On This Day

Today in History, March 29th

On March 29, 1973, the last U.S. combat troops left Vietnam. Plus the Rosenberg verdict, NATO's 2004 expansion and Brexit's Article 50.

By Today in History Updated November 10, 2026 3 min read Sources checked

Published March 29, 2026 · Last updated November 10, 2026

March 29 is best known as the day in 1973 when the last U.S. combat troops left South Vietnam, ending eight years of direct American fighting in the war. The date also saw Julius and Ethel Rosenberg convicted of espionage in 1951 and seven Central and Eastern European countries join NATO in 2004.

The big story: The Last U.S. Combat Troops Leave Vietnam (1973)

The Paris Peace Agreement, signed in January 1973, promised a cease-fire, the release of prisoners and the withdrawal of American forces. Two months later, the last part was done. On March 29, 1973, the final U.S. combat troops left South Vietnam, and Hanoi released many of the remaining American prisoners of war. It was a quiet finish to a huge commitment. U.S. troop strength had peaked at nearly 550,000 in the spring of 1969. Now about 7,000 Defense Department civilians stayed behind in Saigon to help the South Vietnamese. The peace did not hold. The cease-fire was broken even before the last Americans left, and full-scale fighting was back by early 1974. Without American troops, South Vietnam lasted about two more years. Saigon fell to North Vietnamese forces on April 30, 1975, as the last Americans were flown out. The war cost about 58,000 American lives and as many as 2 million Vietnamese lives.

More events on March 29

Year	What happened
1461	Edward IV beat the forces of Henry VI at the Battle of Towton, the bloodiest fight of England’s Wars of the Roses.
1807	German astronomer Wilhelm Olbers discovered the asteroid Vesta.
1865	Union troops under Ulysses S. Grant moved against the Confederate lines around Petersburg, Virginia, opening the Appomattox Campaign, the final campaign of the Civil War.
1867	The British Parliament enacted the British North America Act, which created the Dominion of Canada. It took effect on July 1, 1867.
1951	Julius and Ethel Rosenberg were convicted of espionage for passing atomic secrets to the Soviet Union. Both were executed in 1953.
1961	The 23rd Amendment was ratified, giving residents of Washington, D.C., electoral votes in presidential elections.
1974	NASA’s Mariner 10 flew past Mercury, the first spacecraft to visit the planet, and sent back close-up pictures.
1982	North Carolina freshman Michael Jordan hit a late jump shot to beat Georgetown 63–62 for the NCAA basketball championship.
2004	Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia officially became members of NATO.
2017	Britain’s ambassador handed European Council President Donald Tusk the letter invoking Article 50, formally starting the two-year process of leaving the European Union.

Born on March 29

1790: John Tyler, 10th U.S. president and the first vice president to take over after a president died in office.
1918: Sam Walton, American retailer who founded Walmart.
1943: John Major, British prime minister from 1990 to 1997.