December 29
1170
Thomas Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury, was murdered by four knights acting under the orders of Henry II.
1845
Texas became the 28th state in the United States.
1851
The first Young Men’s Christian Association (YMCA) opened in Boston.
1890
The last major battle of the Indian Wars, at Wounded Knee Creek, took place with hundreds of Indian men, women, and children massacred.
1937
The Constitution of Ireland, changing the Irish Free State into Eire, went into effect.
1940
During World War II, Germany began dropping incendiary bombs on London.
1989
Vaclav Havel was elected president of Czechoslovakia.
1996
A peace agreement was signed, ending 36 years of conflict in Guatemala.
Birthdays
Andrew Johnson
1808–1875, 17th President of the United States
Charles Goodyear
invented vulcanized rubber (1800)
William Gladstone
statesman (1809)
Pablo Casals
virtuoso cellist (1876)
William “Billy” Mitchell
aviator, soldier (1879)
Vera Brittain
novelist, poet (1893)
Mary Tyler Moore
actress (1936)
Jon Voight
actor, director, writer (1938)
Patricia Clarkson
actor (1959)
Jude Law
actor (1972)