Events from the year 1929 in the United States.
Incumbents
Federal government President: Calvin Coolidge (R-Massachusetts) (until March 4) Herbert Hoover (R-California) (starting March 4) Vice President: Charles G. Dawes (R-Illinois) (until March 4) Charles Curtis (R-Kansas) (starting March 4) Chief Justice: William Howard Taft (Ohio) Speaker of the House of Representatives: Nicholas Longworth (R-Ohio) Senate Majority Leader: Charles Curtis (R-Kansas) (until March 4) James Eli Watson (R-Indiana) (starting March 4) Congress: 70th (until March 4), 71st (starting March 4)
State governments Governors and lieutenant governors Governors
Lieutenant governors
Events
January–March
January 1 – In college football, California loses to the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets in the 27th Rose Bowl by a score of 8–7. January 29 – The Seeing Eye is established with the mission to train guide dogs to assist the blind, by Dorothy Harrison Eustis and Morris Frank in Nashville, Tennessee. February 11 – Eugene O'Neill's Dynamo premieres in New York. February 14 – St. Valentine's Day Massacre: Seven gangsters, rivals of Al Capone, are murdered in Chicago. February 26 – The Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming is established by Congress. March 4 – Herbert Hoover is sworn in as the 31st president of the United States, and Charles Curtis is sworn in as the 31st vice president. March 16 – A part-talkie film version of Show Boat, based on Edna Ferber's novel rather than the musical, premieres in Palm Beach (starring Laura La Plante and Joseph Schildkraut). It is critically panned and not successful at the box office.
April–June April 2–6 – The Bombing of Naco by Irish pilot Patrick Murphy, the first aerial assault on the United States by a foreign combatant May 13 – The National Crime Syndicate is founded in Atlantic City. May 15 – Cleveland Clinic Fire of 1929 A leak and explosion of methyl chloride refrigerant in a Cleveland hospital kills one hundred and twenty-eight and becomes regarded as the catalyst for the development of chlorofluorocarbon refrigerants. May 16 – The 1st Academy Awards are presented at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel in Hollywood, California, with William A. Wellman's Wings winning Academy Award for Best Picture. Joseph W. Farnham wins the only award ever given for Best Writing, Title Writing. Frank Borzage's 7th Heaven received the most nominations with five, while both it and F. W. Murnau's Sunrise jointly received the most awards with three. May 17 – Al Capone and his bodyguard are arrested for concealing deadly weapons. May 20 – The Wickersham Commission begins its investigation of alcohol prohibition in the United States. May 27 – United States v. Schwimmer decided in the Supreme Court affirms that pacifism is sufficient ground to deny an applicant citizenship of the United States. June 12 – Lou Hoover has tea at the White House with Jessie De Priest, wife of Oscar De Priest, the first black congressman of the 20th century. June 16 – Otto E. Funk, 62, ends his marathon walk (New York City to San Francisco, 4,165 miles in 183 days). June 21 – An agreement brokered by U.S. Ambassador Dwight Whitney Morrow ends the Cristero War in Mexico. June 27 – The first public demonstration of color television is held, by H. E. Ives and his colleagues at Bell Telephone Laboratories in New York City. The first images are a bouquet of roses and an American flag. A mechanical system is used to transmit 50-line color television images between New York and Washington, D.C.
July–September August 11 – The first Bud Billiken Parade and Picnic, the oldest and largest US African-American parade, is held in Chicago. August 19 – The radio comedy show Amos and Andy makes its debut, starring Freeman Gosden and Charles Correll. August 31 – The Young Plan, which sets the total World War I reparations owed by Germany at US$26,350,000,000 to be paid over a period of 58½ years, is finalized. September 3 – The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) peaks at 381.17, a height it will not reach again until November 1954.
October–December
October 11 – J. C. Penney opens Store #1252 in Milford, Delaware, making it a nationwide company with department stores in all 48 states. October 14 – The Philadelphia Athletics defeat the Chicago Cubs, 4 games to 1, to win their 4th World Series Title. October 24–29 – Wall Street crash of 1929: Three multi-digit percentage drops wipe out more than $30 billion from the New York Stock Exchange (10 times greater than the annual budget of the federal government). October 24 – The Mount Hope Bridge, connecting Portsmouth to Bristol in Rhode Island, opens to traffic. October 25 – Former U.S. Interior Secretary Albert B. Fall is convicted of bribery for his role in the Teapot Dome scandal, becoming the first presidential cabinet member to go to prison for actions in office. November 7 – The Museum of Modern Art in New York City opens to the public. November 29 – Bernt Balchen, U.S. Admiral Richard Byrd, Captain Ashley McKinley, and Harold June, become the first to fly over the South Pole. December 3 – Great Depression: U.S. President Herbert Hoover announces to the U.S. Congress that the worst effects of the recent stock market crash are behind the nation, and that the American people have regained faith in the economy. December 11 – Pathé Studios fire in Manhattan kills 11.
Undated Sunglasses mass-produced from celluloid are first made by Foster Grant for sale in Austin, Texas.
Ongoing Lochner era (c. 1897–c. 1937) On the roof gang, group of cryptologists and radiomen during World War II (1928–1941) U.S. occupation of Haiti (1915–1934) Prohibition (1920–1933) Roaring Twenties (1920–1929)
Sport March 29 – For the first time in Stanley Cup history two American teams face off for hockey's ultimate prize when the Boston Bruins defeat the New York Rangers 2 games to 0 for the Bruins first Stanley Cup victory. The deciding game is played in New York City's Madison Square Garden.
Births
January
January 1 – Joseph Lombardo, American mafioso (d. 2019) January 3 Marilyn Lloyd, American politician and businesswoman (d. 2018) Gordon Moore, American computing entrepreneur, inventor of Moore's Law (d. 2023) January 4 – Darrell Mudra, American football coach (d. 2022) January 5 Wilbert Harrison, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1994) Robert K. Massie, American journalist and historian (d. 2019) Al Worthington, American baseball pitcher (d. 2026) January 7 – Terry Moore, American actress January 8 – Gerry Spence, American lawyer and author (d. 2025) January 9 – Tom Riley, American lawyer and politician (d. 2011) January 13 Joe Pass, American jazz guitarist (d. 1994) Moe Savransky, American baseball player (d. 2022) January 14 – Billy Walker, American country music singer (d. 2006) January 15 – Martin Luther King Jr., African-American civil rights leader, Nobel laureate (d. 1968) January 17 Eilaine Roth, American professional baseball player (d. 2011) Elaine Roth, American professional baseball player (d. 2007) January 19 – Red Amick, American race car driver (d. 1995) January 20 Jimmy Cobb, American jazz drummer (d. 2020) Arte Johnson, American comedian and actor (d. 2019) Frank Kush, American football player and coach (d. 2017) January 21 – Rolando Hinojosa-Smith, American writer and literary scholar (d. 2022) January 25 – Benny Golson, American jazz musician (d. 2024) January 26 – Jules Feiffer, American cartoonist and author (d. 2025) January 27 – Richard Ottinger, American politician (d. 2026) January 28 – Edith M. Flanigen, American chemist (d. 2026) January 30 – Morton Stevens, American film score composer (d. 1991)
February
February 1 – Stuart Whitman, American film, television actor (d. 2020) February 2 – John Henry Holland, American computer scientist (d. 2015) February 3 – Huntington Hardisty, American admiral (d. 2003) February 4 Jerry Adler, American actor (d. 2025) Stanley Drucker, American clarinetist (d. 2022) Thomas H. Paterniti, American politician (d. 2017) February 5 – Hal Blaine, American drummer and session musician (d. 2019) February 6 – Chuck Nergard, American politician (d. 2017) February 10 Jerry Goldsmith, American composer and conductor (d. 2004) Jim Whittaker, mountaineer Lou Whittaker, mountaineer (d. 2024) February 14 Vic Morrow, American actor, director (d. 1982) James Nelligan, American politician February 15 Bob Moore, American food executive (d. 2024) James R. Schlesinger, American politician (d. 2014) February 22 James Hong, Chinese-American actor, director Rebecca Schull, American actress February 28 – Hayden Fry, American football player and coach (d. 2019)
March
March 1 – Lynwood E. Clark, American Air Force lieutenant general March 6 – Gale McArthur, American basketball player (d. 2020) March 7 – Marion Marlowe, American singer and actress (d. 2012) March 8 Elaine Edwards, American politician (d. 2018) Nicodemo Scarfo, American mafioso (d. 2017) March 9 – Jay Weston, American film producer and restaurant critic (d. 2023) March 11 – Hugh Newell Jacobsen, American architect (d. 2021) March 13 Peter Breck, American actor (d. 2012 in Canada) Joseph Mascolo, American musician, actor (d. 2016) March 14 Michael D. Coe, archaeologist, anthropologist, epigrapher and author (d. 2019) Bob Goalby, golfer (d. 2022) March 16 – Betty Johnson, singer (d. 2022) March 17 – Howie Winter, gang boss (d. 2020) March 19 – Michael M. Ryan, American actor (d. 2017) March 25 Harris W. Fawell, American politician (d. 2021) Cecil Taylor, African-American jazz pianist, composer, and poet (d. 2018) March 26 – Edward Sorel, American illustrator and caricaturist March 27 Rita Briggs, American baseball player (d. 1994) Don Warden, American country musician and manager (d. 2017) March 29 – Richard Lewontin, American biologist, geneticist and academic (d. 2021) March 31 – Bert Fields, American lawyer and author (d. 2022)
April
April 1 Jane Powell, actress, singer, dancer (d. 2021) Bo Schembechler, American football player and coach (d. 2006) April 2 Ed Dorn, poet (d. 1999) Frank Farrar, governor of South Dakota (d. 2021) April 4 William F. Clinger Jr., politician (d. 2021) John Dee Holeman, Piedmont Blues musician (d. 2021) April 5 – Richard Jenrette, businessman (d. 2018) April 6 – Joi Lansing, actress (d. 1972) April 8 – Morton B. Panish, physical chemist April 9 – Paule Marshall, novelist (d. 2019) April 12 Tony Douglas, country music singer (d. 2013) Dale Haupt, American football coach (d. 2018) April 13 – Yvonne Clark, engineer (d. 2019) April 16 Dorne Dibble, American football player (d. 2018) Roy Hamilton, African-American singer (d. 1969) April 20 – John Andreason, politician (d. 2017) April 27 – Michael Harner, anthropologist, author (d. 2018) April 29 Tom Cornsweet, psychologist (d. 2017) Billy Mize, steel guitarist, band leader, vocalist, songwriter, TV show host (d. 2017) April Stevens, singer (d. 2023) April 30 – Beverly LaHaye, conservative activist (d. 2024)
May
May 2 – Link Wray, rock and roll musician (d. 2005) May 3 Denise Lor, popular music singer, actress (d. 2015) Emily Anne Staples, American politician (d. 2018) May 4 Audrey Hepburn, Belgian-born actress and humanitarian (d. 1993 in Switzerland) Sydney Lamb, American linguist Paige Rense, American writer and editor (d. 2021) May 5 – Ilene Woods, American singer, actress (d. 2010) May 6 – Paul Lauterbur, American chemist, Nobel laureate (d. 2007) May 7 Sally Liberman Smith, American educator (d. 2007) Dick Williams, American baseball player (d. 2011) May 8 Ethel D. Allen, African-American Secretary of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and physician (d. 1981) John C. Bogle, American investor (d. 2019) Jane Roberts, American writer (d. 1984)