• Claus-Erich Boetzkes.  Born in Memmingen, Germany.  TV journalist.
   
• Mark J. Board (1956-2011) died on  Sept. 11, 2011.
   
• Paul Coffman.  NFL player  (1978-1988).  Tight end  for the Green Bay Packers, Kansas City Chiefs, and Minnesota Vikings.
   
• Richard Henry Dana, Jr. (1956-2014) construction worker and ranch manager.  He passed away on Feb. 9, 2014.
   
• Patricia Jean "Patty" Donahue (1956-1996)  lead singer of the new wave group  The Waitresses.
   
• Gilberto Cãmara, Brazilian computer scientist.
   
• Richard Compton, South-African cricketer.
   
• Diana Beatriz Conti, Argentine lawyer and politician.
   
• Ferenc Csongradi, Hungarian soccer player.
   
• Bruce Curry, professional boxer.  WBC Super Lightweight Champion  (1983-1984).
   
• Hisashi Eguchi, Japanese manga artist.
   
• Sue Fogleman, LPGA golfer.
   
• Detective John Michael Gibson.  Victim of US Capitol shooting, on July 24, 1998.
   
• Gerard J. Goulette, Jr. (1956-2011) passed away on  Dec. 29, 2011.
   
• Mark Honadel, former welder.  Republican politician  (Wisconsin State Assembly, 2003-2013).
   
• Paul Imm.  Bass player in the Ingolf Burkhardt Quartet.
   
• Dick Z.G. Jol (Dutch soccer referee).  Born in Sheveningen  (Scheveningen's-Gravenhage, Zuid-Holland, Netherlands)  1.82m 83kg.  An International Referee since 1993, he is assistant director of a large firm in Holland. Dick Jol was the only Dutch or Belgian referee to officiate in the Euro 2000 championship  (hosted by Belgium and Holland).  More recently, besides arbitrating matches in Holland's top competition, he has been a referee in the Champion's League  (the most prestigious yearly competition between European soccer clubs),  including the 2001 final  (on May 23, 2001)  which the Bayern München  (Germany)  won over Valencia  (Spain).
         Dick Jol was also the referee in the memorable 1997 match at the Parc des Princes (Paris, France) when the French PSG ("Paris Saint-Germain") played their return match against the Setaua Bucharest. The PSG had won at Bucharest but their victory had been overturned and counted as a 3-0 loss, because they had an unregistered player on the field. The PSG had thus to win by more than 3 points, or else be eliminated from the competition. Under these exceptional circumstances, the entire country of France was rooting for the Parisian club. They won 5 to 0...
   
• David Michael Kelley died on Jan. 25, 2014.
   
• Eric P. Léonard, Belgian entrepreneur and author.
   
• Larry Martin (1956-2002).  Professor of physics, North Park University.  LAAPhysics.org, WebAssign.net.  "Stupid Physics Tricks with Larry Martin", UNC-CH (1991).
   
• Gérard Michon, Ph.D. (UCLA 1983).  French engineer and political activist  (2012 campaign, in US and Canada).
   
• Dragan Mladenovic  played two matches in the Yugoslav handball team at the 1984 Olympics, earning a gold medal.
   
• Algirdas Monkevcius, Lithuanian  Minister of Education and Science  (2000-2004 and since 2008).
   
• David Osborne (1956-2009)  contractor, veteran of the Marine Corps.  Passed away on Dec. 23, 2009. 
   
• Sue Parks.  Head coach (women's track and cross country) at Ball State University (Muncie, Indiana).
   
• Debbie Rodgers (1956-2012)  fifth-grade teacher in Illinois.  She passed away on Aug. 31, 2012
   
• John Quiggin.  Born in Adelaide, South Australia.  Australian economist.
   
• David L. Scott.  Born in Omaha, Nebraska.  Actor  ("The Incorporated", 2000).
   
• Ted Staunton.  Canadian storyteller born in Toronto.  His first book was  Puddleman  (1983).
   
• Kurt Thomas (US Gymnast).  Born in Miami, Florida.  First gymnast to win Sullivan Memorial Trophy.  All-around champion at the 1977 Romanian International Invitational.  World champion in 1978 (floor exercise).  Kurt Thomas invented the "Thomas Flair" twirling scissors move at the pommel horse.
   
• Brenda Jean Williams (1956-2013) passed away on May 13, 2013.
   

The world events on March 29, 1956

• Returning to a heroes' welcome in Israel are four elite soldiers who were captured on December 8, 1954 as they where installing wire-tapping devices near an army camp in Syrian territory.  41 Syrian POWs  (captured mostly during Operation Olive Leaves on Dec. 10-11, 1955)  were freed by Israel for the safe return of the four Israeli soldiers, after 15 months of captivity in Syria.  The four Israelis had been tortured in captivity.  One of these elite paratroop Scouts was  Gad Zvulun.  Also returning was the corpse of a fifth Israeli soldier, Uri Ilan  (1935-1955)  who had committed suicide after being tortured and led to believe that his four comrades were dead.
   
• The US Navy acquires the "Experimental Auxiliary Ship" USS Compass Island (EAG-153).  The Compass Island had been launched on October 24, 1953 and would be commissioned on December 3, 1956.  Its first mission was to help develop and test the so-called Shipboard Inertial Navigation System, which the submarine Nautilus (SSN-153) used when it reached the North Pole August 3, 1958.
   
• President Dwight D. Eisenhower proclaimed the giant sequoia "General Grant" a National Shrine. 
  Background : The tree had been designated as the "Nation's Christmas Tree" by President Calvin Coolidge on April 28, 1926 and has received a "National Wreath" each year around Christmas time ever since. The only living national shrine to this day, "General Grant" is the third largest sequoia. In 1975, it was over 40' (12m) across and 267' (81m) tall, and it is still growing at a rate in excess of that typical of giant sequoias (40 cubic feet of wood per year). The tree is estimated to be between 1500 and 2000 years of age. It was once thought to be much older on the basis of its large size, which is due --in part-- to the rapid growth possible in such an ideal location as "Grant Grove". Although "General Grant" is widely advertised as the world largest living thing, both "General Sherman" (the tallest sequoia) and the Washington tree are larger. The General Grant tree is the crown jewel of the Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Parks of Northern California, which include the 4 square miles of the former "General Grant National Park" (which, like neighboring Yosemite National Park, dated back to October 1, 1890). The official dedication of the Shrine was performed by Fleet Admiral Chester Nimitz on Veterans' Day, November 11, 1956.
   
• Warren Earl Burger (1907-1995) receives a commission to the U. S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.  He had been nominated by Dwight D. Eisenhower on January 12, and confirmed by the Senate on March 28.  Burger left this position on June 23, 1969 upon receiving his commission to the Supreme Court of the United States (he was nominated by Richard M. Nixon on May 23, 1969 and confirmed by the U.S. Senate on June 9).  Warren Burger became the 15th Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, and retired on September 26, 1986.  He died on June 25, 1995.
   
• Don Alfonso of Spain dies, "after attending Holy Mass", from an accidental gunshot wound. He had been a student in Spain and was visiting his exiled family in Portugal during Easter vacation when the accident occurred.  He was the youngest son of Doña Maria de las Mercedes and Don Juan (1913-1993), Count of Barcelona and Infante of Spain.  Don Alfonso was born in 1941 and was thus the younger brother of Don Juan Carlos (born January 5, 1938), the future king of Spain who would be crowned after the death of General Francisco Franco, the military dictator.  "Alfonso" was also the name of an older brother of Juan Carlos, who had died at a very young age in 1938, after a car crash.  Counting baby Alfonso, the royal couple had 5 children : Pilar (July 30, 1936 -), Alfonso (1937-1938), Juan Carlos (January 5, 1938 -), Margarita (1939-), and Alfonso (1941 - March 29, 1956). 
  Background :  Six weeks before his death, on January 15, 1941, King Alfonso XIII of Spain had abdicated his dynastic rights on his son Don Juan, whose work for the restoration of the monarchy in Spain would ultimately result in the accession to the throne of his own son Juan Carlos, grandson of Alfonso XIII, who took the oath in front of the Cortes on November 22, 1975 (48 hours after the death of Franco) and ended a 44-year hiatus in the Spanish monarchy.  Don Juan was initially not pleased with the accession of his son to a throne he thought was his.  However, as he witnessed how Juan Carlos was turning Spain into a democratic constitutional monarchy, he formally abdicated his own dynastic rights on his son on May 14, 1977 and proudly took on his new role as father of Juan Carlos I, the King of Spain.  When Don Juan passed away on April 1, 1993, he was burried in the Pantheon at the Escorial Monastery, which is normally reserved for Kings of Spain.
   

Passings, on March 29, 1956 :

• Alexandre Lavoie (1895-1956)  dies in Saint-Albert.  This French-speaking Canadian citizen had been tried (and acquitted) for refusing to complete census forms which were only available in English.
   
• The Polish actor and director Michal Melina (1890-1956)  dies at age 65 in Warsaw, Poland.
   
• The first Turkish filmmaker, Fuat Uzkinay (1888-1956) dies in Istanbul, Turkey.
   
• The German science journalist, Otto Willi Gail (1886-1956) dies in Munich.
   

Entertainment news for Thursday, March 29, 1956 :

• Lt. Colonel John Paul Stapp (1910-1999)  "the fastest man on earth"  is a contestant on  You Bet Your Life,  hosted by Groucho Marx (1890-1977).  Episode 55-27 (29:20).  This was broadcast simultaneously on NBC-TV and NBC-Radio.
   
• Episode 152 of "I love Lucy" ("Lucy goes to Monte-Carlo") is filmed. It would first air on May 7, 1956. This is the show's fifth season. Desi Arnaz wanted the show to go monthly with hour-long episodes and he had planned this one to be the show's next-to-last weekly episode. He was persuaded to stay on for another season with the same format...
   
• Last broadcast  of the weekly half-hour  Johnny Carson Show  on  CBS  (10 pm ET).  The show had first aired on June 30, 1955.  Johnny Carson (1925-2005) went on to host the The Tonight Show for thirty years  (1962-1982).
   
• Carmen McRae (1920-1994) records tracks 2, 7, 8, and 10 of her Blue Moon album in New York City.  (This Decca record DL-8347 has been reissued as a CD by Verve Records on November 13, 2000.)
   
• Touring the US and Canada, the Macedonian National Folk Ballet (TANEC) is performing for the second and last day at the City Auditorium in Houston, Texas.  Featuring the composer and virtuoso soloist Tale Ognenovski, playing clarinet, kavalche (reed pipe), gajdarka (bagpipe), and zurla.
   
• 56^th episod of the weekly Bob Cummings Show  sitcom  (a.k.a.  Love that Bob )  entitled "Chuck Visits Grandpa", starring Robert Cummings (1910-1990).
   
• 155^th episod  (season 5)  of the  Dragnet  crime series,  entitled "The Big Ex-Blonde", starring  Jack Webb (1920-1982)  as Detective Sergeant  Joe Friday.
   
• "The Story of Emily Cameron" airs as a live drama in CBS's series "Four Star Playhouse". Written by and starring British actress/director Ida Lupino (Feb. 4, 1918 - Aug. 14, 1995), the play is about a wealthy bed-ridden woman who complains about her life and marriage, while her husband has a different perspective.
   
• Brandon de Wilde (1942-1972) appears in the TV show Climax!.  The episode is entitled "An Episode of Sparrows".
   
• Episode 14 (Season 1)  of  "Captain Kangaroo"  airs,  where Grandfather Clock tells a story and Bunny Rabbit colors Easter eggs.  This iconic children's television program lasted for nearly thirty years  (from 1955 to 1984).  It starred Bob Keeshan  (1927-2004)  in the title rôle.
   
• On radio, the detective Johnny Dollar discovers Lamar was poisoned, in Part 4 of "The Lamar Matter".
   

News of March 1956:

• The leaders of Canada and Mexico meet for the first time in history.
• France grants independence to Morocco.
• President Eisenhower urges South to make progress towards integration of blacks.
• Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. is found guilty of organizing the Montgomery Bus Boycott.
• U.S. Post Office installs its first electric vending machines for stamps.
• Boxer Rocky Marciano retires undefeated as World Heavyweight Champion.