So you want to have a drink but you aren't sure why? Here are some GREAT reasons to call your friends over and have a party.

July 29th


- Christian Feast Day:
- National Anthem Day (Romania)
- National Thai Language Day (Thailand)
- Ólavsøka, opening of the Løgting session. (Faroe Islands)

July 29th


- 2005 - Astronomers announce their discovery of the dwarf planet Eris.
- 1996 - The child protection portion of the Communications Decency Act is struck down by a U.S. federal court as too broad .
- 1993 - The Israeli Supreme Court acquits alleged Nazi death camp guard John Demjanjuk of all charges and he is set free.
- 1988 - The film Cry Freedom is seized by South African authorities.
- 1987 - British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and President of France François Mitterrand sign the agreement to build a tunnel under the English Channel (Eurotunnel).
- 1987 - Prime Minister of India Rajiv Gandhi and President of Sri Lanka J. R. Jayawardene sign the Indo-Lankan Pact on ethnic issues.
- 1981 - A worldwide television audience of over 700 million people watch the wedding of Charles, Prince of Wales, and Lady Diana Spencer at St Paul's Cathedral in London.
- 1976 - In New York City, David Berkowitz (aka the "Son of Sam") kills one person and seriously wounds another in the first of a series of attacks.
- 1967 - Vietnam War: off the coast of North Vietnam the USS Forrestal catches on fire in the worst U.S. naval disaster since World War II, killing 134.
- 1967 - During the fourth day of celebrating its 400th anniversary, the city of Caracas, Venezuela is shaken by an earthquake, leaving approximately 500 dead.
- 1965 - Vietnam War: the first 4,000 101st Airborne Division paratroopers arrive in Vietnam, landing at Cam Ranh Bay.
- 1959 - First United States Congress elections in Hawaii as a state of the Union.
- 1958 - U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower signs into law the National Aeronautics and Space Act, which creates the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).
- 1957 - The International Atomic Energy Agency is established.
- 1948 - Olympic Games: The Games of the XIV Olympiad – after a hiatus of 12 years caused by World War II, the first Summer Olympics to be held since the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin, open in London.
- 1945 - The BBC Light Programme radio station is launched for mainstream light entertainment and music.
- 1937 - T?ngzh?u Incident: in T?ngzh?u (China), the East Hopei Army attacks Japanese troops and civilians.
- 1932 - Great Depression: in Washington, D.C., troops disperse the last of the "Bonus Army" of World War I veterans.
- 1921 - Adolf Hitler becomes leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party.
- 1920 - Construction of the Link River Dam begins as part of the Klamath Reclamation Project.
- 1907 - Sir Robert Baden Powell sets up the Brownsea Island Scout camp in Poole Harbour on the south coast of England. The camp runs from August 1 to August 9, 1907, and is regarded as the foundation of the Scouting movement.
- 1901 - The Socialist Party of America is founded.
- 1900 - In Italy, King Umberto I of Italy is assassinated by the anarchist Gaetano Bresci.
- 1899 - The First Hague Convention is signed.
- 1864 - American Civil War: Confederate spy Belle Boyd is arrested by Union troops and detained at the Old Capitol Prison in Washington, D.C..
- 1858 - United States and Japan sign the Harris Treaty.
- 1851 - Annibale de Gasparis discovers asteroid 15 Eunomia.
- 1848 - Irish Potato Famine: Tipperary Revolt – in Tipperary, an unsuccessful nationalist revolt against British rule is put down by police.
- 1847 - Cumberland School of Law is founded in Lebanon, Tennessee, United States, one of only 15 law schools to exist in the United States at the end of 1847.
- 1836 - Inauguration of the Arc de Triomphe in Paris.
- 1830 - Abdication of Charles X of France.
- 1793 - John Graves Simcoe decides to build a fort and settlement at Toronto, having sailed into the bay there.
- 1693 - War of the Grand Alliance: Battle of Landen – France wins a Pyrrhic victory over Allied forces in the Netherlands.
- 1588 - Anglo-Spanish War: Battle of Gravelines – English naval forces under the command of Lord Charles Howard and Sir Francis Drake defeat the Spanish Armada off the coast of Gravelines, France.
- 1567 - James VI is crowned King of Scotland at Stirling.
- 1565 - The widowed Mary, Queen of Scots, marries Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley, Duke of Albany, at Holyrood Palace in Edinburgh, Scotland.
- 1030 - Ladejarl-Fairhair succession wars: Battle of Stiklestad – King Olaf II fights and dies trying to regain his Norwegian throne from the Danes.
- 1014 - Byzantine-Bulgarian Wars: Battle of Kleidion – Byzantine emperor Basil II inflicts a decisive defeat on the Bulgarian army, and his subsequent treatment of 15,000 prisoners reportedly causes Tsar Samuil of Bulgaria to die of a heart attack several months later, on October 6.
- 904 - Sack of Thessalonica: Saracen raiders under Leo of Tripoli sack Thessalonica, the Byzantine Empire's second-largest city, after a short siege, and plunder it for a week.

July 29th


- 1985 - Besart Berisha, Albanian footballer
- 1985 - Simon Santoso, Indonesian badminton player
- 1984 - Chad Billingsley, American baseball player
- 1983 - Alexei Kaigorodov, Russian hockey player
- 1982 - Janez Aljan?i?, Slovenian footballer
- 1982 - Jônatas Domingos, Brazilian footballer
- 1982 - Allison Mack, American actress
- 1981 - Troy Perkins, American soccer player
- 1981 - Fernando Alonso, Spanish Formula 1 Driver
- 1981 - Andrés Madrid, Argentine footballer
- 1980 - Ryan Braun, Canadian-born American baseball player
- 1980 - Fernando González, Chilean tennis player
- 1980 - Rachel Miner, American actress
- 1979 - Karim Essediri, Tunisian footballer
- 1979 - Ronald Murray, American basketball player
- 1977 - Rodney "Darkchild" Jerkins, American songwriter and record producer
- 1975 - Corrado Grabbi, Italian footballer
- 1975 - Lanka de Silva, Sri Lankan cricketer
- 1974 - Josh Radnor, American actor
- 1974 - Afroman, American rapper
- 1973 - Stephen Dorff, American actor
- 1973 - Wanya Morris, American singer (Boyz II Men)
- 1972 - Wil Wheaton, American actor
- 1971 - Monica Calhoun, American actress
- 1971 - Bryan Dattilo, American actor
- 1971 - Lisa Ekdahl, Swedish singer and songwriter
- 1970 - John Rennie, Zimbabwean cricketer
- 1970 - Andi Peters, British TV presenter
- 1968 - Paavo Lötjönen, Finnish cellist (Apocalyptica)
- 1966 - Martina McBride, American country music singer
- 1966 - Richard Steven Horvitz, American comic voice actor
- 1965 - Chang-Rae Lee, Korean-born American novelist
- 1965 - Luis Alicea, Puerto Rico baseball player and coach
- 1965 - Dean Haglund, Canadian actor
- 1963 - Graham Poll, English football referee
- 1963 - Jim Beglin, Irish football commentator
- 1963 - Alexandra Paul, American actress
- 1962 - Vincent Rousseau, Belgian long-distance runner
- 1962 - Scott Steiner, American professional wrestler
- 1959 - John Sykes, British guitarist (Thin Lizzy, Whitesnake, Tygers of Pan Tang)
- 1959 - Sanjay Dutt, Indian actor
- 1959 - Ruud Janssen, Dutch writer and Fluxus and mail artist
- 1959 - Dave LaPoint, American baseball player
- 1957 - Nellie Kim, Russian gymnast
- 1957 - Alessandra Marc, American operatic soprano
- 1956 - Teddy Atlas, American boxing trainer and commentator
- 1956 - Ronnie Musgrove, 62nd Governor of Mississippi
- 1956 - Faustino Rupérez, Spanish cyclist
- 1955 - Dave Stevens, American illustrator
- 1955 - Jean-Hugues Anglade, French actor
- 1953 - Ken Burns, American producer and director
- 1953 - Geddy Lee, Canadian bassist and singer (Rush)
- 1953 - Patti Scialfa, American singer, guitarist and songwriter
- 1953 - Tim Gunn, American television personality
- 1952 - Marie Panayotopoulos-Cassiotou, Greek politician
- 1951 - Dan Driessen, American baseball player
- 1951 - Dean Pitchford, American songwriter, filmmaker and novelist
- 1950 - Mike Starr, American actor
- 1949 - Leslie Easterbrook, American actress
- 1949 - Jamil Mahuad, 51st President of Ecuador
- 1947 - Dick Harmon, American golf instructor (d. 2006)
- 1946 - Ximena Armas, Chilean painter
- 1946 - Neal Doughty, American keyboardist (REO Speedwagon)
- 1946 - Diane Keen, English actress
- 1945 - Mircea Lucescu, Romanian football manager
- 1943 - David Taylor, English snooker player
- 1942 - Tony Sirico, American actor
- 1941 - Jennifer Dunn, American politician (d. 2007)
- 1941 - David Warner, English actor
- 1938 - Peter Jennings, Canadian-born American journalist (d. 2005)
- 1938 - Jean Rochon, Quebec politician
- 1937 - Daniel McFadden, American economist, Nobel Prize Laureate
- 1936 - Elizabeth Dole, U.S. Senator from North Carolina
- 1935 - Peter Schreier, German tenor
- 1933 - Lou Albano, American pro wrestling manager (d. 2009)
- 1933 - Colin Davis, British racing driver
- 1933 - Robert Fuller, American actor
- 1932 - Nancy Kassebaum Baker, United States Senator from Kansas
- 1930 - Paul Taylor, American dancer and choreographer
- 1927 - Harry Mulisch, Dutch novelist, playwright, essayist and poet
- 1925 - Mikis Theodorakis, Greek composer
- 1925 - Ted Lindsay, Canadian hockey player
- 1924 - Lloyd Bochner, Canadian actor (d. 2005)
- 1924 - Robert Horton, American actor
- 1924 - Elizabeth Short, American waitress, victim in the Black Dahlia case (d. 1947)
- 1923 - Jim Marshall, English founder of Marshall Amplification
- 1923 - Gordon Mitchell, American actor (d. 2003)
- 1921 - Richard Egan, American actor (d. 1987)
- 1920 - Rodolfo Acosta, Mexican actor (d. 1974)
- 1920 - Neville Jeffress, Australian founder of Media Monitors Australia (d. 2007)
- 1918 - Edwin O'Connor, American novelist and Pulitzer Prize winner (d. 1968)
- 1917 - Rochus Misch, German courier, bodyguard and telephone operator for Adolf Hitler, the last survivor of the Führerbunker
- 1916 - Charlie Christian, American jazz guitarist (d. 1942)
- 1916 - Budd Boetticher, American film director (d. 2001)
- 1915 - Bruce R. McConkie, American Mormon apostle and writer (d. 1985)
- 1915 - Francis W. Sargent, 64th Governor of Massachusetts (d. 1998)
- 1914 - Irwin Corey, American stand-up comedian
- 1913 - Erich Priebke, German Nazi war criminal
- 1911 - Foster Furcolo, 60th Governor of Massachusetts (d. 1995)
- 1911 - Archbishop Iakovos of America, Turkish-born Primate of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of North and South America (d. 2005)
- 1909 - Chester Himes, American novelist (d. 1984)
- 1907 - Melvin Belli, American lawyer and actor (d. 1996)
- 1906 - Diana Vreeland, French-born American fashion editor (d. 1989)
- 1905 - Stanley Kunitz, American poet (d. 2006)
- 1905 - Clara Bow, American actress (d. 1965)
- 1905 - Dag Hammarskjöld, Swedish 2nd UN Secretary-General, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate (d. 1961)
- 1905 - Thelma Todd, American actress (d. 1935)
- 1904 - J. R. D. Tata, France-born Indian aviation pioneer and industrialist (d. 1993)
- 1900 - Eyvind Johnson, Swedish writer, Nobel Prize Laureate (d. 1976)
- 1900 - Don Redman, American jazz trumpeter, oboist and pianist (d. 1964)
- 1899 - Walter Beall, American baseball player (d. 1959)
- 1898 - Isidor Isaac Rabi, American physicist, Nobel Prize Laureate (d. 1988)
- 1897 - Sir Neil Ritchie, British general (d. 1983)
- 1892 - William Powell, American actor (d. 1984)
- 1891 - Bernhard Zondek German-born Israeli gynecologist, developer of first reliable pregnancy test (d. 1966)
- 1887 - Sigmund Romberg, Hungarian-born American composer (d. 1951)
- 1885 - Theda Bara, American film actress (d. 1955)
- 1884 - Ralph A. Bard, U.S. Navy Undersecretary (d. 1975)
- 1883 - Porfirio Barba-Jacob, Colombian poet and writer (d. 1942)
- 1883 - Benito Mussolini, Italian fascist dictator (d. 1945)
- 1878 - Don Marquis, American author (d. 1937)
- 1876 - Maria Ouspenskaya, Russian-born American actress (d. 1949)
- 1874 - James Shaver Woodsworth, Canadian politician (d. 1942)
- 1872 - Eric Alfred Knudsen, American folklorist (d. 1957)
- 1869 - Booth Tarkington, American novelist and dramatist (d. 1946)
- 1849 - Max Nordau, Austrian-Hungarian writer and Zionist leader (d. 1923)
- 1846 - Isabel, Princess Imperial of Brazil (d. 1921)
- 1843 - Johannes Schmidt, German linguist (d. 1901)
- 1817 - Ivan Aivazovsky, Armenian-Russian painter (d. 1900)
- 1805 - Alexis de Tocqueville, French historian and political scientist (d. 1859)
- 1801 - George Bradshaw, English publisher (d. 1853)
- 1797 - Daniel Drew, American financier (d. 1879)
- 1763 - Philip Charles Durham, Scottish Royal Navy Admiral (d. 1845)
- 1605 - Simon Dach, German poet (d. 1659)
- 1166 - Henry II, Count of Champagne and King of Jerusalem (d. 1197)