What Happened on October 29?

What Happened on October 29th in History


** Osama Bin Laden formally admitted to ordering the September 11, 2001, attacks on the US. (2004) The admission, which had previously been videotaped, was broadcast by the Al Jazeera news network in Qatar. It was the first time Bin Laden admitted his involvement.


** The European Union's first constitution was signed. (2004) The Treaty and Final Act was signed by 25 European leaders in Rome. Eighteen countries ratified the treaty, but it was brought to a close when France and the Netherlands rejected it in 2005.
 
** The "Suez Crisis" began when Egypt was invaded by Israel. (1956) France and Britain joined Israel in the fight after Egypt decided to nationalize the Suez Canal. The military troops ultimately withdrew after pressure from the US and Russia, and the United Nations negotiated a cease-fire agreement. The canal is now open to any vessel through an international treaty agreement.
 
** The first "Internet" connection was established. (1969) An experimental computer network, called Arpanet, was set up by the US military. It established a connection between computers at the Stanford Research Institute and UCLA. The linked networks were the Internet precursor.
 
** The first peacetime military draft number was drawn in the US. (1940) The peacetime draft had been established when the US Congress passed the Selective Training and Service Act of 1940 on September 6 that year. The first number drawn was 158.
 
** An asteroid was visited by a space probe for the first time. (1991) The asteroid, 951 Gaspra, was visted by NASA's Galileo probe. 951 Gaspra is more than 150 million miles (about 250 million kilometers) from Earth and is located in the main asteroid belt, between the orbits of Jupiter and Mars.
 
** The International Red Cross was formed. (1863) At an international conference in Geneva, Switzerland, eighteen countries adopted resolutions to create the humanitarian organization.
 
** Muhammad Ali won his first professional boxing match. (1960) Ali beat Tunney Hunsaker — the police chief of Fayetteville, West Virginia — in six rounds.
 
** The National Organization for Women was established. (1966) The group, which now is the largest women's organization in the US, focuses on feminism, women's rights and anti-racism issues, among other concerns.
 
** John Glenn became the oldest person, at age 77, to visit space as he blasted off in the Space Shuttle Discovery in his second space trip. (1998) Glenn had been part of the Mercury-Atlas 6 mission 36 years before in 1962. He was also the first American to orbit the Earth.
 
** US school district segregation in the American South finally was ended by a ruling made by the US Supreme Court. (1969) The ruling came from the court's decision in the Alexander v. Holmes County Board of Education case.