What happened on December 29? There are more than 219 events that were made this day in history. Here are the important historical events, facts, and some myths about this day.
Interesting Facts & Myths About December 29
December 29 is the 364th day of the year 2024. There are 2 days remaining until the end of this year. The day of the week is Sunday. This day falls under the 52nd week of the year 2024.
On this day in Chicopee, Massachusetts 01013 sunrise will occur at 07:16 AM and sunset will occur at 04:28 PM (local time).
The zodiac sign of a person born on this day is Capricorn. The modern birthstone for this month is Turquoise while the mystical birthstone is Onyx.
According to the Chinese calendar, there are 31 days remaining before the start of the next Chinese New Year (January 29, 2025).
Is your birthday coming up in two days? Are you not curious to find out who is sharing your special day? Discover all the April 21 famous birthdays. There are fun facts about that day that you must know. (Sponsored link)
Historical Events For December 29
- 1170Thomas 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 Church and the Catholic Church.
- 1778American Revolutionary War: 3,000 British soldiers under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Archibald Campbell capture Savannah, Georgia.
- 1786French Revolution: The Assembly of Notables is convened.
- 1812The USS Constitution under the command of Captain William Bainbridge, captures the HMS Java off the coast of Brazil after a three hour battle.
- 1813British soldiers burn Buffalo, New York during the War of 1812.
- 1835The Treaty of New Echota is signed, ceding all the lands of the Cherokee east of the Mississippi River to the United States.
- 1845In accordance with International Boundary delimitation, United States annexes the Mexican state 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.
- 1851The first American YMCA opens in Boston, Massachusetts.
- 1860The first British seagoing iron-clad warship, HMS Warrior is launched.
- 1876The Ashtabula River Railroad bridge disaster occurs, leaving 64 injured and 92 dead at Ashtabula, Ohio.
- 1890United States soldiers kill more than 200 Oglala Lakota people with four Hotchkiss guns in the Wounded Knee Massacre.
- 1911Mongolia gains independence from the Qing dynasty.
- 1911Sun Yat-sen becomes the provisional President of the Republic of China; he formally takes office on January 1, 1912.
- 1914A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, the first novel by James Joyce, is serialised in The Egoist.
- 1930Sir Muhammad Iqbal’s presidential address in Allahabad introduces the Two-Nation Theory and outlines a vision for the creation of Pakistan.
- 1934Japan renounces the Washington Naval Treaty of 1922 and the London Naval Treaty of 1930.
- 1937The Irish Free State is replaced by a new state called Ireland with the adoption of a new constitution.
- 1939First flight of the Consolidated B-24 Liberator.
- 1940World War II: In The Second Great Fire of London, the Luftwaffe fire-bombs London, killing almost 200 civilians.
- 1949KC2XAK of Bridgeport, Connecticut becomes the first Ultra high frequency (UHF) television station to operate a daily schedule.
- 1959Physicist Richard Feynman gives a speech entitled “There’s Plenty of Room at the Bottom”, which is regarded as the birth of nanotechnology.
- 1959The Lisbon Metro begins operation.
- 1972An Eastern Air Lines Flight 401 (a Lockheed Tristar) crashes on approach to Miami International Airport, Florida, killing 101.
- 1975A bomb explodes at LaGuardia Airport in New York, New York, killing 11 people and injuring 74.
- 1989Riots break-out after Hong Kong decides to forcibly repatriate Vietnamese refugees.
- 1992Fernando Collor de Mello, president of Brazil, tries to resign amidst corruption charges, but is then impeached.
- 1996Guatemala and leaders of Guatemalan National Revolutionary Union sign a peace accord ending a 36-year civil war.
- 1997Hong Kong begins to kill all the nation’s 1.25 million chickens to stop the spread of a potentially deadly influenza strain.
- 1998Leaders of the Khmer Rouge apologize for the 1970s genocide in Cambodia that claimed over 1 million lives.
- 2001A fire at the Mesa Redonda shopping center in Lima, Peru, kills at least 291.
- 2003The last known speaker of Akkala Sami dies, rendering the language extinct.
Who Were Born On December 29?
- 1709Empress Elizabeth of Russia (d. 1762)
- 1721Madame de Pompadour, mistress of King Louis XV of France (d. 1764)
- 1796Johann Christian Poggendorff, German physicist (d. 1877)
- 1800Charles Goodyear, American inventor (d. 1860)
- 1808Andrew Johnson, 17th President of the United States (d. 1875)
- 1809William Ewart Gladstone, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (d. 1898)
- 1816Carl Ludwig, German physician (d. 1895)
- 1843Elisabeth of Wied, queen of Romania and novelist (d. 1916)
- 1856Thomas Joannes Stieltjes, Dutch mathematician (d. 1894)
- 1859Venustiano Carranza, 54th President of Mexico (d. 1920)
- 1870Albert Amrhein, German rugby player (death year unknown)
- 1876Pau Casals, Catalan musician (d. 1973)
- 1881Jess Willard, American boxer (d. 1968)
- 1885Roman Ungern von Sternberg, famous White Russian warlord (d.1921)
- 1896David Alfaro Siqueiros, Mexican painter (d. 1974)
- 1899Nie Rongzhen, Chinese Communist leader (d. 1992)
- 1902Nels Stewart, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 1957)
- 1904Kuvempu aka Kuppali Venkatappagowda Puttappa, Indian writer and poet (d. 1994)
- 1908Helmut Gollwitzer, German theologian (d. 1993)
- 1910Ronald Coase, British economist, Nobel Prize laureate
- 1914Albert Tucker, Australian artist (d. 1999)
- 1914Billy Tipton, American musician (d. 1989)
- 1915Bill Osmanski, American football player (d. 1996)
- 1917Ramanand Sagar, Indian film director (d. 2005)
- 1917Tom Bradley, American politician (d. 1998)
- 1920Viveca Lindfors, Swedish-American actress (d. 1995)
- 1921Robert C. Baker, Inventor of the chicken nugget (d. 2006)
- 1922William Gaddis, American writer (d. 1998)
- 1925Pete Dye, American golf course architect
- 1927Andy Stanfield, American athlete (d. 1985)
- 1928Bernard Cribbins, British actor
- 1931Prince Gu of Korea (d. 2005)
- 1932Inga Swenson, American actress
- 1934Ed Flanders, American actor (d. 1995)
- 1936Mary Tyler Moore, American actress
- 1936Ray Nitschke, American football player (d. 1998)
- 1937Barbara Steele, British actress
- 1937Wayne Huizenga, American football team owner
- 1938Harvey Smith, English showjumper
- 1938Jon Voight, American actor
- 1941Ray Thomas, British musician (The Moody Blues)
- 1942Rajesh Khanna, Indian actor
- 1942Rick Danko, Canadian musician (The Band) (d. 1999)
- 1943Bill Aucoin, American rock band manager (d. 2010)
- 1946Marianne Faithfull, British singer
- 1947Cozy Powell, English rock drummer (d. 1998)
- 1947Ted Danson, American actor
- 1947Vincent Winter, British actor (d. 1998)
- 1948Peter Robinson, Northern Ireland politician
- 1949David Topliss, English rugby league player
- 1949Syed Kirmani, Indian cricket player
- 1950Jon Polito, American actor
- 1951Georges Thurston, Canadian singer (d. 2007)
- 1951Yvonne Elliman, American disco singer
- 1952Gelsey Kirkland, American dancer
- 1953Alan Rusbridger, British newspaper editor
- 1953Gali Atari, Israeli singer and actress
- 1953Stanley Tookie Williams, American murderer (d. 2005)
- 1954Albrecht Böttcher, German mathematician
- 1954Prince Takamado of Japan (d. 2002)
- 1954Roger Voudouris, American singer (d. 2003)
- 1956Fred MacAulay, Scottish comedian
- 1957Brad Grey, American film producer
- 1957Paul Rudnick, American screenwriter/playwright
- 1958Nancy J. Currie, American astronaut
- 1959Patricia Clarkson, American actress
- 1959Paula Poundstone, American comedian
- 1960David Boon, Australian Cricketer
- 1960Katerina Didaskalou, Greek actress
- 1960Matthew Kandegas, American Painter
- 1960Thomas Lubanga, Congolese political activist
- 1961Jim Reid, Scottish singer (The Jesus and Mary Chain, Freeheat)
- 1961Kevin Granata, American college educator (d. 2007)
- 1962Devon White, Jamaican baseball player
- 1963Dave McKean, British artist and filmmaker
- 1963Des Foy, British rugby league player
- 1963Francisco Bustamante, Filipino billiard player
- 1963Sean Payton, American football coach
- 1965Dexter Holland, American musician (The Offspring)
- 1966Laurent Boudouani French Boxer
- 1966Martin Offiah, former rugby league footballer
- 1966Stefano Eranio, Italian footballer
- 1967Andy Wachowski, American director
- 1967Ashleigh Banfield, Canadian journalist
- 1967Chris Barnes, American singer
- 1967Evan Seinfeld, American musician (Biohazard) and actor
- 1969Allan McNish, Scottish race car driver
- 1969Jennifer Ehle, British - American actress
- 1970Aled Jones, Welsh singer
- 1970Glen Phillips, American musician (Toad The Wet Sprocket)
- 1970Hidetoshi Mitsusada, Japanese racing driver
- 1970Kevin Weisman, American actor
- 1971Margot Thien, American synchronized swimmer
- 1972Asheru, American rapper
- 1972Jason Kreis, American soccer player
- 1972Jude Law, British actor
- 1972Leonor Varela, Chilean actress
- 1973Pimp C, American rapper (UGK) (d. 2007)
- 1973Theo Epstein, American baseball general manager
- 1974Mekhi Phifer, American actor
- 1974Richie Sexson, American baseball player
- 1974Ryan Shore, film composer
- 1975Jaret Wright, American baseball player
- 1975Shawn Hatosy, American actor
- 1976Danny R. McBride, American actor, writer, and producer
- 1976Filip Kuba, Czech ice hockey player
- 1977Jimmy Journell, American baseball player
- 1977Katherine Moennig, American actress
- 1978Alexis Amore, Peruvian pornographic actress
- 1978Kieron Dyer, English footballer
- 1978LaToya London, American singer
- 1978Matthew Carr, Australian rules footballer
- 1978Steve Kemp, British musician (Hard-Fi)
- 1979Ariel Schrag, American cartoonist
- 1979Diego Luna, Mexican actor
- 1979Mitsuhiro Ishida, Japanese mixed-martial arts fighter
- 1981Shaun Suisham, American football player
- 1981Shizuka Arakawa, Japanese figure skater
- 1982Dale Morris, Australian rules footballer
- 1982Gabrielle Destroismaisons, Canadian singer
- 1983Alison Brie, American actress
- 1983Gonzalo Olave, Chilean television actor (d. 2009)
- 1983James Kelly, Australian rules footballer
- 1983Jessica Andrews, American country/pop singer
- 1985Alexa Ray Joel, American musician, daughter of Billy Joel
- 1985Cho Cho Cheng, Chinese American fashion designer
- 1986Joe Anyon, English footballer
- 1986Kim Ok-bin, South Korean actress and model
- 1987Yuhi Sekiguchi, Japanese racing driver
- 1988Ágnes Szávay, Hungarian tennis player
- 1988Eric Berry, American football player
- 1994Princess Kako of Akishino of Japan
Who Died On December 29?
- 721Empress Gemmei of Japan (b. 661)
- 1170Thomas Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury (assassinated) (b. 1118)
- 1563Sebastian Castellio, French theologian (b. 1515)
- 1634John Albert Vasa, Polish bishop (b. 1612)
- 1661Antoine Gérard de Saint-Amant, French poet (b. 1594)
- 1689Thomas Sydenham, English physician (b. 1624)
- 1731Brook Taylor, English mathematician (b. 1685)
- 1737Joseph Saurin, French mathematician (b. 1659)
- 1785Johan Herman Wessel, Norwegian poet (b. 1742)
- 1825Jacques-Louis David, French painter (b. 1748)
- 1891Leopold Kronecker, German mathematician (b. 1823)
- 1894Christina Rossetti, English poet (b. 1830)
- 1897William James Linton, American wood engraver and political reformer. (b. 1812)
- 1916Grigori Rasputin, Russian monk (b. 1869)
- 1924Carl Spitteler, Swiss writer, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1845)
- 1926Rainer Maria Rilke, Austrian writer (b. 1875)
- 1929Wilhelm Maybach, German automobile designer (b. 1846)
- 1934Alma Tell, American stage and film actress (b. 1898)
- 1937Don Marquis, American author (b. 1878)
- 1941Tullio Levi-Civita, Italian mathematician (b. 1873)
- 1953Violet MacMillan, American Broadway theatre actress(b. 1887)
- 1959Robin Milford, British composer (b. 1903)
- 1960Eden Phillpotts, British writer (b. 1862)
- 1960Philippe Panneton, Quebec physician, diplomat and writer (b. 1895)
- 1967Paul Whiteman, American musician and conductor (b. 1890)
- 1968Austin Farrer, English theologian and philosopher (b. 1904)
- 1970Marie Menken, American experimental filmmaker and socialite (b. 1909)
- 1972Chrysostomos Papasarantopoulos, Greek missionary (b. 1903)
- 1976Ivo Van Damme, Belgian athlete (b. 1954)
- 1980Nadezhda Mandelstam, Russian writer (b. 1899)
- 1980Tim Hardin, American musician (b. 1941)
- 1981Miroslav Krleža, Croatian writer (b. 1893)
- 1986Andrei Tarkovsky, Russian director (b. 1932)
- 1986Harold Macmillan, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (b. 1894)
- 1988Mike Beuttler, British racing driver (b. 1940)
- 1993Frunzik Mkrtchyan, Soviet Armenian actor (b. 1930)
- 1995Lita Grey, American actress (b. 1908)
- 1996Mireille Hartuch, French singer and actress (b. 1906)
- 1998Jean-Claude Forest, writer and illustrator of comics (Barbarella) (b. 1930)
- 1999Leon Radzinowicz, British criminologist (b. 1906)
- 2001Cássia Eller, Brazilian musician (b. 1962)
- 2001Takashi Asahina, Japanese conductor (b. 1908)
- 2003Bob Monkhouse, English comedian and game show host (b. 1928)
- 2003Dinsdale Landen, English actor (b. 1932)
- 2003Earl Hindman, American actor (b. 1942)
- 2004Julius Axelrod, American biochemist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b. 1912)
- 2004Ken Burkhart, American baseball player (b. 1915)
- 2004Liddy Holloway, New Zealand actress (b. 1947)
- 2005Gerda Boyesen, Norwegian-born body psychotherapist (b. 1922)
- 2007Kevin Greening, British radio presenter (b. 1962)
- 2007Phil O'Donnell, Scottish footballer (b. 1972)
- 2008Freddie Hubbard, American jazz trumpet player (b. 1938)
- 2009“Dr. Death” Steve Williams, American former professional wrestler and football player (b. 1960)
- 2009Akmal Shaikh, British drug trafficker, executed by lethal injection in the People’s Republic of China (b. 1956)
- 2010Bill Erwin, American actor (b. 1914)
- 2011Tyron Perez, Filipino actor and model (b. 1985)
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