10 stories from 1829 to 2009, written as the news broke.
The Yesterday Times front page for September 29.
On September 29, a shuttle returned NASA to orbit, SpaceShipOne claimed spaceflight's first prize, markets crashed on a failed bailout, and a tsunami killed 189 in Samoa.
September 29 in History
Kennedy Space Center
1988 — NASA Returns to Flight with Shuttle Discovery Launch
Thirty-two months after Challenger, the shuttle program rises from its longest grounding — a four-day mission to restore confidence in American crewed spaceflight
Space Shuttle Discovery lifts off on STS-26, NASA's return to flight mission — Pixabay
Space Shuttle Discovery lifted off at 11:37 a.m. from Kennedy Space Center, ending America's longest retreat from human spaceflight since the Mercury program. The launch from Pad 39-B drew an estimated quarter-million spectators to Florida's Space Coast. STS-26 marks NASA's return to flight 32 months after Challenger claimed seven lives and grounded the fleet. Five astronauts will deploy a communications satellite and conduct experiments testing shuttle modifications ordered after the 1986 accident. President Reagan called the launch a new beginning for the nation's space program. NASA implemented 400 safety changes at a cost exceeding $2 billion before clearing Discovery to fly.
NASA launches STS-26, the first Space Shuttle mission since the Challenger disaster.
2004 — Rutan's SpaceShipOne Claims First X Prize Spaceflight
Pilot Brian Binnie reaches 112 kilometers above Mojave — a civilian craft touches space, with $10 million riding on Monday's encore
SpaceShipOne rests on the runway after its successful spaceflight — Don Ramey Logan
In the span of a century, the dream of private spaceflight traveled from science fiction to a runway in the California desert.
Burt Rutan's SpaceShipOne, a bullet-shaped craft with folding wings and a hybrid rocket motor, completed a successful spaceflight this morning, becoming the first privately built vehicle to reach the internationally recognized boundary of space. Pilot Brian Binnie guided the white composite ship to an altitude of 112 kilometers — 367,500 feet — after release from its White Knight carrier aircraft at 47,000 feet.
The flight marks the first of two required to win the $10 million Ansari X Prize, established in 1996 to spur commercial space travel. Rutan's team, backed by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, must duplicate the feat with the same vehicle within two weeks to claim the purse.
SpaceShipOne landed on the same Mojave Airport runway where it took off, rolling to a stop before a crowd of engineers, investors, and journalists who have gathered here since the project's secrecy lifted this summer. The craft sustained minor damage to its landing gear door, which Rutan said would not delay Wednesday's planned second flight.
The achievement comes 47 years after the Soviet Union launched Sputnik and 43 years after Alan Shepard became the first American in space.
Burt Rutan's Ansari SpaceShipOne performs a successful spaceflight, the first of two required to win the Ansari X Prize.
2008 — Dow Plunges Record 778 Points as Bailout Bill Fails
The House rejection of the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act triggers the biggest single-day point drop in market history
Lehman Brothers headquarters in New York, days before the investment bank's collapse — David Shankbone
As the votes were counted, the selling began.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average plummeted 777.68 points Monday, losing 6.98 percent of its value in the largest single-day point decline ever recorded, after the House of Representatives rejected the $700 billion Emergency Economic Stabilization Act. The blue-chip index, which had traded above 11,400 at Friday's close, shed nearly $1.2 trillion in market capitalization before settling at 10,365.45.
The 228-205 vote against the Treasury rescue plan, designed to purchase toxic mortgage assets from financial institutions, caught traders who had priced in passage.
The stock market crashes with the Dow Jones dropping a then record 778 points after the United States House of Representatives vote on the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act fails during the beginning stages of the Great Recession.
1954 — Mays' 483-Foot Catch Halts Rally, Saves Game 1 for Giants
Center fielder's over-the-shoulder grab of Vic Wertz's drive preserves 2-2 tie in eighth inning
Willie Mays and a teammate pose with bats in spring training — Wikimedia Commons
Willie Mays turned his back to the infield and sprinted 483 feet from home plate at the Polo Grounds. The Giants center fielder made an over-the-shoulder catch on Vic Wertz's 420-foot fly ball in the eighth inning of Game 1 of the 1954 World Series. Mays' throw prevented Cleveland's Larry Doby from advancing, keeping the score tied 2–2. New York won in extra innings and swept the series.
Willie Mays made an over-the-shoulder catch on a 420-foot fly ball hit by Vic Wertz in the eighth inning of Game 1 of the 1954 World Series.
The catch occurred at the Polo Grounds in Upper Manhattan, where center field was marked at 483 feet.
Mays' throw back to the infield after the catch prevented Cleveland's Larry Doby from advancing, keeping the score tied 2–2.
The New York Giants won Game 1 in extra innings, 5–2, and went on to sweep the 1954 World Series.
Jack Brickhouse described the catch for NBC television viewers, and the audio was later published on CD with the 2000 book And the Fans Roared.
2009 — Samoa Quake Spawns Tsunami; Death Toll Tops 189
Hundreds injured as 8.1 magnitude tremor strikes South Pacific.
A damaged blue house stands amid debris left by the tsunami — Emergency Architects
An 8.1 magnitude earthquake off Samoa triggered a tsunami that killed more than 189 people and injured hundreds across the South Pacific.
The tremor struck early Tuesday local time, sending waves crashing into coastal villages and leaving widespread destruction. Emergency services reported survivors scrambling to higher ground as water surged inland.
Rescue crews are combing debris for victims.
The 8.1 Mw Samoa earthquake results in a tsunami that kills over 189 and injures hundreds.
1954 — Twelve Nations Sign Pact Creating European Atom Research Body
Delegates from twelve nations signed the September 29, 1954 convention establishing a Franco-Swiss "European laboratory" for atomic physics.
In a modest conference room overlooking Lake Geneva, delegates from twelve nations put pen to paper on a document few newspapers would notice.
The convention establishing CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research, was signed September 29, 1954, creating what proponents called a "European laboratory" for atomic physics. The facility will sit astride the Franco-Swiss border near Geneva.
The twelve founding members are Belgium, Denmark, France, the Federal Republic of Germany, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and Yugoslavia.
The convention establishing CERN (the European Organization for Nuclear Research) is signed.
1991 — Disney's 'Beauty and the Beast' Debuts Unfinished, Earns Historic Best Picture Nomination
The animated film becomes the first ever nominated for the Academy's top prize.
The Academy Award for Best Picture has never gone to an animated film. That wall cracked with Disney's "Beauty and the Beast," which premiered in unfinished form at the New York Film Festival and earned the first such nomination for the medium. The film, still missing final color and some scoring, screened to a sold-out Alice Tully Hall. It was the second produced entirely with Disney's Computer Animation Production System, blending hand-drawn figures with digital backgrounds for camera moves impossible in traditional animation. The picture carries a dedication to lyricist Howard Ashman, who died of AIDS eight months before release.
The film premiered at the New York Film Festival with an unfinished version on September 29, 1991.
Beauty and the Beast was the first animated film to receive a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Picture.
The film was the second fully made with Computer Animation Production System (CAPS), enabling seamless blending of traditional and computer animation.
Beauty and the Beast is dedicated to lyricist Howard Ashman, who died from AIDS eight months before the film's release.
The film finished its run as the third highest-grossing film of 1991 with an initial worldwide gross of $331 million.
1964 — Argentine Cartoonist Quino Launches 'Mafalda' Comic Strip in Primera Plana Magazine
Quino's new strip introduces a skeptical child navigating an era of political turbulence across Latin America.
In an era of political turbulence and rising youth consciousness across Latin America, a small girl with a bow and a frown made her first appearance today.
Cartoonist Quino's "Mafalda" debuted in the magazine Primera Plana, introducing a six-year-old heroine skeptical of war, soup, and the grown-up world. The strip began with Mafalda and her parents; other children will follow.
Mafalda was first published in the magazine Primera Plana on 29 September 1964.
The comic strip was created by cartoonist Quino, who originally conceived it in 1963 as a covert advertisement for Siam Di Tella.
Quino ceased publication of the strip on 25 June 1973, after creating characters including Mafalda's little brother Guille.
The strip initially featured only Mafalda and her parents; Felipe was introduced in January 1965.
After leaving Primera Plana in 1965, the strip moved to the newspaper El Mundo, where new kids Manolito, Susanita, and Miguelito were introduced.
1959 — Lockheed Electra Plunges Into Buffalo Field; 34 Die in Fiery Wreck
The four-engine turboprop, barely a year in service, broke apart on final approach.
The Lockheed L-188 Electra, Braniff Airways Flight 542 out of Houston, disintegrated in mid-air and crashed into a field near Buffalo, Texas, this afternoon. Thirty-four persons aboard were killed instantly.
Witnesses reported the left wing tore loose before the aircraft struck the ground. The Electra, Lockheed's new turboprop competitor to the piston Convairs and Douglas propliners, entered airline service only in January.
A Lockheed L-188 Electra crashes in Buffalo, Texas, killing 34 people.
1829 — Peel's Blue Boys March Onto London Streets; New Police Force Born
One thousand unarmed men in blue swallow-tailed coats, carrying only a truncheon and a rattle, commenced duty at 5 o'clock this evening under Robert Peel's Metropolitan Police Act.
One thousand men in blue swallow-tailed coats marched onto the thoroughfares of London today, constituting a reform that has agitated Parliament these seven years. The Metropolitan Police, authorized under Home Secretary Robert Peel's Act of June, commenced duty at 5 o'clock this evening.
They are unarmed. They carry only a truncheon and a rattle to summon aid.
The Metropolitan Police of London, later also known as the Met, is founded.
1901 — Enrico Fermi, Italian-American physicist, Nobel laureate, Enrico Fermi, Italian-American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1954)
1935 — Jerry Lee Lewis, American singer-songwriter and pianist, Jerry Lee Lewis, American singer-songwriter and pianist (died 2022)
1936 — Silvio Berlusconi, Italian businessman and politician, Prime Minister of Italy, Silvio Berlusconi, Italian businessman and politician, Prime Minister of Italy (died 2023)
1988 — Kevin Durant, American basketball player, Kevin Durant, American basketball player
1942 — Bill Nelson, American politician, Bill Nelson, American politician
1951 — Michelle Bachelet, Chilean politician, President of Chile, Michelle Bachelet, Chilean politician, President of Chile
1956 — Sebastian Coe, English sprinter and politician, Sebastian Coe, English sprinter and politician
Quote of the Day
“All that we see or seem is but a dream within a dream.” — Edgar Allan Poe, The Raven and Other Poems
September 29 History Quiz
What was the name of the first Space Shuttle mission after the Challenger disaster?
STS-26
In what year did the Dow Jones drop a record 778 points in a single day?
2008
Which comic strip character created by Quino debuted on September 29, 1964?
