December 29

1170 – Thomas Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury, is assassinated inside Canterbury Cathedral by followers of King Henry II

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

1778 – During the Revolutionary War, 3000 British soldiers under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Archibald Campbell capture Savannah, Georgia.

1812 – The USS Constitution, under the command of Captain William Bainbridge, captures HMS Java off the coast of Brazil

1835 – The Treaty of New Echota is signed, ceding all the lands of the Cherokee tribe east of the Mississippi River to the United States.

1845 – In accordance with the International Boundary Delimitation, the United States annexes the Republic of Texas, following the manifest destiny doctrine and is admitted as the 28th state.

1876 – A railroad bridge over the Ashtabula River northeast of Cleveland collapses while the Pacific Express of the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railway passes over it, killing 92 of the 160 passengers and crew aboard.

1890 – On the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, in South Dakota, 300 Lakota and 31 Army soldiers are killed in battle near Wounded Knee creek when the U.S. troops attempt to disarm the camp.

1934 – Japan renounces the Washington Naval Treaty of 1922 and the London Naval Treaty of 1930 which limited construction of warships and begins to rearm.

1939 – The  prototype of the Consolidated B-24 Liberator bomber makes its first flight.

1949 – KC2XAK of Bridgeport, Connecticut becomes the first Ultra High Frequency television station to operate a daily schedule on UHF channel 24.

1970- The Occupational Safety and Health Act is signed into law by President Nixon, creating bureaucrapacy OSHA

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 passengers and crew aboard.

1975 – A bomb placed by unknown terrorists explodes at LaGuardia Airport in New York City, killing 11 people and injuring 74.

2018 – The lowest recorded temperature of -111C (-167F) is registered by the NOAA-20 satellite in the western Pacific at top of a large storm system.