Major Events on December 29
- 1170: Archbishop Thomas Becket is assassinated in Canterbury Cathedral by knights of King Henry II.
- 1835: The Treaty of New Echota cedes Cherokee lands, a precursor to the Trail of Tears.
- 1845: Texas is admitted as the 28th U.S. state.
- 1890: The Wounded Knee Massacre occurs in South Dakota, with U.S. troops killing hundreds of Lakota people.
- 1911: Mongolia declares independence from China’s Qing Dynasty.
- 1940: The “Second Great Fire of London” during the Blitz, with massive German bombing.
- 1992: Czech dissident playwright Václav Havel is elected President of Czechoslovakia.
- 1996: The Guatemalan Civil War officially ends.
Other Notable Events
- 1812: USS Constitution captures HMS Java in the War of 1812.
- 1908: The first YMCA opens in Boston.
- 1975: A bomb explodes at New York’s LaGuardia Airport, killing 11.
- 2002: China’s Shenzhou 4 spacecraft successfully completes its final uncrewed test flight.
