On This Day: 29 June

Julius Caesar gains absolute power in Rome by defeating Pompey, his brother–in–law and former ally, at Pharsallus		48 BC
During the Second Crusade, Raymond of Poitiers, Prince of Antioch, is defeated and killed at the Battle of Inab, in the Seljuk Sultanate (modern Syria) by Nur ad–Din Zangi, of the Oghuz Turkish Zengid dynasty		1149
Albanian nobleman and military commander George Castriot (known as Skanderbeg) defeats an Ottoman invasion force at Torvioll		1444
Jacques Cartier is the first European to reach Prince Edward Island		1534
London's Globe Theatre burns to the ground		1613
Tobacco–growing is banned in Britain, as a monopoly is granted to Virginia		1620
Charles I defeats a Parliamentarian detachment at the Battle of Cropredy Bridge in Oxfordshire		1644
Austrians and French fight an indecisive battle at Parma, Italy		1734
Catholic priest Alexander Macdonell leads over five hundred Catholics from the Scottish highlands to settle in what would become Glengarry County, Ontario		1786
The first British (10–yearly) census reports a population of 8,872,000		1801
Parliament establishes the first passenger railway – from Swansea to Oystermouth		1804
The Daily Telegraph is published for the first time		1855
Ninety–nine lives are lost in Canada's worst railway disaster, near St–Hilaire, Quebec		1864
Samuel Crowther, Bishop of Nigeria, becomes the first black bishop in the Anglican church		1864
The Press Association (news agency) is founded in London		1868
Trade Unions are legalised by Act of Parliament		1871
France annexes Tahiti		1880
In Sudan, Muhammad Ahmad declares himself to be the Mahdi, the messianic redeemer of Islam		1881
US innovator George Edward Gouraud records Handel's Israel in Egypt onto a phonograph cylinder – thought for many years to be the oldest known recording of music		1888
Steam–powered elevated trains begin operating in Chicago		1892
Cardinal Vaughan lays the foundation stone of Westminster Cathedral		1895
The Automobile Association is founded		1905
Roger Casement, a former British diplomat, is sentenced to death for his part in the Easter Rising in Ireland		1916
South Africa passes an Act barring blacks from skilled and semi–skilled jobs		1925
The Bird of Paradise, a US Army Air Corps Fokker tri–motor, completes the first flight from the mainland United States (California) to Hawaii		1927
Hitler's Night of the Long Knives breaks the power of the SA (storm troopers) and leads to the murder of its head, Ernst Roehm		1934
US troops land in New Guinea and raid the Solomon Islands		1943
US troops are withdrawn from Korea		1949
US President Harry S. Truman authorises a sea blockade of Korea		1950
USA beat England 1–0 in the first round of the FIFA World Cup finals tournament		1950
BBC Television Centre, in Shepherd's Bush, opens		1960
Marilyn Monroe marries playwright Arthur Miller		1956
President Kennedy has discussions with Harold Macmillan at the prime minister's home in Sussex		1963
The first US military ground action in Vietnam begins		1965
US planes bomb Hanoi, North Vietnam		1966
Barclaycard, Britain's first credit card, is issued		1966
Pink Floyd top the bill at Hyde Park Festival		1970
Isabel Peron is sworn in as the first female President of Argentina, as her husband's health fails		1974
Mikhail Baryshnikov defects from the Soviet Union to Canada while on tour with the Kirov Ballet		1974
Steve Wozniak tests his first prototype of the Apple I computer		1975
The Seychelles become(s) an independent republic		1976
Richard Branson's Virgin Atlantic Challenger II passes the Bishop Rock lighthouse, beating the record for a transatlantic crossing by 2 hours and 9 minutes		1986
Vincent Van Gogh's painting Le Pont de Trinquetaille is bought for $20.4 million at an auction in London		1987
A rent boy scandal involving senior White House staff is uncovered		1989
The NASA space shuttle Atlantis docks with the Russian space station Mir for the first time		1995
501 lives are lost, and 937 people are injured, when Seoul's Sampoong Department Store collapses		1995
HM Government announces that a memorial to Princess Diana is to be built in London's Hyde Park		2001
Six South Korean sailors lose their lives and a North Korean vessel is sunk, in naval clashes between South and North Korea		2002
The US Supreme Court rules that President George W. Bush's plan to try Guantanamo Bay detainees in military tribunals violates US and international law		2006
Apple Inc. releases the first iPhone		2007
The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant declares its caliphate in Syria and northern Iraq		2014

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On This Day: 29 June