Thomas Sydenham, English physician and author (born 1624)

Thomas Sydenham was an English physician. He was the author of Observationes Medicae (1676) which became a standard textbook of medicine for two centuries so that he became known as 'The English Hippocrates'. Among his many achievements was the discovery of a disease, Sydenham's chorea, also known as St Vitus' Dance. To him is attributed the prescient dictum, "A man is as old as his arteries."

December 29 is the 363rd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar; two days remain until the end of the year.