History for December 29

History for December 29 - On-This-Day.com
Charles Goodyear 1800, Andrew Johnson 1808, William Gladstone 1809


Pablo Casals 1876, Mary Tyler Moore 1936 - Actress, Jon Voight 1938 - Actor


1170 - St. Thomas à Becket, the 40th archbishop of Canterbury, was murdered in his own cathedral by four knights acting on Henry II's orders.


1812 - The USS Constitution won a battle with the British ship HMS Java about 30 miles off the coast of Brazil. Before Commodore William Bainbridge ordered the sinking of the Java he had her wheel removed to replace the one the Constitution had lost during the battle.


1813 - The British burned Buffalo, NY, during the War of 1812.


1848 - U.S. President James Polk turned on the first gas light at the White House.


1851 - The first American Young Men's Christian Association was organized, in Boston, MA.


1911 - Sun Yat-sen became the first president of a republican China.


1949 - KC2XAK of Bridgeport, Connecticut became the first ultrahigh frequency (UHF) television station to begin operating on a regular daily schedule.


1952 - The first transistorized hearing aid was offered for sale by Sonotone Corporation.