History for December 29

History for December 29 - On-This-Day.com:
Charles Goodyear 1800, Andrew Johnson 1808, Mary Tyler Moore 1936 - Actress 


Jon Voight 1938 - Actor, Marianne Faithfull 1946 - Singer, Ted Danson 1947 - Actor ("Cheers") 


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. 


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. 


1940 - During World War II, Germany began dropping incendiary bombs on London. 


1972 - Following 36 years of publication, the last weekly issue of "LIFE" magazine hit the newsstands. The magazine later became a monthly publication. 


1975 - A bomb exploded in the main terminal of New York's LaGuardia Airport. 11 people were killed. 


1997 - Hong Kong began killing 1.25 million chickens, the entire population, for fear of the spread of 'bird flu.'