United States History On This Date: April 29th

1861 — Maryland’s Legislature Rejects Secession

In a tense session overshadowed by Federal troop movements and Baltimore unrest, the Maryland General Assembly votes against calling a secession convention. The decision keeps Washington, D.C. from being geographically surrounded by Confederate states and becomes one of the most strategically important political outcomes of the war’s opening month.

1862 — Union Forces Capture New Orleans

One day after the fall of Forts Jackson and St. Philip, Union troops formally take control of New Orleans. The occupation removes the Confederacy’s largest city, cripples Southern trade, and gives the Union a dominant foothold on the lower Mississippi. It is one of the earliest major turning points of the Civil War.

1945 — U.S. Troops Liberate Dachau Concentration Camp

American forces of the 45th Infantry Division enter Dachau, the first and longest‑operating Nazi concentration camp. The liberation exposes the full brutality of the regime’s system of imprisonment and murder, shocking even battle‑hardened soldiers and becoming a defining moment in the closing days of World War II.

1992 — Los Angeles Erupts After Rodney King Verdict

Following the acquittal of four LAPD officers charged in the beating of Rodney King, widespread unrest breaks out across Los Angeles. The violence, which lasts several days, becomes one of the most significant episodes of civil disorder in modern U.S. history and forces a national reckoning on policing, race, and justice.

Dachau Concentration Camp Upon Liberation By U.S. Troops