December 29 Birthday
On December 29, 1890, the 7th Cavalry opened fire on a Lakota camp at Wounded Knee Creek, South Dakota. The Lakota had been rounded up after the Ghost Dance movement. A deaf man named Black Coyote refused to give up his rifle, which he had paid for; it discharged accidentally. The cavalry opened fire. 300 Lakota were killed, including women and children. The Army awarded twenty Medals of Honor for the action. In 2001, the National Congress of American Indians called the medals "a stain on the honor of the United States." The massacre marked the effective end of the Indian Wars. On December 29, 1170, four knights of King Henry II rode to Canterbury Cathedral and murdered Archbishop Thomas Becket. Henry had said, in frustration, "Will no one rid me of this turbulent priest?" The knights took it as an order. Becket was killed at the altar. Henry did public penance — he walked barefoot through Canterbury and allowed himself to be flogged. Becket was canonized in 1173. People born on December 29 fall under the zodiac sign of Capricorn. The birthstone is Tanzanite and the birth flower is Holly. Historical events on December 29 include 1890: Wounded Knee Massacre — US Army kills 300 Lakota at Pine Ridge, 1170: Archbishop Thomas Becket murdered in Canterbury Cathedral, 1989: Václav Havel elected president of Czechoslovakia. Famous people born on December 29 include Andrew Johnson (1808), Ted Danson (1947), Jude Law (1972).