December 29 in Pop Culture History

December 29th History, Trivia, and Fun Facts

December 29th History Highlights

  • 1851 – The first American YMCA (Young Men’s Christian Association) opened in Boston, Massachusetts.
  • 1890 – The US Cavalry killed 146 Sioux at Wounded Knee on the Pine Ridge reservation in South Dakota.
  • 1916 – James Joyce’s book Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man was published
  • If you were born on December 29th,
    You were likely conceived the week of… April 6th (same year)

December 29th is…

National Pepper Pot Day
Still Need To Do Day
Texas Admission Day (28th state)
Tick Tock Day

December 29th Birthday Quotes

“If I am shot at, I want no man to be in the way of the bullet.”
– Andrew Johnson

“If you analyze the bad times you find that it’s because you wanted to have a bad time.”
– Marianne Faithfull

“Pain nourishes courage. You can’t be brave if you’ve only had wonderful things happen to you.”
– Mary Tyler Moore

“It’s funny that we think of libraries as quiet demure places where we are shushed by dusty, bun-balancing, bespectacled women. The truth is libraries are raucous clubhouses for free speech, controversy, and community. Librarians have stood up to the Patriot Act, sat down with noisy toddlers, and reached out to illiterate adults. Libraries can never be shushed.”
– Paula Poundstone

“Here is my first principle of foreign policy: good government at home.”
– William Ewart Gladstone

December 29th Birthdays

1800 – Charles Goodyear, American chemist, and engineer (died in 1860)
1808 – Andrew Johnson, American politician, 17th President of the United States (died in 1875)
1809 – William Ewart Gladstone, British politician
1934 – Ed Flanders, American actor (died in 1995)
1936 – Mary Tyler Moore, American actress (died in 2017)
1938 – Jon Voight, American actor
1946 – Marianne Faithfull, English actress and singer
1947 – Ted Danson, American actor
1951 – Yvonne Elliman, American singer-songwriter
1959 – Paula Poundstone, American comedian
1967 – Ashleigh Banfield, Canadian-American journalist
1972 – Jude Law, English actor
1976 – Danny McBride, American actor
1979 – Diego Luna, Mexican actor
1982 – Alison Brie, American actress
1985 – Alexa Ray Joel, American singer-songwriter

December 29th History

1170 – Archbishop Thomas Becket was assassinated in Canterbury Cathedral by four knights, under orders from King Henry II of England.

1896 – “Lava” soap was trademarked by William Waltke & Co. of St. Louis, Missouri.

1916 – James Joyce’s book Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man was published.

1927 – Krakatoa began a volcanic eruption on the seafloor. It had been quiet since its 1883 eruption.

1951 – #1 Hit December 29, 1951 – March 14, 1952: Johnnie Ray and The Four Lads – Cry

1952 – The first transistor hearing aid went on sale, the model 1010, manufactured by the Sonotone Corporation

1959 – Physicist Richard Feynman gave a speech entitled “There’s Plenty of Room at the Bottom,” which brought in the concept of nanotechnology.

1973 – #1 Hit December 29, 1973 – January 11, 1974: Jim Croce – Time in a Bottle

1982 – Surround Sound was introduced for home use by Dolby.

1995 – Mr. Holland’s Opus, Dead Man Walking, and 12 Monkeys were released in theaters.

Today’s Random Trivia and Shower Thoughts

Stayin Alive by the Bee Gees is the appropriate song for CPR. It has 104 beats per minute, and 100-120 chest compressions per minute are usually recommended. Other good songs CPR include Dancing Queen – ABBA, Cecilia – Simon & Garfunkel, Hard To Handle – The Black Crowes, Sweet Home Alabama – Lynyrd Skynyrd, Rock Your Body – Justin Timberlake, I Will Survive – Gloria Gaynor, MMMBop – Hanson. #stayinalive

“A gun rack… a gun rack. I don’t even own a gun, let alone many guns that would necessitate an entire rack.” – Wayne Campbell in Wayne’s World  #moviequotes

While trying to publish his first novel Ernest Hemingway was meeting with an editor who wished to see more of his work. His wife packed all of his work she could find in a suitcase and went to meet him. While on the train she left the suitcase unattended, where it was lost and never seen again. #samethinghappenedtome

“The leading cause of death among fashion models is falling through street grates.” – Dave Barry

Pretty much any survivor of a paranormal horror movie is going to prison… “Ghosts killed all those people whose blood I was covered in, if I didn’t read the incantation to banish their spirits in time I would have been next” would never fly in court.

The protagonist in Wicked was based on Margaret Hamilton’s approach to the character, as explained to TV’s Mister Rogers.

Biggest film of 2009: Avatar (Action) earned ~ $760,000,000

“What we’ve got here is a failure to communicate.” – Captain (Strother Martin) in Cool Hand Luke, 1967

Burl Ives – Real Name: Burl Ivanhoe

Before Elvis Presley became famous, he had a troubling past of getting bullied. Once in High School, three guys were going to cut his hair off. Then a man, named Red West intervened in the scene and stopped them. He would become Elvis’s bodyguard and friend and was with him from 1956 to 1975.

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