Did you know
Pelé's 1,279 goals in 1,363 games, which includes exhibition games, is recognised as a Guinness World Record.
Notable Deaths on December 29
2022 — Pelé
Brazilian footballer (born 1940)
December 29 has 175 recorded notable deaths across history, from 721 to 2024. This focused page highlights 20 people with the strongest available profile context.
By thisDay.info Editorial Team · — Wikipedia
Notable Deaths
175 source records
721 – 2024
Today in history
Major events on December 29
See what else happened on this day in history.
- 1989 Czech writer, philosopher and dissident Václav Havel is elected the first post-communist President of Czechoslovakia. Source
- 1874 The military coup of Gen. Martinez Campos in Sagunto ends the failed First Spanish Republic and the monarchy is restored as Prince Alfonso is proclaimed King of Spain. Source
- 1996 Guatemala and leaders of Guatemalan National Revolutionary Unity sign a peace accord ending a 36-year civil war. Source
- 1812 USS Constitution, under the command of Captain William Bainbridge, captures HMS Java off the coast of Brazil after a three-hour battle. Source
Did you know
Thomas Becket is known for his conflict with King Henry II over the rights and privileges of the Church and was murdered by followers of the king.
Did you know
The women were exhibited for their steatopygic body type – uncommon in Northwestern Europe – that was perceived as a curiosity at that time, and became subject of scientific interest as well as of erotic projection.
Did you know
William Osler left his own large history of medicine library to McGill, where it became the Osler Library.
Did you know
Neil Innes also wrote and voiced the 1980s ITV children's cartoon adventures of The Raggy Dolls.
More major people who died on December 29
Notable people are ranked by substantive profile depth and public notability.
1170
Thomas Becket
English archbishop and saint (born 1118)
Thomas Becket, also known as Saint Thomas of Canterbury, Thomas of London and later Thomas à Becket, was an English cleric and statesman who served as Lord Chancellor from 1155 to 1162, and then as Archbishop of…
1815
Sarah Baartman
Khoikhoi woman (b. 1789)
Sarah Baartman, also spelled Sara, sometimes in the Dutch diminutive form Saartje, or Saartjie, and Bartman, Bartmann, was a Khoekhoe woman who was exhibited as a freak show attraction in 19th-century Europe under the…
1919
William Osler
Canadian physician and professor (born 1849)
Sir William Osler, 1st Baronet was a Canadian physician and one of the "Big Four" founding professors of Johns Hopkins Hospital. Osler created the first residency program for specialty training of physicians.
2019
Neil Innes
English writer, comedian and musician (born 1944)
Neil James Innes was an English songwriter, writer, comedian and musician.
1890
Spotted Elk
American tribal leader (born 1826)
Spotted Elk was a Chief of the Miniconjou-Lakota-Sioux. He was a son of Lone Horn and became a Chief upon his father's death. He was a highly renowned Chief with skills in war and negotiations.
2024
Aaron Brown
American journalist and academic (born 1948)
Aaron Brown was an American broadcast journalist, most recognized for his coverage of the September 11 attacks for CNN.
1929
Edward Christopher Williams
American librarian (born 1871)
Edward Christopher Williams was the first African-American professionally trained librarian in the United States. His sudden death in 1929 ended his career the year he was expected to receive the first Ph.D.
1981
Miroslav Krleža
Croatian author, poet, and playwright (born 1893)
Miroslav Krleža was a Croatian writer who is widely considered to be the greatest of the 20th century.
1939
Madeleine Pelletier
French psychiatrist, feminist and political activist (born 1874)
Madeleine Pelletier was a French psychiatrist, first-wave feminist, and political activist. Born in Paris, Pelletier frequented socialist and anarchist groups in her adolescence.
2013
Jagadish Mohanty
Indian author and translator (born 1951)
Jagadish Mohanty was a renowned Odia writer, considered as a trendsetter in modern Odia fiction, has received the prestigious Sarala Award in 2003, Odisha Sahitya Akademi Award in 1990 for his novel Kanishka Kanishka,…
2002
Ralph Clanton
American actor (born 1914)
Ralph Woodward Clanton was an American character actor of film, stage, and television.
1910
Samuel Butcher
Anglo-Irish classical scholar and politician (born 1850)
Samuel Henry Butcher DCL LLD was an Anglo-Irish writer and classical scholar. He was best known for his edition of Homer's Odyssey alongside fellow writer Andrew Lang, which they co-authored in 1879.
1979
F. Edward Hébert
American journalist and politician (born 1901)
Felix Edward Hébert was an American journalist and politician from Louisiana.
2004
Julius Axelrod
American biochemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1912)
Julius Axelrod was an American biochemist. He won a share of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1970 along with Bernard Katz and Ulf von Euler.
2013
Wojciech Kilar
Polish classical and film music composer (born 1932)
Wojciech Kilar was a Polish classical and film music composer.
2017
John C. Portman Jr.
American neofuturistic architect and real estate developer (born 1924)
John Calvin Portman Jr. was an American neofuturistic architect and real estate developer widely known for popularizing hotels and office buildings with multi-storied interior atria.
1972
Joseph Cornell
American sculptor and director (born 1903)
Joseph Cornell was an American visual artist and filmmaker, one of the pioneers and most celebrated exponents of assemblage. Influenced by the Surrealists, he was also an avant-garde experimental filmmaker.
2011
Constance Bartlett Hieatt
American scholar (born 1928)
Constance Bartlett Hieatt was an American scholar with a broad interest in medieval languages and literatures, including Old Norse literature, Anglo-Saxon prosody and literature, and Middle English language, literature,…
2015
Om Prakash Malhotra
Indian general and politician, 25th Governor of Punjab (born 1922)
General Om Prakash Malhotra,, best known as OP Malhotra, was a senior army officer in the Indian Army who served as the 10th Chief of Army Staff of the Indian Army from 1978 – 1981.