Today is Sunday, Dec. 29, the 364th day of 2024. There are two days left in the year.
Today in history
On Dec. 29, 1890, the Wounded Knee massacre took place in South Dakota as more than 250 Lakota people were killed by U.S. troops sent to disarm them.
Also on this date
In 1170, Thomas Becket, the Archbishop of Canterbury, was slain in Canterbury Cathedral by knights loyal to King Henry II.
In 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.”
In 1978, during the Gator Bowl, Ohio State football coach Woody Hayes punched Clemson player Charlie Bauman, who had intercepted an Ohio State pass. (Hayes was fired the next day.)
In 1989, dissident and playwright Vaclav Havel (VAHTS’-lahv HAH’-vel) assumed the presidency of Czechoslovakia.
In 2021, British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell was convicted in New York of helping lure teenage girls to be sexually abused by the late Jeffrey Epstein; the verdict capped a monthlong trial featuring accounts of the sexual exploitation of girls as young as 14. (Maxwell would be sentenced to 20 years in prison.)
Fun facts
l Pacu fish have surprisingly straight teeth that look eerily similar to human teeth. The Pacu, which is a relative of the piranha, primarily eats fruit, seeds and nuts and are mostly harmless to humans.
l The Romans used a unit of distance called the mille passum, which literally translated into “a thousand paces.” Since each pace was considered to be five Roman feet — which were a bit shorter than our modern feet — the mile ended up being 5,000 Roman feet, or roughly 4,850 of our modern feet.
l William Hill Brown is generally believed to have written the first American novel, “The Power of Sympathy,” published in Boston in 1791, which relates a tragic love story.
Today’s birthdays
Actor Jon Voight is 86. Singer Marianne Faithfull is 78. Actor Ted Danson is 77. Actor Patricia Clarkson is 65. Filmmaker Lilly Wachowski is 57. Actor Jennifer Ehle is 55. Actor Jude Law is 52. Actor Mekhi Phifer (mih-KY’ FY’-fuhr) is 50. Actor Diego Luna is 45. Actor Jane Levy is 35.
The Edge is compiled by Katie Clohessy. She can be contacted at kclohessy@lmtribune.com.
