Today
in History ~ December 29
Events
1558 - Charles V, German emperor, buried
1705 - Prosper Jolyot's "Idomenee," premieres in Paris
1778 - British troops occupy Savannah, Georgia
1782 - 1st nautical almanac in US published by Samuel Stearns,
Boston
1813 - British burn Buffalo, NY during War of 1812
1837 - Canadian militia destroy Caroline, a US steamboat docked
at Buffalo
1837 - Steam-powered threshing machine patented, Winthrop, Maine
1845 - Texas admitted as 28th state
1848 - Gas lights 1st installed at White House (Polk's
administration)
1851 - 1st Young Men's Christian Association chapter opened
(Boston)
1852 - Emma Snodgrass arrested in Boston for wearing pants
1857 - Franz Liszt's "Die Hunnenschlacht," premieres in
Weimar
1862 - Battle of Chickasaw Bayou: Confederate armies defeat Gen
Sherman
1862 - Bowling ball invented
1885 - Gottlieb Daimler patents 1st bike (Germany)
1890 - US 7th Cavalry massacre 200+ captive Sioux at Wounded
Knee, SD [H]
1891 - Edison patents "transmission of signals
electrically" (radio)
1908 - Patent granted for a 4-wheel automobile brake,
Clintonville, Wisc
1913 - 1st movie serial, "Adventures of Kathlyn,"
premieres in Chicago
1929 - Police arrest Sukarno & 100s PNI-leaders
1930 - Fred P Newton completes longest swim ever (1826 miles),
when he swims the Mississippi River from Ford Dam, Minn, to New
Orleans
1931 - Identification of heavy water publicly announced, HC Urey
1934 - Federico Garcia Lorca's "Yerma," premieres in
Madrid
1934 - Japan renounces Wash Naval Treaty of 1922 & London
Treaty of 1930
1937 - Ireland adopts constitution (Irish Free State becomes
Eire)
1938 - Construction on Lake Washington Floating Bridge, Seattle,
begins
1940 - Germany begins dropping incendiary bombs on London (WW II) [H]
1947 - Ship carrying Jewish immigrants forced back from Palestine
1952 - 1st transistorized hearing aid offered for sale (Elmsford
NY)
1955 - Barbra Streisand's 1st recording "You'll Never
Know" at age 13
1959 - Saul Levitt's "Andersonville Trial," premieres
in NYC
1965 - "Thunderball" premieres in US
1967 - Star Trek's "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
1972 - Life magazine ceases publication
1975 - 11 killed, 75 hurt by terrorist bomb at LaGuardia Airport
in NYC
1978 - Spain constitution goes into effect
1982 - Coach Paul "Bear" Bryant ends his career with
Alabama (323 wins)
1983 - US announced withdrawal from UNESCO
1984 - Indian PM Rajiv Gandhi claims victory in parlimetary
elections
1989 - Vaclav Havel becomes president of Czechoslovakia
1991 - Boeing 747-200F of China Airlines crash into mountain at
Taipei
1992 - Gov Cuomo grants Jean Harris (Scarsdale Diet Dr killer)
clemency
1994 - B737-400 flies into a mountain at Edremit East Turkey, 54
killed
1997 - Hong Kong begins slaughtering all its chickens to prevent
bird flu
1997 - Russia signs agreement to build a $3B nuclear power plant
in China
Birthdays
Today
1709 - Elisabeth Petrovna,
tsarina of Russia/daughter of Peter the Great
1721 - Madame De Pompadour, mistress of French King Louis XV
1776 - Charles Macintosh, Scotland, patented waterproof fabric
1800 - Charles Goodyear, inventor (vulcanization process for
rubber)
1808 - Andrew Johnson (17th U.S. President [1865-1869]: succeeded
to the presidency upon the death of Abraham
Lincoln)
1809 - William Ewart Gladstone, (Lib) British PM (1868-74,
'80-86, '92-94)
1831 - Adam Badeau, Bvt Brig General (Union volunteers), died in
1895
1876 - Pablo Casals, Vendrell Catalonia Spain,
violinist/conductor/composer
1879 - Billy Mitchell, aviation hero Gen (WW I)
1917 - Thomas Bradley (mayor of Los Angeles)
1920 - Syd Dernley, hangman
1920 - Viveca Lindfors (actress: Backstreet Justice, Adventures
of Don Juan, Stargate, A Question of Guilt, Natural Enemies)
1922 - Rose Lee Maphis (entertainer: half of the team: Mr. and
Mrs. Country Music with husband Joe; Hee Haw regular)
1932 - Inga Swenson (actress: The Miracle Worker, North and South
Book 1)
1934 - Ed Flanders (Emmy Award-winning actor: St. Elsewhere
[1982-83]; A Moon for the Misgotten, True Confessions, Bye Bye
Love, Eleanor and Franklin, The Pursuit of D.B. Cooper)
1934 - Tom Jarriel (newscaster: ABC News, 20/20)
1936 - Ray Nitschke (Pro Football Hall of Famer: Green Bay
Packers LB: All-Pro [1964-66]; MVP in 1962 NFL Championship)
1937 - Mary Tyler Moore (Emmy Award-winning actress: The Mary
Tyler Moore Show [1972-73,1973-74,1975-76], Stolen Babies
[1992-93]; The Dick Van Dyke Show, Lou Grant; her legs starred on
Richard Diamond, Private Eye; also as the Old Gold dancing
cigarette pack)
1938 - John Voight (actor: Midnight Cowboy, Deliverance, The
Odessa File, The Tin Soldier)
1946 - Marianne Faithfull (singer: As Tears Go By, Summer Nights;
actress: I'll Never Forget Whatsisname)
1947 - Ted Danson (Emmy Award-winning actor: Cheers [1989-90 and
1992-93]; Three Men and a Baby, The Onion Field, Gulliver's
Travels)
1952 - Gelsey Kirkland (dancer)
1953 - Yvonne Elliman (actress, singer: Jesus Christ Superstar: I
Don't Know How to Love Him, If I Can't Have You; joined Eric
Clapton in his 1974 comeback tour)
Famous
deaths
1141 - Yue Fei, Chinese general,
executed
1170 - Thomas Beckett, archbishop of Canterbury, assassinated by
4 knights of King Henry II ("Who will rid me of this
troublesome priest?!") [H]
1785 - Johann Heinrich Rolle, composer, dies at 69
1825 - Giuseppe Maria Gioacchino Cambini, composer, dies
1825 - Jacques-Louis David, French painter (Death of Marat), dies
at 77
1890 - Big Foot, Sioux Indian chief, dies at Wounded Knee [H]
1926 - Rainer M Rilke, Austrias songwriter/writer (Wise Queen),
dies at 51
1967 - Paul Whiteman, US orchestra leader (Fabulous Dorseys),
dies at 77
1986 - [Maurice] Harold MacMillan, PM of Great-Britain (1957-63),
dies at 92
If
you have other Birthdays or events to add for this day please
E-mail me
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