What memorable events happened on September 29th:
· 1789 - The U.S. War Department first establishes regular army with a strength of several hundred men.
· 1907 - The cornerstone is laid at Washington National Cathedral in the U.S. capital.
· 1918 - The Hindenburg Line is broken by Allied forces during World War I.
· 1943 - U.S. General Dwight D. Eisenhower and Italian Marshal Pietro Badoglio sign an armistice aboard the British ship Nelson off the shore of Malta.
· 1954 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 the opening game of the World Series. It is widely considered to be the greatest catch ever made.
· 1957, the New York Giants played their last game at the Polo Grounds, losing to the Pittsburgh Pirates 9-1.
· 2004 - The Burt Rutan Ansari X Prize entry SpaceShipOne performed a successful spaceflight, thereby halfway to winning the prize.
· 2005 - US Senate confirms John Roberts to be the next Chief Justice of the United States.
· 2006 - Sam Sax turns 100
Who was born on this day:
· 1547 - Miguel de Cervantes, Spanish author (d. 1616)
· 1758 - Horatio Nelson, British admiral (d. 1805)
· 1901 - Enrico Fermi, Italian physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1954)
· 1904 - Greer Garson, British actress (d. 1996)
· 1906 Samuel E. Sax Colonel US Army (retired) father of Richard & Steve
· 1907 - Gene Autry, American actor, singer, and businessman (d. 1998)
· 1913 - Trevor Howard, English actor (d. 1988)
· 1913 - Stanley Kramer, American film director (d. 2001)
· 1921 Judith M. Rubinstein mother of Dick, Edward & Janet
· 1931 - Anita Ekberg, Swedish actress
· 1942 - Madeline Kahn, American actress (d. 1999)
· 1942 - Ian McShane, British actor
· 1943 - Lech Wałęsa, President of Poland, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize
· 1948 - Bryant Gumbel, American television personality
