In History, Today on January 29

The Mongol Empire, led by Hulagu Khan, begins the siege of Baghdad, which would lead to the fall of the city and the end of the Islamic Golden Age.

Edgar Allan Poe's poem 'The Raven' was published for the first time in the New York Evening Mirror.

Henry Clay introduced the Compromise of 1850 to the U.S. Congress, a series of measures intended to ease tensions between slave and free states.

Kansas was admitted to the Union as the 34th U.S. state.

Karl Benz patented the first successful gasoline-driven automobile, the Benz Patent-Motorwagen.

Liliuokalani is proclaimed the last monarch and only queen regnant of the Kingdom of Hawaii.

The first inductees into the Baseball Hall of Fame were announced, including Ty Cobb, Babe Ruth, Honus Wagner, Christy Mathewson, and Walter Johnson.

The first Melodifestivalen, the Swedish music competition that selects Sweden's entry for the Eurovision Song Contest, was held.

The first inductees into the Pro Football Hall of Fame were announced, including Sammy Baugh, Red Grange, and George Halas.

Brenda Ann Spencer opened fire at a school in San Diego, California, killing two people and injuring nine others, which inspired the song 'I Don't Like Mondays' by The Boomtown Rats.

President Jacques Chirac announces a "definitive end" to French nuclear testing.

In his State of the Union address, U.S. President George W. Bush describes Iraq, Iran, and North Korea as an 'axis of evil,' accusing them of sponsoring terrorism and seeking weapons of mass destruction.

The first direct commercial flights between China and Taiwan since 1949 take place, marking a significant step in cross-strait relations.

Iceland appoints Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir as Prime Minister, making her the world's first openly gay head of government.

The U.S. Senate passes a bill to temporarily suspend the debt ceiling, allowing the government to continue borrowing money to meet its obligations.

A shooting at a mosque in Quebec City, Canada, results in the deaths of six people and injuries to nineteen others. The attack is widely condemned as an act of terrorism.