Sept 29
1916
John D. Rockefeller becomes the world’s first billionaire
On this day in 1916, newspapers reported that John D. Rockefeller had become the world’s first billionaire. But had he? A sharp rise in the value of Rockefeller’s oil-company holdings the previous day had apparently pushed his fortune past $1 billion. Newspapers had taken to tracking his wealth almost like a baseball box score, but there was no precise tally. Reporters had to estimate what he owned and what those holdings were worth, making his billion-dollar fortune something of an educated guess.
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Cleveland Public Library/Photograph Collection; Photo Illustration Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
Featured Event
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British mandate in Palestine
Set in motion by the Balfour Declaration of 1917, the British mandate for the establishment of a Jewish homeland in Palestine was finally approved by the Council of the League of Nations and came into force this day in 1923.
Featured Biography
National Archives, Washington, D.C.
Born in Italy this day in 1901, American physicist Enrico Fermi received the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1938, directed the first controlled chain reaction involving nuclear fission, and helped develop the first atomic bomb.
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Paul Morse/The White House
2005
American jurist John G. Roberts, Jr., was sworn in as the 17th chief justice of the U.S. Supreme Court. [Why are there nine justices on the U.S. Supreme Court?]
Johnson Space Center/NASA (s85-26185)
1988
Discovery was launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida, marking a resumption of NASA’s space shuttle program, which had been suspended following the Challenger explosion in 1986. [Sort fact from fiction in our quiz about space exploration.]
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1961
Julia Gillard, who in 2010 became Australia’s first female prime minister, was born in Wales. [Test your knowledge of Australia’s government and political system.]
Image: Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
1938
The American harness racehorse Greyhound, widely considered the greatest trotter to ever have raced, established a trotting record for 1 mile in 1:551/4 (it was broken in 1969). [Take our quiz about horse racing.]
Image: Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
1938
Poland demanded the cession of Teschen, a rich region that had been contested and then divided between Poland and Czechoslovakia following World War I. [Read about eight hotly disputed borders of the world.]
Bildarchiv Preussischer Kulturbesitz, Berlin
1918
German Chancellor Georg von Hertling tendered his resignation on the day of the Bulgarian armistice and the British attack of the Western Front during World War I. [Sort fact from fiction in our quiz about World War I.]
Image: Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
1911
On this day in 1911, Italy declared war on Turkey, starting the Italo-Turkish War, which was undertaken by Italy to gain colonies in North Africa by conquering the Turkish provinces of Tripolitania and Cyrenaica (modern Libya).
Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. (Digital File Number: cph 3b21821)
1906
The United States occupied Cuba after the rebellion surrounding the reelection of Tomás Estrada Palma. [How much do you know about the ties and feuds between the U.S. and Cuba?]
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1833
King Ferdinand VII of Spain died, and his two-year-old daughter, Isabella II, was proclaimed queen. [Test your knowledge of kings and queens.]
Topical Press Agency—Hulton Archive/Getty Images
1829
Through the efforts of Robert Peel, England’s first professional police force, London’s Metropolitan Police (often called Scotland Yard), was founded; it became a model for future police departments in various other countries, including the United States.
Image: Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
642
Arab General ʿAmr ibn al-ʿĀṣ marched into Alexandria, and the Arab conquest of Egypt, which had begun with an invasion three years earlier, ended in peaceful capitulation. [Take our quiz about Egyptian history.]
