This Day In History : August 29

1831 United Kingdom

Michael Faraday discovers electromagnetic induction

Michael Faraday discovered electromagnetic induction on August 29, 1831. This fundamental principle of electromagnetism demonstrated that a changing magnetic field can induce an electric current in a conductor. Faraday's discovery laid the groundwork for many technological advancements, including the development of electric generators and transformers, and it remains a cornerstone of electromagnetic theory.

Also on This Day in History August 29

Discover what happened on August 29 with HISTORY's summaries of major events, anniversaries,
famous births and notable deaths.

Births on This Day, August 29

1904 Werner Forssmann

German surgeon who shared (with André F. Cournand and Dickinson W. Richards) the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine in 1956 for the development of cardiac catheterization.
1876 Charles F. Kettering

Charles Franklin Kettering was an American engineer whose 140 patents included the electric starter, car lighting and ignition systems.
1749 Louis Laurent Gabriel de Mortillet

French anthropologist who was the first to organize man's prehistoric cultural developments into a sequence of epochs.
1915 Nathan Pritikin

American scientist, inventor and nutritionist. Pritikin believed that moderate exercise combined with a diet low in fat and high in unrefined carbohydrates reversed his own heart disease discovered in the late 1950's.
1914 Bernard Vonnegut

Bernard Vonnegut was an American atmospheric scientist credited with discovering that silver iodide could be used effectively in cloud seeding to produce snow and rain.

Deaths on This Day, August 29

1873 Hermann Hankel

German mathematician who worked on the theory of complex numbers, the theory of functions and the history of mathematics.
1868 Christian Friedrich Schönbein

German-Swiss chemist who discovered and named ozone (1840) and was the first to describe guncotton (nitrocellulose).
2003 Horace W. Babcock

Horace Welcome was an American astronomer, son of Harold Babcock. Working together, they were the first to measure the distribution of magnetic fields over the surface of the Sun.
1967 Charles Darrow

Charles Brace Darrow was an American inventor who designed the board game Monopoly.
1865 Robert Remak

Robert Remak was an embryologist, physiologist, and neurologist, born in Posen, Prussia, who discovered that the origin of cells was by the division of pre-existing cells.

1898

The Goodyear tire company is founded

The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company was founded on August 29, 1898, in Akron, Ohio, by Frank Seiberling. Named after Charles Goodyear, who invented vulcanized rubber, the company initially focused on manufacturing bicycle and carriage tires.

1946

The USS Nevada is decommissioned

The USS Nevada (BB-36), a battleship of the United States Navy, was decommissioned on August 29, 1946. This marked the end of its active service following a distinguished career that included participation in both World War I and World War II. USS Nevada was notable for being the only battleship to get underway during the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, and for its contributions during the Normandy landings in June 1944.

1916

The United States passes the Philippine Autonomy Act

The United States passed the Philippine Autonomy Act, also known as the Jones Law, on August 29, 1916. This legislation paved the way for greater self-governance and eventual independence for the Philippines, which had been under American colonial rule since the Spanish-American War of 1898. The Jones Law established a bicameral Philippine Legislature and promised eventual independence as soon as a stable government could be established.

1949

The USSR tested their first atomic device, First Lightning

The USSR tested their first atomic device, codenamed "First Lightning," on August 29, 1949. This event marked a crucial development in global geopolitics and the Cold War arms race, as the Soviet Union became the second country after the United States to possess nuclear weapons capability.