From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

December 29 is the 363rd day of the year (364th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are two days remaining until the end of the year.

Events

• 1170 – Thomas Becket: Thomas 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 Roman Catholic Church.
• 1778 – American Revolutionary War: 3,500 British soldiers under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Archibald Campbell capture Savannah, Georgia without firing a shot.
• 1786 – French Revolution: The Assembly of Notables is convened.
• 1812 – The USS Constitution under the command of Captain William Bainbridge, captures the HMS Java off the coast of Brazil after a three hour battle.
• 1813 – British soldiers 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.
• 1845 – According with International Boundary delimitation, U.S.A annexes the mexican state of Texas, following the Manifest Destiny doctrine. For others, the Republic of Texas is admitted as the 28th U.S. state.
• 1851 – The first American YMCA opens in Boston, Massachusetts.
• 1860 – The first British seagoing iron-clad warship, HMS Warrior is launched.
• 1876 – The Ashtabula River Railroad bridge disaster occurs, leaving 64 injured and 92 dead at Ashtabula, Ohio.
• 1890 – United States soldiers kill more than 200 Oglala Lakota people with four Hotchkiss guns in the Wounded Knee Massacre.
• 1911 – Sun Yat-sen becomes the provisional President of the Republic of China; he formally takes office on January 1, 1912.
• 1911 – Mongolia gains independence from the Qing dynasty.
• 1930 – Sir Muhammad Iqbal's presidential address in Allahabad introduces the Two-Nation Theory and outlines a vision for the creation of Pakistan.
• 1934 – Japan renounces the Washington Naval Treaty of 1922 and the London Naval Treaty of 1930.
• 1937 – The Irish Free State is replaced by a new state called Ireland with the adoption of a new constitution.
• 1939 – First flight of the Consolidated B-24.
• 1940 – World War II: In The Second Great Fire of London, the Luftwaffe firebombs London, killing almost 200 civilians.
• 1949 – KC2XAK of Bridgeport, Connecticut becomes the first Ultra high frequency (UHF) television station to operate a daily schedule.
• 1959 – The Lisbon Metro begins operation.
• 1965 – Filming began on Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey in England.
• 1966 – The Beatles start the recording session that would become the hit single Penny Lane at Abbey Road Studio.
• 1972 – An Eastern Air Lines Flight 401 (a Lockheed Tristar) crashes on approach to Miami International Airport, Florida, killing 101.
• 1975 – A bomb explodes at La Guardia Airport in New York City, killing 11 people and injuring 74.
• 1989 – Riots break-out after Hong Kong decides to forcibly repatriate Vietnamese refugees.
• 1992 – Fernando Collor de Mello, president of Brazil, tries to resign amidst corruption charges, but is then impeached.
• 1996 – Guatemala and leaders of Guatemalan National Revolutionary Union sign a peace accord ending a 36-year civil war.
• 1997 – Hong Kong begins to kill all the nation's 1.25 million chickens 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 fire at the Mesa Redonda shopping center in Lima, Peru, kills at least 291.
• 2003 – The last known speaker of Akkala Sami dies, rendering the language extinct.

Births

• 1709 – Empress Elizabeth of Russia (d. 1762)
• 1721 – Madame de Pompadour, mistress of King Louis XV of France (d. 1764)
• 1796 – Johann Christian Poggendorff, German physicist (d. 1877)
• 1800 – Charles Goodyear, American inventor (d. 1860)
• 1808 – Andrew Johnson, 17th President of the United States (d. 1875)
• 1809 – William Ewart Gladstone, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (d. 1898)
• 1816 – Carl Ludwig, German physician (d. 1895)
• 1843 – Elisabeth of Wied (pen name was Carmen Sylva), queen of Romania and writer (d. 1916)
• 1856 – Thomas Joannes Stieltjes, Dutch mathematician (d. 1894)
• 1859 – Venustiano Carranza, 54th President of Mexico (d. 1920)
• 1876 – Pau Casals, Catalan musician (d. 1973)
• 1881 – Jess Willard, American boxer (d. 1968)
• 1896 – David Alfaro Siqueiros, Mexican painter (d. 1974)
• 1899 – Nie Rongzhen, People's Liberation Army Chief of General Staff (d. 1992)
• 1902 – Nels Stewart, National Hockey League player (d. 1957)
• 1908 – Helmut Gollwitzer, German theologian (d. 1993)
• 1910 – Ronald Coase, British economist, Nobel Prize laureate
• 1914 – Billy Tipton, American musician (d. 1989)
• 1914 – Albert Tucker, Australian artist (d. 1999)
• 1915 – Bill Osmanski, American football player (d. 1996)
• 1917 – Tom Bradley, American politician (d. 1998)
• 1917 – Ramanand Sagar, Indian film director (d. 2005)
• 1920 – Viveca Lindfors, Swedish-American actress (d. 1995)
• 1921 – Robert C. Baker, Inventor of the chicken nugget (d. 2006)
• 1922 – William Gaddis, American writer (d. 1998)
• 1925 – Pete Dye, American golf course architect
• 1927 – Andy Stanfield, American athlete (d. 1985)
• 1928 – Bernard Cribbins, British actor
• 1931 – Prince Gu of Korea, Korean royalty (d. 2005)
• 1932 – Inga Swenson, American actress
• 1934 – Ed Flanders, American actor (d. 1995)
• 1936 – Mary Tyler Moore, American actress
• 1936 – Ray Nitschke, American football player (d. 1998)
• 1937 – Wayne Huizenga, American football team owner
• 1937 – Barbara Steele, British actress
• 1938 – Harvey Smith, English showjumper
• 1938 – Jon Voight, American actor
• 1941 – Ray Thomas, British musician (The Moody Blues)
• 1942 – Rick Danko, Canadian musician (The Band) (d. 1999)
• 1942 – Rajesh Khanna, Indian actor
• 1946 – Marianne Faithfull, British singer
• 1947 – Ted Danson, American actor
• 1947 – Cozy Powell, English rock drummer (d. 1998)
• 1947 – Vincent Winter, British actor (d. 1998)
• 1948 – Peter Robinson, first minister of Northern Ireland
• 1949 – Syed Kirmani, Indian cricket player
• 1949 – David Topliss, rugby league player
• 1950 – Jon Polito, American actor
• 1951 – Yvonne Elliman, American disco singer
• 1951 – Georges Thurston, Canadian singer (d. 2007)
• 1952 – Gelsey Kirkland, American dancer
• 1953 – Gali Atari, Israeli singer and actress
• 1953 – Alan Rusbridger, editor of The Guardian
• 1953 – Stanley Tookie Williams, American author/murderer (d. 2005)
• 1954 – Roger Voudouris, American singer (d. 2003)
• 1954 – Prince Takamado of Japan (d. 2002)
• 1956 – Fred MacAulay, Scottish comedian
• 1957 – Brad Grey, American film producer
• 1957 – Paul Rudnick, American screenwriter/playwright
• 1958 – Nancy J. Currie, American astronaut
• 1959 – Patricia Clarkson, American actress
• 1959 – Paula Poundstone, American comedian
• 1960 – David Boon, Australian Cricketer
• 1960 – Matthew Kandegas, American Painter
• 1960 – Katerina Didaskalou, Greek actress
• 1960 – Thomas Lubanga, founder and leader of Union of Congolese Patriots
• 1961 – Kevin Granata, American associate professor at Virginia Tech, victim of the Virginia Tech massacre (d. 2007)
• 1961 – Jim Reid, Scottish singer (The Jesus and Mary Chain, Freeheat)
• 1962 – Devon White, Jamaican baseball player
• 1963 – Francisco Bustamante, Filipino billiard player
• 1963 – Des Foy, British rugby league player
• 1963 – Dave McKean, British artist and filmmaker
• 1963 – Sean Payton, American football coach
• 1965 – Dexter Holland, American musician (The Offspring)
• 1966 – Stefano Eranio, Italian footballer
• 1966 – Laurent Boudouani French Boxer
• 1966 – Martin Offiah, former rugby league footballer
• 1967 – Ashleigh Banfield, Canadian journalist
• 1967 – Chris Barnes, American singer
• 1967 – Andy Wachowski, American director
• 1967 – Evan Seinfeld, American musician (Biohazard) and actor
• 1969 – Jennifer Ehle, American actress
• 1969 – Allan McNish, Scottish race car driver
• 1970 – Aled Jones, Welsh singer
• 1970 – Hidetoshi Mitsusada, Japanese racing driver
• 1970 – Glen Phillips, American musician (Toad The Wet Sprocket)
• 1970 – Kevin Weisman, American actor
• 1971 – Margot Thien, American synchronized swimmer
• 1972 – Asheru, American rapper
• 1972 – Jason Kreis, American soccer player
• 1972 – Jude Law, British actor
• 1972 – Leonor Varela, Chilean actress
• 1973 – Pimp C, American rapper (UGK) (d. 2007)
• 1973 – Theo Epstein, American baseball general manager
• 1974 – Mekhi Phifer, American actor
• 1974 – Richie Sexson, American baseball player
• 1975 – Jaret Wright, American baseball player
• 1976 – Danny R. McBride, American actor, writer, and producer
• 1976 – Filip Kuba, Czech hockey player, defenseman for the Ottawa Senators
• 1977 – Katherine Moennig, American actress
• 1977 – Jimmy Journell, American baseball player
• 1978 – Matthew Carr, Australian rules footballer
• 1978 – Alexis Amore, Peruvian pornographic actress
• 1978 – Kieron Dyer, English footballer
• 1978 – LaToya London, American singer
• 1978 – Steve Kemp, British musician (Hard-Fi)
• 1979 – Diego Luna, Mexican actor
• 1979 – Mitsuhiro Ishida, Japanese mixed-martial arts fighter
• 1979 – Ariel Schrag, American Cartoonist
• 1981 – Shizuka Arakawa, Japanese figure skater
• 1982 – Dale Morris, Australian rules footballer
• 1982 – Gabrielle Destroismaisons, Quebec singer
• 1983 – Jessica Andrews, American country/pop singer
• 1983 – Alison Brie, American actress
• 1983 – James Kelly, Australian rules footballer
• 1983 – Gonzalo Olave, Chilean television actor (d. 2009)
• 1985 – Cho Cho Cheng, Chinese American fashion designer
• 1986 – Kim Ok-bin, South Korean actress and model
• 1986 – Joe Anyon, English footballer
• 1987 – Yuhi Sekiguchi, Japanese racing driver
• 1988 – Ágnes Szávay, Hungarian tennis player
• 1989 – Nathan Forbes, British footballer
• 1994 – Princess Kako of Akishino of Japan

Deaths

• 721 – Empress Gemmei of Japan (b. 661)
• 1170 – Thomas Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury (assassinated) (b. 1118)
• 1563 – Sebastian Castellio, French theologian (b. 1515)
• 1634 – John Albert Vasa, Polish bishop (b. 1612)
• 1661 – Antoine Gérard de Saint-Amant, French poet (b. 1594)
• 1689 – Thomas Sydenham, English physician (b. 1624)
• 1731 – Brook Taylor, English mathematician (b. 1685)
• 1737 – Joseph Saurin, French mathematician (b. 1659)
• 1785 – Johan Herman Wessel, Norwegian poet (b. 1742)
• 1825 – Jacques-Louis David, French painter (b. 1748)
• 1891 – Leopold Kronecker, German mathematician (b. 1823)
• 1894 – Christina Rossetti, English poet (b. 1830)
• 1897 – William James Linton, American wood engraver and political reformer. (b. 1812)
• 1916 – Grigori Rasputin, Russian monk (b. 1869)
• 1924 – Carl Spitteler, Swiss writer, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1845)
• 1926 – Rainer Maria Rilke, Austrian writer (b. 1875)
• 1929 – Wilhelm Maybach, German automobile designer (b. 1846)
• 1937 – Don Marquis, American author (b. 1878)
• 1953 – Violet MacMillan, American Broadway theatre actress(b. 1887)
• 1959 – Robin Milford, British composer (b. 1903)
• 1960 – Eden Phillpotts, British writer (b. 1862)
• 1960 – Philippe Panneton, Quebec physician, diplomat and writer (b. 1895)
• 1967 – Paul Whiteman, American musician and conductor (b. 1890)
• 1968 – Austin Farrer, English theologian and philosopher (b. 1904)
• 1970 – Marie Menken, American experimental filmmaker and socialite (b. 1909)
• 1976 – Ivo Van Damme, Belgian athlete (b. 1954)
• 1980 – Tim Hardin, American musician (b. 1941)
• 1980 – Nadezhda Mandelstam, Russian writer (b. 1899)
• 1981 – Miroslav Krleža, Croatian writer (b. 1893)
• 1986 – Harold Macmillan, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (b. 1894)
• 1986 – Andrei Tarkovsky, Russian director (b. 1932)
• 1988 – Mike Beuttler, British racing driver (b. 1940)
• 1993 – Frunzik Mkrtchyan, Soviet Armenian actor (b. 1930)
• 1995 – Lita Grey, American actress (b. 1908)
• 1996 – Mireille Hartuch, French singer and actress (b. 1906)
• 1998 – Jean-Claude Forest, writer and illustrator of comics (Barbarella) (b. 1930)
• 1999 – Leon Radzinowicz, British criminologist (b. 1906)
• 2001 – Takashi Asahina, Japanese conductor (b. 1908)
• 2003 – Earl Hindman, American actor (b. 1942)
• 2003 – Dinsdale Landen, English actor (b. 1932)
• 2003 – Bob Monkhouse, English comedian and game show host (b. 1928)
• 2004 – Julius Axelrod, American biochemist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b. 1912)
• 2004 – Liddy Holloway, New Zealand actress (b. 1947)
• 2004 – Ken Burkhart, American baseball player (b. 1915)
• 2005 – Gerda Boyesen, Norwegian-born body psychotherapist (b. 1922)
• 2007 – Phil O'Donnell, Scottish footballer (b. 1972)
• 2007 – Kevin Greening, British radio presenter (b. 1962)
• 2008 – Freddie Hubbard, American jazz trumpet player (b. 1938)
• 2009 – "Dr. Death" Steve Williams, American former professional wrestler and football player (b. 1960)
• 2009 – Akmal Shaikh, British drug trafficker, executed by lethal injection in the People's Republic of China (b. 1956)

Holidays and observances

• The fifth day of Christmas in Western Christianity.
• R.C. Saints – Thomas Becket (optional memorial)

External links

• BBC: On This Day
• The New York Times: On This Day
• On This Day in Canada

From Wikiquote

Quotes of the day from previous years:

2004

I will make company with creators, with harvesters, with rejoicers; I will show them the rainbow and the stairway to the Superman. ~ Friedrich Nietzsche in Thus Spoke Zarathustra

• selected by Kalki

2005 & 2006 (mistakenly used twice)

If I am shot at, I want no man to be in the way of the bullet. ~ Andrew Johnson (born 29 December 1808)

• proposed by UDScott

2007

For one human being to love another: that is perhaps the most difficult of all our tasks, the ultimate, the last test and proof, the work for which all other work is but preparation. ~ Rainer Maria Rilke

• proposed by Kalki

2008

The love of one's country is a splendid thing. But why should love stop at the border? There is a brotherhood among all men. This must be recognized if life is to remain. We must learn the love of man. ~ Pablo Casals

• proposed by Zarbon

2009 

Rank or add further suggestions…

Ranking system:

4 : Excellent - should definitely be used.

3 : Very Good - strong desire to see it used.

2 : Good - some desire to see it used.

1 : Acceptable - but with no particular desire to see it used.

0 : Not acceptable - not appropriate for use as a quote of the day.

Suggestions

If your daily life seems poor, do not blame it; blame yourself, tell yourself that you are not poet enough to call forth its riches. ~ Rainer Maria Rilke (Date of death)

• 3 ~ UDScott 15:09, 14 December 2005 (UTC)
• 2 - --inhuman14 11:03, 29 January 2006 (UTC)
• 2 - --Mister Six 11:10, 16 December 2005 (UTC)
• 4 Kalki (talk · contributions) 15:11, 24 December 2009 (UTC) * 3 Kalki 15:51, 26 December 2006 (UTC)
• 3 InvisibleSun 23:17, 28 December 2006 (UTC)
• 3 Zarbon 20:54, 26 April 2008 (UTC)

Yes, the springtime was in need of you. Often a star
waited for you to espy it and sense its light.
A wave rolled toward you out of the distant past,
or as you walked below an open window,
a violin gave itself to your hearing.
All this was trust. But could you manage it?
Were you not always distraught by expectation,
as if all this were announcing the arrival
of a beloved?
~ Rainer Maria Rilke ~

• 3 Kalki 15:51, 26 December 2006 (UTC) with a lean toward 4, but somewhat more inclined to use this on the spring equinox.
• 3 InvisibleSun 23:17, 28 December 2006 (UTC)
• 1 Zarbon 20:54, 26 April 2008 (UTC)

Here is my first principle of foreign policy: good government at home. ~ William Ewart Gladstone (born December 29, 1809)

• 4 InvisibleSun 23:17, 28 December 2006 (UTC)
• 2 Kalki (talk · contributions) 15:11, 24 December 2009 (UTC) * 3 Kalki 23:44, 28 December 2006 (UTC)
• 3 Zarbon 20:54, 26 April 2008 (UTC)

There should be a sympathy with freedom, a desire to give it scope, founded not upon visionary ideas, but upon the long experience of many generations within the shores of this happy isle, that in freedom you lay the firmest foundations both of loyalty and order; the firmest foundations for the development of individual character; and the best provision for the happiness of the nation at large. ~ William Ewart Gladstone

• 3 InvisibleSun 23:17, 28 December 2006 (UTC)
• 3 Kalki 23:44, 28 December 2006 (UTC) with a very strong lean toward 4.
• 1 Zarbon 20:54, 26 April 2008 (UTC)

I care not what happens when I am dead and gone. ~ Madame de Pompadour

• 2 Zarbon 06:29, 10 December 2008 (UTC)
• 1 Kalki 00:23, 27 December 2008 (UTC)

Pain nourishes courage. You can't be brave if you've only had wonderful things happen to you. ~ Mary Tyler Moore

• 3 Zarbon 06:29, 10 December 2008 (UTC)
• 3 Kalki 00:23, 27 December 2008 (UTC) with a lean toward 4.

Though life seems painful, at the same time it is wonderful. ~ Ritsuko Okazaki

• 3 Zarbon 06:29, 10 December 2008 (UTC)
• 3 Kalki 00:23, 27 December 2008 (UTC) with a lean toward 4.

From StrategyWiki, the free strategy guide and walkthrough wiki

Games released on December 29.

From Familypedia

December 29 is the 363rd day of the year (364th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 2 days remaining until the end of the year.

Events

• 1812 - USS Constitution (Captain William Bainbridge) captures HMS Java off Brazil after a three hour battle.
• 1813 - British soldiers burn Buffalo 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.
• 1845 - Texas is admitted as the 28th U.S. state.
• 1851 - The first American YMCA opens in Boston.
• 1860 - The first British seagoing iron-clad warship, the HMS Warrior is launched.
• 1876 - The Ashtabula River Railroad bridge disaster occurs, leaving 64 injured and 92 dead at Ashtabula.
• 1890 - United States soldiers massacre more than 400 men, women and children of the Great Sioux Nation at Wounded Knee.
• 1911 - Sun Yat-sen becomes the first President of the Republic of China.
• 1911 - Mongolia gains independence from the Qing dynasty.
• 1930 - Sir Muhammad Iqbal's presidential address in Allahabad introduces the Two-Nation Theory and outlines a vision for the creation of Pakistan.
• 1934 - The first college basketball game at New York City's Madison Square Garden is played between the University of Notre Dame and New York University.
• 1934 - Japan renounces the Washington Naval Treaty of 1922 and the London Naval Treaty of 1930.
• 1937 - The Irish Free State is replaced by a new state called Ireland with the adoption of a new constitution.
• 1939 - First flight of the Consolidated B-24
• 1940 - World War II: In The Second Great Fire of London, the Luftwaffe firebombs City of London, killing almost 200 civilians.
• 1949 - KC2XAK of Bridgeport becomes the first Ultra high frequency (UHF) television station to operate a daily schedule.
• 1972 - An Eastern Air Lines Lockheed "Tristar" crashes on approach to Miami International Airport, Florida, killing 101.
• 1989 - Riots break-out after Hong Kong decides to forcibly repatriate Vietnamese refugees.
• 1989 - 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 - Fernando Collor de Mello, president of Brazil, tried to resign amidst corruption charges, but ended up being impeached.
• 1996 - Guatemala and leaders of Guatemalan National Revolutionary Union sign a peace accord ending a 36-year civil war.
• 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.

Births

• 1709 - Empress Elizabeth of Russia (d. 1762)
• 1721 - Madame de Pompadour, mistress of King Louis XV of France (d. 1764)
• 1796 - Johann Christian Poggendorff, German physicist (d. 1877)
• 1800 - Charles Goodyear, American inventor (d. 1860)
• 1808 - Andrew Johnson, 17th President of the United States (d. 1875)
• 1809 - William Ewart Gladstone, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (d. 1898)
• 1816 - Carl Ludwig, German physician (d. 1895)
• 1843 - Elisabeth of Wied a.k.a. Carmen Sylva, queen of Romania and writer (d. 1916)
• 1856 - Thomas Joannes Stieltjes, Dutch mathematician (d. 1894)
• 1859 - Venustiano Carranza, 54th President of Mexico (d. 1920)
• 1876 - Pablo Casals, Catalan musician (d. 1973)
• 1881 - Jess Willard, American boxer (d. 1968)
• 1896 - David Alfaro Siqueiros, Mexican painter (d. 1974)
• 1899 - Nie Rongzhen, Chinese Communist military leader (d. 1992)
• 1902 - Nels Stewart, National Hockey League player (d. 1957)
• 1908 - Helmut Gollwitzer, German theologian (d. 1993)
• 1910 - Ronald Coase, British economist, Nobel Prize laureate
• 1914 - Billy Tipton, American musician (d. 1989)
• 1914 - Albert Tucker, Australian artist (d. 1999)
• 1915 - Bill Osmanski, American football player (d. 1996)
• 1917 - Tom Bradley, American politician (d. 1998)
• 1917 - Ramanand Sagar, Indian film director (d. 2005)
• 1920 - Viveca Lindfors, Swedish-American actress (d. 1995)
• 1922 - William Gaddis, American writer (d. 1998)
• 1927 - Andy Stanfield, American athlete (d. 1985)
• 1928 - Bernard Cribbins, British actor
• 1931 - Prince Gu of Korea, Korean royalty (d. 2005)
• 1932 - Inga Swenson, American actress
• 1934 - Ed Flanders, American actor (d. 1995)
• 1936 - Mary Tyler Moore, American actress
• 1936 - Ray Nitschke, American football player (d. 1998)
• 1937 - Barbara Steele, British actress
• 1937 - Wayne Huizenga, American football team owner
• 1938 - Jon Voight, American actor
• 1941 - Ray Thomas, British musician (The Moody Blues)
• 1942 - Rick Danko, Canadian musician (The Band) (d. 1999)
• 1942 - Rajesh Khanna, Indian actor
• 1946 - Marianne Faithfull, British singer
• 1947 - Ted Danson, American actor
• 1947 - Cozy Powell, English rock drummer (d. 1998)
• 1947 - Vincent Winter, British actor (d. 1998)
• 1949 - Syed Kirmani, Indian cricket player
• 1951 - Yvonne Elliman, American disco singer
• 1952 - Gelsey Kirkland, American dancer
• 1953 - Stanley Tookie Williams, American author (d. 2005)
• 1953 - Gali Atari, Israeli singer and actress
• 1954 - Roger Voudouris, American singer
• 1954 - Prince Takamado of Japan (d. 2002)
• 1956 - Fred MacAulay, Scottish comedian
• 1957 - Brad Grey, American film producer
• 1957 - Paul Rudnick, American screenwriter/playwright
• 1958 - Nancy J. Currie, American astronaut
• 1959 - Patricia Clarkson, American actress
• 1959 - Paula Poundstone, American comedian
• 1960 - Thomas Lubanga, founder and leader of Union of Congolese Patriots
• 1960 - David Boon, Australian Cricketer
• 1961 - Kevin Granata, American associate professor at Virginia Tech, victim of the Virginia Tech massacre (d. 2007)
• 1961 - Jim Reid, Scottish singer (The Jesus and Mary Chain, Freeheat)
• 1962 - Devon White, Jamaican baseball player
• 1962 - Blake Mitchell, American adult actress
• 1963 - Francisco Bustamante, Filipino billiard player
• 1963 - Dave McKean, British artist and filmmaker
• 1963 - Sean Payton, American football coach
• 1965 - Dexter Holland, American musician (The Offspring)
• 1966 - Stefano Eranio, Italian footballer
• 1967 - Andy Wachowski, American director
• 1967 - Ashleigh Banfield, Canadian journalist
• 1967 - Chris Barnes, American singer
• 1969 - Jennifer Ehle, American actress
• 1969 - Allan McNish, Scottish race car driver
• 1970 - Aled Jones, Welsh singer
• 1970 - Kevin Weisman, American actor
• 1970 - Glen Phillips, American musician (Toad The Wet Sprocket)
• 1970 - Hidetoshi Mitsusada, Japanese racing driver
• 1972 - Evan Seinfeld, American musician (Biohazard) and actor
• 1972 - Jason Kreis, American soccer player
• 1972 - Jude Law, British actor
• 1973 - Theo Epstein, American baseball general manager
• 1974 - Richie Sexson, American baseball player
• 1974 - Mekhi Phifer, American actor
• 1975 - Jaret Wright, American baseball player
• 1976 - Danny R. McBride, American actor, writer, and producer
• 1976 - Katherine Moennig, American actress
• 1977 - Jimmy Journell, American baseball player
• 1978 - Alexis Amore, Peruvian pornographic actress
• 1978 - Kieron Dyer, English footballer
• 1978 - LaToya London, American singer
• 1979 - Diego Luna, Mexican actor
• 1981 - Shizuka Arakawa, Japanese figure skater
• 1989 - Nathan Forbes, British footballer
• 1994 - Princess Kako of Akishino of Japan

Deaths

• 721 - Empress Gemmei of Japan (b. 661)
• 1170 - Thomas Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury (assassinated) (b. 1118)
• 1563 - Sebastian Castellio, French theologian (b. 1515)
• 1634 - John Albert Vasa, Polish bishop (b. 1612)
• 1661 - Antoine Gérard de Saint-Amant, French poet (b. 1594)
• 1689 - Thomas Sydenham, English physician (b. 1624)
• 1731 - Brook Taylor, English mathematician (b. 1685)
• 1737 - Joseph Saurin, French mathematician (b. 1659)
• 1785 - Johan Herman Wessel, Norwegian poet (b. 1742)
• 1825 - Jacques-Louis David, French painter (b. 1748)
• 1891 - Leopold Kronecker, mathematician (b. 1823)
• 1894 - Christina Rossetti, English poet (b. 1830)
• 1897 - William James Linton, American wood engraver and political reformer. (b. 1812)
• 1916 - Grigori Rasputin, Russian monk (b. 1869)
• 1924 - Carl Spitteler, Swiss writer, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1845)
• 1926 - Rainer Maria Rilke, Austrian writer (b. 1875)
• 1929 - Wilhelm Maybach, German automobile designer (b. 1846)
• 1937 - Don Marquis, American author (b. 1878)
• 1960 - Eden Phillpotts, British writer (b. 1862)
• 1960 - Philippe Panneton, Quebec physician, diplomat and writer (b. 1895)
• 1967 - Paul Whiteman, American musician and conductor (b. 1890)
• 1976 - Ivo Van Damme, Belgian athlete (b. 1954)
• 1980 - Tim Hardin, American musician (b. 1941)
• 1980 - Nadezhda Mandelstam, Russian writer (b. 1899)
• 1981 - Miroslav Krleža, Croatian writer (b. 1893)
• 1986 - Harold Macmillan, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (b. 1894)
• 1988 - Mike Beuttler, British racing driver (b. 1940)
• 1993 - Frunzik Mkrtchyan, Soviet Armenian actor (b. 1930)
• 1996 - Mireille Hartuch, French singer and actress (b. 1906)
• 1998 - Jean-Claude Forest, writer and illustrator of comics (Barbarella) (b. 1930)
• 1999 - Leon Radzinowicz, British criminologist (b. 1906)
• 2003 - Earl Hindman, American actor (lung cancer) (b. 1942)
• 2003 - Dinsdale Landen, English actor (cancer) (b. 1932)
• 2003 - Bob Monkhouse, English comedian and game show host (b. 1928)
• 2004 - Julius Axelrod, American biochemist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b. 1912)
• 2004 - Liddy Holloway, New Zealand actress (b. 1947)
• 2004 - Ken Burkhart, American baseball player (b. 1915)
• 2005 - Gerda Boyesen, Norwegian-born body psychotherapist (b. 1922)

Holidays and observances

• The fourth day of Christmas in Western Christianity.
• R.C. Saints - Thomas Becket (optional memorial)

External links

• BBC: On This Day
• The New York Times: On This Day

• On This Day in Canada