Wounded Knee Day Day 363 of 2010 2 days left in this year

December 29, 1890: U.S. troops massacre more than 300 Sioux men, women and children at Wounded Knee (Lakota: Cankpe Opi Wakpala) on the Lakota Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota.

HAWAII  EVENTS ON THIS DAY

• 1860: Fire breaks out in the Steam Flour Mill. Described in the Pacific Commercial Advertiser as the largest fire to date in Honolulu, 14 buildings were destroyed at a loss of $56,000.
• 1903: Another sign that the American’s were taking over Hawaii finally appears: The coins issued by the monarchy of King David Kalakaua are no longer accepted as currency in Hawaii, even though the coins are pure silver, in the case of dollars, and copper in pennies. American currency becomes the coin of the realm. (It is also interesting to note that the first half of the King’s name — Kala — means money in Hawaiian.) By this date most stores will not accept the coins, although people have until December 31 to exchange the coins for American currency at banks. Kalakaua coins are available today through venues such as eBay, where, on December 28, 2007, a Kalakaua silver dollar in pristine condition was selling for $449.95.
• 1919: Kïlauea Volcano was erupting violently, The Advertiser reported today, with lava fountains spouted 30 feet high.
• 1932: The Volcano House is sold at auction to George Lycurgus for $300.
• 1995: “Captain” Irwin Malzman, the eye-in-the-sky helicopter pilot who told O’ahu drivers where the weekday traffic jams were, makes his last broadcast. The state canceled its $190,000 contract with him.

WORLD EVENTS ON THIS DAY

• 1782: The first nautical almanac in the U.S. is published by Samuel Stearns
• 1845: Texas is admitted as the 28th state of the Union
• 1851: The first Young Men’s Christian Association (YMCA) chapter opens (Boston)
• 1852: Emma Snodgrass is arrested in Boston for wearing pants
• 1867: The first telegraph ticker is used by a brokerage house
• 1951: The first transistor hearing aid goes on sale (Elmsford NY)
• 1987: Cosmonaut Yuri Romanenko ends his record 326-day space flight
• 1989: Vaclav Havel becomes president of Czechoslovakia
• 1997: Hong Kong begins killing 1.4 million chickens to stem the spread of a mysterious bird flu
• 1998: Khmer Rouge leaders apologize for the 1970s genocide in Cambodia that claimed one million lives

BORN ON THIS DAY

• 1800: Charles Goodyear, inventor
• 1808: Andrew Johnson, 17th U.S. president
• 1876: Pablo Casals, violinist/conductor/composer
• 1879: Billy Mitchell, aviation hero
• 1917: Tom Bradley, Mayor (D-LA
• 1934: Ed Flanders, actor
• 1934: Tom Jarriel, newscaster
• 1937: Mary Tyler Moore, actress
• 1938: Jon Voight, actor/right wingnut
  
• 1941: Ray Thomas, rock musician
• 1948: Mary Ann Faithful, singer
• 1947: Ted Danson, actor
• 1959: Patricia Clarkson, actress
• 1959: Paula Poundstone, comedian
• 1961: Jim Reid, rock musician
• 1967: Andy Wachowski, director of “Matrix” films
• 1972: Jude Law, actor

DIED ON THIS DAY

• 1170 Archbishop Thomas Becket was murdered in Canterbury Cathedral in England.
• 1980: Tim Hardin US singer (Bird on a Wire), dies of a drug overdose at 39
• 1984: Leo Robin lyricist, dies of heart failure at 84
• 1986: [Maurice] Harold Macmillan former British PM (1957-63), dies in Sussex, England, at 92
• 1986: Andrei Tarkovski Russian director (Stalker), dies at 54
• 1995: Louise Chaplin actress, dies at 87
• 1995: Madeleine Barot resistance heroine, dies at 86
• 1995: Nello Celio President of Switzerland (1972), dies at 81
• 1996: Daniel Raphaeautl Mayer journalist/resistance leader, dies at 86
• 1997: (Hanlon) Pat Clarke cyclist, dies at 82
• 2008 Freddie Hubbard, American jazz trumpet player (b. 1938)
• 2009 “Dr. Death” Steve Williams, American former professional wrestler and football player (b. 1960)
• 2009 Akmal Shaikh, British drug trafficker, executed by lethal injection in the People’s Republic of China (b. 1956)