Summary of the Day ✨ 29 December (29/12)
Jeju Air Flight 2216 crashed in South Korea, killing 179 people in the country’s deadliest aviation accident, while a magnitude 6.4 earthquake in Croatia claimed seven lives. South Africa filed a genocide case against Israel at the International Court of Justice, a suicide bombing in Russia killed 18 people, and Formula One champion Michael Schumacher suffered a severe head injury while skiing in the French Alps.
Historical Events 📜
- 2024: Jeju Air Flight 2216 crashes into a wall in Muan, South Korea, killing 179 of the 181 occupants. It is the worst aircraft accident on South Korean soil in history.
- 2023: South Africa files a genocide case against Israel at the International Court of Justice over Israeli conducts in the Gaza Strip.
- 2020: A magnitude 6.4 earthquake hits near the town of Petrinja in Sisak-Moslavina County, Croatia, killing seven people.
- 2013: A suicide bomb attack at the Volgograd-1 railway station in the southern Russian city of Volgograd kills at least 18 people and wounds 40 others.
- 2013: Seven-time Formula One champion Michael Schumacher suffers a massive head injury while skiing in the French Alps.
- 2012: A Tupolev Tu-204 airliner crashes in a ditch between the airport fence and the M3 highway after overshooting a runway at Vnukovo International Airport in Moscow, Russia, killing five people and leaving three others critically injured.
- 2006: The UK settles its Anglo-American loan, post-WWII loan debt.
- 2003: The last known speaker of Akkala Sami dies, rendering the language extinct.
- 1998: Leaders of the Khmer Rouge apologize for the Cambodian genocide that claimed over one million lives.
- 1996: Guatemala and leaders of Guatemalan National Revolutionary Unity sign a peace accord ending a 36-year civil war.
- 1994: Turkish Airlines Flight 278 (a Boeing 737-400) crashes on approach to Van Ferit Melen Airport in Van, Turkey, killing 57 of the 76 people on board.
- 1992: Fernando Collor de Mello, president of Brazil, tries to resign amidst corruption charges, but is then impeached.
- 1989: Czech writer, philosopher and dissident Václav Havel is elected the first post-communist President of Czechoslovakia.
- 1989: The Nikkei 225 for the Tokyo Stock Exchange hits its all-time intra-day high of 38,957.44 and closing high at 38,915.87, serving as the apex of the Japanese asset price bubble.
- 1975: A bomb explodes at LaGuardia Airport in New York City, killing 11 people and injuring more than 75.
Famous Births 👶
- 2006: Ethan Mbappé, French footballer
- 2005: Davide Bartesaghi, Italian footballer
- 2000: Orkun Kökçü, Dutch-Turkish footballer
- 2000: Julio Rodríguez, Dominican baseball player
- 2000: Eliot Vassamillet, Belgian singer
- 1999: Andreas Skov Olsen, Danish footballer
- 1999: Francisco Trincão, Portuguese footballer
- 1998: Seamus Davey-Fitzpatrick, American actor
- 1998: Victor Osimhen, Nigerian footballer
- 1998: Brandon Thomas-Asante, Ghanaian footballer
- 1997: Felix Keisinger, German skeleton racer
- 1996: Sana Minatozaki, Japanese singer
- 1996: Dylan Minnette, American actor, musician and singer
- 1995: Myles Garrett, American football player
- 1995: Rina Ikoma, Japanese singer and actress (Nogizaka46 and AKB48)
Notable Deaths 🕊️
- 2024: Aaron Brown, American journalist and academic (born 1948)
- 2024: Jimmy Carter, American politician, 39th President of the United States (born 1924)
- 2024: Linda Lavin, American actress and singer (born 1937)
- 2024: Tomiko Itooka, Japanese supercentenarian (born 1908)
- 2023: Gil de Ferran, French-born Brazilian racing driver, CART champion (2000, 2001), 2003 Indianapolis 500 winner (born 1967)
- 2022: Pelé, Brazilian footballer (born 1940)
- 2022: Edgar Savisaar, Estonian politician, Estonian Minister of the Interior (born 1950)
- 2022: Vivienne Westwood, English fashion designer (born 1941)
- 2021: Peter Klatzow, South African composer (born 1945)
- 2020: Pierre Cardin, Italian-French fashion designer (born 1922)
- 2020: Joe Louis Clark, American educator (born 1937)
- 2020: Alexi Laiho, Finnish singer-songwriter and guitarist (born 1979)
- 2019: Alasdair Gray, Scottish writer and artist (born 1934)
- 2019: Neil Innes, English writer, comedian and musician (born 1944)
- 2018: Brian Garfield, American novelist, historian and screenwriter (born 1939)
Holidays & Observances 🎉
- Christian feast day:
Ebrulf - Christian feast day:
Thomas Becket - Christian feast day:
Trophimus of Arles - Christian feast day:
December 29 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics) - Constitution Day (Ireland)
- Independence Day (Mongolia)
- The fifth day of Christmas (Western Christianity)
- The fourth day of Kwanzaa (United States)