Berlin, Germany. A range of major events have been recorded on April 29, spanning the end of World War Two, political upheavals, diplomatic developments and notable deaths.
World War Two developments in Europe
In 1945, the terms of surrender of the German armies in Italy were signed, and Venice and Mestre were captured by the Allies. In Berlin, Adolf Hitler married Eva Braun and made his will naming Admiral Karl Doenitz as his successor, while American forces liberated the Dachau concentration camp in southern Germany.
Burundi coup attempt
In 1972, in Burundi, the deposed King Ntare V was killed in an abortive coup.
Deaths of prominent figures
In 1980, Sir Alfred Hitchcock, the British-born film director known for suspense thrillers including “Psycho”, died. In 2000, Pham Van Dong, who served as prime minister in Hanoi for more than three decades until 1987 and was considered close to Ho Chi Minh, died. In 2006, U.S. economist, best-selling author and former presidential advisor John Kenneth Galbraith died aged 97.
Diplomacy and security moves in Asia and the Middle East
In 2002, Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi was greeted by East Timorese schoolchildren as he became the first head of state to visit the new state. In 2003, the United States said it was ending military operations in Saudi Arabia and removing virtually all its forces from the kingdom following the Iraq war.
Cross-strait political meeting and Latin American trade pact
In 2005, Taiwanese opposition leader Lien Chan met Chinese President Hu Jintao in Beijing, marking the first such meeting between China’s Communist Party and the Kuomintang after decades of hostility. In 2006, the presidents of Bolivia, Cuba and Venezuela signed a “People’s Trade Treaty” to counter free-trade deals Washington seeks with Latin American nations.
Which of these April 29 events do you consider most historically significant?