December 29

## Events 
### Up to 1900 
* 1170 &ndash; Thomas Becket, is slain in his own cathedral on orders from Henry II of England.
* 1778 &ndash; American Revolutionary War: 3,000 British soldiers under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Archibald Campbell capture Savannah, Georgia, US.
* 1786 &ndash; French Revolution: The Assembly of the Notables is convened.
* 1813 &ndash; War of 1812: British soldiers burn Buffalo, New York.
* 1837 &ndash; The Winter Palace in St. Petersburg, Russia, is destroyed by fire.
* 1845 &ndash; Texas is admitted as the 28th U.S. state.
* 1851 &ndash; The first American–based YMCA opens, in Boston, Massachusetts
* 1860 &ndash; The first British seagoing iron-clad warship, the HMS *Warrior* is launched.
* 1874 &ndash; Alfonso XII of Spain is declared as King.
* 1876 &ndash; The Ashtabula River Railroad bridge disaster, 64 injured, 92 dead at Ashtabula, Ohio.
* 1890 &ndash; Wounded Knee Massacre: The United States soldiers massacre over 400 men, women and children of the Great Sioux Nation at Wounded Knee, South Dakota.
* 1891 &ndash; Thomas Edison patents the radio.
* 1893 &ndash; French astronomer Stéphane Javelle discovers the pair of galaxies named IC 298.

### 1901 &ndash; 2000 
* 1911 &ndash; Sun Yat-sen becomes the first President of the Republic of China.
* 1911 &ndash; Mongolia becomes independent.
* 1913 &ndash; The first movie serial, *The Unwelcome Throne* is released by Seligs Polyscope Company.
* 1921 &ndash; William Lyon Mackenzie King becomes Prime Minister of Canada for the first time.
* 1930 &ndash; Muhammad Iqbal's presidential address in Allahabad introduces the two–nation theory and outlines a vision for what would become Pakistan.
* 1934 &ndash; The first college basketball game at Madison Square Garden in New York City is played, between the University of Notre Dame and New York University.
* 1934 &ndash; Japan renounces the Washington Naval Treaty of 1922 and the London Naval Treaty of 1930.
* 1937 &ndash; The Irish Free State is replaced by a new state called Ireland when a new constitution is adopted.
* 1940 &ndash; Battle of Britain: Luftwaffe firebombs London, killing almost 3000 civilians .
* 1949 &ndash; KC2XAK of Bridgeport, Connecticut becomes the first Ultra high frequency (UHF) television station to operate a daily schedule.
* 1959 &ndash; The Lisbon Metro begins operating.
* 1972 &ndash; An Eastern Airlines Lockheed Tristar crashed on approach to Miami International Airport, Florida, killing 101
* 1975 &ndash; A bomb explodes at New York City's LaGuardia Airport killing 11.
* 1978 &ndash; The first post–Franco constitution in Spain becomes effective.
* 1981 &ndash; Singapore Changi Airport opens.
* 1987 &ndash; Yuri Romanenko of USSR remained in outer space for **326** days and came back to Earth on this day that year.
* 1989 &ndash; Václav Havel becomes President of Czechoslovakia
* 1989 &ndash; Riots break–out after Hong Kong decides to forcibly repatriate Vietnamese refugees.
* 1989 &ndash; On the final day of trading for the year and decade, the Japanese Nikkei 225 Average closes at an all–time high of 38,915.87.
* 1992 &ndash; Fernando Collor de Mello, President of Brazil, resigns.
* 1993 &ndash; Construction of the Tian Tan Buddha, the world's tallest outdoor bronze statue of the seated Buddha, is completed.
* 1993 &ndash; Garry Kasparov wins the world champion chess title from Anatoly Karpov.
* 1996 &ndash; Guatemala and leaders of Guatemalan National Revolutionary Union sign a peace accord that ends a 36–year civil war.
* 1997 &ndash; Hong Kong begins to kill all the nation's chickens (1.25 million) to stop the spread of a potentially deadly influenza strain.
* 1998 &ndash; Leaders of the Khmer Rouge apologize for the genocide in Cambodia that claimed over 1 million lives in the 1970s.

### From 2001 
* 2001 &ndash; A fire at the Mesa Redonda Shopping Centre in Lima, Peru, kills 292 people.
* 2003 &ndash; The last speaker of the Akkala Sami language dies, making the language extinct.
* 2007 &ndash; The New England Patriots defeated the New York Giants 38–35 and became the first team with 16 wins and no losses.
* 2009 &ndash; Akmal Shaikh becomes the first citizen of a present–day European Union country to be executed in the People's Republic of China for over 50 years.
* 2011 &ndash; This date is followed by December 31 in Samoa and Tokelau, as the International Date Line is shifted.
* 2012 &ndash; 2012 Delhi gang rape case: A 23–year–old student attacked on a bus on December 16 dies of her injuries.
* 2013 &ndash; A suicide bomb attack on a train station in Volgograd, southern Russia, kills at least 16 people.
* 2013 &ndash; Formula One champion Michael Schumacher is severely injured in a skiing accident in the French Alps.
* 2014 &ndash; Politicians in Greece are unable to elect a President, with main candidate Stavros Dimas failing to get enough votes. New elections are called for January 2015.
* 2016 &ndash; The Duge Bridge in Luipanshui, People's Republic of China, the tallest bridge in the world, is opened to traffic.
* 2016 &ndash; Barack Obama's administration expels 35 Russian diplomats in response to alleged Russian interference in the 2016 United States elections.
* 2017 &ndash; A fire at a hotel and restaurant complex in Mumbai kills 14 people.
* 2024 &ndash; Jimmy Carter, the 39th President of the United States, dies at the age of 100.

## Births 
### Up to 1900 
* 1019 &ndash; Munjong of Goryeo, Korean monarch (d. 1083)
* 1709 &ndash; Empress Elizabeth of Russia (d. 1762)
* 1721 &ndash; Madame de Pompadour, mistress to King Louis XV of France (d. 1764)
* 1766 &ndash; Charles Macintosh, Scottish inventor (d. 1843)
* 1778 &ndash; Friedrich Ast, German philosopher (d. 1841)
* 1788 &ndash; Christian Jürgensen Thomsen, Danish historian (d. 1865)
* 1788 &ndash; Tomas de Zumalacarregui, Spanish general (d. 1835)
* 1796 &ndash; Johann Christian Poggendorff, German physicist (d. 1877)
* 1800 &ndash; Charles Goodyear, American inventor of the vulcanization of rubber (d. 1860)
* 1808 &ndash; Andrew Johnson, 17th President of the United States (d. 1875)
* 1809 &ndash; William Ewart Gladstone, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (d. 1897)
* 1809 &ndash; Albert Pike, American attorney, soldier and writer (d. 1891)
* 1813 &ndash; Alexander Parkes, English metallurgist and inventor (d. 1890)
* 1813 &ndash; Karel Sabina, Czech journalist, politician and writer (d. 1877)
* 1816 &ndash; Carl Ludwig, German physician (d. 1895)
* 1838 &ndash; Walter Runeberg, Finnish sculptor (d. 1920)
* 1840 &ndash; Anton Dohrn, zoologist (d. 1909)
* 1843 &ndash; Elisabeth of Wied, Queen of Romania and novelist (d. 1916)
* 1844 &ndash; Womesh Chunder Bonnerjee, Indian barrister and first President of the Indian National Congress (d. 1906)
* 1856 &ndash; Thomas Joannes Stieltjes, Dutch–French mathematician and academic (d. 1894)
* 1859 &ndash; Venustiano Carranza, President of Mexico (d. 1920)
* 1871 &ndash; William Thomas Calman, Scottish zoologist (d. 1952)
* 1871 &ndash; Giuseppe Motta, Swiss politician (d. 1940)
* 1876 &ndash; Pablo Casals, Catalan cellist and conductor (d. 1973)
* 1879 &ndash; Billy Mitchell, United States Army officer, United States Air Force pioneer (d. 1936)
* 1881 &ndash; Jess Willard, boxing champion (d. 1968)
* 1888 &ndash; Josef Beran, Czech cardinal (d. 1969)
* 1890 &ndash; Käthe Dorsch, German actress (d. 1957)
* 1899 &ndash; Nie Rongzhen, Chinese Communist leader (d. 1992)

### 1901 &ndash; 1950 
* 1904 &ndash; Kuvempu, Indian Kannada writer (d. 1994)
* 1908 &ndash; Helmut Gollwitzer, German theologian (d. 1993)
* 1910 &ndash; Ronald Coase, British economist (d. 2013)
* 1910 &ndash; Gunnar Thoroddsen, Icelandic politician, Prime Minister of Iceland (d. 1983)
* 1911 &ndash; Klaus Fuchs, German–British theoretical physicist and atomic spy (d. 1988)
* 1913 &ndash; Pierre Werner, Prime Minister of Luxembourg (d. 2002)
* 1914 &ndash; Billy Tipton, American jazz musician (d. 1989)
* 1914 &ndash; Albert Tucker, Australian artist (d 1999)
* 1917 &ndash; Tom Bradley, Mayor of Los Angeles, California (d. 1998)
* 1919 &ndash; Alfred de Grazia, American political scientist and author (d. 2014)
* 1919 &ndash; Roman Vlad, Romanian–Italian composer (d. 2013)
* 1920 &ndash; Ratu Iosefa Iloilo, President of Fiji (d. 2011)
* 1920 &ndash; Viveca Lindfors, Swedish actress (d. 1995)
* 1921 &ndash; Dobrica Cosic, 1st President of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (d. 2014)
* 1921 &ndash; Robert C. Baker, American chef, inventor of the Chicken nugget (d. 2006)
* 1923 &ndash; Cheikh Anta Diop, Senegalese historian, anthropologist and physicist (d. 1986)
* 1923 &ndash; Dina Merrill, American actress (d. 2017)
* 1925 &ndash; Luis Alberto Monge, President of Costa Rica (d. 2016)
* 1926 &ndash; John Spellman, American politician, Governor of Washington (d. 2018)
* 1927 &ndash; Andy Stanfield, American athlete (d. 1985)
* 1928 &ndash; Bernard Cribbins, English actor
* 1931 &ndash; Prince Gu of Korea (d. 2005)
* 1932 &ndash; Inga Swenson, American actress
* 1934 &ndash; Ed Flanders, American actor (d. 1995)
* 1936 &ndash; Mary Tyler Moore, American actress (*The Dick Van Dyke Show*, *Mary Tyler Moore*) (d. 2017)
* 1936 &ndash; Ray Nitschke, American football player (d. 1998)
* 1937 &ndash; Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, former President of the Maldives
* 1937 &ndash; Dieter Thomas Heck, German singer and entertainer
* 1937 &ndash; Barbara Steele, British actress
* 1938 &ndash; Michael Hill, New Zealand businessman
* 1938 &ndash; Jon Voight, American actor
* 1941 &ndash; Daphne Arden, English athlete
* 1941 &ndash; Ray Thomas, English singer-songwriter (d. 2018)
* 1942 &ndash; Rajesh Khanna, Indian actor (d. 2012)
* 1942 &ndash; Rick Danko, Canadian musician ("The Band") (d. 1999)
* 1942 &ndash; Oscar Andres Rodriguez Maradiaga, Honduran cardinal
* 1943 &ndash; Atsutoshi Nishida, Japanese business executive (d. 2017)
* 1946 &ndash; Marianne Faithfull, British singer
* 1947 &ndash; Ted Danson, American actor
* 1947 &ndash; Cozy Powell, English musician (d. 1998)
* 1948 &ndash; Peter Robinson, Northern Irish politician, former First Minister of Northern Ireland
* 1949 &ndash; Grant McBride, Australian politician (d. 2018)
* 1950 &ndash; Jon Polito, American actor (d. 2016)

### 1951 &ndash; 1975 
* 1951 &ndash; Mike deGruy, American documentary movie maker (d. 2012)
* 1951 &ndash; Yvonne Elliman, American singer, songwriter and actress
* 1952 &ndash; Gelsey Kirkland, American dancer
* 1953 &ndash; Gali Atari, Israeli singer and actress
* 1953 &ndash; Thomas Bach, German fencer and IOC President
* 1953 &ndash; Matthias Platzeck, German politician
* 1953 &ndash; Alan Rusbridger, British newspaper editor
* 1954 &ndash; Roger Voudouris, American singer–songwriter
* 1954 &ndash; Prince Takamado of Japan (d. 2002)
* 1954 &ndash; Albrecht Böttcher, German mathematician
* 1956 &ndash; Fred MacAulay, Scottish comedian and radio presenter
* 1957 &ndash; Iain Paxton, Scottish rugby player and coach
* 1957 &ndash; Bruce Beutler, American Nobel Prize–winning immunologist
* 1957 &ndash; Oliver Hirschbiegel, German movie director
* 1958 &ndash; Nancy J. Currie, American colonel, engineer and astronaut
* 1959 &ndash; Patricia Clarkson, American actress
* 1959 &ndash; Keith Crossan, Irish rugby player
* 1959 &ndash; Paula Poundstone, American comedienne, actress and author
* 1960 &ndash; Thomas Lubanga Dyilo, Congolese militia leader
* 1961 &ndash; Jim Reid, Scottish singer-songwriter and guitarist
* 1962 &ndash; Wynton Rufer, New Zealand footballer
* 1962 &ndash; Carles Puigdemont, Catalan politician
* 1963 &ndash; Dave McKean, English artist, graphic designer, filmmaker and musician
* 1965 &ndash; Dexter Holland, American singer and musician
* 1966 &ndash; Stefano Eranio, Italian footballer and manager
* 1966 &ndash; Chris Barnes, American singer
* 1967 &ndash; Evan Seinfeld, American actor and musician
* 1967 &ndash; Andy Wachowski, American director (*The Matrix*)
* 1969 &ndash; Jennifer Ehle, American actress
* 1969 &ndash; Allan McNish, Scottish racing driver
* 1970 &ndash; Aled Jones, Welsh singer
* 1970 &ndash; Kevin Weisman, American actor
* 1970 &ndash; Enrico Chiesa, Italian footballer
* 1971 &ndash; Dominic Dale, Welsh snooker player
* 1972 &ndash; Jason Kreis, American soccer player
* 1972 &ndash; Jude Law, British actor
* 1973 &ndash; Pimp C, American rapper (d. 2007)
* 1974 &ndash; Richie Sexson, American Major League Baseball All-Star
* 1974 &ndash; Mekhi Phifer, American actor and producer

### From 1976 
* 1976 &ndash; Danny McBride, American actor, screenwriter and producer
* 1977 &ndash; Katherine Moennig, American actress
* 1978 &ndash; Kieron Dyer, English footballer
* 1978 &ndash; Danny Higginbotham, English footballer
* 1979 &ndash; Diego Luna, Mexican actor
* 1981 &ndash; Shizuka Arakawa, Japanese figure skater
* 1982 &ndash; Alison Brie, American actress
* 1983 &ndash; Dereck Chisora, British boxer
* 1983 &ndash; Angela Scanlon, Irish television presenter
* 1983 &ndash; Gonzalo Olave, Chilean actor (d. 2009)
* 1985 &ndash; Alexa Ray Joel, American musician
* 1987 &ndash; Iain De Caestecker, Scottish actor
* 1989 &ndash; Jane Levy, American actress
* 1989 &ndash; Kei Nishikori, Japanese tennis player
* 1990 &ndash; Allen Kim, South Korean singer, dancer and actor (U-KISS)
* 1994 &ndash; Princess Kako of Akishino of Japan
* 1995 &ndash; Rina Ikoma, Japanese singer
* 1995 &ndash; Ross Lynch, American actor and singer
* 1996 &ndash; Dylan Minnette, American actor and member of the band Wallows

## Deaths 
### Up to 1900 
* 721 &ndash; Empress Gemmei of Japan (b. 661)
* 1170 &ndash; Thomas Becket, English bishop (assassinated) (b. 1118)
* 1565 &ndash; Queen Munjeong of Korea (b. 1501)
* 1605 &ndash; John Davis, English explorer (b. 1550)
* 1634 &ndash; John Albert Vasa, Polish cardinal (b. 1612)
* 1661 &ndash; Antoine Girard de Saint-Amant, French poet (b. 1594)
* 1689 &ndash; Thomas Sydenham, English physician (b. 1624)
* 1731 &ndash; Brook Taylor, English mathematician (b. 1624)
* 1743 &ndash; Hyacinthe Rigaud, French painter (b. 1659)
* 1785 &ndash; Johan Herman Wessel, Norwegian poet (b. 1742)
* 1825 &ndash; Jacques-Louis David, French painter (b. 1748)
* 1886 &ndash; A. C. Gibbs, American politician, Governor of Oregon (b. 1825)
* 1891 &ndash; Leopold Kronecker, German mathematician (b. 1823)
* 1894 &ndash; Christina Rossetti, English poet (b. 1830)
* 1897 &ndash; William James Linton, English–American painter, author and activist (b. 1812)

### 1901 &ndash; 2000 
* 1910 &ndash; Reginald Doherty, English tennis player (b. 1872)
* 1916 &ndash; Grigori Rasputin, Russian monk (b. 1869)
* 1924 &ndash; Carl Spitteler, Swiss writer (b. 1845)
* 1925 &ndash; Félix Vallotton, Swiss–French artist (b. 1865)
* 1926 &ndash; Rainer Maria Rilke, Austrian writer (b. 1875)
* 1929 &ndash; Wilhelm Maybach, German automobile designer (b. 1846)
* 1934 &ndash; Alma Tell, American actress (b. 1898)
* 1937 &ndash; Don Marquis, writer (b. 1878)
* 1941 &ndash; Tullio Levi-Civita, Italian mathematician (b. 1873)
* 1952 &ndash; Fletcher Henderson, American pianist, composer and bandleader (b. 1897)
* 1960 &ndash; Eden Phillpotts, British writer (b. 1862)
* 1967 &ndash; Paul Whiteman, American musician and conductor (b. 1890)
* 1972 &ndash; Joseph Cornell, American sculptor, painter and filmmaker (b. 1903)
* 1976 &ndash; Ivo van Damme, Belgian athlete (b. 1954)
* 1980 &ndash; Nadezhda Mandelstam, Russian writer (b. 1899)
* 1980 &ndash; Tim Hardin, musician (b. 1941)
* 1986 &ndash; Andrei Tarkovsky, Russian director (b. 1932)
* 1986 &ndash; Harold Macmillan, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (b. 1894)
* 1995 &ndash; Lita Grey, American actress (b. 1908)
* 1996 &ndash; Mireille Hartuch, French singer and actress (b. 1906)

### From 2001 
* 2003 &ndash; Earl Hindman, American actor (b. 1942)
* 2003 &ndash; Bob Monkhouse, British comedian (b. 1928)
* 2004 &ndash; Julius Axelrod, American biochemist, Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine recipient (b. 1912)
* 2004 &ndash; Liddy Holloway, New Zealand actress (b. 1945)
* 2005 &ndash; Gerda Boyesen, Norwegian–English psychotherapist and author (b. 1922)
* 2007 &ndash; Phil O'Donnell, Scottish footballer (b. 1972)
* 2008 &ndash; Freddie Hubbard, American musician (b. 1938)
* 2009 &ndash; Akmal Shaikh, British citizen executed for drug trafficking in China (b. 1956)
* 2010 &ndash; Avi Cohen, Israeli footballer (b. 1956)
* 2011 &ndash; Leopold Hawelka, Austrian cafetier (b. 1911)
* 2012 &ndash; Paulo Rocha, Portuguese director and screenwriter (b. 1935)
* 2012 &ndash; Mike Auldridge, American singer and guitarist (b. 1938)
* 2012 &ndash; Tony Greig, South African–born cricketer (b. 1946)
* 2013 &ndash; Wojciech Kilar, Polish composer (b. 1932)
* 2013 &ndash; Mary Wibberley, English novelist (b. 1934)
* 2014 &ndash; Odd Iversen, Norwegian footballer (b. 1945)
* 2015 &ndash; Pavel Srnicek, Czech footballer (b. 1968)
* 2015 &ndash; Elzbieta Krzesinska, Polish athlete (b. 1934)
* 2015 &ndash; Om Prakash Malhotra, Indian politician, 25th Governor of the Punjab (b. 1922)
* 2015 &ndash; Frank Malzone, American baseball player (b. 1930)
* 2015 &ndash; Kim Yang-gon, North Korean politician (b. 1942)
* 2016 &ndash; Ferdinand Kübler, Swiss cyclist (b. 1919)
* 2016 &ndash; Néstor Gonçalves, Uruguayan footballer (b. 1936)
* 2017 &ndash; Carmen Franco, 1st Duchess of Franco, Spanish noble (b. 1926)
* 2017 &ndash; John C. Portman Jr., American architect (b. 1924)
* 2024 &ndash; Jimmy Carter, American politician, 39th President of the United States (b. 1924)

## Observances 
* Independence Day (Mongolia)
* Constitution Day (Republic of Ireland)
* Start of the Four Hills Ski jumping tournament (Germany and Austria)