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 II
1503 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.

29th December 2005

Iraqi Shias abducted and killed

Ethiopia threatened with aid cuts

US to deport alleged Nazi guard

29th December 2006

Saddam Hussein 'in Iraqi hands'

Mogadishu crowds greet Somali PM

India police find child skeletons

29th December 2007

Musharraf cracks down on rioters

Gaza pilgrims stranded in Red Sea

Kenyan count halted amid unrest

29th December 2008

Israel strikes key Hamas offices

Ugandan LRA 'in church massacre'

Somalia's president quits office

29th December 2009

Western help 'not enough for Yemen'

British anger at China execution

Putin attacks US missile defence

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)

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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


Link 1/ On this day 29th December

Link 2/ On this day 29th December

Link 3/ On this day 29th December