daryll Neita, British sprinter
- 1994: Ysaline Bonaventure, Belgian tennis player
- 1993: Lucas Cruikshank, American YouTuber and actor
- 1993: Liam Payne, English singer-songwriter from One Direction (died 2024)
- 1992: Noah Syndergaard, American baseball player
- 1991: Néstor Araujo, Mexican footballer
- 1991: Deshaun Thomas, American basketball player
- 1990: Jakub Kosecki, Polish footballer
- 1990: Chris Taylor, American baseball player
- 1990: Patrick van Aanholt, Dutch footballer
- 1989: Charlotte Ritchie, English actress
- 1987: Tony Kane, Northern Irish footballer
- 1986: Hajime Isayama, Japanese illustrator
- 1986: Lea Michele, American actress and singer
Notable Deaths 🕊️
- 2024: Johnny Gaudreau, American ice hockey player (born 1993)
- 2023: Mike Enriquez, Filipino broadcaster (born 1951)
- 2021: Ed Asner, American actor (born 1929)
- 2021: Lee “Scratch” Perry, Jamaican reggae producer (born 1936)
- 2021: Jacques Rogge, Belgian orthopedic surgeon, Olympic sailor and the 8th President of the International Olympic Committee (born 1942)
- 2018: James Mirrlees, Scottish economist, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1936)
- 2018: Paul Taylor, American choreographer (born 1930)
- 2016: Gene Wilder, American stage and screen comic actor, screenwriter, film director, and author (born 1933)
- 2014: Octavio Brunetti, Argentine pianist and composer (born 1975)
- 2014: Björn Waldegård, Swedish race car driver (born 1943)
- 2013: Joan L. Krajewski, American lawyer and politician (born 1934)
- 2013: Medardo Joseph Mazombwe, Zambian cardinal (born 1931)
- 2013: Bruce C. Murray, American geologist and academic, co-founded The Planetary Society (born 1931)
- 2012: Ruth Goldbloom, Canadian academic and philanthropist, co-founded Pier 21 (born 1923)
- 2012: Nicholas Goodrick-Clarke, English historian and author (born 1953)
Holidays & Observances 🎉
- Christian feast day:
Adelphus of Metz - Christian feast day:
Beheading of St. John the Baptist - Christian feast day:
Eadwold of Cerne - Christian feast day:
Euphrasia Eluvathingal (Syro-Malabar Catholic Church) - Christian feast day:
John Bunyan (Episcopal Church) - Christian feast day:
Sabina - Christian feast day:
Vitalis, Sator and Repositus - Christian feast day:
August 29 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics) - International Day against Nuclear Tests
- Day of Remembrance of the Defenders of Ukraine (Ukraine)
- National Sports Day (India)
- Slovak National Uprising Anniversary (Slovakia)