January 29

Historic 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 on board 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. ›

1973

EgyptAir Flight 741 crashes into the Kyrenia Mountains in Cyprus, killing 37 people. ›

1971

The last of its many UFO sightings is made at Pudasjärvi, Finland. ›

1959

The first Melodifestivalen is held at Cirkus in Stockholm, Sweden. ›

1944

World War II: Approximately 38 people are killed and about a dozen injured when the Polish village of Koniuchy (present-day Kaniūkai, Lithuania) is attacked by Soviet partisan units. ›

1944

World War II: In Bologna, Italy, the Anatomical theatre of the Archiginnasio is completely destroyed in an air-raid. ›

1943

World War II: The first day of the Battle of Rennell Island, USS Chicago (CA-29) is torpedoed and heavily damaged by Japanese bombers. ›

1940

Three trains on the Nishinari Line; present Sakurajima Line, in Osaka, Japan, collide and explode while approaching Ajikawaguchi Station. One hundred and eighty-one people are killed. ›

1936

The first inductees into the Baseball Hall of Fame are announced. ›

1918

Ukrainian–Soviet War: The Bolshevik Red Army, on its way to besiege Kyiv, is met by a small group of military students at the Battle of Kruty. ›

1918

Ukrainian–Soviet War: An armed uprising organized by the Bolsheviks in anticipation of the encroaching Red Army begins at the Kiev Arsenal, which will be put down six days later. ›

1911

Mexican Revolution: Mexicali is captured by the Mexican Liberal Party, igniting the Magonista rebellion of 1911. ›

1907

Charles Curtis of Kansas becomes the first Native American U.S. Senator. ›

1891

Liliʻuokalani is proclaimed the last monarch and only queen regnant of the Kingdom of Hawaii. ›

1886

Karl Benz patents the first successful gasoline-driven automobile. ›

1863

The Bear River Massacre: A detachment of California Volunteers led by Colonel Patrick Edward Connor engage the Shoshone at Bear River, Washington Territory, killing hundreds of men, women and children. ›

1861

Kansas is admitted as the 34th U.S. state. ›

1856

Queen Victoria issues a Warrant under the Royal sign-manual that establishes the Victoria Cross to recognise acts of valour by British military personnel during the Crimean War. ›

1850

Henry Clay introduces the Compromise of 1850 to the U.S. Congress. ›

1845

"The Raven" is published in The Evening Mirror in New York, the first publication with the name of the author, Edgar Allan Poe. ›

1819

Stamford Raffles lands on the island of Singapore. ›

1814

War of the Sixth Coalition: France engages Russia and Prussia in the Battle of Brienne. ›

946

Caliph al-Mustakfi is blinded and deposed by Mu'izz al-Dawla, ruler of the Buyid Empire. He is succeeded by al-Muti as caliph of the Abbasid Caliphate. ›

904

Sergius III is elected pope, after coming out of retirement to take over the papacy from the deposed antipope Christopher. ›