29 December in history
8 events that happened on 29 December, from 1170 to 1940.
✦ Anniversary of the day
1170 CE 856 years ago
Thomas Becket is murdered in Canterbury Cathedral
Four knights, believing they were carrying out Henry II's wishes, killed Archbishop Thomas Becket in his cathedral. Becket was canonised in 1173, and Canterbury became one of Europe's great pilgrimage sites.
1503 CE 523 years ago
Gonzalo Fernández de Córdoba routs the French on the Garigliano
After weeks of stalemate on the river Garigliano, Gonzalo Fernández de Córdoba's Spanish army crossed by surprise and routed the French under Ludovico II of Saluzzo. After the French surrender at Gaeta, Spain controlled the Kingdom of Naples.
1778 CE 248 years ago
British forces capture Savannah
A British expedition took Savannah, Georgia, opening a new campaign in the American South. The southern strategy brought early gains but ended with surrender at Yorktown in 1781.
1812 CE 214 years ago
USS Constitution defeats and captures HMS Java off Brazil
In a three-hour single-ship action off the coast of Brazil, the American frigate USS Constitution defeated and captured HMS Java, a former French frigate taken by the British in 1811. Java had 426 aboard, the Constitution 475.
1835 CE 191 years ago
The Treaty of New Echota cedes Cherokee lands east of the Mississippi
US commissioners and a small minority faction of Cherokee signed a treaty at New Echota, Georgia, ceding all Cherokee lands east of the Mississippi. Rejected by Principal Chief John Ross and most Cherokee, it led to the Trail of Tears.
1845 CE 181 years ago
Texas becomes the 28th US state
Nine years after winning independence from Mexico, Texas was admitted to the Union as a slave state. The annexation helped provoke the Mexican-American War the following year.
1940 CE 86 years ago
Firebombs start the 'Second Great Fire of London'
German bombers dropped thousands of incendiaries on the City of London, starting some 1,500 fires. Much of the square mile burned, but St Paul's Cathedral survived amid the smoke.
Born on 29 December 6
Died on 29 December 4
Dates as the sources give them: in the Julian calendar before 1582, and in some countries for longer (Britain until 1752, Russia until 1918). Only people whose day of birth or death the records agree on are listed.