ABC News Turn on desktop notifications for breaking stories about interest? OffOn • 5 min read Today in History Today is Thursday, July 29, the 210th day of 2021. There are 155 days left in the year. Today’s Highlight in History: On July 29, 1958, President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed the National Aeronautics and Space Act, creating NASA. On this date: In 1856, German composer Robert Schumann died in Endenich at age 46. In 1890, artist Vincent van Gogh, 37, died of an apparently self-inflicted gunshot wound in Auvers-sur-Oise, France. In 1914, transcontinental telephone service in the U.S. became operational with the first test conversation between New York and San Francisco. Massachusetts’ Cape Cod Canal, offering a shortcut across the base of the peninsula, was officially opened to shipping traffic.