This day in history

[December 29, 2010]  (AP)  Today is Wednesday, Dec. 29, the 363rd day of 2010. There are two days left in the year.

Today's highlight in history:

On Dec. 29, 1910, the capital of Oklahoma was moved from Guthrie to Oklahoma City as the state legislature approved a bill which was signed by Gov. Charles N. Haskell. (Although the move was challenged in court, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the action.)

On this date:

In 1170, Thomas Becket, the Archbishop of Canterbury, was murdered in Canterbury Cathedral by knights loyal to King Henry II.

In 1808, the 17th president of the United States, Andrew Johnson, was born in Raleigh, N.C.

In 1845, Texas was admitted as the 28th state.

In 1851, the first American Young Men's Christian Association was organized in Boston.

In 1890, the Wounded Knee massacre took place in South Dakota as an estimated 300 Sioux Indians were killed by U.S. troops sent to disarm them.

In 1916, Grigory Rasputin, the so-called "Mad Monk" who'd wielded great influence with Czar Nicholas II, was murdered by a group of Russian noblemen in St. Petersburg.

In 1934, Japan formally renounced the Washington Naval Treaty of 1922.

In 1940, during World War II, Germany dropped incendiary bombs on London, setting off what came to be known as "The Second Great Fire of London."

In 1975, a bomb exploded in the main terminal of New York's LaGuardia Airport, killing 11 people.

In 1986, former British Prime Minister Harold Macmillan died at his home in Sussex, England, at age 92.

Ten years ago: President-elect George W. Bush filled four more Cabinet slots, tapping Rod Paige to be Secretary of Education, Gale Norton to be Secretary of the Interior, Anthony J. Principi to return as Secretary to the Department of Veterans Affairs and Wisconsin Gov. Tommy Thompson to be Secretary of Health and Human Services.

Five years ago: International monitors said they would review Iraq's parliamentary elections in response to fraud complaints by Sunni Arab and secular Shiite groups.

One year ago: Brushing aside international appeals, China executed British drug smuggler Akmal Shaikh (AHK'-mahl shayk), who relatives said was mentally unstable and unwittingly lured into crime; it was China's first execution of a European citizen in nearly 60 years. Mexico City enacted Latin America's first law recognizing gay marriage and said it hoped to attract same-sex couples from around the world.

Today's birthdays: Actress Inga Swenson is 78. ABC newscaster Tom Jarriel is 76. Actress Mary Tyler Moore is 74. Actor Jon Voight is 72. Country singer Ed Bruce is 71. Rock musician Ray Thomas is 69. Singer Marianne Faithfull is 64. Jockey Laffit Pincay, Jr. is 64. Actor Ted Danson is 63. Actor Jon Polito is 60. Singer-actress Yvonne Elliman is 59. Actress Patricia Clarkson is 51. Comedian Paula Poundstone is 51. Rock singer-musician Jim Reid (The Jesus and Mary Chain) is 49. Actor Michael Cudlitz is 46. Rock singer Dexter Holland (The Offspring) is 45. Actor-comedian Mystro Clark is 44. Actor Jason Gould is 44. Movie director Andy Wachowski is 43. Actress Jennifer Ehle is 41. Actor Patrick Fischler is 41. Rock singer-musician Glen Phillips is 40. Actor Kevin Weisman is 40. Actor Jude Law is 38. Actor Mekhi Phifer is 36. Actor Shawn Hatosy is 35. Actress Katherine Moennig is 33. Actor Diego Luna is 31. Country singer Jessica Andrews is 27.

Thought for today: "If a child is to keep alive his inborn sense of wonder, he needs the companionship of at least one adult who can share it, rediscovering with him the joy, excitement and mystery of the world we live in." -- Rachel Carson, American biologist (1907-1964)

[Associated Press]

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