September 29

1227 – Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor, is excommunicated by Pope Gregory IX for his failure to participate in the Crusades

1578 – Spaniards lay claim on the site of a settlement of the Lenca and Tolupan tribes in Honduras and found the city Real de Minas de San Miguel de Tegucigalpa as the capitol of the area

1789 – As the 1st U.S. Congress adjourns, the U.S. Department of War establishes a regular army.

1864 – Union forces under General Grant assaulting Confederates under General Lee along their lines on New Market Road cause them to retreat from Fort Harrison in Henrico County south of Richmond.

1907 – The cornerstone is laid at the Cathedral Church of Saint Peter and Saint Paul, the Washington National Cathedral, in Washington, D.C.

1918 – As the St Quentin Canal, France’ sector of the German defensive Hindenburg Line is breached by an Allied attack, General Erich Ludendorff of Germany’s Supreme Army Command calls for the Kaiser and the Chancellor to open negotiations for an armistice.

1923 – The League of Nations’ British Mandate for Palestine takes effect.

1941 – German forces, with the aid of local Ukrainian collaborators, begin the 2 day long Babi Yar valley Kyiv massacre, murdering over 33,000 Jews

1954 – The convention establishing CERN (the European Organization for Nuclear Research) is signed at the University of Copenhagen.

1959 – Braniff International Airways Flight 542, a Lockheed L-188 Electra,  disintegrates in flight from unknown causes and crashes near Buffalo, Texas, killing all 34 people passengers and crew aboard.

1988 – NASA launches Shuttle Discovery on STS-26, the first mission since the Challenger disaster.

1990 – Construction is completed of the Cathedral Church of Saint Peter and Saint Paul, the Washington National Cathedral, in Washington, D.C.

2004 – Burt Rutan’s SpaceShipOne performs a successful spaceflight, the first of two required to win the Ansari X Prize.

2005 – John Roberts is confirmed as Chief Justice of the United States.

2006 – Master at Arms 2nd Class Michael A. Monsoor USN jumps onto a grenade thrown at his SEAL team, covering it with his body and absorbing  most of the force of the blast, killing him. For his actions he is awarded the Medal of Honor.

2008 –  After the first House of Representatives vote on the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act (called the ‘Wall Street Bailout’) fails, the stock market crashes over 700 points – about 10% –  precipitating a financial recession many economists calculated was the worst since the Great Depression of the 1930s.

2020 – Feminist and singer, Helen Reddy dies, age 78 at the Motion Picture & Television Country House and Hospital in Los Angeles.