Today is Tuesday, December 29, the 363rd day of 2009. There are two days left in the year.
1851 _ First Young Men's Christian Association chapter opened (Boston)
1852 _ Emma Snodgrass arrested in Boston for wearing pants
1862 _ Bowling ball invented
1885 _ Gottlieb Daimler patents first bike (Germany)
1891 _ Edison patents ``transmission of signals electrically" (radio)
1931 _ Identification of heavy water publicly announced, H.C. Urey
1949 _ Hungary nationalized its industries
1983 _ U.S. announces withdrawal from UNESCO
1997 _ Hong Kong begins slaughtering all its chickens to prevent bird flu
1997 _ Russia signs agreement to build a $3-billion nuclear power plant in China