April 29
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Featured Event
© Pictorial Press Ltd/Alamy
On this day in 1943, a body was dropped into the ocean off the southern shore of Spain. It was a crucial moment in Operation Mincemeat. The intent of this covert action was to fool Nazi Germany into thinking the Allies werenât going to invade Sicilyâwhich was exactly what they planned to do. The operation played out over the following weeks and proved to be a success. That was thanks in large part to a memo (most likely) written by a British naval officer who had lifted the idea from a crime novel and, after World War II was over, invented James Bond. [Read todayâs edition of Today in History > >]
Featured Biography
Featured Biography
Universal History Archive/Shutterstock.com
Japanese Emperor Hirohito, who was born this day in 1901 in Tokyo, ruled his country from 1926 to 1989, a reign that included both Japanâs military defeat in World War II and its postwar economic triumphs.
Famous Birthdays
More on April 29
Fox Broadcasting Company
2018
The animated TV series The Simpsons aired its 636th episode, surpassing Gunsmoke (1955â75) to become the longest-running scripted prime-time show in the United States. [How much do you know about The Simpsons?]
Tom Hevezi/AP Images
2011
Prince William of Wales, second in line to the British throne, married his longtime girlfriend, Catherine Middleton, in a lavish ceremony broadcast to millions of television viewers. [Take our quiz about William and Catherine.]
Douglas C. PizacâAP/REX/Shutterstock.com
1992
Riots began in Los Angeles in response to the acquittal of four white police officers who had been put on trial for their roles in the videotaped beating of Rodney King, a Black man who had been stopped for speeding in March 1991. [Read a brief history of bystander video. ]
Staff Sergeant Val GempisâAir Force Photo/Department of Defense (photo ID: DF-ST-92-06136)
1991
A tropical cyclone struck Bangladesh, killing an estimated 140,000 people and causing 10 million to lose their homes. It remains one of the deadliest cyclones ever recorded.
© Castle Rock Entertainment; all rights reserved
1954
Jerry Seinfeld, whose television show Seinfeld was a landmark of American pop culture in the late 20th century, was born in Brooklyn, New York. [Think you know everything about the âshow about nothingâ? ]
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, courtesy of William and Dorothy McLaughlin
1945
American troops liberated tens of thousands of inmates at Nazi Germanyâs Dachau concentration camp.
Bachrach
1936
Orchestral conductor Zubin Mehta was born in what is today Mumbai, India. [Sort fact from fiction in our quiz about famous musical works.]
Image: EncyclopĂŠdia Britannica, Inc.
1916
About 10,000 British troops surrendered to Ottoman Turks at Al-KĆ«t in Iraq, following a five-month siege during World War I. [Sort fact from fiction in our World War I quiz.]
Reprinted with permission of DownBeat magazine
1899
Composer, bandleader, and pianist Duke Ellington, among the most significant figures in jazz history, was born in Washington, D.C. [Learn about the life and works of Duke Ellington.]
© Ann Ronan Pictures/The Print CollectorâHulton Archive/Getty Images
1770
British explorer James Cook made his first landing in Australia, at Botany Bay. [Sort fact from fiction in our quiz about Australia.]
© G. Dagli OrtiâDeAgostini/Getty Images
1429
French national heroine Joan of Arc and her troops entered the besieged city of OrlĂ©ans during the Hundred Yearsâ War. [Watch: Joan of Arcâs life and death.]