September 29th

Darius I of Persia kills Magian usurper Gaumâta, securing his hold as king of the Persian Empire.

Battle of Salamis: The Greek fleet under Themistocles defeats the Persian fleet under Xerxes I.

Dow Jones Industrial Average falls 777.68 points, its largest single-day point loss, following the bankruptcies of Lehman Brothers and Washington Mutual.

John Roberts was sworn in as the nation's 17th chief justice.

Former South Vietnam president Nguyen Van Thieu died.

Israeli riot police stormed a major Jerusalem shrine and opened fire on stone-throwing Muslim worshippers, killing four Palestinians and wounding 175.

Sinking of MS Estonia. MS Estonia, a passenger and car ferry, sank in the Baltic Sea killing more than 800 passengers. It is considered to be the worst maritime peace-time disaster of the 20th century.

Coup in Haiti. President Jean-Bertrand Aristide was deposed in a military coup. Aristide had been elected in a national election held 8 months before the coup.

The space shuttle Discovery was launched, the first American staffed space flight since the Challenger disaster.

Seven people died after taking Extra-Strength Tylenol capsules laced with cyanide. This led to the use of safety seals on most consumer products.

Pope John Paul I was found dead in his Vatican apartment a little more than one month after becoming head of the Roman Catholic Church.

First Canadian Satellite. Canada launched its first ever satellite, Alouette 1, on this day from the Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, United States. A joint venture between NASA and Defence Research and Development Canada, the satellite was sent to study the Earth's ionosphere.

Baseball's New York Giants played their last game at the Polo Grounds before moving to San Francisco for the next season.

New York Giants centerfielder Willie Mays made a running catch with his back to home plate on a 450-foot blast by Cleveland Indians batter Vic Wertz in Game 1 of the World Series.

Babi Yar massacre. About 33,000 Soviet Jews were killed at the Babi Yar ravine in Kiev by the Nazis in a two-day massacre that started on this day.

Allied forces scored a decisive breakthrough on the Hindenburg Line during World War I.

French chemist Louis Pasteur died.

British Home Secretary Sir Robert Peel establishes London's Metropolitan Police - hence the nicknames "bobbies" and "peelers".

The U.S. War Department established a regular army with a strength of several hundred men.

War of Religion breaks out in France - Huguenots try to kidnap King Charles IX.

King Richard II became the first English monarch to abdicate his throne.