What Happened on October 29

Financial Desk

1929 — Stock Market Collapses in Panic

Prices broke with a violence that staggered seasoned traders on Oct. 29, and billions of dollars in paper values vanished.

NEW YORK, Oct. 29 — The great bull market of the nineteen-twenties, which carried the common stocks of the nation to dizzying heights and made millionaires of office boys, came to an abrupt and catastrophic end today on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange.

Prices broke with a violence that staggered the most seasoned traders, and the ticker fell hours behind as frantic selling orders poured in from every corner of the country. Billions of dollars in paper values vanished in a single afternoon's trading. Crowds gathered outside the Exchange, watching in stunned silence as the tape told its grim story.

The crash, long feared by prudent financiers, has shattered public confidence and threatens to spread ruin throughout the banking system.

• Black Tuesday: The New York Stock Exchange crashes, ending the Great Bull Market of the 1920s and eventually contributing to the Great Depression.

World Desk

2013 — Erdogan Opens Marmaray Rail Tunnel Linking

Prime minister inaugurates undersea rail tunnel across the Bosphorus on Oct. 29.

ISTANBUL, Oct. 29 — Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan today inaugurated the first phase of the Marmaray project, an undersea rail tunnel across the Bosphorus that forms the first standard-gauge link between Europe and Asia. The ceremony drew Japanese, Romanian, and Somali leaders, marking the tunnel’s regional importance.

• The Marmaray tunnel, the first standard gauge rail link between Europe and Asia, opened on October 29, 2013.
• President Erdoğan inaugurated the tunnel on the 90th anniversary of the Turkish Republic.
• The opening ceremony was attended by Japanese PM Shinzō Abe, Romanian PM Victor Ponta, and Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud.
• Prime Minister Erdoğan test-drove the Marmaray under the Bosporus on August 4, 2013.

Foreign Desk

1956 — Israel Invades Sinai; Britain, France Join Suez Action

Israeli forces invaded the Sinai Peninsula on Oct. 29, three months after Nasser nationalised the canal.

CAIRO, Oct. 29 — Israeli forces invaded the Sinai Peninsula today, three months after President Gamal Abdel Nasser nationalised the Suez Canal and closed the Straits of Tiran to Israeli ships.

• On 26 July 1956, Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser nationalised the Suez Canal and closed the Straits of Tiran to Israeli ships.
• Under the pre-agreed Protocol of Sèvres, Israel invaded the Sinai Peninsula on 29 October 1956, forcing Egypt to engage militarily.
• The Anglo-French partnership declared the fighting a threat to stability and entered the war to regain the Canal and bring down Nasser's government.
• Canadian Lester B. Pearson proposed the first UN peacekeeping force, approved on 4 November 1956, leading to a ceasefire.
• The canal was closed from November 1956 to April 1957 due to damage and ships sunk under Nasser's orders.

Science Desk

1998 — Glenn, 77, Returns to Space Aboard Discovery

John Glenn, 77, returned to space aboard the Space Shuttle Discovery on the STS-95 mission, becoming the oldest person in orbit and the only Mercury and Shuttle flyer.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Oct. 29 — John Glenn, the former astronaut who was the first American to orbit the Earth in 1962, returned to space today at age 77 aboard the Space Shuttle Discovery on the STS-95 mission.

Glenn, now a U.S. senator from Ohio, became the oldest person to enter Earth orbit, and the only person to fly in both the Mercury and Space Shuttle programs. He is the first Member of Congress to visit space since Congressman Bill Nelson flew in 1986.

• John Glenn flew on Space Shuttle Discovery's STS-95 mission at age 77.
• Glenn became the oldest person to enter Earth orbit on the STS-95 mission.
• He was the only person to fly in both the Mercury and the Space Shuttle programs.
• Glenn was the first Member of Congress to visit space since Congressman Bill Nelson in 1986.

National Desk

2012 — Sandy Slams Jersey Shore

Hurricane Sandy came ashore north of Atlantic City, brought 91 mph gusts, damaged or destroyed 346,000 homes, and broke a 1960 tide record at 13.31 feet.

BRIGANTINE, N.J., Oct. 29 — The Atlantic crashed over the boardwalk at 6:30 p.m. as Hurricane Sandy, the largest Atlantic storm on record, came ashore just north of Atlantic City. Wind gusts hit 91 mph in the city. Over two million New Jersey households lost power, and 346,000 homes were damaged or destroyed. Governor Chris Christie said the losses were "going to be almost incalculable" and called the shore devastation "the worst we've ever seen." A Sandy Hook tide gauge recorded 13.31 feet above average low tide before its pier collapsed, breaking Hurricane Donna's 1960 record.

• Hurricane Sandy made landfall near Brigantine in Atlantic County, just north of Atlantic City, at about 6:30 p.m. EDT on October 29.
• The storm produced wind gusts as strong as 91 mph (146 km/h) in Atlantic City.
• Over two million households in New Jersey lost power, 346,000 homes were damaged or destroyed, and 38 people were killed.
• Governor Chris Christie said the losses were 'going to be almost incalculable' and called the devastation on the Jersey Shore 'the worst we've ever seen.'
• A tide gauge at Sandy Hook recorded a water level of 13.31 ft (4.06 m) above average low tide before the pier collapsed, breaking the previous record set by Hurricane Donna in 1960.

World Wire

1999 — Odisha Cyclone Kills 10,000

About 10,000 people died when the most intense tropical cyclone ever recorded in the North Indian Ocean hit Odisha, with a death toll rivaling the 1971 cyclone that killed 11,000.

BHUBANESWAR, India — About 10,000 people died when the most intense tropical cyclone ever recorded in the North Indian Ocean slammed into Odisha near this city, flattening villages and sweeping the coast with a tidal surge. Satellite imagery showed the storm's vast spiral as it made landfall. The death toll rivals the 1971 Odisha cyclone, which killed 11,000 at Paradip.

• The 1971 Odisha cyclone killed 11,000 people when it hit Paradip in October.
• Three deadly back-to-back cyclones in May, June and November killed up to 50,000 people in West Bengal and Bangladesh.
• A powerful cyclone hit Calcutta on 5 October 1864, killing an estimated 60,000 people.

Foreign Desk

1955 — Soviet Battleship Novorossiysk Capsizes in Sevastopol Harbor; 608 Men Lost

An explosion, thought to be from a mine, capsized the battleship, killing 608 men.

SEVASTOPOL, Oct. 29 — In the grim annals of the Black Sea fleet, few disasters have matched the sudden loss of the battleship Novorossiysk, which capsized in this harbor after an explosion believed caused by a World War II-era naval mine. The blast, likely from a mine laid during the war, tore into the ship at anchor, and she rolled over with the loss of 608 men. The disaster, which occurred in waters long swept of perils, has shocked the Soviet naval command. Rescue divers worked through the night, but the toll stands as one of the worst in Soviet peacetime naval history.

• An explosion, likely caused by a World War II-era naval mine, capsized the Novorossiysk in Sevastopol harbor.
• The disaster resulted in the loss of 608 men.

Home News

1986 — Thatcher Opens Final M25 Link

Prime Minister opens final M25 stretch, completing 117-mile ring road that drew almost 40 public inquiries

LONDON, Oct. 29 — Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher today officially opened the final section of the M25, completing Britain's orbital motorway around Greater London. The 117-mile route, the longest ring road in Europe, nearly encircles the capital, passing through it only in the east and west. One of the first motorway projects to weigh environmental concerns, it drew almost 40 public inquiries. The Dartford Crossing, which finishes the orbit, remains a trunk road, the A282, rather than motorway. The M25 is already one of Britain's busiest roads.

• Margaret Thatcher opened the final section of the M25 in 1986.
• The M25 is 117 miles (188 km) long, making it the longest ring road in Europe upon opening.
• The M25 was one of the first motorway projects to consider environmental concerns, with almost 40 public inquiries.
• The Dartford Crossing, which completes the orbital route, is classed as a trunk road (A282) and not as motorway.
• The M25 almost completely encircles Greater London, passing through it only in the east and west.

Space Desk

1991 — Galileo Makes History With First Asteroid Flyby

Galileo swept past the asteroid 951 Gaspra at 8 kilometers per second, returning 57 images from as close as 5,300 kilometers with 54-meter resolution.

PASADENA, October 29 — At a relative speed of about 8 kilometers per second, the Galileo spacecraft swept past the asteroid 951 Gaspra, becoming the first craft ever to visit such a body. The flyby occurred at a distance of 1,600 kilometers, and the probe returned 57 images to Earth, the closest taken from 5,300 kilometers with a resolution of about 54 meters per pixel.

Gaspra, discovered by Russian astronomer G. N. Neujmin in 1916, has a surface area of about 525 square kilometers, comparable to the size of Guam or half the land area of Hong Kong. A pioneering optical navigation campaign reduced uncertainty about the asteroid's position, allowing close-range imagery. The spacecraft, launched in 1989 on its roundabout course to Jupiter, used the flyby to test imaging techniques it will employ upon arrival in December 1995. Scientists said the Gaspra pictures should reveal the asteroid's surface composition, cratering history, and whether it is a solid body or a loose rubble pile. Further analysis of the data is expected in the coming weeks.

• Galileo flew by Gaspra on 29 October 1991, passing within 1,600 km at a relative speed of about 8 km/s.
• Fifty-seven images were returned to Earth, the closest taken from a distance of 5,300 km with a resolution of about 54 meters per pixel.
• Gaspra was the first asteroid ever visited by a spacecraft, discovered by Russian astronomer G. N. Neujmin in 1916.
• Gaspra's surface area is about 525 km², comparable to the size of Guam or half the land area of Hong Kong.
• A pioneering optical navigation campaign reduced uncertainty of Gaspra's position, allowing images from as close as 5,300 km.