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On This Day: Graf Zeppelin completes around-the-world flight

On Aug. 29, 1929, the German airship, the Graf Zeppelin, completed its around-the-world flight, beginning and ending at Lakehurst Naval Air Station in New Jersey.

By UPI Staff
The Graf Zeppelin arrives at Mines Field (Los Angeles International Airport) on August 26, 1929, during it's "Round-the-World" flight. It would complete its flight three days later in New Jersey. File Photo courtesy San Diego Air & Space Museum
1 of 5 | The Graf Zeppelin arrives at Mines Field (Los Angeles International Airport) on August 26, 1929, during it's "Round-the-World" flight. It would complete its flight three days later in New Jersey. File Photo courtesy San Diego Air & Space Museum

Aug. 29 (UPI) -- On this date in history:

In 1533, Atahualpa, last of the Inca rulers, was strangled under orders of Spanish conqueror Francisco Pizarro. The Inca Empire died with him.

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In 1929, the German airship, the Graf Zeppelin, completed its around-the-world flight, beginning and ending at Lakehurst Naval Air Station in New Jersey.

In 1949, the Soviet Union exploded its first atomic bomb at a remote test site at Semipalatinsk in Kazakhstan.

In 1965, U.S. astronauts Gordon Cooper and Charles Conrad landed safely to end the eight-day orbital flight of Gemini 5.

In 1973, U.S. District Judge John Sirica ordered U.S. President Richard Nixon to turn over secret Watergate tapes. Nixon refused and appealed the order.

In 1982, three-time Academy Award-winning actress Ingrid Bergman died on her birthday of cancer. She was 67.

In 1994, Israel and the PLO signed an agreement to shift West Bank administrative functions to the Palestinian National Authority.

In 2004, the Summer Olympics came to a close in Athens, Greece. The United States won the most medals, 103, 35 of them gold, led by swimmer Michael Phelps who took home six gold and two bronze medals.

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File Photo by Grace Chiu/UPI

In 2005, Hurricane Katrina slammed ashore on the Gulf Coast, inflicting severe damage in New Orleans and along the coastlines of Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana. Katrina killed more than 1,800 people and caused an estimated $125 billion in damage.

In 2007, the U.S. Census Bureau reported that the median household income in the United States was $48,201 in 2006, an increase of about $800 from the previous year.

In 2009, U.S. Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., who died Aug. 25 after a 15-month battle with brain cancer, was buried at Arlington National Cemetery near his brothers John and Robert.

File Photo by Jim Bourg/Pool

In 2011, the Nepalese Parliament, where no political party had a majority, elected a Maoist, Babuarm Bhattarai, as prime minister after the parties failed to form a consensus government.

In 2012, India's Supreme Court upheld the death sentence of Mohammed Ajmal Amir Kasab for his role in the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks that killed 166 people and wounded more than 200. Kasab was hanged in November.

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In 2013, the National Football League denied any wrongdoing but said it would "do the right thing" and pay $765 million to settle lawsuits brought by thousands of former players who developed concussion-related brain injuries.

In 2014, Britain raised its terrorism alert level to "severe" because of the actions of extremist groups in Iraq and Syria and knowledge that many British citizens were fighting on the side of militants.

File Photo by Hugo Philpott/UPI

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