December 29Birthdays & History

On this day: December 29 in history

Oldest first. Tap a year to see it on the World Chronicle timeline.

1. 1170Thomas Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury, is assassinated inside Canterbury Cathedral by followers of King Henry II; he subsequently becomes a saint and martyr in the Anglican Communion and the Catholic Church.Europe
2. 1503The Battle of Garigliano was fought between a Spanish army under Gonzalo Fernández de Córdoba and a French army commanded by Ludovico II, Marquess of Saluzzo.Europe
3. 1607According to John Smith, Pocahontas, daughter of Powhatan leader Wahunsenacawh, successfully pleads for his life after tribal leaders attempt to execute him.North America
4. 1778American Revolutionary War: British forces under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Archibald Campbell defeat American forces under Major General Robert Howe and capture the port city of Savannah, Georgia.North AmericaEurope
5. 1812USS Constitution, under the command of Captain William Bainbridge, captures HMS Java off the coast of Brazil after a three-hour battle.AsiaLatin America
6. 1835The Treaty of New Echota is signed, ceding all the lands of the Cherokee east of the Mississippi River to the United States.North America
7. 1845The United States annexes the Republic of Texas and admits it as the 28th state.North America
8. 1860The launch of HMS Warrior, with her combination of screw propeller, iron hull and iron armour, renders all previous warships obsolete.Europe
9. 1862American Civil War: The Battle of Chickasaw Bayou ends in a Union defeat as forces under General William T. Sherman are repulsed with heavy losses by Confederate troops under General John C. Pemberton.North America
10. 1874The military coup of Gen. Martinez Campos in Sagunto ends the failed First Spanish Republic and the monarchy is restored as Prince Alfonso is proclaimed King of Spain.Europe
11. 1876The Ashtabula River railroad disaster occurs, leaving 64 injured and 92 dead at Ashtabula, Ohio.North America
12. 1890Wounded Knee Massacre: On Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, 300 Lakota are killed by the United States 7th Cavalry Regiment.AsiaNorth America
13. 1911Mongolia gains independence from the Qing dynasty, enthroning 8th Jebtsundamba Khutughtu as Khagan of Mongolia.Asia
14. 1913Cecil B. DeMille starts filming Hollywood's first feature film, The Squaw Man.North America
15. 1930Sir Muhammad Iqbal's presidential address in Allahabad introduces the two-nation theory and outlines a vision for the creation of Pakistan.Asia
16. 1934Japan renounces the Washington Naval Treaty of 1922 and the London Naval Treaty of 1930.AsiaNorth AmericaEurope
17. 1937The Irish Free State is replaced by a new state called Ireland with the adoption of a new constitution.Europe
18. 1940World War II: in the Second Great Fire of London, the Luftwaffe fire-bombs London, England, killing almost 200 civilians.Europe
19. 1972Eastern Air Lines Flight 401 (a Lockheed L-1011 TriStar) crashes in the Florida Everglades on approach to Miami International Airport, Florida, killing 101 of the 176 people on board.North America
20. 1975A bomb explodes at LaGuardia Airport in New York City, killing 11 people and injuring more than 75.North America
21. 1989Czech writer, philosopher and dissident Václav Havel is elected the first post-communist President of Czechoslovakia.Europe
22. 1989The Nikkei 225 for the Tokyo Stock Exchange hits its all-time intra-day high of 38,957.44 and closing high at 38,915.87, serving as the apex of the Japanese asset price bubble.Asia
23. 1992Fernando Collor de Mello, president of Brazil, tries to resign amidst corruption charges, but is then impeached.Latin America
24. 1994Turkish Airlines Flight 278 (a Boeing 737-400) crashes on approach to Van Ferit Melen Airport in Van, Turkey, killing 57 of the 76 people on board.Middle East
25. 1996Guatemala and leaders of Guatemalan National Revolutionary Unity sign a peace accord ending a 36-year civil war.Latin America
26. 1998Leaders of the Khmer Rouge apologize for the Cambodian genocide that claimed over one million lives.Asia
27. 2003The last known speaker of Akkala Sami dies, rendering the language extinct.Europe
28. 2006The UK settles its Anglo-American loan, post-WWII loan debt.EuropeNorth America
29. 2012A Tupolev Tu-204 airliner crashes in a ditch between the airport fence and the M3 highway after overshooting a runway at Vnukovo International Airport in Moscow, Russia, killing five people and leaving three others critically injured.Europe
30. 2013Seven-time Formula One champion Michael Schumacher suffers a massive head injury while skiing in the French Alps.Europe
31. 2013A suicide bomb attack at the Volgograd-1 railway station in the southern Russian city of Volgograd kills at least 18 people and wounds 40 others.Europe
32. 2020A magnitude 6.4 earthquake hits near the town of Petrinja in Sisak-Moslavina County, Croatia, killing seven people.Europe
33. 2023South Africa files a genocide case against Israel at the International Court of Justice over Israeli conducts in the Gaza Strip.AfricaMiddle East
34. 2024Jeju Air Flight 2216 crashes into a wall in Muan, South Korea, killing 179 of the 181 occupants. It is the worst aircraft accident on South Korean soil in history.Asia

Source: Wikipedia "December 29" / CC BY-SA 4.0