From Historynet: Today in History March 29

1461          The armies of two kings, Henry VI  and Edward IV , collide at Towton.

1638          A permanent European colony is established in present-day Delaware.

1827          Composer Ludwig van Beethoven   is buried in Vienna amidst a crowd of over 10,000 mourners.

1847          U.S. troops under General Winfield Scott  take possession of the Mexican stronghold at Vera Cruz.

1867          The United States purchases Alaska from Russia for $7.2 million dollars.

1879          British troops of the 90th Light Infantry Regiment repulse a major attack by Zulu tribesmen in northwest Zululand.

1886          Coca-Cola goes on sale for the first time at a drugstore in Atlanta. Its inventor, Dr. John Pemberton , claims it can cure anything from hysteria to the common cold.

1903          A regular news service begins between New York and London on Marconi's  wireless.

1913          The German government announces a raise in taxes in order to finance the new military budget.

1916          The Italians call off the fifth attack on Isonzo.

1936          Italy firebombs the Ethiopian city of Harar.

1941          The British sink five Italian warships off the Peloponnesus coast in the Mediterranean.

1951          The Chinese reject 

Gen. Douglas MacArthur's  offer for a truce in Korea.

1951          Rodgers and Hammerstein's  musical The King and I opens on Broadway starring 

Gertrude Lawrence  and Yul Brynner .

1952          President Harry Truman  removes himself from the presidential race.

1961          The 23rd amendment, allowing residents of Washington, D.C. to vote for president, is ratified.

1962          Cuba opens the trial of the Bay of Pigs invaders.

1966          Leonid Brezhenev  becomes First Secretary of the Soviet Communist Party. He denounces the American policy in Vietnam and calls it one of aggression.

1967          France launches its first nuclear submarine.

1971          Lt. William L. Calley Jr.  is found guilty for his actions in the My Lai massacre.

1973          The last U.S. troops withdraw from South Vietnam.

1975          Egyptian president Anwar Sadat  declares that he will reopen the Suez Canal on June 5, 1975.

1976          Eight Ohio National Guardsmen are indicted for shooting four Kent State students during an anti-war protest on May 4, 1970.

1986          A court in Rome acquits six men in a plot to kill the Pope.