TODAY IN HISTORY
Today is Wednesday, Dec. 29, the 363rd day of 2021. There are two days left in the year.
Today’s highlight in history
On Dec. 29, 1940, during World War II, Germany dropped incendiary bombs on London, setting off what came to be known as “The Second Great Fire of London.”
On this date
In 1812, during the War of 1812, the American frigate USS Constitution engaged and severely damaged the British frigate HMS Java off Brazil.
In 1851, the first Young Men’s Christian Association (YMCA) in the United States was founded in Boston.
In 1890, the Wounded Knee massacre took place in South Dakota as an estimated 300 Sioux Indians were killed by U.S. troops sent to disarm them.
In 1972, Eastern Air Lines Flight 401, a Lockheed L-1011 Tristar, crashed into the Florida Everglades near Miami International Airport, killing 101 of the 176 people aboard.
In 1989, dissident and playwright Vaclav Havel assumed the presidency of Czechoslovakia.
One year ago: A Colorado National Guardsman who’d been sent to help out at a nursing home struggling with a COVID-19 outbreak was reported to be the first in the U.S. to have a new, more contagious variant of the coronavirus that had been circulating in England. Just days before he would have been sworn in as a new Republican member of the U.S. House from Louisiana, Luke Letlow died at the age of 41 from complications related to COVID-19. A statue of Abraham Lincoln with a freed slave appearing to kneel at his feet was removed from its downtown Boston perch.
Today’s birthdays
Singer Rose Lee Maphis is 99. Actor Inga Swenson is 89. Retired newscaster Tom Jarriel is 87. Actor Barbara Steele is 84. Actor Jon Voight is 83. Singer Marianne Faithfull is 75. Hall of Fame Jockey Laffit Pincay Jr. is 75. Actor Ted Danson is 74. Singer-actor Yvonne Elliman is 70. Actor Patricia Clarkson is 62. Comedian Paula Poundstone is 62. Singer-musician Jim Reid (The Jesus and Mary Chain) is 60. Actor Michael Cudlitz is 57. Singer Dexter Holland (The Offspring) is 56. Actor-comedian Mystro Clark is 55. Actor Jason Gould is 55. News anchor Ashleigh Banfield is 54. Director Lilly Wachowski is 54. Actor Jennifer Ehle is 52. Actor Patrick Fischler is 52. Singer-musician Glen Phillips is 51. Actor Kevin Weisman is 51. Actor Jude Law is 49. Actor Maria Dizzia is 47. Actor Mekhi Phifer is 47. Actor Shawn Hatosy is 46. Actor Katherine Moennig is 44. Actor Diego Luna is 42. Actor Alison Brie is 39. Singer Jessica Andrews is 38. Actor Iain de Caestecker is 34. Singer-actor-dancer Ross Lynch is 26. Musician Danny Wagner is 23.