1929 in the United States

July–September

• August 11 – The first Bud Billiken Parade and Picnic, the oldest and largest US African-American parade, is held in Chicago.
• August 19 – The radio comedy show Amos and Andy makes its debut, starring Freeman Gosden and Charles Correll.
• August 31 – The Young Plan, which sets the total World War I reparations owed by Germany at US$26,350,000,000 to be paid over a period of 58½ years, is finalized.
• September 3 – The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) peaks at 381.17, a height it will not reach again until November 1954.

October–December

• October 11 – J. C. Penney opens Store #1252 in Milford, Delaware, making it a nationwide company with department stores in all 48 states.
• October 14 – The Philadelphia Athletics defeat the Chicago Cubs, 4 games to 1, to win their 4th World Series Title.
• October 24–29 – Wall Street crash of 1929: Three multi-digit percentage drops wipe out more than $30 billion from the New York Stock Exchange (10 times greater than the annual budget of the federal government).
• October 24 – The Mount Hope Bridge, connecting Portsmouth to Bristol in Rhode Island, opens to traffic.
• October 25 – Former U.S. Interior Secretary Albert B. Fall is convicted of bribery for his role in the Teapot Dome scandal, becoming the first presidential cabinet member to go to prison for actions in office.
• November 7 – The Museum of Modern Art in New York City opens to the public.
• November 29 – Bernt Balchen, U.S. Admiral Richard Byrd, Captain Ashley McKinley, and Harold June, become the first to fly over the South Pole.
• December 3 – Great Depression: U.S. President Herbert Hoover announces to the U.S. Congress that the worst effects of the recent stock market crash are behind the nation, and that the American people have regained faith in the economy.

Undated

• Sunglasses mass-produced from celluloid are first made by Foster Grant for sale in Austin Texas

Ongoing

• Lochner era (c. 1897–c. 1937)
• On the roof gang, group of cryptologists and radiomen during World War II (1928–1941)
• U.S. occupation of Haiti (1915–1934)
• Prohibition (1920–1933)
• Roaring Twenties (1920–1929)

Sport

• March 29 – For the first time in Stanley Cup history two American teams face off for hockey's ultimate prize when the Boston Bruins defeat the New York Rangers 2 games to 0 for the Bruins first Stanley Cup victory. The deciding game is played in New York City's Madison Square Garden.

Births

January

• January 1 – Joseph Lombardo, American mafioso (d. 2019)
• January 3
• Marilyn Lloyd, American politician and businesswoman (d. 2018)
• Gordon Moore, American computing entrepreneur and benefactor, inventor of Moore's Law (d. 2023)
• January 4 – Darrell Mudra, American football coach (d. 2022)
• January 5
• Wilbert Harrison, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1994)
• Robert K. Massie, American journalist and historian (d. 2019)
• January 7 – Terry Moore, American actress
• January 8 – Gerry Spence, American lawyer and author (d. 2025)
• January 9 – Tom Riley, American lawyer and politician (d. 2011)
• January 13
• Joe Pass, American jazz guitarist (d. 1994)
• Moe Savransky, American baseball player (d. 2022)
• January 14 – Billy Walker, American country music singer (d. 2006)
• January 15 – Martin Luther King Jr., African-American civil rights leader, Nobel laureate (d. 1968)
• January 17
• Eilaine Roth, American professional baseball player (d. 2011)
• Elaine Roth, American professional baseball player (d. 2007)
• January 19 – Red Amick, American race car driver (d. 1995)
• January 20
• Jimmy Cobb, American jazz drummer (d. 2020)
• Arte Johnson, American comedian and actor (d. 2019)
• Frank Kush, American football player and coach (d. 2017)
• January 21 – Rolando Hinojosa-Smith, American writer and literary scholar (d. 2022)
• January 25 – Benny Golson, American jazz musician (d. 2024)
• January 26 – Jules Feiffer, American cartoonist and author (d. 2025)
• January 27 – Richard Ottinger, American politician (d. 2026)
• January 28 – Edith M. Flanigen, American chemist (d. 2026)
• January 30 – Morton Stevens, American film score composer (d. 1991)

February

• February 1 – Stuart Whitman, American film, television actor (d. 2020)
• February 2 – John Henry Holland, American computer scientist (d. 2015)
• February 3 – Huntington Hardisty, American admiral (d. 2003)
• February 4
• Jerry Adler, American actor (d. 2025)
• Stanley Drucker, American clarinetist (d. 2022)
• Thomas H. Paterniti, American politician (d. 2017)
• February 5 – Hal Blaine, American drummer and session musician (d. 2019)
• February 6 – Chuck Nergard, American politician (d. 2017)
• February 10
• Jerry Goldsmith, American composer and conductor (d. 2004)
• Jim Whittaker, mountaineer
• Lou Whittaker, mountaineer (d. 2024)
• February 14
• Vic Morrow, American actor, director (d. 1982)
• James Nelligan, American politician
• February 15
• Bob Moore, American food executive (d. 2024)
• James R. Schlesinger, American politician (d. 2014)
• February 22
• James Hong, Chinese-American actor, director
• Rebecca Schull, American actress
• February 28 – Hayden Fry, American football player and coach (d. 2019)

March

• March 1 – Lynwood E. Clark, American Air Force lieutenant general
• March 6 – Gale McArthur, American basketball player (d. 2020)
• March 7 – Marion Marlowe, American singer and actress (d. 2012)
• March 8
• Elaine Edwards, American politician (d. 2018)
• Nicodemo Scarfo, American mafioso (d. 2017)
• March 9 – Jay Weston, American film producer and restaurant critic (d. 2023)
• March 11 – Hugh Newell Jacobsen, American architect (d. 2021)
• March 13
• Peter Breck, American actor (d. 2012 in Canada)
• Joseph Mascolo, American musician, actor (d. 2016)
• March 14
• Michael D. Coe, archaeologist, anthropologist, epigrapher and author (d. 2019)
• Bob Goalby, golfer (d. 2022)
• March 16 – Betty Johnson, singer (d. 2022)
• March 17 – Howie Winter, gang boss (d. 2020)
• March 19 – Michael M. Ryan, American actor (d. 2017)
• March 25
• Harris W. Fawell, American politician (d. 2021)
• Cecil Taylor, African-American jazz pianist, composer, and poet (d. 2018)
• March 26 – Edward Sorel, American illustrator and caricaturist
• March 27
• Rita Briggs, American baseball player (d. 1994)
• Don Warden, American country musician and manager (d. 2017)
• March 29 – Richard Lewontin, American biologist, geneticist and academic (d. 2021)
• March 31 – Bert Fields, American lawyer and author (d. 2022)

April

• April 1
• Jane Powell, actress, singer, dancer (d. 2021)
• Bo Schembechler, American football player and coach (d. 2006)
• April 2
• Ed Dorn, poet (d. 1999)
• Frank Farrar, governor of South Dakota (d. 2021)
• April 4
• William F. Clinger Jr., politician (d. 2021)
• John Dee Holeman, Piedmont Blues musician (d. 2021)
• April 5 – Richard Jenrette, businessman (d. 2018)
• April 6 – Joi Lansing, actress (d. 1972)
• April 8 – Morton B. Panish, physical chemist
• April 9 – Paule Marshall, novelist (d. 2019)
• April 12
• Tony Douglas, country music singer (d. 2013)
• Dale Haupt, American football coach (d. 2018)
• April 13 – Yvonne Clark, engineer (d. 2019)
• April 16
• Dorne Dibble, American football player (d. 2018)
• Roy Hamilton, African-American singer (d. 1969)
• April 20 – John Andreason, politician (d. 2017)
• April 27 – Michael Harner, anthropologist, author (d. 2018)
• April 29
• Tom Cornsweet, psychologist (d. 2017)
• Billy Mize, steel guitarist, band leader, vocalist, songwriter, TV show host (d. 2017)
• April Stevens, singer (d. 2023)
• April 30 – Beverly LaHaye, conservative activist (d. 2024)

May

• May 2 – Link Wray, rock and roll musician (d. 2005)
• May 3
• Denise Lor, popular music singer, actress (d. 2015)
• Emily Anne Staples, American politician (d. 2018)
• May 4
• Audrey Hepburn, Belgian-born actress and humanitarian (d. 1993 in Switzerland)
• Sydney Lamb, American linguist
• Paige Rense, American writer and editor (d. 2021)
• May 5 – Ilene Woods, American singer, actress (d. 2010)
• May 6 – Paul Lauterbur, American chemist, Nobel laureate (d. 2007)
• May 7
• Sally Liberman Smith, American educator (d. 2007)
• Dick Williams, American baseball player (d. 2011)
• May 8
• Ethel D. Allen, African-American Secretary of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and physician (d. 1981)
• John C. Bogle, American investor (d. 2019)
• Jane Roberts, American writer (d. 1984)
• May 10 – Betty Foss, American female professional baseball player (d. 1998)
• May 11 – Margaret Kerry, American actress, dancer, and motivational speaker
• May 12 – Bernard Marcus, American businessman (d. 2024)
• May 15
• Frank Heart, American computer engineer (d. 2018)
• William Luers, American diplomat and museum executive (d. 2025)
• May 16
• Betty Carter, African-American jazz singer (d. 1998)
• John Conyers, African-American politician (d. 2019)
• Adrienne Rich, American poet, essayist (d. 2012)
• May 18 – Walter Pitman, American educator, politician (d. 2018)
• May 21 – Charles Wadsworth, American music promoter (d. 2025)
• May 22 – Neave Brown, American-British architect (d. 2018 in the United Kingdom)
• May 25 – Beverly Sills, American operatic soprano, director of the New York City Opera (d. 2007)
• May 27 – Thomas E. Brennan, American jurist (d. 2018)
• May 29 – Harry Frankfurt, American philosopher (d. 2023)
• May 30 – Marshall Loeb, American business journalist (d. 2017)

June

• June 1
• James H. Billington, American academic and author (d. 2018)
• Chuck Ortmann, American football player (d. 2018)
• June 2 – Norton Juster, American writer and academic (d. 2021)
• June 3 – Chuck Barris, American television game show host, producer (d. 2017)
• June 6 – Mary Hatcher, American soprano, actress (d. 2018)
• June 8 – Marion Marshall, American actress (d. 2018)
• June 9 – Johnny Ace, African-American rhythm and blues singer (d. 1954)
• June 10
• James McDivitt, American astronaut (d. 2022)
• Grace Mirabella, American fashion journalist (d. 2021)
• E. O. Wilson, American biologist (d. 2021)
• June 11 – Frank Thomas, American baseball player (d. 2023)
• June 16 – Paul Cain, American Pentecostal Christian evangelist (d. 2019)
• June 20 – Bonnie Bartlett, American actress
• June 21
• Bob Gain, American football player (d. 2016)
• Stephen B. Wiley, American politician (d. 2015)
• June 22 – Alex P. Garcia, American politician (d. 1999)
• June 23
• June Carter Cash, American singer (d. 2003)
• Gail Peters, American competition swimmer
• Gerald Eustis Thomas, American naval officer, diplomat and academic (d. 2019)
• June 24
• Vic Carrabotta, American comic-book artist, advertising art director (d. 2022)
• Connie Hall, American country music singer (d. 2021)
• Carolyn S. Shoemaker, American astronomer (d. 2021)
• June 25 – Eric Carle, American designer, illustrator and writer (d. 2021)
• June 26 – Milton Glaser, American graphic designer, illustrator and teacher (d. 2020)
• June 27 – J. C. Duncan, politician
• June 28 – Glenn D. Paige, political scientist (d. 2017)
• June 29
• Pat Crawford Brown, actress (d. 2019)
• Pete George, weightlifter (d. 2021)

July

• July 1 – Gerald Edelman, American biologist, Nobel laureate (d. 2014)
• July 3
• Joanne Herring, American socialite, businesswoman, political activist, philanthropist, diplomat, and former television talk show host
• Lavelle White, American Texas blues and soul blues singer, songwriter
• July 4
• Peter Angelos, American trial lawyer (d. 2024)
• Bill Tremel, American professional baseball player (d. 2013)
• July 5 – Katherine Helmond, American actress (d. 2019)
• July 6 – Angelo LiPetri, American former professional baseball player (d. 2016)
• July 8 – Shirley Ann Grau, American writer (d. 2020)
• July 9 – Jesse McReynolds, American bluegrass musician (d. 2023)
• July 10 – John Glenn, Major League Baseball outfielder (d. 2023)
• July 12 – Monte Hellman, director (d. 2021)
• July 11 – Sandy Frank, American television producer, distributor, and marketer of TV shows
• July 14 – Pat Scott, American pitcher (d. 2016)
• July 15 – Walter Hirsch, American basketball player (d. 2022)
• July 17 – Arthur Frommer, American writer, publisher and consumer advocate (d. 2024)
• July 18 – Dick Button, American figure skater (d. 2024)
• July 19 – Alice Pollitt, American female professional baseball player (d. 2016)
• July 21
• Antonia Handler Chayes, American lawyer, educator
• Paul V. Gadola, American judge (d. 2014)
• July 23 – Robert Quackenbush, American author and children's illustrator (d. 2021)
• July 26 – Patrick Flores, American Roman Catholic prelate (d. 2017)
• July 28 – Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, American socialite, conservationist, 35th First Lady of the United States (d. 1994)
• July 31 – Don Murray, American actor (d. 2024)

August

• August 1 – Samuel Charters, American writer, music historian and record producer (d. 2015)
• August 2 – Irwin Fridovich, American biochemist (d. 2019)
• August 4 – Joe Pignatano, American baseball player and coach (d. 2022)
• August 7
• Jo Baer, American artist (d. 2025)
• Don Larsen, American baseball player (d. 2020)
• Dick Schulze, American politician
• August 9 – Fred Fredericks, American cartoonist (d. 2015)
• August 10 – Vincent McEveety, director, producer (d. 2018)
• August 12 – Buck Owens, singer, bandleader, and TV host (d. 2006)
• August 13 – Pat Harrington Jr., voice actor (d. 2016)
• August 14
• Thomas Meehan, playwright (d. 2017)
• Louise Slaughter, politician (d. 2018)
• August 15
• Louise Shivers, writer (d. 2014)
• Marcia Hafif, painter (d. 2018)
• August 16 – Fritz Von Erich, wrestler (d. 1997)
• August 17
• Francis Gary Powers, U-2 spy plane pilot (d. 1977)
• Rex White, auto racer and NASCAR champion (d. 2025)
• August 21
• John McMartin, American actor (d. 2016)
• Marie Severin, comics artist and colorist (d. 2018)
• August 22 – Roy Clay, American computer scientist (d. 2024)
• August 23 – Vera Miles, American actress
• August 24 – Betty Dodson, American sex educator (d. 2020)
• August 26 – Chuck Renslow, American businessman, LGBT activist (d. 2017)
• August 27 – Ralph T. Coe, American art historian of Native American art (d. 2010)
• August 28 – Roxie Roker, African-American actress (d. 1995)
• August 29 – Yale Kamisar, American legal scholar (d. 2022)
• August 31 – C. C. Torbert Jr., American jurist (d. 2018)

September

• September 1 – Murray Fromson, American journalist (d. 2018)
• September 2 – Hal Ashby, American film director and editor (d. 1988)
• September 3 – Whitey Bulger, Irish-American gangster and multiple murderer (d. 2018)
• September 4 – Thomas Eagleton, American politician (d. 2007)
• September 5 – Bob Newhart, American comedian, actor (d. 2024)
• September 6 – Dow Finsterwald, American professional golfer (d. 2022)
• September 9 – Stanford Parris, American lawyer and politician (d. 2010)
• September 10 – Arnold Palmer, American professional golfer (d. 2016)
• September 11
• Eve Brent, American actress (d. 2011)
• David S. Broder, American journalist (d. 2011)
• September 12 – Harvey Schmidt, American composer (d. 2018)
• September 14
• Larry Collins, American writer (d. 2005)
• John Gutfreund, American banker, businessman and investor (d. 2016)
• Mel Hancock, American politician (d. 2011)
• September 15 – Murray Gell-Mann, American physicist, Nobel laureate (d. 2019)
• September 16
• Dale Kildee, American politician (d. 2021)
• Maxine Kline, American female professional baseball player (d. 2022)
• September 19
• Marge Roukema, American politician (d. 2014)
• Mel Stewart, African-American actor (d. 2002)
• September 20 – Anne Meara, American actress, comedian (d. 2015)
• September 22
• William E. Dannemeyer, American politician (d. 2019)
• Cecil Williams, African-American pastor and civil rights activist (d. 2024)
• September 25
• Barbara Walters, American television journalist (d. 2022)
• Kevin White, American politician (d. 2012)
• September 26 – Meredith Gourdine, American athlete (d. 1998)
• September 28 – Skip Bafalis, American politician (d. 2023)
• September 30 – Helen M. Marshall, American politician (d. 2017)

October

• October 2 – Moses Gunn, African-American actor (d. 1993)
• October 4
• Scotty Beckett, American actor (d. 1968)
• Leroy Van Dyke, American country music singer and guitarist
• Judith Jarvis Thomson, American moral philosopher (d. 2020)
• October 5 – Richard F. Gordon Jr., American astronaut (d. 2017)
• October 8 – Arthur Bisguier, American chess grandmaster, chess promoter, and writer (d. 2017)
• October 15 – Hubert Dreyfus, American philosopher (d. 2017)
• October 18 – Jay Last, American physicist (d. 2021)
• October 21 – Ursula K. Le Guin, American science fiction and fantasy author (d. 2018)
• October 22 – Patsy Elsener, American diver (d. 2019)
• October 24
• Jim Brosnan, American baseball player and sportscaster (d. 2014)
• George Crumb, American composer and educator (d. 2022)
• Gustav Ranis, American economist and academic (d. 2013)
• Ronald E. Rosser, Medal of Honor recipient (d. 2020)
• October 25
• LaDell Andersen, American college and basketball coach (d. 2019)
• David McReynolds, American political activist (d. 2018)
• October 26 – Roland Hemond, American baseball executive (d. 2021)
• October 28 – Mitchell Torok, American country music singer (d. 2017)
• October 30 – Roy Kramer, American football coach and athletics administrator (d. 2025)
• October 31 – C. O. Brocato, American football player and scout (d. 2015)

November

• November 1 – Nicholas Mavroules, American politician (d. 2003)
• November 2
• Rachel Ames, American actress
• Harold Farberman, American conductor, composer and percussionist (d. 2018)
• Lee Hedges, American football coach (d. 2023)
• November 4 – Jane Davis Doggett, American graphic designer (d. 2023)
• November 6 – June Squibb, American actress
• November 8
• Bert Berns, American songwriter, record producer (d. 1967)
• Bobby Bowden, American football player and coach (d. 2021)
• November 9 – Severn Darden, American comedian, actor (d. 1995)
• November 11 – LaVern Baker, American singer (d. 1997)
• November 12 – Grace Kelly, American actress (d. 1982)
• November 13 – Fred Phelps, American pastor, activist (Westboro Baptist Church) (d. 2014)
• November 14 – Jimmy Piersall, American baseball player and sportscaster (d. 2017)
• November 15
• Ed Asner, American actor (d. 2021)
• Joe Hinton, African-American soul music singer (d. 1968)
• November 17 – Jackie Ferrara, American sculptor d. 2025)
• November 23
• John F. Keenan, American judge (d. 2024)
• Hal Lindsey, American Christian evangelist (d. 2024)
• Gloria Lynne, American jazz singer (d. 2013)
• Shirley Palesh, baseball player (d. 2017)
• November 24
• Marvin Kitman, author and television critic (d. 2023)
• George Moscone, attorney, politician (d. 1978)
• November 26 – Betta St. John, actress, singer and dancer (d. 2023)
• November 28
• Berry Gordy, African-American record producer, songwriter
• Frederick D. Reese, African-American civil rights activist (d. 2018)
• November 30
• Dick Clark, American television entertainer (d. 2012)
• Joan Ganz Cooney, television producer

December

• December 1 – David Doyle, American actor (d. 1997)
• December 2
• Dan Jenkins, American journalist and author (d. 2019)
• Leon Litwack, American historian and author (d. 2021)
• December 9 – John Cassavetes, American actor (d. 1989)
• December 17 – William Safire, American author, columnist, journalist, and presidential speechwriter (d. 2009)
• December 20 – David H. Gambrell, politician (d. 2021)
• December 21 – Newton Morton, geneticist (d. 2018)
• December 23 – Chet Baker, jazz musician (d. 1988)
• December 26 – Kathleen Crowley, actress (d. 2017)
• December 29
• Theodore V. Buttrey Jr., American educator, classicist and numismatist (d. 2018)
• Susie Garrett, African-American actress (d. 2002)
• Matt "Guitar" Murphy, American blues musician (d. 2018)
• December 31 – Robert B. Silvers, American literary editor (d. 2017)

Undated

• David Fintz Altabé, scholar and poet (d. 2008)

Deaths

• January 5 – Marc McDermott, actor (born 1871)
• January 13
• Wyatt Earp, gunfighter (born 1848)
• Emil Fuchs, sculptor and painter (born 1866 in Austria)
• January 15
• Leonard Cline, novelist, poet and journalist (born 1893; heart failure)
• George Cope, painter (born 1855)
• January 21 – Maria Taylor Beale, author (born 1849)
• January 30 – Franklin J. Drake, admiral (born 1846)
• February 4 – William Rankin Ballard, businessman (born 1847)
• February 11 – Frank Putnam Flint, U.S. Senator from California from 1905 to 1911 (born 1862)
• February 14 – Thomas Burke, sprinter (born 1875)
• February 18 – William Russell, silent film actor (born 1884)
• February 22 – Louise Upton Brumback, landscape painter (born 1867)
• February 24
• Adaline Hohf Beery, songbook compiler (born 1859)
• Frank Keenan, actor (born 1858)
• February 27 – Briton Hadden, co-founder of Time magazine (born 1898)
• March 1 – Royal Hurlburt Weller, politician (born 1881)
• March 5 – David Dunbar Buick, inventor (born 1854 in Scotland)
• March 6 – Moses E. Clapp, politician (born 1851)
• March 12 – Asa Griggs Candler, businessman and politician (born 1851)
• March 15 – Pinetop Smith, blues pianist (born 1904; shot in dancehall brawl)
• March 18 – William P. Cronan, Naval Governor of Guam (born 1879)
• March 28 – Katharine Lee Bates, librettist, author of "America the Beautiful" (born 1859)
• April 4 – William Michael Crose, United States Navy Commander and 7th Governor of American Samoa (born 1867)
• April 28 – May Jordan McConnel, Australian trade unionist and suffragist (born 1860)
• June 2 – Don Murray, jazz clarinettist (born 1894; auto accident)
• June 4 – Harry Frazee, Broadway producer and baseball owner (born 1881)
• June 5 – Adolph Coors, brewer (born 1847 in Prussia; suicide)
• June 9 – murder–suicide
• Louis Bennison, silent Western film actor (born 1884)
• Margaret Lawrence, actress (born 1889)
• June 11 – William D. Boyce, entrepreneur and founder of the Boy Scouts of America (born 1858)
• July 2 – Gladys Brockwell, film actress (born 1894; auto accident)
• July 3 – Dustin Farnum, silent Western film actor (born 1874)
• July 9 – Cack Henley, baseball player (born 1884)
• July 12 – Robert Henri, painter (born 1865)
• July 20 – Noble Drew Ali, prophet (born 1886)
• August 3
• Emile Berliner, inventor (born 1851 in Hanover)
• Thorstein Veblen, economist (born 1857)
• August 19 – Chris Kelly, jazz trumpeter (born c.1890)
• August 27 – James Knox Taylor, official architect (born 1857)
• September 2 – Paul Leni, filmmaker (born 1885 in Germany)
• September 4 – Frederick Freeman Proctor, vaudeville impresario (born 1851)
• September 25 – Miller Huggins, baseball manager (born 1879)
• October 3 – Jeanne Eagels, actress (born 1890; addiction)
• October 15 – Annie Lowrie Alexander, physician and educator (born 1864)
• November 14 – Joe McGinnity, baseball player (born 1871)
• November 17 – Herman Hollerith, businessman and inventor (born 1860)
• November 24 – Raymond Hitchcock, actor and producer (born 1865)
• December 10 – Harry Crosby, publisher and poet (born 1898; suicide)
• December 19 – Blind Lemon Jefferson, blues musician (born 1893; heart failure)
• December 21 – I. L. Patterson, politician, 18th Governor of Oregon (born 1859)
• Undated
• Timothy Francis Donovan Aaron, New Jersey politician (born 1853)
• Adelaïde Alsop Robineau, ceramicist (born 1865)
• Dallas Lore Sharp, nature writer (born 1870)

See also

• 1929 in American television
• List of American films of 1929
• Timeline of United States history (1900–1929)

References

External links