Today in History

Today is Saturday, April 29, the 119th day of 2023. There are 246 days left in the year.

Today’s Highlight:

On April 29, 1946, 28 former Japanese officials went on trial in Tokyo as war criminals; seven ended up being sentenced to death.

On this date:

In 1429, Joan of Arc entered the besieged city of Orleans to lead a French victory over the English.

In 1916, the Easter Rising in Dublin collapsed as Irish nationalists surrendered to British authorities.

In 1945, during World War II, American soldiers liberated the Dachau concentration camp. Adolf Hitler married Eva Braun inside his “Fuhrerbunker” and designated Adm. Karl Doenitz president.

In 1957, the SM-1, the first military nuclear power plant, was dedicated at Fort Belvoir, Virginia.

In 1967, Aretha Franklin’s cover of Otis Redding’s “Respect” was released as a single by Atlantic Records.

In 1991, a cyclone began striking the South Asian country of Bangladesh; it ended up killing more than 138,000 people, according to the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

In 1992, a jury in Simi Valley, California, acquitted four Los Angeles police officers of almost all state charges in the videotaped beating of motorist Rodney King; the verdicts were followed by rioting in Los Angeles resulting in 55 deaths.

In 1997, a worldwide treaty to ban chemical weapons went into effect.

In 2008, Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama denounced his former pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, for what he termed “divisive and destructive” remarks on race.

In 2010, the U.S. Navy officially ended a ban on women serving on submarines, saying the first women would be reporting for duty by 2012. The NCAA’s Board of Directors approved a 68-team format for the men’s basketball tournament beginning the next season.

In 2011, Britain’s Prince William and Kate Middleton were married in an opulent ceremony at London’s Westminster Abbey.

In 2020, scientists announced the first effective treatment against the coronavirus, the experimental antiviral medication remdesivir, which they said could speed the recovery of COVID-19 patients.

Ten years ago: Opening statements took place in Los Angeles in a wrongful death lawsuit brought by Michael Jackson’s mother, Katherine Jackson, against concert giant AEG Live, claiming it had failed to properly investigate a doctor who cared for Jackson and was later convicted of involuntary manslaughter in his 2009 death. (The jury determined in October 2013 that AEG Live was not liable.) Syria’s prime minister, Wael al-Halqi, narrowly escaped an assassination attempt when a bomb went off near his convoy in Damascus. NBA veteran center Jason Collins became the first male professional athlete in the major four American sports leagues to come out as gay in a first-person account posted on Sports Illustrated’s website.

Five years ago: Central Americans who traveled in a caravan to the U.S. border, hoping to turn themselves in and ask for asylum, were stalled at the border as U.S. immigration officials announced that the San Diego crossing was already at capacity. T-Mobile and Sprint reached a $26.5 billion merger agreement that would reduce the U.S. wireless industry to three major players. (The deal is awaiting the approval of federal regulators.)

One year ago: The United Nations is working doggedly to broker an evacuation of civilians suffering in the ruins of Mariupol. The negotiations continued on Friday, as Ukraine accused Russia of showing its contempt for the world organization by bombing Kyiv while the U.N. leader was visiting the capital.