May 29 in Pop Culture History

1453 – Ottoman armies under Sultan Mehmed II Fatih captured Constantinople after a 53-day siege, commonly called The Fall of Constantinople.

1790 – Rhode Island was the last of the original United States’ colonies to ratify the Constitution and was admitted as the 13th US state.

1913 – Igor Stravinsky’s ballet score The Rite of Spring premiered in Paris, France

1914 – Heavy fog caused a collision between the cruise ship Empress of Ireland and the coal freighter, The Storstad, on the St. Lawrence River in Canada that killed 1,073 people, mostly tourist passengers on the Empress.

1953 – Edmund Hillary of New Zealand and Tenzing Norgay, a Sherpa of Nepal, became the first explorers to reach Mount Everest, 29,035 feet above sea level.

1954 – First of the annual Bilderberg Group conferences was held in the Hotel de Bilderberg in Oosterbeek, Netherlands.

#1 Hit May 29, 1961 – June 4, 1961: Ricky Nelson – Travelin’ Man

#1 Hit May 29, 1965 – June 11, 1965: The Beach Boys – Help Me, Rhonda,

#1 Hit May 29, 1971 – June 11, 1971: The Rolling Stones – Brown Sugar

#1 Hit May 29, 1976 – July 9, 1976: Diana Ross – Love Hangover

1979 – Actor Woody Harrelson’s father, Charles Harrelson, was charged with the murder of Judge John Wood.

1982 – Pope John Paul II became the first pontiff to visit Canterbury Cathedral.

2004 – The National World War II Memorial was dedicated in Washington, D.C.

#1 Hit May 29, 2021 – June 4, 2021: Good 4 U – Olivia Rodrigo