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U.S. space shuttle docks with Russian space station

Born on This Day

Maria Conchita Alonso

1957 -

Cuban-American actress and singer known for her work in "The Running Man" and "Caught."

Stokely Carmichael

1941 - 1998

Trinidad-born civil rights activist and key leader of the Black Power movement who later became a prominent advocate for Pan-Africanism

Bernard Herrmann

1911 - 1975

Composer known for his collaboration with Alfred Hitchcock and scores for "Citizen Kane," "Psycho" and "Taxi Driver."

Maria Conchita AlonsoWireImage

Stokely CarmichaelGetty Images

Bernard HerrmannCBS via Getty Images

2007

JUN29

Apple releases the first iPhone, revolutionizing the mobile phone industry and transforming human communication with its sleek design and pioneering touch interface that allowed users to pinch, zoom and swipe.

Timeline

Also on This Day in History

Discover more of the major events, famous births, notable deaths and everything else history-making that happened on June 29th

The Globe Theatre burns down

The Globe Theatre, where most of Shakespeare’s plays debuted, burns down on June 29, 1613. The Globe was built by Shakespeare’s acting company, the Lord Chamberlain’s Men, in 1599 from the timbers of London’s very first permanent theater, Burbage’s Theater, built in 1576. Before James Burbage built his theater, plays and dramatic performances were ad […]

South Carolina’s Edward Rutledge opposes independence

On June 28, 1776, Edward Rutledge, one of South Carolina’s representatives to the Continental Congress in Philadelphia, expresses his reluctance to declare independence from Britain in a letter to the like-minded John Jay of New York. Contrary to the majority of his Congressional colleagues, Rutledge advocated patience with regards to declaring independence. In a letter […]

Greece breaks diplomatic ties with the Central Powers

On June 29, 1917, several weeks after King Constantine I abdicates his throne in Athens under pressure from the Allies, Greece announces that it is cutting all diplomatic ties to the Central Powers (Germany, Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria, and Turkey). This ends three years of neutrality in World War I and signals Greece’s de facto entry into […]

Germans capture Lvov—and slaughter ensues

On June 29, 1941, the Germans, having already launched their invasion of Soviet territory, invade and occupy Lvov, in eastern Galicia, in Ukraine, slaughtering thousands. The Russians followed a scorched-earth policy upon being invaded by the Germans; that is, they would destroy, burn, flood, dismantle and remove anything and everything in territory they were forced […]

U.S. World Cup team wins unlikely victory over England

On June 29, 1950, an American team composed largely of amateurs defeated its more polished English opponents at the World Cup, held in Belo Horizonte, Brazil. Dubbed the “Miracle on Green,” the game is considered one of the greatest soccer upsets of all time. The English team at the time, known as the “Kings of […]

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Marilyn Monroe weds playwright Arthur Miller

On June 29, 1956, Hollywood film actress Marilyn Monroe marries playwright Arthur Miller in a four-minute civil ceremony at the Westchester County Courthouse in New York state. Writer Norman Mailer famously calls the union a meeting of “The Great American Body” and “The Great American Brain.” On July 1, 1956, the couple wed again in […]

Pelé leads Brazil to first World Cup title

On June 29, 1958, Brazil defeats host nation Sweden 5-2 to win its first World Cup. Brazil came into the tournament as a favorite, and did not disappoint, thrilling the world with their spectacular play, which was often referred to as the “beautiful game.” The star of the tournament was an undersized midfielder named Edson […]

Actress Jayne Mansfield dies in car crash

Blonde bombshell and celebrated actress Jayne Mansfield is killed instantly on June 29, 1967, when the car in which she is riding strikes the rear of a trailer truck on U.S. Route 90 east of New Orleans, Louisiana. Mansfield had been on her way to New Orleans from Biloxi, Mississippi, where she had been performing […]

The Rolling Stones fight the law, and the law wins

On June 29, 1967, Keith Richards sits before magistrates in Chichester, West Sussex, England, facing charges that stemmed from the infamous raid of Richards’ Redlands estate five months earlier. Though the raid netted very little in the way of actual drugs, what it did net was a great deal of notoriety for the already notorious […]

Harlem Cultural Festival begins

On the afternoon of June 29, 1969, a crowd consisting mostly of Black people from the nearby area packs Harlem’s Mt. Morris Park (now Marcus Garvey Park). Over the course of this afternoon and the next five Sunday afternoons, Black performers from many different genres and eras appear on the park’s brightly-colored, sunlit stage in […]

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Supreme Court strikes down death penalty

In Furman v. Georgia, the U.S. Supreme Court rules by a vote of 5-4 that capital punishment, as it is currently employed on the state and federal level, is unconstitutional. The majority held that, in violation of the Eighth Amendment to the Constitution, the death penalty qualified as “cruel and unusual punishment,” primarily because states […]

Isabel Perón takes office as Argentine president

With Argentine President Juan Perón on his deathbed, Isabel Martinez de Perón, his wife and vice president, is sworn in as the leader of the South American country. President Isabel Perón, a former dancer and Perón’s third wife, became the Western Hemisphere’s first female head of government. Two days later, Juan died from heart disease, and Isabel was left […]

Soviet dancer Mikhail Baryshnikov defects from USSR

Considered one of the world’s greatest ballet dancers of all time, Soviet virtuoso Mikhail Baryshnikov choreographs his own Cold War-era defection from the U.S.S.R. after four years of planning. Known as “Misha” to his admirers, Baryshnikov, then 26, executed that plan just after finishing a performance with the Leningrad-based Kirov Ballet in Toronto on June […]

Boston doctor found guilty of killing wife

On June 29, 2001, Boston doctor Dirk Greineder, 60, is found guilty of first-degree murder in the death of Mabel Greineder, 58, his wife of more than 30 years. Dirk Greineder was a distinguished allergist. His wife, known as May, worked for him as a nurse and was pursuing an advanced degree in healthcare. The […]

Academy Award-winning actress Katharine Hepburn dies at age 96

On June 29, 2003, Katharine Hepburn—a four-time Academy Award winner for Best Actress and one of the greatest screen legends of Hollywood’s golden era—dies of natural causes at the age of 96, at her home in Old Saybrook, Connecticut. Hepburn was born into a well-to-do New England family, the daughter of a prominent surgeon, Dr. […]

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