What happened on December 29 ?

1709 - Empress Elizabeth of Russia (d. 1762)

1721 - Madame de Pompadour, mistress of King Louis XV of France (d. 1764)

1796 - Johann Christian Poggendorff, German physicist (d. 1877)

1800 - Charles Goodyear, American inventor and businessman (d. 1860)

1808 - Andrew Johnson, 17th President of the United States (d. 1875)

1809 - William Ewart Gladstone, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (d. 1897)

1816 - Carl Ludwig, German physician (b. 1895)

1876 - Pablo Casals, Catalan cellist and conductor (d. 1973)

1881 - Jess Willard, American boxer (d. 1968)

1899 - Nie Rongzhen, Chinese Communist military leader (d. 1992)

1908 - Helmut Gollwitzer, German theologian (d. 1993)

1910 - Ronald Coase, British economist, recipient Bank of Sweden Prize

1914 - Billy Tipton, American musician (d. 1989)

1914 - Albert Tucker, Australian artist (d. 1999)

1917 - Tom Bradley, Mayor of Los Angeles, California (d. 1998)

1927 - Andy Stanfield, American athlete (d. 1985)

1928 - Bernard Cribbins, British actor

1931 - Prince Gu of Korea (d. 2005)

1936 - Mary Tyler Moore, American actress

1936 - Ray Nitschke, American football player (d. 1998)

1937 - Barbara Steele, British actress

1937 - Wayne Huizenga, owner of the Miami Dolphins

1938 - Jon Voight, American actor

1941 - Ray Thomas, British musician (The Moody Blues)

1942 - Rick Danko, Canadian musician (The Band) (d. 1999)

1946 - Marianne Faithfull, British singer

1947 - Ted Danson, American actor

1951 - Yvonne Elliman, American disco singer

1952 - Gelsey Kirkland, American dancer

1953 - Gali Atari, Israeli singer

1954 - Roger Voudouris, American singer and songwriter

1954 - Prince Norihito of Japan (d. 2002)

1957 - Brad Grey, American film & television producer

1959 - Patricia Clarkson, American actress

1963 - Francisco Bustamante, Filipino billiard player

1963 - Dave McKean, British artist and filmmaker

1965 - Dexter Holland, American singer and guitarist (The Offspring)

1967 - Andy Wachowski, American director

1967 - Ashleigh Banfield, Canadian journalist

1967 - Chris Barnes, American singer

1970 - Aled Jones, Welsh singer and television presenter

1970 - Kevin Weisman, American actor

1970 - Glen Phillips, American singer/songwriter (Toad The Wet Sprocket)

1972 - Evan Seinfeld, American musician (Biohazard) and actor

1972 - Jason Kreis, American soccer player

1972 - Jude Law, British actor

1973 - Theo Epstein, American baseball general manager

1974 - Richie Sexson, American baseball player

1976 - Katherine Moennig, American actress

1978 - Alexis Amore, Peruvian pornographic actress, dancer, and model

1978 - Kieron Dyer, British footballer

1978 - LaToya London, American singer

1981 - Angela Via, American singer

1981 - Shizuka Arakawa, Japanese figure skater

1994 - Princess Kako of Japan