Today in 1914 the first transcontinental telephone service begins with first conversation between New York City and San Francisco; and in1958 President Dwight D. Eisenhower signs a bill creating the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).

July 29 is the 210th day of the year (211th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 155 days remaining until the end of the year.

Our on this day in history archives contain over 200,000 events, birthdays and deaths from 6,000 years of history. Here is a roundup of a few of them:

EVENTS

238 - The Praetorian Guard storm the palace and capture Pupienus and Balbinus, who are then dragged through the streets of Rome and executed.

904 - Sack of Thessaloniki - Saracen raiders under Leo of Tripoli sack Thessaloniki, the Byzantine Empire's second-largest city after a short siege, and plunder it for a week.

1014 - Battle of Kleidion: Byzantine Emperor Basil II inflicts a decisive defeat on the Bulgarian army. The way he treats 15,000 prisoners is said to have caused Tsar Samuel of Bulgaria to die of a heart attack just over two months later, on October 6.

1030 - Battle of Stiklestad: King Olaf II of Norway fights and dies trying to regain his Norwegian throne from the Danes.

1565 - Mary, Queen of Scots marries Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley at Holyrood Palace, Edinburgh.

1567 - King James VI of Scotland, barely a year old, is crowned in the Church of the Holy Rude in Stirling.

1588 – The Spanish Armada is defeated.

1793 - John Graves Simcoe decides to build a fort and settlement at Toronto, having sailed into the bay there.

1836 - Inauguration of the Arc de Triomphe in Paris, France.

1848 - Tipperary Revolt during the Irish Potato Famine: An unsuccessful national revolt against British rule is put down by police.

1851 - Annibale de Gasparis discovers asteroid 15 Eunomia.

1864 - American Civil War: Confederate spy Belle Boyd is arrested by Union troops and detained in Old Capitol Prison, Washington, DC.

1894 - First Sino-Japanese War: Japanese troops defeat Chinese troops in the Battle of Seonghwan.

1899 - The first Hague Convention is signed.

1900 – King Umberto I of Italy is assassinated by anarchist Gaetano Bresci.

1907 - Robert Baden-Powell sets up the Brownsea Island Scout Camp in Dorset on the South coast of England. This is regarded as the founding of the Scouting movement.

1914 - The first transcontinental telephone service begins with first conversation between New York City and San Francisco.

1921 – Adolf Hitler becomes leader of the Nazi Party.

1937 - Tongzhou Incident: In Tongzhou, China, the East Hopei Army attacks Japanese troops and civilians.

1948 - The 1948 Summer Olympics in London begin.

1954 - J. R. R. Tolkien's novel, Lord of the Rings is first published.

1957 - The International Atomic Energy Agency is founded.

1958 - Dwight D. Eisenhower signs a bill creating the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).

1959 - Hawaii holds its first elections to the United States Congress. It becomes a state on August 21.

1967 - Off North Vietnam the military ship USS Forrestal catches fire, killing 134 people.

1967 – An earthquake strikes Caracas and kills 500 people.

1968 - The Arenal volcano in Costa Rica erupts, destroying settlements in Pueblo Nuevo and Tabacon.

1973 - Most voters in Greece choose to get rid of their monarchy and become a republic.

1973 - At the Dutch Grand Prix, Roger Williamson is killed in the race, after his car hits the barriers at high speed.

1976 – The first victims of the Son of Sam serial killer are murdered.

1980 - The Flag of Iran is modified.

1981 – Prince Charles and Diana, Princess of Wales marry.

1987 - Margaret Thatcher and Francois Mitterrand sign an agreement to build a tunnel under the English Channel.

1987 - Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi and Sri Lankan Prime Minister J. R. Jayewardene sign the Indo-Sri Lankan Accord on ethnic issues.

1993 - The Israeli Supreme Court acquits John Demjanjuk, who is later found guilty of war crimes.

From 2001

2004 - Italy decides to get rid of conscription from July 1, 2005.

2005 – The discovery of the dwarf planet Eris is announced.

2006 - Declaration of Montreal for human rights of LGBT is adopted.

2010 - Start of a major flooding disaster in Pakistan.

2010 - A overloaded passenger ferry capsizes on the Kasai River, Bandundu province, Democratic Republic of the Congo, killing over 80 people.

2014 - Israel-Gaza Conflict: Over 100 people in the Gaza Strip are reported to have been killed in a single day.

2015 - Microsoft Windows 10 launches.

2018 - Geraint Thomas becomes the first Welsh cyclist to win the Tour de France.

2019 - A prison riot in Altamira, Pará, Brazil, results in 57 people being killed.