May 29

Sunday 29, 2005:

France, one of the founders of a united Europe, resoundingly rejects the European Constitution, throwing the idea of a European Union into question and leaving the continent in a state of anxiety and uncertainty (see French referendum on the European Constitution)

Saturday 29, 2004:

World War II Memorial is dedicated in Washington, DC

Saturday 29, 1999:

In Jerusalem, Israel, Charlotte Nilsson wins the forty-fourth Eurovision Song Contest for Sweden singing "Take Me To Your Heaven".

Sunday 29, 1994:

Herbert Shughart refuses to shake hands with President Bill Clinton following a presentation of posthumous Congressional Medals of Honour to the widows of two soldiers for valour in Somalia. "You are not fit to be president of the United States," said Shughart Senior. "The blame for my son?s death rests with the White House and with you. You are not fit to command." President Clinton replied to Mrs. Shughart, "What?s he jumping on me for? I didn?t kill the kid!" http://www.sweetness-light.com/?p=38http://www.urbin.net/EWW/polyticks/pres-mil.html

Wednesday 29, 1985:

Amputee Steve Fonyo completes cross-Canada marathon at Victoria, British Columbia after 14 months.

Sunday 29, 1977:

Janet Guthrie becomes the first woman to qualify for the Indianapolis 500.

Friday 29, 1953:

Sir Edmund Hillary and Sherpa Tenzing Norgay are the first people to reach the summit of Mount Everest.

Monday 29, 1950:

St. Roch, first ship to circumnavigate North America, arrives in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

Thursday 29, 1919:

Observation of shifted star positions during a solar eclipse confirm Albert Einstein's theory of relativity (see Arthur Eddington).

Tuesday 29, 1917:

John Fitzgerald Kennedy, the 35th President of the United States (1961?1963), is born.

Friday 29, 1914:

Ocean liner RMS Empress of Ireland sinks in the Gulf of St. Lawrence; 1,024 lives lost.

Thursday 29, 1913:

Igor Stravinsky's ballet score The Rite of Spring is premiered in Paris.

Saturday 29, 1886:

Putney Bridge opened in west London.

Wednesday 29, 1867:

Austro-Hungarian agreement called Ausgleich ("the Compromise") is born through Act 12, which established the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy; on June 8 Emperor Francis Joseph was crowned King of Hungary

Sunday 29, 1864:

Emperor Maximilian of Mexico arrives in Mexico for the first time.

Monday 29, 1848:

Wisconsin is admitted as the 30th U.S. state.

Saturday 29, 1790:

Rhode Island becomes the last of the original United States colonies to ratify the Constitution and is admitted as the 13th U.S. state.

Friday 29, 1733:

Right of Canadians to keep Indian slaves upheld at Quebec City.

Thursday 29, 1727:

Peter II becomes Tsar of Russia.

Saturday 29, 1677:

Treaty of Middle Plantation establishes peace between the Virginia colonists and the local Indians.

Saturday 29, 1660:

English Restoration: Charles II is restored to the throne of England.

Sunday 29, 1453:

Ottoman armies under Sultan Mehmed II Fatih capture Constantinople after a siege, ending the Byzantine Empire.

Sunday 29, 1414:

Council of Constance.

Monday 29, 1167:

Battle of Legano, in which The Lombard League defeats Emperor Frederick I.

Wednesday 29, 757:

Paul I succeeds Stephen III as pope

More on May, 29

• People Born on May, 29
• They left us on May, 29