| 29th 
            December, on this day  1170 Archbishop 
            of Canterbury, Thomas 
            Beckett, is murdered in his own cathedral by four knights believing 
            they are acting on direct orders from King Henry II1503 Battle 
            at Garigliano - Spanish army under G Córdoba beats France
 1541 Isabella of Poland and King Ferdinand of Austria sign Treaty 
            of Gyalu
 1558 Charles 
            V, German emperor, buried
 1675 In Britain, Parliament orders the closing of all coffee houses 
            believing they are centres of malicious gossip about the Government
 1705 Prosper 
            Jolyot's "Idomenée" premieres in Paris
 1708 Great 
            Alliance occupies Gent
 1721 France occupies the island of Mauritius in the Indian Ocean
 1778 English troops occupy Savannah, Georgia
 1782 1st nautical 
            almanac in US published by Samuel Stearns, Boston
 1813 British burn Buffalo, New York during the War 
            of 1812
 1835 The Treaty 
            of New Echota is signed, ceding all the lands of the Cherokee 
            east of the Mississippi River to the United States.
 1837 Canadian militia destroy Caroline, a US steamboat docked at Buffalo
 1837 Steam-powered threshing machine patented, Winthrop ME
 1845 Texas admitted as the 28th state
 1848 Gas lights 1st installed at White House (Polk's administration)
 1852 Emma Snodgrass arrested in Boston for wearing pants
 1857 Franz 
            Liszt's "Die Hunnenschlacht" premieres in Weimar<
 1860 The world's first iron-clad warship,'HMS 
            Warrior', is launched at Blackwall on the River Thames in London
 1862 Battle 
            of Chichasaw Bayou: confederate armies defeat General Sherman
 1862 Bowling 
            ball invented
 1867 1st telegraph 
            ticker used by a brokerage house, Groesbeck & Company, New 
            York
 1876 11 
            passenger cars crash in a ravine near Ashtabula, OH, 92 die
 1876 Frédéric 
            A Bartholdi (Statue of Liberty sculptor) weds Jeanne-Emilie
 1885 Gottlieb 
            Daimler patents 1st bike (Germany)
 1890 US 
            7th Cavalry massacre 200+ captive Sioux at Wounded Knee SD; Indian 
            "war" in the west - the last major battle between US troops 
            and native American Indians
 1891 Edison patents "transmission of signals electrically" 
            (radio)
 1895 Dr 
            L S Jameson begins failed raid on Johannesburg
 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 and Ubangi-Shari
 1908 Patent granted for a 4-wheel automobile brake, Clintonville WI
 1911 Sun 
            Yat Sen becomes the first President of the Republic of China
 1913 1st movie serial, "Adventures 
            of Kathlyn" premieres in Chicago IL
 1918 First edition of the British newspaper the "Sunday 
            Express"
 1920 Yugoslav government bans communist party
 1921 William 
            Lyon Mackenzie King succeeded Arthur Meighen as Canadian PM
 1926 Vatican puts French fascist Charles 
            Maurras' work on the index
 1929 Police arrest Sukarno 
            and 100s PNI-leaders
 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 Japan renounces Washington 
            Naval Treaty of 1922 and London 
            Treaty of 1930
 1934 Federico 
            García Lorca's "Yerma" premieres in Madrid
 1937 Pan Am starts San Francisco CA-to-Auckland, New Zealand service
 1937 Ireland adopts constitution (Irish Free State becomes Eire)
 1937 Lou 
            Thesz beats E Marshall in St Louis, to become wrestling champion
 1938 Construction on 
            Lake Washington Floating Bridge, Seattle, WA, begins
 1940 World War II: German bombers drop 10,000 bombs on London in one 
            of the worst nights of the Blitz
 1944 Belgian Nazi Léon 
            Degrelle at default to the death sentenced
 1944 General Eisenhowers train returns to Versailles
 1944 Soviets launch the Battle 
            of Budapest against German and Hungarian forces in and around 
            the Hungarian capital city.
 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 1st UHF television station operating regular basis (Bridgeport 
            CT)
 1949 Hungary nationalized its industries
 1950 Radio 
            Luxembourg begins broadcasting in Europe
 1952 1st transistorized hearing aid offered for sale (Elmsford NY)
 1955 Barbra 
            Streisand's 1st recording, "You'll Never Know" at age 
            13
 1965 Supremes release "My 
            World is Empty Without You"
 1965 "Thunderball" 
            premieres in US
 1967 Star Trek's "The 
            Trouble With Tribbles" 1st airs
 1967 Turkish-Cypriot government forms in Cyprus
 1968 Israeli commandos destroy 13 Lebanese airplanes
 1972 Eastern 
            Tristar Jumbo Jet crashes near Everglades killing 101
 1973 President Ferdinand 
            Marcos ends his elected term but continues to rule the Philippines
 1975 11 killed, 75 hurt by terrorist bomb at LaGuardia 
            Airport in New York NY
 1978 Shah of Iran, asks Shapour Bahktiar to form a civilian government
 1978 Spain constitution goes into effect
 1982 
            Bob Marley postage stamp issued in Jamaica
 1983 US announces withdrawal from UNESCO
 1984 Indian PM Rajiv 
            Gandhi claims victory in parliamentary elections
 1989 Vaclav 
            Havel becomes President of Czechoslovakia
 1989 Wayne 
            Gretzky and Martina 
            Navratilova are named athletes of the decade by the Associated 
            Press
 1990 Olympic gymnast Mary 
            Lou Retton weds Shannon Kelley
 1991 Boeing 
            747-200F of China Airlines crash into mountain at Taipei
 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)
 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
 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
 1997 British journalist Dawn Alford, of the Daily 
            Mirror, who claims a Cabinet Minister's son had sold her drugs, 
            is arrested on suspicion of possessing cannabis. The Daily Mirror 
            protests to the Home Secretary, Jack Straw
 1997 Hong Kong begins to kill all the nation's chickens (1.25 million) 
            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 1 million.
 2001 A massive fire in the historic district of downtown Lima, Peru 
            kills at least 274 people.
 | 
      
        | Birthdates which 
            occurred on 29th December : 1563 Francesco 
            Maria Guaitoli composer 1586 Francisco de Moncada Spanish earl of Osuna/marquis of Aytona
 1678 Gotthard Wagner composer
 1709 Elisabeth Petrovna tsarina of Russia/daughter of Peter the Great
 1721 Madame De Pompadour mistress of French King Louis the 15th
 1743 Alexander van Bylandt Dutch military officer
 1767 Aime Ambroise Simon Leborne composer
 1776 Charles Macintosh Scotland, patented waterproof fabric
 1792 Archibald Alison Scottish historian (History of Europe)
 1800 Charles Goodyear inventor (vulcanization process for rubber)
 1808 Andrew Johnson Raleigh NC, (Unionist), 17th President (1865-69)
 1808 György Apponyi Hungarian Parliament member
 1809 William Ewart Gladstone (Liberal) British PM (1868-74, '80-86, 
            '92-94)
 1809 Albert Pike Brigadier-General (Confederate Army), died in 1891
 1813 Etienne-Joseph Soubre composer
 1831 Adam Badeau Brevet Brigadier-General (Union volunteers), died 
            in 1895
 1833 John James Ingalls (Representative-KS)
 1843 Elisabeth queen of Romania/poet (Rumänische Dichtungen)
 1850 Tomas Breton y Hernandez composer
 1856 Thomas J Stieltjes mathematician (Stieltjes integral)
 1859 Venustiano Carranza President of México (1915-20)
 1866 Joseph Limburg liberal Second-Member of parliament (1905-19)
 1869 Bill Howell cricketer (Australian bowler at turn of century)
 1876 Pablo Casals Vendrell Catalonia Spain, cellist/conductor/composer
 1878 Felix M Abel French bible scholar (Jérusalem Nouvelle)
 1879 Billy Mitchell aviation hero general (WWI)
 1880 Jean-Fernand Vaubourgoin composer
 1887 Kiyoshi Nobutoki composer
 1888 Joseph Beran Czechoslovakian archbishop of Prague/cardinal
 1890 Jozef Cantré Flemish sculptor/wood carver
 1892 Emory Parnell St Paul MN, actress (Rocket Man, County Fair)
 1896 David Alfaro Siqueiros México, painter/muralist (Liberation 
            of Chile)
 1897 Hermann Heiss composer
 1898 Jeanne Leleu composer
 19-- Ronnie Younkins rocker (Kix-Hot Wire)
 19-- Susie Garrett Detroit MI, actress (Punky Brewster)
 1900 Willie Humphrey jazz Clarinetist
 1903 Clyde McCoy jazz trumpeter/bandleader
 1904 Wendell Niles Twin Valley MN, TV announcer (It Could be You)
 1907 James Gardner designer
 1908 Claire Dodd Arkansas, actress (Ex-Lady, In the Navy)
 1908 Gerben Sonderman Dutch test pilot (Fokker)
 1912 Peggy Glanville-Hicks Melbourne Australia, composer (Triad)
 1913 Laurence Gower academic
 1915 Robert Ruark US writer (Something of Value)
 1915 Charles L[eonard] Harness US, sci-fi author (Paradox Men, Wolfhead)
 1915 John P W Meefout Dutch sculptor (Laying Woman)
 1917 Tom Bradley (Mayor-D-LA) (1973-93)
 1919 Pieter Terpstra Dutch journalist/writer (De dei is forroun/Havank-T)
 1919 Roman Vlad composer
 1920 Syd Dernley hangman
 1920 Viveca Lindfors Uppsala Sweden, actress (Way We Were, Welcome 
            to LA)
 1921 Dobrica Cosic writer
 1925 Dina Merrill New York NY, actress (Operation Petticoat, Butterfield 
            8)
 1927 Jim Simpson Washington DC, sportscaster (Monday Night Baseball)
 1928 Bernard Cribbins Oldham England, actor (Val Doonican Show)
 1930 Willy Giefer composer
 1931 Barbara Steele England, actress (Castle of Blood, Dark Shadows)
 1932 Inga Swenson Omaha NE, actress (Gretchen-Benson)
 1933 Prez "Kidd" Kenneth blues singer/guitarist
 1934 Ed Flanders Minneapolis MN, actor (Dr Westphall-St Elsewhere)
 1934 Tom Jarriel LaGrange GA, newscaster (ABC Weekend News, 20/20)
 1935 Tony Bramall England, auto dealer/multi-millionaire (Harrogate)
 1936 Mary Tyler Moore Brooklyn NY, actress (Mary Tyler Moore, Ordinary 
            People)
 1936 Ray Nitschke NFL linebacker (Green Bay Packers)
 1936 Vitaly Alexeyevich Godzyatsky composer
 1938 Jon Voight Yonkers NY, actor (Deliverance, Midnight Cowboy)
 1938 Wayne Huizenga CEO (Waste Management, Blockbuster, Miami Dolphins)
 1939 Maumoon Abdul Gayoom President of Maldives (1978- )
 1940 Brigitte Kronauer writer
 1940 Ed Buce Keiser AR, country singer (Texas)
 1940 Peter Koelewijn Dutch writer/vocalist (Come off that Roof)
 1941 Ray Thomas England, rock vocalist (Moody Blues-Nights in White 
            Satin)
 1942 Jerry Summers rocker
 1943 Maij-Wegge Dutch traffic minister (19..-94)
 1944 Rodney Redmond New Zealand cricket (opener scored century in 
            Test vs Pakistan 1973)
 1945 Adje Roland Dutch disc-jockey
 1946 Laffit Pincay Jr jockey (Kentucky Derby 1984, Belmont Stakes 
            1982-84, Swale)
 1946 Paul Trible (Senator-R-VA)
 1946 Marianne Faithfull Hampstead England, vocalist (Money)
 1947 Ted Danson San Diego CA, actor (Sam Malone-Cheers, 3 Men & 
            a Baby)
 1947 Cozy Powell England, rock drummer (Jeff Beck Group, Whitesnake, 
            ELP)
 1949 Angel Tompkins actress (Bees, Prime Cut, Murphy's Law)
 1949 Syed Kirmani cricketer (Indian keeper after Engineer)
 1950 Jon Polito Philadelphia PA, actor (Fire With Fire, Homicide)
 1951 Laurel Masse Holland MI, jazz singer (Manhattan Transfer-Operator)
 1951 Yvonne Elliman US actress/singer (I Don't Know How to Love Him)
 1952 Nikolai Andrianov USSR, gymnast (Olympics-gold-1972, 76, 80)
 1952 Gelsey Kirkland Bethlehem PA, ballerina/druggie (Nutcracker)
 1953 Kate Schmidt US javelin thrower (Olympics-bronze-1972)
 1954 Glenn Myernick Trenton NJ, US soccer coach (Olympics-gold-96)
 1954 Roger Voudouris Sacramento CA, rock vocalist
 1955 Jan Pijnenburg Dutch rock drummer (Doe Maar-Bomb)
 1955 Neil Giraldo rocker (Pat Benatar Band)
 1956 Dolf de Vries Dutch musical/director/arranger (Josephine)
 1958 Curt Allen Byrum Onida SD, PGA golfer (1989 Hardee's Golf Classic)
 1959 Leslie Graves Silver City NM, actress (Brenda-Capitol)
 1959 Paula Poundstone comedienne (Emmy Awards)
 1960 Dave Gilbert cricketer (Aussie pace bowler in 9 Tests 1985-86)
 1960 David Boon cricketer (short backward square from Tasmania)
 1961 Robert Louis Tewdwr Moss journalist/travel writer
 1962 Devon White Kingston Jamaica, outfielder (Florida Marlins)
 1964 Kimberly Russell actress (Sarah-Head of the Class)
 1964 Craig Grebeck Cerritos CA, infielder (Florida Marlins)
 1965 David Delfino hockey goaltender (Team Italy 1998)
 1966 Bruce Bulina Vancouver British Columbia, Canadian Tour golfer 
            (1990 Alberta Open)
 1966 Drew Hartt Calgary Alta, Canadian Tour golfer (1995 Desert Tour)
 1967 Henry Jones NFL safety (Buffalo Bills)
 1967 Jason Gould son of Elliot Gould/Barbra Streisand, (Prince of 
            Tides)
 1967 Kevin Toth Cleveland OH, shot putter
 1967 Tony Tolbert NFL defensive end (Dallas Cowboys)
 1968 Carlo H L Ponti Jr son of Carlo Ponti & Sophia Loren
 1968 Darren Perry NFL free safety (Pittsburgh Steelers)
 1968 James Mouton Denver CO, outfielder (Houston Astros)
 1970 Yaroslav Ihorovych Pustovyi Kostroma Ukraine, cosmonaut
 1971 Jay Fiedler NFL quarterback (Philadelphia Eagles)
 1971 Margot Thien San Diego CA, synchronized swimmer (Olympics-gold-96)
 1971 Mark Montreuil NFL cornerback (San Diego Chargers)
 1971 Toby Mills WLAF corner (Frankfurt Galaxy)
 1972 Jessica Lee McMinn Miss North Carolina USA (1996)
 1972 Malcolm Seabron NFL wide receiver (Houston Oilers)
 1972 Melissa Hall Miss USA-Minnesota (1997)
 1972 Randy Neal NFL linebacker (Cincinnati Bengals)
 1973 Tomas Perez Barquisimeto Venezuela, infielder (Toronto Blue Jays)
 1974 Brad Hodge cricketer (promising Victorian middle-order batsman)
 1974 James Darling linebacker (Philadelphia Eagles)
 1974 Tom Knight cornerback (Arizona Cardinals)
 1975 Kalin Olson Hot Springs AR, playmate (Aug 1997)
 1979 Laura Larson Miss Maine Teen USA (1996)
 2943 Kathryn Leigh Scott [Kringstad] Den Helder Netherlands, actress 
            (Voice of the Heart, Big Shamus)
 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Deaths which occurred on 29th December:
 1141 Yue Fei Chinese general, executed
 1170 Thomas Beckett archbishop, assassinated by 4 knights of King 
            Henry II
 1558 Hermann Finck composer, dies at 31
 1619 Antoine Arnauld French lawyer (Philippica), dies
 1630 Jan Baptist Stalpart van der Wiele Roman Catholic pastor/lyricist, 
            dies at 51
 1689 Olfert Dapper Amsterdam historian/geographer, buried
 1703 Mustapha II sultan (Turkey), dies at 39
 1731 J Brook Taylor English mathematician, dies at 46
 1785 Johann Heinrich Rolle composer, dies at 69
 1815 Saartjie Baartman the Hottentot Venus, dies in Paris
 1821 Jean-Baptiste Dumonceau de Bergendael South Netherlands general, 
            dies at 61
 1822 Albert Christoph Dies composer, dies at 67
 1825 Giuseppe Maria Gioacchino Cambini composer, dies
 1825 Jacques-Louis David French painter (Death of Marat), dies at 
            77
 1835 Charles-Joseph Tolbecque composer, dies at 29
 1836 Johann Baptist Schenk composer, dies at 83
 1847 William Crotch composer, dies at 72
 1871 Ferdinand Marcucci composer, dies at 71
 1877 Willem Sassen Dutch Attorney General on Curaçao (Affair-S), 
            dies
 1890 Big Foot Sioux Indian chief, dies at Wounded Knee
 1891 Leopold Kronecker German mathematician, dies at 68
 1894 Chris Rossetti writer, dies at 64
 1898 Georg Goltermann composer, dies at 74
 1915 Charles Beach Hawley composer, dies at 57
 1925 Félix E Vallotton Swiss painter/writer (Chaste Susanne), 
            dies at 60
 1926 Rainer M Rilke Austrias songwriter/writer (Wise Queen), dies 
            at 51
 1933 Joh Georghe Duca premier of Romania, murdered
 1942 Frank D Adams Canadian geologist, dies at 83
 1943 William H Singer US painter/collector (Singer Museum), dies at 
            75
 1947 Joseph Cuvelier Belgian historian/general, dies at 78
 1952 Beryl Rubinstein composer, dies at 54
 1956 Martin Albertz German theologist (Jesus Christ's Church), dies 
            at 73
 1957 Tom Richmond cricketer (Notts leg-spinner took 2-86 in England 
            Test), die
 1958 Doris Humphrey US dancer/choreographer (Dances of Women), dies 
            at 63
 1959 Robin Humphrey Milford composer, dies at 56
 1964 Bernard von Brentano German writer (Big Cats), dies at 63
 1964 Miroslav Krejci composer, dies at 73
 1965 Kusaku Yamada composer, dies at 79
 1967 Paul Whiteman US orchestra leader (Fabulous Dorseys), dies at 
            77
 1970 John de Mol Dutch accordionist, dies at 58
 1971 Stuart Holmes dies of stomach ailment at 87
 1972 Fritz Behrend composer, dies at 83
 1976 Ivo van Damme Belgian 800/1500 meter sprinter (Olympics-silver-76), 
            dies at 22
 1980 Roy Engle actor (Police Chief-My Favorite Martian), dies at 67
 1980 Tim Hardin US singer (Bird on a Wire), dies of a drug overdose 
            at 39
 1981 Guido Provoost Belgian historian, dies at 41
 1982 Sol C Siegel US film producer (High Society), dies at 79
 1984 Leo Robin lyricist, dies of heart failure at 84
 1986 [Maurice] Harold Macmillan former British PM (1957-63), dies 
            in Sussex, England, at 92
 1986 Andrei Tarkovski Russian director (Stalker), dies at 54
 1986 John Antill composer, dies at 82
 1991 Julia McCarthy dies of cancer at 64
 1992 L H Ruitenberg vicar/editor in chief (Reform Netherlands), dies 
            at 87
 1992 Vivienne Segal US actress (Broadway, Pal Joey), dies at 95
 1994 Eugene Tanner Jr singer, dies at 58
 1994 Frank Thring Australian actor (El Cid, Ben-Hur), dies at 68
 1995 Hope Clara Chenhalls food inspector, dies at 85
 1995 Louise Chaplin actress, dies at 87
 1995 Madeleine Barot resistance heroine, dies at 86
 1995 Nello Celio President of Switzerland (1972), dies at 81
 1996 Alma Birk journalist/politician, dies at 77
 1996 Daniel Raphaeautl Mayer journalist/resistance leader, dies at 
            86
 1996 Mireille Hartuch singer/songwriter, dies at 90
 1996 Oswald Szemerenyi philologist, dies at 83
 1996 Peggy (Margaret McCrorie) Herbison politician, dies at 89
 1996 Robert Morris lawyer, dies at 81
 1996 Willaim Brown British TV executive, dies at 67
 1996 William Thomas Pennar Davies poet author/theologian, dies at 
            85
 1997 (Hanlon) Pat Clarke cyclist, dies at 82
 1997 Robert Steel academic, dies at 82
 
 
 |