Holidays Calendar for December 29, 2020
National Independence Day is celebrated in Mongolia every year on December 29. This day marks the Mongolian independence declaration from Manchu Qing Empire and establishment of the Republic of Mongolia.
Hanukkah, also transliterated as Chanukah, is a Jewish eight-day festival of lights that starts on the 25th day of the month of Kislev. It commemorates the re-dedication of the Second Temple in Jerusalem during the Maccabean Revolt, following Judah Maccabee’s victory over the Seleucids.
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International Cello Day is an informal holiday celebrated by cellists and music enthusiasts around the world on December 29. It is dedicated to Pablo Casals, a renowned Catalan cellist, composer and conductor, who is considered to be one of the greatest cellists of all time.
Kwanzaa is an annual week-long celebration that is observed from December 26 to January 1. This holiday is celebrated in the United States and also in diaspora in the Western Africa. Kwanzaa honors the African heritage in African-American culture.
The current Constitution of Ireland came into force on December 29, 1937. Anniversary of this event is celebrated in Ireland as Constitution Day.
The National Pepper Pot Day is a food holiday that commemorates the creation of Pepper Pot soup in 1777. It is celebrated annually on December 29.
The end of the year is a hectic time because there is so much to do and it’s so easy to forget something in the whirlwind of last-minute tasks and errands. December 29 is the day when you can take a pause, reassess your to-do list, and get around to completing the tasks you’ve been putting off for some time. It is known as Tick Tock Day or Still Need to Do Day.
National Get on the Scales Day is celebrated annually on December 29. It was created to raise awareness of the problem of holiday overeating and weight gain during the holiday season.
Festivals on December 29, 2020
- Edinburgh’s Hogmanay in Edinburgh, United Kingdom
- TSB Festival of Lights in New Plymouth, New Zealand
- Dubai Shopping Festival in Dubai, UAE
- GUM Christmas Fair at Red Square in Moscow, Russia
- Maastricht Christmas Market in Maastricht, Netherlands
- Brussels Christmas Market in Brussels, Belgium
- Madrid Christmas Market in Madrid, Spain
- Christmas Market in Gendarmenmarkt in Berlin, Germany
- Christmas Market and Parade in Valkenburg aan de Geul in Valkenburg aan de Geul, Netherlands
- Owen Sound Festival of Northern Lights in Owen Sound, Canada
- Natchitoches Christmas Festival in Natchitoches, USA
- Wroclaw Christmas Market in Wroclaw, Poland
- Strasbourg Christmas Market in Strasbourg, France
- Düsseldorf Christmas Market in Düsseldorf, Germany
- Gothenburg Christmas Market (Christmas at Liseberg) in Gothenburg, Sweden
This Day in History
- 2022 Died: Pelé (Edson Arantes do Nascimento), Brazilian professional footballer. Widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all-time, he was among the most successful and popular athletes of the 20th century.
- 2022 Died: Vivienne Westwood, English fashion designer and businesswoman, largely responsible for bringing modern punk and new wave fashions into the mainstream.
- 2020 Died: Pierre Cardin, Italian-born French fashion designer, known for what were his avant-garde style and Space Age designs. He founded his fashion house in 1950.
- 2013 German Formula One Driver Michael Schumacher sustained a serious head injury as a result of a skiing accident. As of 2023 he has not been seen in public since the accident.
- 2007 Died: Phil O'Donnell, Scottish footballer who played for Motherwell, Celtic and Sheffield Wednesday over the course of his career. He died of a cardiac arrest during a game.
- 2004 Died: Julius Axelrod, American biochemist who shared the 1970 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine with Ulf von Euler (Sweden) and Bernard Katz (United Kingdom).
- 2003 The last known fluent native speaker of the Akkala Sami language died, rendering the language extinct. The language was spoken in the inland parts of the Kola Peninsula.
- 1996 The government of Guatemala and leaders of Guatemalan National Revolutionary Unity signed peace accords, ending the 36-year Guatemalan Civil War.
- 1993 The Convention on Biological Diversity, known informally as the Biodiversity Convention, entered into force. It had been open for signature on June 5, 1992.
- 1989 Former dissident Václav Havel was elected President of Czechoslovakia by a unanimous vote of the Federal Assembly. He was the first democratically elected president in 41 years.
- 1989 Born: Jane Levy, American actress. She is best known for portraying the title character of the NBC musical comedy-drama Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist.
- 1986 Died: Andrei Tarkovsky, Soviet and Russian filmmaker, film editor, film theorist, writer, theater and opera director. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest filmmakers of all time.
- 1982 Born: Alison Brie, American actress, writer, and producer. Her breakthrough came with the role of Trudy Campbell in the drama series Mad Men, which won her a SAG Award.
- 1979 Born: Diego Luna, Mexican actor, director, and producer. He is known for his portrayal of Cassian Andor in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story and the Disney+ series Andor.
- 1975 A bomb exploded at LaGuardia Airport in New York City, killing 11 people and injuring 75. It was the deadliest bombing in New York City since the Wall Street bombing of 1920.
- 1972 Born: Jude Law, English actor of stage and screen, producer, and director. He is known for his roles in The Talented Mr. Ripley, Cold Mountain, The Grand Budapest Hotel, etc.
- 1967 Born: Lilly Wachowski, American film and television director, writer and producer primarily known for her collaborations with her sister Lana. Together, they are known as the Wachowskis.
- 1967 Died: Paul Whiteman, American bandleader, composer, orchestral director and violinist. During the 1920s and 1930s, he was often referred to as the "King of Jazz".
- 1965 Born: Dexter Holland, American musician and singer-songwriter, best known as the vocalist, rhythm guitarist, and primary songwriter for the punk rock band The Offspring.
- 1959 Born: Patricia Clarkson, American actress. As of 2023, her accolades include a Golden Globe Award and three Primetime Emmy Awards, in addition to nominations for an Academy Award and a Tony Award.
- 1947 Born: Ted Danson, American actor who achieved stardom playing the lead character Sam Malone on Cheers. His other notable TV credits include Damages and The Good Place.
- 1938 Born: Jon Voight, American actor best known for his roles in Midnight Cowboy, Deliverance, Coming Home, The Champ. Voight is the father of Angelina Jolie.
- 1937 The Irish Free State was replaced with the Republic of Ireland, when the new Constitution of Ireland came into effect. The constitution was supported by 56.52% of voters.
- 1929 Died: Wilhelm Maybach, German engineer and industrialist. In 1909, he founded Maybach-Motorenbau GmbH together with his son Karl. They manufactured large luxury vehicles.
- 1926 Died: Rainer Maria Rilke, Austrian poet and novelist regarded as one of the most lyrically intense German-language poets. One of his best known collections is Sonnets to Orpheus.
- 1924 Died: Carl Spitteler, Swiss poet who was awarded the 1919 Nobel Prize in Literature in special appreciation of his epic, Olympischer Frühling ("Olympian Spring").
- 1921 Born: Robert C. Baker, American inventor and Cornell University professor who invented the chicken nugget as well as more than 40 other poultry related inventions.
- 1911 A meeting of the representatives from provinces in Nanking elected Sun Yat-sen as the provisional president of the Republic of China. He formally took office on January 1, 1912.
- 1910 Born: Ronald Coase, British economist and writer who was awarded the 1991 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences. He is also known for the Coarse theorem.
- 1898 Born: William Ewart Gladstone, British Liberal politician who served as Prime Minister of the UK four separate times. Gladstone's political career spanned over six decades.
- 1876 Two locomotives hauling 11 railcars of the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railway derailed and plunged into the river when the bridge over the Ashtabula River collapsed.
- 1851 The first YMCA in the United States opened in Boston, Massachusetts. It was founded by Captain Thomas Valentine Sullivan, an American seaman and missionary.
- 1778 British invasion force under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Archibald Campbell captured Savannah, Georgia during the American Revolutionary War.
- 1731 Died: Brook Taylor, English mathematician best known for the Taylor series and Taylor's theorem. One of his best known works is Methodus Incrementorum Directa & Inversa.
- 1721 Born: Jeanne Antoinette Poisson, also known as Madame de Pompadour, the official chief mistress of King Louis XV of France from 1745 until her death in 1764.
- 1709 Born: Elizabeth of Russia, also known as Elizaveta Petrovna, Empress of Russia from 1741 until her death in 1762. She remains one of the most popular Russian monarchs.
- 1689 Died: Thomas Sydenham, English physician and author. He is best known for discovering Sydenham's chorea, which is historically referred to as Saint Vitus Dance.
- 1170 Died: Thomas Becket, also known as Saint Thomas of Canterbury, Archbishop of Canterbury from 1162 until his death. He was murdered by followers of Henry II of England.