July 29th is the 210th day of the year (211th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 155 days remaining in the year.1786 • The Pittsburgh Gazette became the first newspaper west of the Alleghenies to be published. The papers name was later changed to The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
1890 • Artist Vincent van Gogh died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound in Auvers, France.
1932 • Great Depression: in Washington, DC, troops disperse the last of the Bonus Army of World War One veterans.
1940 • John Sigmund of St. Louis, MO, completed a 292 mile swim down the Mississippi River. The swim from St. Louis to Caruthersville, MO, took him 89 hours and 48 minutes.
1958 • President Dwight D. Eisenhower signs into law the National Aeronautics and Space Act, which creates the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).
1976 • In New York City, the Son of Sam kills one person and seriously wounds another in the first of a series of attacks.
1981 • Marriage of Charles, Prince of Wales to Lady Diana Spencer.