December 29......

December 29 is the 363rd day of the year (364th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 2 days remaining in the year on this date.

EVENTS

● 1170 - St Thomas à Becket, the 40th archbishop of Canterbury, was murdered in his own cathedral by four knights acting on Henry II's orders.

● 1223 - Pope Honorius III formally approved the Franciscan religious order. Properly called the Order of the Friars Minor, this Catholic order was founded in 1209 by St. Francis of Assisi. (these events are depicted in the movie "Brother Sun, Sister Moon.")

● 1503 - Battle at Carigliano: Spanish army beats France

● 1539 - St Jacobs Church burns after being hit by lightning

● 1541 - Isabella of Poland & King Ferdinand of Austria sign Treaty of Gyalu

● 1558 - Charles V, German emperor, buried

● 1705 - Prosper Jolyot's "Idomenée" premieres in Paris

● 1708 - Great Alliance occupies Gent

● 1778 - English troops occupy Savannah, Georgia

● 1782 - 1st nautical almanac in US published by Samuel Stearns, Boston

● 1808 - Andrew Johnson, the 17th president of the United States and the first American president to be impeached (He was not convicted and finished his term as President.), was born in Raleigh, N.C.

● 1812 - The USS Constitution won a battle with the British ship HMS Java about 30 miles off the coast of Brazil. Before Commodore William Bainbridge ordered the sinking of the Java he had her wheel removed to replace the one the Constitution had lost during the battle.

● 1813 - British soldiers burn Buffalo, New York during the War of 1812.

● 1835 - Treaty of New Echota signed by Cherokee, agreeing to move beyond the Mississippi River. Leads to Trail of Tears and several thousand Cherokee deaths.

● 1837 - Canadian authorities seize the American ship "Caroline" near Buffalo, NY, for running supplies to Canadian revolutionaries. The Canadian militia destroy the docked steamboat, while singing "Caroline On My Mind."

● 1837 - Steam-powered threshing machine patented, Winthrop ME

● 1841 - King/grand duke Willem II installs Order of Eikenkroon

● 1841 - Howard College was chartered in Marion, Alabama, under Baptist sponsorship. The campus relocated to Birmingham in 1887.

● 1845 - Texas is admitted as the 28th U.S. state.

● 1848 - U.S. President James Polk turned on the first gas light at the White House.

● 1849 - The Christmas hymn by Edmund Sears, "It Came Upon a Midnight Clear," was first published in "The Christian Register." Sears' carol features the American emphasis in Christian living, that is, the social message of "peace on earth, good will toward men."

● 1851 - The first American YMCA opens in Boston, Massachusetts.

● 1852 - Emma Snodgrass arrested in Boston for wearing pants

● 1857 - Franz Liszt's "Die Hunnenschlacht" premieres in Weimar

● 1860 - The first British seagoing iron-clad warship, the HMS Warrior is launched.

● 1862 - Battle of Chichasaw Bayou: confederate armies defeat General Sherman

● 1862 - Bowling ball invented

● 1864 - Fire Department celebrates 1st annual ball

● 1867 - 1st telegraph ticker used by a brokerage house, Groesbeck & Company, New York

● 1876 - The Ashtabula Plunge. 92 die and 64 injured as an Ashtabula, Ohio railroad bridge collapses under the weight of a passenger train.

● 1876 - Popular American hymnwriter Philip P. Bliss, 38, died when the train in which he and his wife were riding plunged off a bridge into a ravine 60 feet below. (see item above) Bliss had penned such enduring hymns as: "Wonderful Words of Life, "Let the Lower Lights Be Burning," "I Will Sing of My Redeemer" and "I Gave My Life for Thee."

● 1876 - Frédéric A Bartholdi (Statue of Liberty sculptor) weds Jeanne-Emilie

● 1885 - Gottlieb Daimler patents 1st bike (Germany)

● 1890 - Wounded Knee Massacre of Oglala Sioux, Pine Ridge, in the new state of South Dakota. Three hundred mostly unarmed Indians killed when the 7th Cavalry (Custer's old command) discharges artillery amidst women, children, and fleeing men. Twnety-nine soldiers killed in this final major military battle in genocide against Native Americans. Eighteen soldiers get Congressional Medals of Honor for their "bravery."

● 1891 - Edison patents "transmission of signals electrically" (radio)

● 1893 - Birth of Vera Brittain. British pacifist and feminist.

● 1895 - The Jameson Raid from Mafikeng into Transvaal, which attempted to overthrow Kruger's Boer government, started.

● 1899 - English fleet brings German postschip Bundesrath up

● 1900 - General Viljoen surprise attack British garrison to Helvetia

● 1903 - French Equatorial Africa separates into Gabon, Chad & Ubangi-Shari

● 1906 - Montréal Wanderers beat New Glasgow (Nova Scotia) for Stanley Cup (2nd of 1906)

● 1908 - Patent granted for a 4-wheel automobile brake, Clintonville WI

● 1910 - The anarchist Praxedis Gilberto Guerrero is killed after leading a small band in capturing the town of Janos, Mexico.

● 1911 - San Francisco Symphony is formed

● 1911 - Proclamation restores "Dei Gratia" from Canada's coins

● 1911 - Sun Yat-sen becomes the first President of the Republic of China.

● 1913 - 1st movie serial, "Adventures of Kathlyn" premieres in Chicago IL

● 1913 - Seligs Polyscope Company releases The Unwelcome Throne, the first serial motion picture.

● 1916 - Russian crackpot monk Rasputin assassinated. No little role had he in some of the bizarre actions of Tsar Nicholas and wife Alexandria, giving the Bolsheviks more ammunition in their revolution.

● 1920 - Paul Hoffman, German radical, shot by police.

● 1920 - The Netherlands/Venezuela recover diplomatic relations

● 1920 - Yugoslav government bans communist party

● 1921 - William Lyon Mackenzie King succeeded Arthur Meighen as Canadian PM

● 1922 - Revised Netherlands Law proclaims suffrage

● 1926 - Vatican puts French fascist Charles Maurras' work on the index

● 1929 - Police arrest Sukarno & 100s PNI-leaders

● 1930 - Sir Muhammad Iqbal's presidential address in Allahabad introduces the Two-Nation Theory and outlines a vision for the creation of Pakistan.

● 1930 - Fred P Newton completes longest swim ever (1826 miles), when he swam in the Mississippi River from Ford Dam MN, to New Orleans LA

● 1931 - Identification of heavy water publicly announced, HC Urey

● 1934 - The first college basketball game at New York City's Madison Square Garden is played between the University of Notre Dame and New York University. This is the first game of the first collegiate basketball doubleheader as well.

● 1934 - Japan renounces the Washington Naval Treaty of 1922 and the London Naval Treaty of 1930.

● 1937 - The Irish Free State is replaced by a new state called Ireland with the adoption of a new constitution.

● 1937 - Pan Am starts San Francisco CA-to-Auckland, New Zealand service

● 1937 - Babe Ruth returned to baseball as the new manager of the Class D, De Land Reds of the Florida State League. Ruth had retired from baseball in 1935.

● 1938 - Construction on Lake Washington Floating Bridge, Seattle WA, begins

● 1938 - In Tambaram, South India, the second world meeting of the International Missionary Council closed at Madras Christian College (having opened Dec. 12th). It was afterward called the IMC's Tambaram Conference.

● 1939 - Madeleine Pelletier dies. French doctor and feminist, member of the Socialist Party, later a Communist, then an anarchist. A pioneer of abortion rights, she was condemned in 1939 for practicing abortions -- declared irresponsible for her acts and committed to a mental asylum, where she died. Ironically, she had begun her career as psychiatrist.

● 1940 - London suffers its most devastating air raid, and approximately 1,500 fires threatened to destroy the ancient city. Largely evacuated, the few who remained fought hard to contain the fires. Almost 200 civilians are killed. This was the first time Germany used incendiary bombs on civilian targets but far from the last.

● 1944 - Belgian Nazi Léon Degrelle at default to the death sentenced

● 1944 - General Eisenhower's train returns to Versailles

● 1945 - The mystery voice of Mr. Hush was heard for the first time on the radio show, "Truth or Consequences", hosted by Ralph Edwards.

● 1945 - Sheb Wooley recorded the first commercial record made in Nashville, TN.

● 1947 - Ship carrying Jewish immigrants driven away from Palestine

● 1948 - US State Department announces work on placing objects into Earth orbit

● 1948 - Canada recognizes Israel

● 1949 - KC2XAK of Bridgeport, Connecticut becomes the first Ultra high frequency (UHF) television station to operate a daily schedule.

● 1949 - Hungary nationalized its industries

● 1952 - 1st transistorized hearing aid offered for sale (Elmsford NY)

● 1954 - Kingdom of the Netherlands, with Netherlands & Netherlands Antilles as autonomous parts, comes into being

● 1957 - Singers Steve Lawrence & Eydie Gormé wed in Las Vegas

● 1963 - The Weavers, America's preeminent folk music group, give their farewell concert at Orchestra Hall in Chicago.

● 1963 - Twenty-two people perish in the Hotel Roosevelt fire, the worst fire to occur in Jacksonville, Florida since the Great Fire of 1901.

● 1965 - CBS purchases NFL TV rights for 1966-68 at $18.8 million per year

● 1967 - Turkish-Cypriot government forms in Cyprus

● 1967 - Star Trek's "The Trouble With Tribbles" first airs.

● 1968 - Israeli commandos destroy 13 Lebanese airplanes

● 1969 - New York Times reports Curt Flood will sue baseball & challenge the reserve clause

● 1970 - U.S. Congress passes Occupational Health & Safety Act (OSHA).

● 1972 - An Eastern Air Lines Lockheed "Tristar" crashed on approach to Miami International Airport, Florida, killing 101.

● 1972 - Following 36 years of publication, the last weekly issue of "LIFE" magazine hit the newsstands. The magazine later became a monthly publication.

● 1975 - Eleven people killed, 75 injured when a bomb explodes at TWA terminal at New York's La Guardia airport.

● 1975 - New laws to end battle of the sexes; Radical new legislation introducing a woman's right to equal pay and status comes into force in the UK.

● 1978 - Shah of Iran, asks Shapour Bahktiar to form a civilian government

● 1978 - Spain constitution goes into effect

● 1979 - Closing night of the Concerts for the People of Kampuchea at the Hammersmith Odeon; a benefit concert for the citizens of Cambodia who were victims of dictator Pol Pot

● 1980 - Shuttle STS-1 moves from Vandenberg AFB to Launch Complex 39A

● 1982 - Bob Marley postage stamp issued in Jamaica

● 1982 - Coach Paul "Bear" Bryant ends his career with Alabama (323 wins)

● 1983 - US announces withdrawal from UNESCO

● 1984 - Indian PM Rajiv Gandhi wins landslide election victory; Rajiv Gandhi claims a massive victory for his assassinated mother's Congress Party in the Indian general election.

● 1984 - 5th United Negro College Fund

● 1985 - Phil Donahue and a Soviet radio commentator hosted the "Citizens’ Summit" via satellite TV.

● 1986 - Former British Prime Minister Harold Macmillan died at age 92.

● 1986 - The Biltmore Hotel in Coral Gables, FL, reopened for business after eighteen years and $47 million expended on restoration.

● 1987 - Yuri Romanenko of USSR returns to Earth after 326 days in space.

● 1988 - Victorian Post Office Museum in Australia closes

● 1989 - Playwright Vaclav Havel was elected president of Czechoslovakia by the country's Federal Assembly, becoming the first non-Communist to attain the post in more than four decades.

● 1989 - Following Hong Kong's decision to forcibly repatriate some Vietnamese refugees, thousands of Vietnamese 'boat people' battled with riot police.

● 1989 - On the final day of trading for the year and decade (it wasn't for the decade (1990 is correct) but few know the difference), the Japanese Nikkei 225 Average closes at an all-time high of 38,915.87.

● 1989 - Wayne Gretzky & Martina Navratilova are named athletes of the decade by the Associated Press

● 1989 - Jane Pauley says goodbye to NBC's "Today" show

● 1990 - Olympic gymnast Mary Lou Retton weds Shannon Kelley

● 1991 - 12th United Negro College Fund

● 1991 - Boeing 747-200F of China Airlines crash into mountain at Taipei

● 1992 - Fernando Collor de Mello, president of Brazil, tried to resign among corruption charges, but ended up being impeached.

● 1992 - Governor Cuomo grants Jean Harris ("Scarsdale Diet" Murderess) clemency

● 1993 - Courtney Love sues doctors for leaking news of her methadone treatment

● 1993 - Todd Bridges arrested for transporting methamphetamine (speed)

● 1993 - Construction of the Tian Tan Buddha, the world's tallest outdoor bronze statue of the seated Buddha, is completed.

● 1994 - A state court rejects property rights advocates and reaffirms the fishing harvest rights of fifteen Indian tribes in Washington state.

● 1994 - B737-400 flies into a mountain at Edremit East Turkey, 54 killed

● 1994 - Bangladesh government of Zia resigns

● 1994 - Billionaire J Paul Getty Jr marries Victoria Holdsworth on Barbados

● 1994 - Last Dutch electro-magnetic telephone exchange shuts down

● 1996 - Guatemala and leaders of Guatemalan National Revolutionary Union sign a peace accord ending a 36-year civil war.

● 1997 - Hong Kong begins to kill all the nation's chickens (1.25 million) to stop the spread of a potentially deadly influenza strain, the 'bird flu.'

● 1997 - Orville Lynn Majors, 36, arrested for many deaths under his care

● 1997 - Russia signs agreement to build a $3B nuclear power plant in China

● 1998 - Leaders of the Khmer Rouge apologize for the 1970s genocide in Cambodia that claimed over 1 million. This may be the grossest example of too little, too late which as ever occurred.

● 1998 - Six die as huge waves smash into yachts; Six people have died after mountainous seas smashed into yachts taking part in the prestigious Sydney to Hobart race.

● 1998 - The NASDAQ composite index closed above 4,000 for the first time, ending the day at 4,041.46.

● 2000 - Freezing Britain grinds to a halt; A blanket of snow descends on the country as Arctic conditions disrupt travel.

● 2001 - A massive fire in the historic district of downtown Lima, Peru kills at least 274 people.

● 2002 - Cincinnati's Riverfront Stadium/Cinergy Field is demolished.

BIRTHS

● 1709 - Empress Elizabeth of Russia (d. 1762)

● 1721 - Madame Jeanne-Antoinette de Pompadour, mistress of King Louis XV of France (d. 1764)

● 1766 - Charles Macintosh, Scottish chemist and inventor (d. 1843)

● 1796 - Johann Christian Poggendorff, German physicist (d. 1877)

● 1800 - Charles Goodyear, American inventor; pioneered commercial use of rubber (d. 1860)

● 1808 - Andrew Johnson, 17th President of the United States (1865-69), replaced Abraham Lincoln when Lincoln was assassinated (d. 1875)

● 1809 - William Ewart Gladstone, English statesman and four-time prime minister (1868-74, 1880-85, 1886, 1892-94) (d. 1898)

● 1816 - Carl Ludwig, German physician (b. 1895)

● 1856 - Thomas Joannes Stieltjes, Dutch mathematician (d. 1894)

● 1859 - Venustiano Carranza, 54th President of Mexico (d. 1920)

● 1876 - Pablo Casals, Catalan cellist and conductor (d. 1973)

● 1879 - William Mitchell, U.S. Army officer and early advocate of a separate air force (d. 1936)

● 1881 - Jess Willard, American boxer (d. 1968)

● 1896 - David Alfaro Siqueiros, Mexican painter (d. 1974)

● 1899 - Nie Rongzhen, Chinese Communist military leader (d. 1992)

● 1908 - Helmut Gollwitzer, German theologian (d. 1993)

● 1910 - Ronald Coase, British economist, Nobel Prize laureate

● 1911 - Klaus Fuchs, German-born American physicist and spy (d. 1988)

● 1914 - Billy Tipton, American musician (d. 1989)

● 1914 - Albert Tucker, Australian artist (d. 1999)

● 1915 - Bill Osmanski, American football player (d. 1996))

● 1917 - Tom Bradley, American politician (d. 1998)

● 1917 - Ramanand Sagar, Indian film director (d. 2005)

● 1922 - William Gaddis, American novelist (d. 1998)

● 1927 - Andy Stanfield, American athlete (d. 1985)

● 1928 - Bernard Cribbins, British actor

● 1931 - Prince Gu of Korea (d. 2005)

● 1932 - Inga Swenson, Actress (''Benson'')

● 1934 - Tom Jarriel, Broadcast journalist

● 1936 - Ray Nitschke, American football player (d. 1998)

● 1936(37? NYT) - Mary Tyler Moore, American actress

● 1937 - Barbara Steele, British actress

● 1937 - Wayne Huizenga, American football team owner

● 1938 - Jon Voight, American actor

● 1940 - Ed Bruce, Country singer-actor

● 1941 - Ray Thomas, British flutist (The Moody Blues)

● 1942 - Rick Danko, Canadian musician (The Band) (d. 1999)

● 1942 - Rajesh Khanna, Indian actor

● 1946 - Marianne Faithfull, British singer

● 1947 - Ted Danson, American actor ("Cheers," "Becker")

● 1947 - Cozy Powell, English rock drummer (d. 1998)

● 1947 - Vincent Winter, British actor (d. 1998)

● 1949 - Syed Kirmani, Indian cricket player

● 1950 - Jon Polito, Actor

● 1951 - Yvonne Elliman, American disco singer

● 1952 - Gelsey Kirkland, American dancer

● 1953 - Gali Atari, Israeli singer

● 1954 - Roger Voudouris, American singer

● 1954 - Prince Takamado of Japan (d. 2002)

● 1957 - Brad Grey, American film producer

● 1957 - Paul Rudnick, American screenwriter/playwright

● 1959 - Paula Poundstone, Comedian

● 1959 - Patricia Clarkson, American actress

● 1961 - Jim Reid, Rock singer-musician (The Jesus and Mary Chain)

● 1963 - Francisco Bustamante, Filipino billiard player

● 1963 - Dave McKean, British artist and filmmaker

● 1965 - Dexter Holland, American musician (The Offspring)

● 1966 - Mystro Clark, Actor-comedian

● 1966 - Jason Gould,Actor

● 1966 - Stefano Eranio, Italian footballer

● 1967 - Andy Wachowski, American director (''Matrix'' films)

● 1967 - Ashleigh Banfield, Canadian journalist

● 1967 - Chris Barnes, American singer

● 1969 - Jennifer Ehle, Actress

● 1970 - Aled Jones, Welsh singer

● 1970 - Kevin Weisman, American actor (''Alias'')

● 1970 - Glen Phillips, American musician (Toad The Wet Sprocket)

● 1970 - Hidetoshi Mitsusada, Japanese racing driver

● 1972 - Evan Seinfeld, American musician (Biohazard) and actor

● 1972 - Jason Kreis, American soccer player

● 1972 - Jude Law, British actor

● 1973 - Pimp C, Rapper

● 1973 - Theo Epstein, American baseball general manager

● 1974 - Mekhi Phifer, Actor (''ER'')

● 1974 - Richie Sexson, American baseball player

● 1975 - Shawn Hatosy, Actor

● 1976 - Katherine Moennig, American actress

● 1977 - Jimmy Journell, baseball player

● 1978 - Alexis Amore, Peruvian pornographic actress

● 1978 - Kieron Dyer, British footballer

● 1978 - LaToya London, American singer

● 1979 - Justin Roberts, American wrestling announcer

● 1979 - Diego Luna, Mexican actor

● 1981 - Angela Via, American singer

● 1981 - Shizuka Arakawa, Japanese figure skater

● 1983 - Jessica Andrews, American country music artist

● 1988 - Samantha Lainez, Peruvian actress

● 1994 - Princess Kako of Akishino of Japan

DEATHS

● 1170 - Thomas Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury (assassinated) (b. 1118)

● 1563 - Sebastian Castellio, French theologian (b. 1515)

● 1634 - John Albert Vasa, Polish bishop (b. 1612)

● 1661 - Antoine Gérard de Saint-Amant, French poet (b. 1594)

● 1689 - Thomas Sydenham, English physician (b. 1624)

● 1731 - Brook Taylor, English mathematician (b. 1685)

● 1737 - Joseph Saurin, French mathematician (b. 1659)

● 1785 - Johan Herman Wessel, Norwegian poet (b. 1742)

● 1825 - Jacques-Louis David, French painter (b. 1748)

● 1891 - Leopold Kronecker, mathematician (b. 1823)

● 1894 - Christina Rossetti, English poet (b. 1830)

● 1916 - Grigori Rasputin, Russian monk (b. 1869)

● 1924 - Carl Spitteler, Swiss writer, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1845)

● 1926 - Rainer Maria Rilke, Austrian writer (b. 1875)

● 1929 - Wilhelm Maybach, German automobile designer (b. 1846)

● 1937 - Don Marquis, American author (b. 1878)

● 1960 - Eden Phillpotts, British writer (b. 1862)

● 1967 - Paul Whiteman, American musician and conductor (b. 1890)

● 1980 - Tim Hardin, American musician (b. 1941)

● 1980 - Nadezhda Mandelstam, Russian writer (b. 1899)

● 1986 - Harold Macmillan, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (b. 1894)

● 1993 - Frunzik Mkrtchyan, Soviet Armenian actor (b. 1930)

● 2003 - Earl Hindman, American actor (lung cancer) (b. 1942)

● 2003 - Dinsdale Landen, English actor (cancer) (b. 1932)

● 2003 - Bob Monkhouse, English comedian and game show host (b. 1928)

● 2004 - Julius Axelrod, American biochemist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b. 1912)

● 2004 - Liddy Holloway, New Zealand actress (b. 1947)

● 2004 - Ken Burkhart, Baseball player (b. 1915)

● 2005 - Gerda Boyesen, Norwegian-born body psychotherapist (b. 1922)

HOLIDAYS AND OBSERVANCES

● Roman Catholic:
● St. Thomas of Canterbury (Thomas à Beckett), bishop/martyr
● St. Aileran
● St. Albert of Gambron
● St. Trophimus
● St. Trophimus of Arles
● Sts. Callistus, Felix & Boniface
● St. Dominic
● St. Ebrulf
● Bl. William Howard

● Russian Orthodox Christian Menaion Calendar for December 16 (Civil Date: December 29)
● Nativity Fast.
● Prophet Haggai (Aggaeus).
● Martyr Marinus of Rome.
● Blessed Empress Theophania.
● St. Memnon, Archbishop Ephesus.
● St. Nicholas Chrysoberges, Patriarch of Constantinople.
● St. Sophia, nun (in the world Solomonia), wife of Grand duke Basil III.

● Greek Calendar:
● Martyrs Promus and Hilarion.
● St. Modestus, Archbishop of Jerusalem.

● The fourth day of Christmas in Western Christianity.

● Gabon : President's Birthday

● Texas : Admission Day (1845)

● World : Ante-Pen-Ultimate Day

Click on this LINK to see original Wikipedia list with many having links with details.

Additional facts taken from:

On this day in the New York Times

The BBC’s Take on the day

On This Day Website

Geov Parrish's this Day in Radical History, things that happened on this day that you never had to memorize in school.

Scope Systems Any Day Website

Roman Catholic Saint of the Day

Russian Orthodox Christian Menaion Calendar

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