4 National Days to Celebrate on August 29, 2026

The Goodyear Tire Company is founded in Akron, Ohio. The company was named after the inventor of rubber vulcanization, Charles Goodyear.

The last Native American to make contact with European Americans emerges from the wilderness. Ishi, last surviving member of the Yahi tribe of northeastern California, appeared 44 years after it was thought there were no surviving tribal members. The tribe were either massacred or died from disease.

Germany dissolves the Danish government after the Danish cabinet refused German demands to impose the death penalty for sabotage.

The Soviet Union tests its first atomic bomb at Semipalatinsk, Kazakhstan. Known as First Lightning or Joe 1, the bomb was more powerful than anticipated, with fallout being detected days after the test.

U.S. Air Force Academy opens in Colorado Springs, Colorado. The first class of 306 cadets graduated a year later in 1959.

Netflix is founded as an internet DVD rental service by Marc Randolph and Reed Hastings. The company later shifted to a digital streaming company in 2007.

Skype Technologies released their video-conferencing software as a peer-to-peer voice calling program. Microsoft later bought the technology and transitioned it to Microsoft Teams.

Hurricane Katrina devastates much of the U.S. Gulf Coast from Louisiana to the Florida Panhandle. Though there were warnings in advance to evacuate, more than 1,392 people died in the hurricane.