Calendar date · December

What happened on December 29

On December 29, 1170: Thomas 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.

Events

34

across history

Notable births

50

Notable deaths

50

Zodiac

Capricorn

People

Born on December 29

Ethan Mbappé 2006– French footballer (born 2006)
Davide Bartesaghi 2005– Italian footballer (born 2005)
Orkun Kökçü 2000– Footballer (born 2000)
Julio Rodríguez 2000– Dominican baseball player (born 2000)
Eliot Vassamillet 2000– Belgian singer (born 2000)
Andreas Skov Olsen 1999– Danish footballer (born 1999)
Francisco Trincão 1999– Portuguese footballer (born 1999)
Seamus Davey-Fitzpatrick 1998– American actor (born 1998)
Victor Osimhen 1998– Nigerian footballer (born 1998)
Show 9 more — notable births on December 29
Brandon Thomas-Asante 1998– Ghanaian association football player
Felix Keisinger 1997– German skeleton racer (born 1997)
Sana Minatozaki 1996– Japanese singer (born 1996)
Dylan Minnette 1996– American actor and musician (born 1996)
Myles Garrett 1995– American football player (born 1995)
Rina Ikoma 1995– Japanese actress (born 1995)
Ross Lynch 1995– American singer and actor (born 1995)
Kristel Fulgar 1994– Filipino actress, singer, and YouTuber (born 1994)
Princess Kako of Akishino 1994– Japanese princess (born 1994)

People

Died on December 29

Aaron Brown American journalist (1948–2024) Jimmy Carter President of the United States from 1977 to 1981
Linda Lavin American actress and singer (1937–2024)
Tomiko Itooka Japanese supercentenarian (1908–2024)
Gil de Ferran Brazilian racecar driver and team owner (1967–2023)
Pelé Brazilian footballer (1940–2022)
Edgar Savisaar Estonian politician (1950–2022)
Vivienne Westwood British fashion designer (1941–2022)
Peter Klatzow South African composer (1945–2021)
Show 9 more — notable deaths on December 29
Pierre Cardin Italian-French fashion designer (1922–2020)
Joe Louis Clark American educator (1938–2020)
Alexi Laiho Finnish musician (1979–2020)
Alasdair Gray Scottish writer and artist (1934–2019)
Neil Innes English songwriter, writer, comedian, and musician (1944–2019)
Brian Garfield American writer (1939–2018)
Rosenda Monteros Mexican actress (1935–2018)
Peggy Cummins British actress (1925–2017)
John C. Portman Jr. American architect (1924–2017)

Timeline

Every December 29 on record

  1. 1170 Thomas 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.

    Archbishop of Canterbury from 1162 to 1170

    Thomas Becket, also known as Saint Thomas of Canterbury, Thomas of London and later Thomas à Becket, was an English cleric and statesman who served as Lord Chancellor from 1155 to 1162, and then as Archbishop of Canterbury from 1162 until his death in 1170. He is known for his conflict with King Henry II over the rights and privileges of the Church and was murdered by followers of the king in Canterbury Cathedral. He was canonised by Pope Alexander III two years after his death.

  2. 1503 The 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.

    Part of the Third Italian War

    The Battle of Garigliano was fought on 29 December 1503 between a Spanish army under Gonzalo Fernández de Córdoba and a French army commanded by Ludovico II, Marquis of Saluzzo, resulting in a Spanish victory.

  3. 1607 According to John Smith, Pocahontas, daughter of Powhatan leader Wahunsenacawh, successfully pleads for his life after tribal leaders attempt to execute him.

    English soldier, explorer and writer (1580–1631)

    John Smith was an English soldier, explorer, admiral of New England, and author. He was knighted for his services to Sigismund Báthory, Prince of Transylvania, and his friend Mózes Székely. Following his return to England from a life as a soldier of fortune and as a slave, he played an important role in the establishment of the colony at Jamestown, Virginia, the first permanent English settlement in North America, in the early 17th century.

  4. 1778 American 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.

    1775–1783 conflict in North America

    The American Revolutionary War, also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was the armed conflict that comprised the final eight years of the broader American Revolution, in which American Patriot forces organized as the Continental Army and commanded by George Washington defeated the British Army. The conflict was fought in North America, the Caribbean, and the Atlantic Ocean. The war's outcome seemed uncertain for most of the war, but Washington and the Continental Army's decisive victory in the Siege of Yorktown in 1781 led King George III and the Kingdom of Great Britain to negotiate an end to the war.

  5. 1812 USS Constitution, under the command of Captain William Bainbridge, captures HMS Java off the coast of Brazil after a three-hour battle.

    1797 heavy frigate of the U.S. Navy

    USS Constitution, also known as Old Ironsides, is a three-masted wooden-hulled heavy frigate of the United States Navy. She is the world's oldest commissioned warship still afloat. She was launched in 1797, one of six original frigates authorized for construction by the Naval Act of 1794 and the third constructed.

  6. 1835 The Treaty of New Echota is signed, ceding all the lands of the Cherokee east of the Mississippi River to the United States.
  7. 1845 The United States annexes the Republic of Texas and admits it as the 28th state.
  8. 1860 The launch of HMS Warrior, with her combination of screw propeller, iron hull and iron armour, renders all previous warships obsolete.
  9. 1862 American 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.
  10. 1874 The 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.
  11. 1876 The Ashtabula River railroad disaster occurs, leaving 64 injured and 92 dead at Ashtabula, Ohio.
  12. 1890 Wounded Knee Massacre: On Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, 300 Lakota are killed by the United States 7th Cavalry Regiment.
  13. 1911 Mongolia gains independence from the Qing dynasty, enthroning 8th Jebtsundamba Khutughtu as Khagan of Mongolia.
  14. 1913 Cecil B. DeMille starts filming Hollywood's first feature film, The Squaw Man.
  15. 1930 Sir Muhammad Iqbal's presidential address in Allahabad introduces the two-nation theory and outlines a vision for the creation of Pakistan.
Show 15 earlier entries from December 29
  1. 1934 Japan renounces the Washington Naval Treaty of 1922 and the London Naval Treaty of 1930.
  2. 1937 The Irish Free State is replaced by a new state called Ireland with the adoption of a new constitution.
  3. 1940 World War II: in the Second Great Fire of London, the Luftwaffe fire-bombs London, England, killing almost 200 civilians.
  4. 1972 Eastern 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.
  5. 1975 A bomb explodes at LaGuardia Airport in New York City, killing 11 people and injuring more than 75.
  6. 1989 Czech writer, philosopher and dissident Václav Havel is elected the first post-communist President of Czechoslovakia.
  7. 1989 The 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.
  8. 1992 Fernando Collor de Mello, president of Brazil, tries to resign amidst corruption charges, but is then impeached.
  9. 1994 Turkish 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.
  10. 1996 Guatemala and leaders of Guatemalan National Revolutionary Unity sign a peace accord ending a 36-year civil war.
  11. 1998 Leaders of the Khmer Rouge apologize for the Cambodian genocide that claimed over one million lives.
  12. 2003 The last known speaker of Akkala Sami dies, rendering the language extinct.
  13. 2006 The UK settles its Anglo-American loan, post-WWII loan debt.
  14. 2012 A 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.
  15. 2013 A 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.

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