December 29

Updated on Sep 28, 2024

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Western zodiac Capricorn
Holidays & Observances Independence Day (Mongolia), Constitution Day (Ireland) Events UFC 155, Treaty of New Echota Famous birthdays Kei Nishikori, Jude Law, Diego Luna, Marco Antonio Solís, Alison Brie

December 29 is the 363rd day of the year (364th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are two days remaining until the end of the year. This date is slightly more likely to fall on a Tuesday, Thursday or Saturday (58 in 400 years each) than on Sunday or Monday (57), and slightly less likely to occur on a Wednesday or Friday (56).

Events

875 – Charles the Bald, King of the Franks, is crowned as Holy Roman Emperor Charles II.

1170 – Thomas Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury, is assassinated inside Canterbury Cathedral by followers of King Henry II; he subsequently becomes a saint and martyr in the Anglican Communion and the Catholic Church.

1427 – The Ming army begins its withdraw from Hanoi, ending the Chinese domination of Đại Việt.

1503 – The Battle of Garigliano (1503) was fought between a Spanish army under Gonzalo Fernández de Córdoba and a French army commanded by Ludovico II, Marquess of Saluzzo

1508 – Portuguese forces under the command of Francisco de Almeida attack Khambhat at the Battle of Dabul.

1778 – American Revolutionary War: Three thousand British soldiers under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Archibald Campbell capture Savannah, Georgia.

1786 – French Revolution: The Assembly of Notables is convened.

1812 – The USS Constitution under the command of Captain William Bainbridge, captures the HMS Java off the coast of Brazil after a three-hour battle.

1835 – The Treaty of New Echota is signed, ceding all the lands of the Cherokee east of the Mississippi River to the United States.

1845 – In accordance with International Boundary delimitation, the United States annexes the Republic of Texas, following the manifest destiny doctrine. The Republic of Texas, which had been independent since the Texas Revolution of 1836, is thereupon admitted as the 28th U.S. state.

1851 – The first American YMCA opens in Boston, Massachusetts.

1860 – The launch of HMS Warrior, with her combination of screw propeller, iron hull and iron armour, renders all previous warships obsolete.

1874 – The military coup of Gen. Martinez Campos in Sagunto ends the failed First Spanish Republic and Prince Alfonso is proclaimed King of Spain.

1876 – The Ashtabula River railroad disaster occurs, leaving 64 injured and 92 dead at Ashtabula, Ohio.

1890 – Wounded Knee Massacre on Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, 300 Lakota killed by the United States 7th Cavalry Regiment.

1911 – Mongolia gains independence from the Qing dynasty, enthroning 9th Jebtsundamba Khutughtu as Khagan of Mongolia.

1911 – Sun Yat-sen becomes the provisional President of the Republic of China; he formally takes office on January 1, 1912.

1916 – A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, the first novel by James Joyce, was first published as a book by an American publishing house B. W. Huebschis after it had been serialized in The Egoist (1914–15).

1930 – Sir Muhammad Iqbal's presidential address in Allahabad introduces the two-nation theory and outlines a vision for the creation of Pakistan.

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.

1940 – World War II: In the Second Great Fire of London, the Luftwaffe fire-bombs London, England, UK, killing almost 200 civilians.

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

1972 – Eastern Air Lines Flight 401 (a Lockheed L-1011 TriStar) crashes on approach to Miami International Airport, Florida, killing 101.

1975 – A bomb explodes at LaGuardia Airport in New York City, killing 11 people and injuring 74.

1989 – Czech writer, philosopher and dissident Václav Havel is elected the first post-communist President of Czechoslovakia.

1992 – Fernando Collor de Mello, president of Brazil, tries to resign amidst corruption charges, but is then impeached.

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

1997 – Hong Kong begins to kill all the nation's 1.25 million chickens to stop the spread of a potentially deadly influenza strain.

1998 – Leaders of the Khmer Rouge apologize for the 1970s genocide in Cambodia that claimed over one million lives.

2003 – The last known speaker of Akkala Sami dies, rendering the language extinct.

2006 – UK settles its Anglo-American loan, post-WWII loan debt.

2011 – Samoa and Tokelau skip straight to December 31 when moving from one side of the International Date Line to another.

2012 – A Tupolev Tu-204 airliner crashes in a ditch between the airport fence and the M3 highway after overshooting a runway at Vnukovo International Airport in Moscow, Russia, killing five people and leaving three others critically injured.

2013 – A suicide bomb attack at the Volgograd-1 railway station in the southern Russian city of Volgograd kills at least 18 people and wounds 40 others.

Births

765 – Ali al-Ridha, Arabian 8th of the Twelve Imams (d. 818)

1709 – Elizabeth of Russia (d. 1762)

1746 – Saverio Cassar, Gozitan priest and rebel leader (d. 1805)

1766 – Charles Macintosh, Scottish chemist and the inventor of waterproof fabric (d. 1843)

1796 – Johann Christian Poggendorff, German physicist and journalist (d. 1877)

1800 – Charles Goodyear, American chemist and engineer (d. 1860)

1808 – Andrew Johnson, American general and politician, 17th President of the United States (d. 1875)

1809 – William Ewart Gladstone, English lawyer and politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (d. 1898)

1816 – Carl Ludwig, German physician and physiologist (d. 1895)

1844 – Womesh Chunder Bonnerjee, Indian barrister and was the first president of Indian National Congress. (d. 1906)

1855 – August Kitzberg, Estonian author and poet (d. 1927)

1856 – Thomas Joannes Stieltjes, Dutch-French mathematician and academic (d. 1894)

1859 – Venustiano Carranza, Mexican soldier and politician, 37th President of Mexico (d. 1920)

1874 – François Brandt, Dutch rower and bishop (d. 1949)

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

1879 – Billy Mitchell, American general and pilot (d. 1936)

1881 – Jess Willard, American boxer (d. 1968)

1885 – Roman von Ungern-Sternberg, Austrian-Russian general (d. 1921)

1886 – Norman Hallows, English runner and captain (d. 1968)

1895 – Oswald Freisler, German lawyer and author (d. 1939)

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

1899 – Nie Rongzhen, Chinese general and politician, Mayor of Beijing (d. 1992)

1902 – Nels Stewart, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 1957)

1903 – Candido Portinari, Brazilian painter (d. 1962)

1904 – Kuvempu, Indian author and poet (d. 1994)

1908 – Helmut Gollwitzer, German theologian and author (d. 1993)

1908 – Magnus Pyke, English scientist and author (d. 1992)

1910 – Ronald Coase, English-American economist, author, and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2013)

1911 – Klaus Fuchs, German physicist and spy (d. 1988)

1914 – Zainul Abedin, Bangladeshi painter and academic (d. 1976)

1914 – Billy Tipton, American pianist and saxophonist (d. 1989)

1914 – Albert Tucker, Australian painter and illustrator (d. 1999)

1915 – Bill Osmanski, American football player and coach (d. 1996)

1915 – Robert Ruark, American hunter and author (d. 1965)

1915 – Jo Van Fleet, American actress (d. 1996)

1917 – Tom Bradley, American lieutenant, lawyer, and politician, 38th Mayor of Los Angeles (d. 1998)

1917 – Ramanand Sagar, Indian director and producer (d. 2005)

1919 – Alfred de Grazia, American political scientist and author (d. 2014)

1919 – Roman Vlad, Italian pianist and composer (d. 2013)

1920 – Viveca Lindfors, Swedish actress and singer (d. 1995)

1921 – Dobrica Ćosić, Serbian politician, 1st President of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (d. 2014)

1922 – Little Joe Cook, American singer-songwriter (d. 2014)

1922 – William Gaddis, American author and academic (d. 1998)

1923 – Cheikh Anta Diop, Senegalese historian, anthropologist, and physicist (d. 1986)

1923 – Morton Estrin, American pianist and educator

1923 – Dina Merrill, American actress, game show panelist, socialite, heiress, and businesswoman

1923 – Shlomo Venezia, Greek-Italian author and Holocaust survivor (d. 2012)

1923 – Yvonne Choquet-Bruhat, French mathematician and physicist

1924 – Joe Allbritton, American businessman and publisher, founded the Allbritton Communications Company (d. 2012)

1925 – Pete Dye, American golfer and architect

1927 – Andy Stanfield, American sprinter (d. 1985)

1929 – Matt Murphy, American guitarist

1931 – Stasys Stonkus, Lithuanian basketball player and coach (d. 2012)

1932 – Inga Swenson, American actress and singer

1933 – Samuel Brittan, English journalist and author

1934 – Ed Flanders, American actor (d. 1995)

1936 – Mary Tyler Moore, American actress and producer (d. 2017)

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

1937 – Wayne Huizenga, American businessman, founded AutoNation

1938 – Harvey Smith, English horse rider and sportscaster

1938 – Jon Voight, American actor and producer

1939 – Ed Bruce, American country music singer-songwriter

1941 – Ray Thomas, English singer-songwriter and flute player

1942 – Rajesh Khanna, Indian actor, singer, and producer (d. 2012)

1942 – Óscar Andrés Rodríguez Maradiaga, Honduran cardinal

1943 – Bill Aucoin, American talent manager (d. 2010)

1943 – Molly Bang, American author and illustrator

1943 – Rick Danko, Canadian singer-songwriter, bass player, and producer (d. 1999)

1944 – Rodney Redmond, New Zealand cricketer

1945 – Birendra of Nepal, King of Nepal from 1972 to 2001 (d. 2001)

1946 – Marianne Faithfull, English singer-songwriter and actress

1946 – Laffit Pincay, Jr., Panamanian jockey

1947 – Richard Crandall, American physicist and computer scientist (d. 2012)

1947 – Ted Danson, American actor and producer

1947 – Leonhard Lapin, Estonian architect and poet

1947 – Cozy Powell, English drummer, songwriter, and producer (d. 1998)

1947 – David Tanner, English rower and coach

1947 – Vincent Winter, Scottish actor, director, and production manager (d. 1998)

1948 – Peter Robinson, Northern Irish politician, 3rd First Minister of Northern Ireland

1949 – David Topliss, English rugby league player and coach (d. 2008)

1952 – Gelsey Kirkland, American ballerina and choreographer

1953 – Thomas Bach, German lawyer and fencer, 9th President of the International Olympic Committee

1953 – Alan Rusbridger, Zambia-born English journalist and academic

1953 – Kate Schmidt, American javelin thrower and coach

1953 – Stanley Williams, American gang leader, co-founded the Crips (d. 2005)

1953 – Charlayne Woodard, American actress and playwright

1954 – Albrecht Böttcher, German mathematician and author

1954 – Norihito, Prince Takamado of Japan (d. 2002)

1957 – Brad Grey, American screenwriter and producer

1957 – Oliver Hirschbiegel, German actor, director, and producer

1957 – Iain Paxton, Scottish rugby player and coach

1957 – Paul Rudnick, American author, playwright, and screenwriter

1958 – Nancy J. Currie, American colonel, engineer, and astronaut

1959 – Keith Crossan, Irish rugby player

1959 – Patricia Clarkson, American actress

1959 – Ann Demeulemeester, Belgian fashion designer

1959 – Milton Ottey, Jamaican-Canadian high jumper and coach

1959 – Paula Poundstone, American comedian and author

1960 – David Boon, Australian cricketer

1960 – David Gilbert, Australian cricketer

1960 – Thomas Lubanga Dyilo, Congolese militia leader, founded the Union of Congolese Patriots

1961 – Kevin Granata, American engineer and academic (d. 2007)

1961 – Jim Reid, Scottish singer-songwriter and guitarist

1961 – Richard Horton, English physician and journalist

1962 – Wynton Rufer, New Zealand footballer

1962 – Devon White, Jamaican-American baseball player

1963 – Des Foy, English rugby player

1963 – Dave McKean, English illustrator, photographer, director, and pianist

1963 – Sean Payton, American football player and coach

1963 – Liisa Savijarvi, Canadian skier

1964 – Michael Cudlitz, American actor

1965 – Laurent Boudouani, French boxer

1965 – Dexter Holland, American singer-songwriter and guitarist

1965 – Danilo Pérez, Panamanian pianist and composer

1966 – Stefano Eranio, Italian footballer and coach

1966 – Martin Offiah, English rugby league player and sportscaster

1967 – Ashleigh Banfield, Canadian-American journalist

1967 – Evan Seinfeld, American bass player, actor, and director

1969 – Jennifer Ehle, American actress

1969 – Allan McNish, Scottish race car driver and journalist

1969 – José Antonio Noriega, Mexican footballer

1970 – Aled Jones, Welsh singer and television host

1970 – Hidetoshi Mitsusada, Japanese race car driver

1970 – Glen Phillips, American singer-songwriter and guitarist

1972 – Jude Law, English actor

1973 – Theo Epstein, American businessman

1974 – Maria Dizzia, American actress

1974 – Twinkle Khanna, Indian producer and former actress

1974 – Mekhi Phifer, American actor and producer

1974 – Richie Sexson, American baseball player and coach

1974 – Ryan Shore, Canadian composer and producer

1975 – Shawn Hatosy, American actor

1975 – Jaret Wright, American baseball player

1976 – Filip Kuba, Czech ice hockey player

1976 – Danny McBride, American actor, producer, and screenwriter

1977 – Jimmy Journell, American baseball player

1978 – Jake Berry, English lawyer and politician

1978 – Matthew Carr, Australian footballer

1978 – Pierre Dagenais, Canadian ice hockey player

1978 – Kieron Dyer, English footballer and coach

1978 – Danny Higginbotham, English footballer and journalist

1978 – Steve Kemp, English drummer

1979 – Mitsuhiro Ishida, Japanese mixed martial artist

1979 – Diego Luna, Mexican actor, director, and producer

1979 – Moe Oshikiri, Japanese model and actress

1981 – Shizuka Arakawa, Japanese figure skater and sportscaster

1981 – Shaun Suisham, American football player

1981 – Vjatšeslav Zahovaiko, Estonian footballer

1982 – Alison Brie, American actress and singer

1982 – Brian Hill, Canadian swimmer

1982 – Dale Morris, Australian footballer

1982 – Norbert Siedler, Austrian race car driver

1983 – Jessica Andrews, American singer-songwriter

1983 – James Kelly, Australian footballer

1984 – Brenton Lawrence, Australian rugby league player

1984 – Reimo Tamm, Estonian basketball player

1986 – Joe Anyon, English footballer

1986 – Kim Ok-bin, South Korean actress and singer

1987 – Yuhi Sekiguchi, Japanese race car driver

1988 – Eric Berry, American football player

1988 – Christen Press, American footballer

1988 – Ágnes Szávay, Hungarian tennis player

1989 – Left Brain, American rapper and producer

1989 – Kei Nishikori, Japanese tennis player

Deaths

721 – Empress Genmei of Japan (b. 660)

1170 – Thomas Becket, English archbishop and saint (b. 1118)

1380 – Elizabeth of Poland, queen consort of Hungary (b. 1305)

1416 – Mathew Swetenham, bow bearer of Henry IV

1550 – Bhuvanaikabahu VII, King of Kotte (b. 1468)

1563 – Sebastian Castellio, French preacher and theologian (b. 1515)

1565 – Queen Munjeong of Korea (b. 1501)

1634 – John Albert Vasa, Polish cardinal (b. 1612)

1661 – Antoine Girard de Saint-Amant, French poet (b. 1594)

1689 – Thomas Sydenham, English physician and author (b. 1624)

1720 – Maria Margarethe Kirch, German astronomer and educator (b. 1670)

1731 – Brook Taylor, English mathematician and theorist (b. 1685)

1737 – Joseph Saurin, French minister and mathematician (b. 1659)

1785 – Johan Herman Wessel, Norwegian-Danish poet and playwright (b. 1742)

1825 – Jacques-Louis David, French painter and illustrator (b. 1748)

1887 – Ferdinand Johann Wiedemann, Estonian-Russian linguist and botanist (b. 1805)

1890 – Spotted Elk, American tribal leader (b. 1826)

1891 – Leopold Kronecker, Polish-German mathematician and academic (b. 1823)

1894 – Christina Rossetti, English poet and hymn-writer (b. 1830)

1897 – William James Linton, English-American painter, author, and activist (b. 1812)

1910 – Reginald Doherty, English tennis player (b. 1872)

1924 – Carl Spitteler, Swiss poet and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1845)

1925 – Félix Vallotton, Swiss/French painter (b. 1865)

1926 – Rainer Maria Rilke, Austrian poet and author (b. 1875)

1929 – Wilhelm Maybach, German engineer and businessman, founded Maybach (b. 1846)

1937 – Don Marquis, American journalist, author, and playwright (b. 1878)

1941 – Tullio Levi-Civita, Italian mathematician and scholar (b. 1873)

1944 – Khasan Israilov, Chechen rebel (b. 1910)

1949 – Tyler Dennett, American historian and author (b. 1883)

1952 – Fletcher Henderson, American pianist, composer, and bandleader (b. 1897)

1959 – Robin Milford, English soldier and composer (b. 1903)

1960 – Eden Phillpotts, English author and poet (b. 1862)

1967 – Paul Whiteman, American violinist, composer, and conductor (b. 1890)

1968 – Austin Farrer, English theologian and philosopher (b. 1904)

1970 – Marie Menken, American director and painter (b. 1909)

1972 – Joseph Cornell, American sculptor and director (b. 1903)

1972 – Chrysostomos Papasarantopoulos, Greek priest and missionary (b. 1903)

1976 – Ivo Van Damme, Belgian runner (b. 1954)

1980 – Nadezhda Mandelstam, Russian author and educator (b. 1899)

1981 – Miroslav Krleža, Croatian author, poet, and playwright (b. 1893)

1986 – Harold Macmillan, English captain and politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (b. 1894)

1986 – Andrei Tarkovsky, Russian director and screenwriter (b. 1932)

1988 – Mike Beuttler, Egyptian race car driver (b. 1940)

1996 – Mireille Hartuch, French singer-songwriter and actress (b. 1906)

1998 – Jean-Claude Forest, French author and illustrator (b. 1930)

1999 – Leon Radzinowicz, Polish-English criminologist and academic (b. 1906)

2000 – Adele Stimmel Chase, American sculptor and painter (b. 1917)

2001 – Takashi Asahina, Japanese conductor (b. 1908)

2003 – Bob Monkhouse, English comedian, actor, and game show host (b. 1928)

2004 – Julius Axelrod, American biochemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1912)

2004 – Ken Burkhart, American baseball player and umpire (b. 1915)

2007 – Phil O'Donnell, Scottish footballer (b. 1972)

2008 – Freddie Hubbard, American trumpet player and composer (b. 1938)

2010 – Avi Cohen, Israeli footballer and manager (b. 1956)

2012 – Tony Greig, South African-Australian cricketer and sportscaster (b. 1946)

2012 – Roland Griffiths-Marsh, Australian soldier and author (b. 1923)

2012 – Edward Meneeley, American painter and sculptor (b. 1927)

2012 – Paulo Rocha, Portuguese director and screenwriter (b. 1935)

2012 – Bruce Stark, American cartoonist (b. 1933)

2013 – C. T. Hsia, Chinese-American critic and scholar (b. 1921)

2013 – Benjamin Curtis, American guitarist, drummer, and songwriter (b. 1978)

2013 – Connie Dierking, American basketball player (b. 1936)

2013 – Eero Mäntyranta, Finnish skier (b. 1937)

2013 – Jagadish Mohanty, Indian author and translator (b. 1951)

2013 – Paul Sally, American mathematician and academic (b. 1933)

2014 – Hari Harilela, Indian-Hong Kong businessman and philanthropist (b. 1922)

2014 – Odd Iversen, Norwegian footballer (b. 1945)

2014 – Juanito Remulla, Sr., Filipino lawyer and politician, Governor of Cavite (b. 1933)

2015 – Om Prakash Malhotra, Indian general and politician, 25th Governor of Punjab (b. 1922)

2015 – Pavel Srníček, Czech footballer and coach (b. 1968)

2015 – Kim Yang-gon, North Korean politician (b. 1942)

2016 – LaVell Edwards, American football head coach (b. 1930)

2016 – Keion Carpenter, American football defensive back (b. 1977)

Holidays and observances

Christian feast day:

David, King and prophet (Catholic, Lutheran)

Thomas Becket

Trophimus of Arles

December 29 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)

Constitution Day (Ireland)

Independence Day (Mongolia)

The fifth day of Christmas (Western Christianity)

The fourth day of Kwanzaa (United States)

References

December 29 Wikipedia

(Text) CC BY-SA

Contents

Events

Births

Deaths

Holidays and observances

References