What Happened on June 29?

June 29 is National Camera Day on the same date Apple released the first iPhone in 2007, Shakespeare's Globe Theatre burned in 1613, and the Seychelles became independent in 1976.

• 1613 — Fire destroys Shakespeare's Globe Theatre during a performance

  On June 29, 1613, a cannon fired during a Henry VIII performance ignited the Globe Theatre's thatched roof — burning the playhouse to the ground. Read the full story →

• 1949 — The United States tests the first guided missile launched from a submarine

  On June 29, 1949, the U.S. Navy test-fired a Loon missile from the submarine Cusk — an early step toward submarine-launched cruise missiles. Read the full story →

• 1956 — Mickey Mantle hits a mammoth home run at Yankee Stadium

  On June 29, 1956, New York Yankees slugger Mickey Mantle crushed a home run off Washington Senators pitcher Pedro Ramos — one of the longest ever measured at Yankee Stadium. Read the full story →

• 1976 — Seychelles gains independence from Britain

  On June 29, 1976, the Seychelles archipelago in the Indian Ocean became an independent republic after more than a century of British rule. Read the full story →

• 1991 — South Africa is readmitted to the International Olympic Committee

  On June 29, 1991, the IOC restored South Africa's membership — ending decades of sports isolation over the apartheid system. Read the full story →

Famous birthdays

Antoine de Saint-Exupéry (1900–1944) · Gary Busey (1944) · Nicole Scherzinger (1978) · Lily Rabe (1982)

Days & observances

National Camera Day · National Waffle Iron Day · National Almond Buttercrunch Day · International Day of the Tropics