December 29th

Hong Kong begins slaughtering all its chickens to prevent bird flu.

A peace agreement was signed, ending 36 years of conflict in Guatemala.

Vaclav Havel was elected president of Czechoslovakia.

During World War II, Germany began dropping incendiary bombs on London.

The Constitution of Ireland, changing the Irish Free State into Eire, went into effect.

A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man published. The first novel of Irish writer, James Joyce, the book follows the life of Stephen Dedalus, who many believe was the author's alter ego. It first came out as a series in the literary magazine, The Egoist and was then published by American publisher B. W. Huebsch. James Joyce is best known for his book Ulysses, which is about a single day in the life of advertising agent, Leopold Bloom. In honor of the book, fans of the author celebrate an unofficial holiday, Bloomsday on June 16.

Mongolian Independence. The landlocked North East Asian country declared its independence from the Qing Dynasty, after the Mongolian Revolution of 1911. The country had been under the Qing rule for about 200 years.

French Equatorial Africa separates into Gabon, Chad & Ubangi-Shari.

The last major battle of the Indian Wars, at Wounded Knee Creek, took place with hundreds of Indian men, women, and children massacred.

The first Young Men's Christian Association (YMCA) opened in Boston.

Texas became the 28th state in the United States.

The Treaty of New Echota is signed, ceding all the lands of the Cherokee east of the Mississippi River to the United States.

Thomas Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury, was murdered by four knights acting under the orders of Henry II.