This Day in History: Dec. 29

On this day, Dec. 29 ...

2006: Word reaches the United States of the execution of former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein. (Because of the time difference, it is the morning of Dec. 30 in Iraq when the hanging takes place.) In a statement, President George W. Bush calls Saddam’s execution an important milestone on Iraq’s road to democracy.

Also on this day:

• 1170: Thomas Becket, the Archbishop of Canterbury, is slain in Canterbury Cathedral by knights loyal to King Henry II.
• 1808: Andrew Johnson, the 17th president of the United States, is born in Raleigh, N.C.
• 1845: Texas is admitted as the 28th state.
• 1890: The massacre on Wounded Knee takes place in South Dakota as an estimated 300 Sioux Indians are killed by U.S. troops sent to disarm them.
• 1910: The capital of Oklahoma is moved from Guthrie to Oklahoma City as the state legislature approves a bill that is signed by Gov. Charles N. Haskell. (The move would be challenged in court but upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court.)
• 1940: During World War II, Germany drops incendiary bombs on London, setting off what came to be known as "The Second Great Fire of London."
• 1967: Hyundai Motor Co. is founded in Seoul, South Korea.
• 1972: Eastern Air Lines Flight 401, a Lockheed L-1011 Tristar, crashes into the Florida Everglades near Miami International Airport, killing 101 of the 176 people aboard.

A solitary police rescue officer scans debris at New York's La Guardia Airport, Dec. 29, 1975, after a power explosion demolished a terminal baggage claim area. At least 11 persons were killed. (AP Photo)

• 1975: A bomb explodes in the main terminal of New York’s LaGuardia Airport, killing 11 people (it’s never been determined who was responsible).
• 1978: During the Gator Bowl, Ohio State University coach Woody Hayes punches Clemson player Charlie Bauman, who’d intercepted an Ohio State pass. (Hayes would be fired by Ohio State the next day.)
• 1992: New York Governor Mario Cuomo commutes the prison sentence of Jean Harris, the convicted killer of "Scarsdale Diet" author Herman Tarnower.
• 2008: Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s lawyer responds to impeachment charges, saying a vague array of charges and evidence does not merit removing his client from office. 
• 2017: Puerto Rico authorities say nearly half of the power customers in the U.S. territory still lacked electricity, more than three months after Hurricane Maria.