http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history
Dec 29, 1890: U.S. Army massacres Indians at Wounded Knee
On this day in 1890, in the final chapter of America's long Indian wars, the U.S. Cavalry kills 146 Sioux at Wounded Knee on the Pine Ridge reservation in South Dakota.
Throughout 1890, the U.S. government worried about the increasing influence at Pine Ridge of the Ghost Dance spiritual movement, which taught that Indians had been defeated and confined to reservations because they had angered the gods by abandoning their traditional customs. Many Sioux believed that if they practiced the Ghost Dance and rejected the ways of the white man, the gods would create the world anew and destroy all non-believers, including non-Indians. On December 15, 1890, reservation police tried to arrest Sitting Bull, the famous Sioux chief, who they mistakenly believed was a Ghost Dancer, and killed him in the process, increasing the tensions at Pine Ridge.
On December 29, the U.S. Army's 7th cavalry surrounded a band of Ghost Dancers under the Sioux Chief Big Foot near Wounded Knee Creek and demanded they surrender their weapons. As that was happening, a fight broke out between an Indian and a U.S. soldier and a shot was fired, although it's unclear from which side. A brutal massacre followed, in which it's estimated almost 150 Indians were killed (some historians put this number at twice as high), nearly half of them women and children. The cavalry lost 25 men.
The conflict at Wounded Knee was originally referred to as a battle, but in reality it was a tragic and avoidable massacre. Surrounded by heavily armed troops, it's unlikely that Big Foot's band would have intentionally started a fight. Some historians speculate that the soldiers of the 7th Cavalry were deliberately taking revenge for the regiment's defeat at Little Bighorn in 1876. Whatever the motives, the massacre ended the Ghost Dance movement and was the last major confrontation in America's deadly war against the Plains Indians.
Conflict came to Wounded Knee again in February 1973 when it was the site of a 71-day occupation by the activist group AIM (American Indian Movement) and its supporters, who were protesting the U.S. government's mistreatment of Native Americans. During the standoff, two Indians were killed, one federal marshal was seriously wounded and numerous people were arrested.
Dec 29, 1940: Worst air raid on London
On the evening of December 29, 1940, London suffers its most devastating air raid when Germans firebomb the city. Hundreds of fires caused by the exploding bombs engulfed areas of London, but firefighters showed a valiant indifference to the bombs falling around them and saved much of the city from destruction. The next day, a newspaper photo of St. Paul's Cathedral standing undamaged amid the smoke and flames seemed to symbolize the capital's unconquerable spirit during the Battle of Britain.
In May and June 1940, Holland, Belgium, Norway, and France fell one by one to the German Wehrmacht, leaving Great Britain alone in its resistance against Nazi leader Adolf Hitler's plans for world domination. The British Expeditionary Force escaped the continent with an impromptu evacuation from Dunkirk, but they left behind the tanks and artillery needed to defend their homeland against invasion. With British air and land forces outnumbered by their German counterparts, and U.S. aid not yet begun, it seemed certain that Britain would soon follow the fate of France. However, Winston Churchill, the new British prime minister, promised his nation and the world that Britain would "never surrender," and the British people mobilized behind their defiant leader.
On June 5, the Luftwaffe began attacks on English Channel ports and convoys, and on June 30 Germany seized control of the undefended Channel Islands. On July 10--the first day of the Battle of Britain according to the RAF--the Luftwaffe intensified its bombing of British ports. Six days later, Hitler ordered the German army and navy to prepare for Operation Sea Lion. On July 19, the German leader made a speech in Berlin in which he offered a conditional peace to the British government: Britain would keep its empire and be spared from invasion if its leaders accepted the German domination of the European continent. A simple radio message from Lord Halifax swept the proposal away.
Germany needed to master the skies over Britain if it was to transport safely its superior land forces across the 21-mile English Channel. On August 8, the Luftwaffe intensified its raids against the ports in an attempt to draw the British air fleet out into the open. Simultaneously, the Germans began bombing Britain's sophisticated radar defense system and RAF-fighter airfields. During August, as many as 1,500 German aircraft crossed the Channel daily, often blotting out the sun as they flew against their British targets. Despite the odds against them, the outnumbered RAF fliers successfully resisted the massive German air invasion, relying on radar technology, more maneuverable aircraft, and exceptional bravery. For every British plane shot down, two Luftwaffe warplanes were destroyed.
At the end of August, the RAF launched a retaliatory air raid against Berlin. Hitler was enraged and ordered the Luftwaffe to shift its attacks from RAF installations to London and other British cities. On September 7, the Blitz against London began, and after a week of almost ceaseless attacks several areas of London were in flames and the royal palace, churches, and hospitals had all been hit. However, the concentration on London allowed the RAF to recuperate elsewhere, and on September 15 the RAF launched a vigorous counterattack, downing 56 German aircraft in two dogfights that lasted less than an hour.
The costly raid convinced the German high command that the Luftwaffe could not achieve air supremacy over Britain, and the next day daylight attacks were replaced with nighttime sorties as a concession of defeat. On September 19, Nazi leader Adolf Hitler postponed indefinitely "Operation Sea Lion"--the amphibious invasion of Britain. The Battle of Britain, however, continued.
In October, Hitler ordered a massive bombing campaign against London and other cities to crush British morale and force an armistice. Despite significant loss of life and tremendous material damage to Britain's cities, the country's resolve remained unbroken. The ability of Londoners to maintain their composure had much to do with Britain's survival during this trying period. As American journalist Edward R. Murrow reported, "Not once have I heard a man, woman, or child suggest that Britain should throw her hand." In May 1941, the air raids essentially ceased as German forces massed near the border of the USSR.
By denying the Germans a quick victory, depriving them of forces to be used in their invasion of the USSR, and proving to America that increased arms support for Britain was not in vain, the outcome of the Battle of Britain greatly changed the course of World War II. As Churchill said of the RAF fliers during the Battle of Britain, "Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few."
Dec 29, 1170: The making of an English martyr
Archbishop Thomas Becket is brutally murdered in Canterbury Cathedral by four knights of King Henry II of England, apparently on orders of the king.
In 1155, Henry II appointed Becket as chancellor, a high post in the English government. Becket proved a skilled diplomat and won the trust of Henry, who nominated him as archbishop of Canterbury in 1162. The king hoped his friend would help in his efforts to curb the growing power of the church. However, soon after his consecration, the new archbishop emerged a zealous defender of the jurisdiction of the church over its own affairs. In 1164, Becket was forced to flee to France under fear of retaliation by the king.
He was later reconciled with Henry and in 1170 returned to Canterbury amid great public rejoicing. Soon afterward, against the objections of the pope, Henry had his son crowned co-king by the archbishop of York, and tensions again came to a head between Becket and Henry. At this time, perhaps merely in a moment of frustration, the king issued to his court the following public plea: "What a parcel of fools and dastards have I nourished in my house, and not one of them will avenge me of this one upstart clerk." A group of Henry's knights took the statement very seriously, and on December 29, Thomas Becket was murdered in Canterbury Cathedral.
The Christian world was shocked by Becket's death, and in 1173 he was canonized a Catholic saint. In 1174, Henry was forced to do penance at his tomb, and his efforts to end the separation between church and state ceased. In 1220, Becket's bones were transferred to Trinity Chapel in Canterbury Cathedral, which later became a popular site of English religious pilgrimage.
Dec 29, 1915: French government gives land for British war cemeteries
On this day in 1915, the French National Assembly passes a law formally ceding the land that holds the British war cemeteries to Great Britain. The move ensured even as the war was being fought that its saddest and most sacred monuments would be forever protected.
The law stated that the land was "the free gift of the French people for a perpetual resting place of those who are laid there." By the end of the war, it would apply to more than 1,200 cemeteries along the Western Front, the majority located near the battlefields in the Somme, Nord, and Pas-de-Calais regions. The Commonwealth War Graves Commission, established in 1917 by a British royal charter, supervised the construction of the cemeteries and their monuments, which were designed by some of the most prominent British architects of the day. The last monument was put in place in 1938.
The French office of the commission is charged with the maintenance of these cemeteries; between 400 and 500 members of its staff tend the graves and the surrounding horticulture. In addition to the cemeteries, the Commonwealth War Graves Commission also tends to the numerous monuments that exist on the Western Front to commemorate the missing. One of the largest of these stands at Thiepval, on the Somme battlefield, and bears the names of 73,357 British and South African soldiers and officers who died there between July 1915 and March 1918 and whose final resting place is not known.
Dec 29, 1845: Texas enters the Union
Six months after the congress of the Republic of Texas accepts U.S. annexation of the territory, Texas is admitted into the United States as the 28th state.
After gaining independence from Spain in the 1820s, Mexico welcomed foreign settlers to sparsely populated Texas, and a large group of Americans led by Stephen F. Austin settled along the Brazos River. The Americans soon outnumbered the resident Mexicans, and by the 1830s attempts by the Mexican government to regulate these semi-autonomous American communities led to rebellion. In March 1836, in the midst of armed conflict with the Mexican government, Texas declared its independence from Mexico.
The Texas volunteers initially suffered defeat against the forces of Mexican General Santa Anna--the Alamo fell and Sam Houston's troops were forced into an eastward retreat. However, in late April, Houston's troops surprised a Mexican force at San Jacinto, and Santa Anna was captured, bringing an end to Mexico's efforts to subdue Texas. The citizens of the independent Republic of Texas elected Sam Houston president but also endorsed the entrance of Texas into the Union. The likelihood of Texas joining the Union as a slave state delayed any formal action by the U.S. Congress for more than a decade. In 1844, Congress finally agreed to annex the territory of Texas. On December 29, 1845, Texas entered the United States as a slave state, broadening the irrepressible differences in the United States over the issue of slavery and setting off the Mexican-American War.
Here's a more detailed look at events that transpired on this date throughout history:
1170 - Assassination inside Canterbury Cathedral of Thomas Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury by followers of King Henry II; he subsequently becomes a saint and martyr in the Anglican Church and the Roman Catholic Church.
1503 - Battle at Carigliano: Spanish army beats France
1539 - St Jacobs Church burns after being hit by lightning
1541 - Isabella of Poland & King Ferdinand of Austria sign Treaty of Gyalu
1558 - Charles V, German Emperor, buried
1705 - Prosper Jolyot's "Idomenée," premieres in Paris
1708 - Great Alliance occupies Gent
1778 - English troops occupy Savannah, Georgia
1782 - 1st nautical almanac in US published by Samuel Stearns, Boston
1786 - French Revolution: The Assembly of Notables is convoked
1812 - The USS Constitution under the command of Captain William Bainbridge, captures the HMS Java off the coast of Brazil after a three hour battle.
1813 - British burn Buffalo, NY during War of 1812
1835 - The Treaty of New Echota is signed, ceding all the lands of the Cherokee east of the Mississippi River to the United States.
1837 - Canadian militia destroy Caroline, a US steamboat docked at Buffalo
1837 - Steam-powered threshing machine patented, Winthrop, Maine
1841 - King/grand duke Willem II installs Order of Eikenkroon
1845 - Texas admitted as 28th state
1848 - Gas lights 1st installed at White House (Polk's administration)
1851 - 1st American Young Men's Christian Association (YMCA) chapter opened in Boston Massachusetts.
Archbishop of Canterbury Thomas BecketArchbishop of Canterbury Thomas Becket 1852 - Emma Snodgrass arrested in Boston for wearing pants
1857 - Franz Liszt's "Die Hunnenschlacht," premieres in Weimar
1860 - The first British seagoing iron-clad warship, HMS Warrior is launched.
1862 - Battle of Chichasaw Bayou: confederate armies defeat Gen Sherman
1862 - Bowling ball invented
1864 - Fire Dept celebrates 1st annual ball
1867 - 1st telegraph ticker used by a brokerage house, Groesbeck & Co, NY
1876 - 11 passenger cars crash in a ravine near Ashtabula Ohio, 92 die
1885 - Gottlieb Daimler patents 1st bike (Germany)
1890 - US 7th Cavalry massacre 200+ captive Sioux at Wounded Knee, SD
1891 - Edison patents "transmission of signals electrically" (radio)
1895 - Dr L S Jameson begins failed raid on Johannesburg
1899 - English fleet brings German postschip Bundesrath up
1900 - General Viljoen surprise attack British garrison to Helvetia
1903 - French Equatorial Africa separates into Gabon, Chad& amp; Ubangi-Shari
Composer/Pianist Franz LisztComposer/Pianist Franz Liszt 1906 - Montreal Wanderers beat New Glasgow (NS) for Stanley Cup (2nd of 1906)
1908 - Patent granted for a 4-wheel automobile brake, Clintonville, Wisc
1911 - Proclamation restores "Dei Gratia" from Canada's coins
1911 - SF Symphony formed
1911 - Sun Yat-sen becomes the first President of the Republic of China.
1911 - Mongolia gains independence from the Qing dynasty.
1913 - 1st movie serial, "Adventures of Kathlyn," premieres in Chicago
1920 - The netherlands/Venezuela recover diplomatic relations
1920 - Yugoslav government bans communist party
1921 - William Lyon Mackenzie King succeeded Arthur Meighen as Canadian PM
1922 - Dutch Constitution proclaimed
1922 - Revised Netherlands Law proclaims suffrage
1926 - Vatican puts French fascist Charles Maurras' work on the index
1926 - Victoria (1107) beat NSW (221 & 230) by an innings 656 runs
1929 - Police arrest Sukarno & 100s PNI-leaders
1930 - Fred P Newton completes longest swim ever (1826 miles), when he swam in the Mississippi River from Ford Dam, Minn, to New Orleans
1931 - Identification of heavy water publicly announced, HC Urey
1931 - Victoria score 7 for 435 in second innings to beat NSW
Baseball Great Babe RuthBaseball Great Babe Ruth 1933 - Yank refuses to release Babe Ruth so he can manage the Cin Reds
1934 - 1st collegiate basketball doubleheader (Madison Square Garden)
1934 - Federico Garcia Lorca's "Yerma," premieres in Madrid
1934 - Japan renounces Wash Naval Treaty of 1922 & London Treaty of 1930
1937 - 2nd Irish constitution goes into effect; Irish Free State renamed Erie
1937 - Ireland adopts constitution (Irish Free State becomes Eire)
1937 - Lou Thesz beats E Marshall in St Louis, to become wrestling champ
1937 - Pan Am starts San Francisco-to-Auckland, New Zealand service
1938 - Construction on Lake Washington Floating Bridge, Seattle, begins
1939 - First flight of the Consolidated B-24.
1940 - Germany begins dropping incendiary bombs on London (WW II)
1940 - NFL Pro Bowl: Chi Bears beats NFL All-Stars 28-14
1944 - Belgian nazi Leon Degrelle at default to the death sentenced
1944 - Gen Eisenhowers train returns to Versailles
1947 - Ship carrying Jewish immigrants driven away from Palestine
1948 - "Rape of Lucretia" opens at Ziegfeld Theater NYC for 23 performances
1948 - Canada recognizes Israel
1948 - US State Dept announces work on placing objects into Earth orbit
1949 - 1st UHF television station operating regular basis (Bridgeport Ct)
1949 - Hungary nationalized its industries
1951 - Flying Enterprise in difficulty in Canal
1952 - 1st transistorized hearing aid offered for sale (Elmsford NY)
1954 - Kingdom of Netherlands, with Netherlands & Netherlands Antilles as autonomous parts, comes into being
Singer-songwriter & Actress Barbra StreisandSinger-songwriter & Actress Barbra Streisand 1955 - Barbra Streisand's 1st recording "You'll Never Know" at age 13
1957 - Detroit Lions beat Cleveland Browns 50-14 in NFL championship game
1957 - Singers Steve Lawrence & Eydie Gorme wed in Las Vegas
1958 - Balt Colts beat NY Giants 23-17 in NFL championship game
1958 - TV soap "Young Dr Malone" debuts
1959 - Saul Levitt's "Andersonville Trial," premieres in NYC
1962 - Doug Walters makes 1st-class debut for NSW 17 yrs 8 days
1963 - 52nd Davis Cup: USA beats Australia in Adelaide (3-2)
1965 - "Thunderball" premieres in US
1965 - CBS purchases NFL TV rights for 1966-68 at $18.8 million per year
1965 - Supremes release "My World is Empty Without You"
1966 - Pirate Radio Phoenix, 1st transmission (Worcester, Mass)
1967 - Star Trek's "Trouble With Tribbles" 1st airs
1967 - Turkish-Cypriot government forms in Cyprus
1968 - Balt Colts beat Cleveland Browns 34-0 in NFL championship game
1968 - Israeli commandos destroy 13 Lebanese airplanes
1968 - NY Jets beat Oakland Raiders 27-23 in AFL championship game
1969 - NY Times reports Curt Flood will sue baseball & challenge the reserve clause
1972 - Eastern Tristar Jumbo Jet crashes near Everglades killing 101
1972 - Life magazine ceases publication
1972 - Test Cricket debut of Jeff Thomson & Max Walker v Pakistan at MCG
1974 - Murray Schisgal's "All Over Town," premieres in NYC
1975 - 11 killed, 75 hurt by terrorist bomb at LaGuardia Airport in NYC
1977 - Ronald Ribman's "Cold Storage," premieres in NYC
1978 - Shah of Iran, asks Shapour Bahktiar to form a civilian government
1978 - Spain constitution goes into effect
1978 - Test Cricket debut of Allan Robert Border, v England at the MCG
1979 - Red Army beats NY Islanders 3-2 at Nassau Coliseum
1980 - Shuttle STS-1 moves from Vandenberg AFB to Launch Complex 39A
1982 - Bob Marley postage stamp issued in Jamaica
1982 - Coach Paul "Bear" Bryant ends his career with Alabama (323 wins)
1983 - Gavaskar makes the highest Test Cricket score by an Indian, 236* v WI
1983 - Graeme Yallop completes 268 v Pakistan at cricket MCG
1983 - US announced withdrawal from UNESCO
1984 - 5th United Negro College Fund
1984 - Blues took 27 shots against Islanders in 1 period
1984 - Indian PM Rajiv Gandhi claims victory in parlimetary elections
1988 - Soviet Red Army Team edges NY Islanders, 3-2 at Nassau Coliseum
1988 - Victorian Post Office Museum in Australia closes
1989 - Jane Pauley says goodbye to NBC's "Today" show
1989 - Vaclav Havel becomes president of Czechoslovakia
1989 - Wayne Gretzky & Martina Navratilova, named athletes of decade by AP
1989 - Riots break-out after Hong Kong decides to forcibly repatriate Vietnamese refugees.
1991 - "Christmas Carol" closes at Eugene O'Neill Theater NYC after 14 perfs
Tennis Player Martina NavratilovaTennis Player Martina Navratilova 1991 - 12th United Negro College Fund
1991 - Boeing 747-200F of China Airlines crash into mountain at Taipei
1992 - Gov Cuomo grants Jean Harris (Scarsdale Diet Dr killer) clemency
1993 - Courtney Love sues doctors for leaking news of her methadone treatment
1993 - Todd Bridges arrested for transporting methamphetamine (speed)
1994 - B737-400 flies into a mountain at Edremit East Turkey, 54 killed
1994 - Bangladesh government of Zia resigns
1994 - Last Dutch electro-magnetic telephone exchange shuts down
1994 - Shane Warne takes a hat-trick v England at cricket MCG
1996 - "Dreams & Nightmares" closes at Martin Beck Theater NYC
1996 - "Skylight" closes at Royale Theater NYC after
1996 - "Taking Sides" closes at Atkinson Theater NYC
1997 - Carquest Bowl 8: Georgia Tech beats West Virginia, 35-30
1997 - Hong Kong begins slaughtering all its chickens to prevent bird flu
1997 - Orville Lynn Majors, 36, arrested for many deaths under his care
Singer-Songwriter Courtney LoveSinger-Songwriter Courtney Love 1997 - Russia signs agreement to build a $3B nuclear power plant in China
1998 - Leaders of the Khmer Rouge apologize for the 1970s genocide in Cambodia that claimed over 1 million.
2001 - Mesa Redonda shopping center fire, Lima, Peru, at least 291 killed.
2012 - 200 people are executed by the Syrian army in Homs
2012 - 21 security personnel are killed by Pakistani Taliban near Peshawar
2012 - 5 people are killed in a Tupolev Tu-204 plane crash in Moscow
1170 - St. Thomas à Becket, the 40th archbishop of Canterbury, was murdered in his own cathedral by four knights acting on Henry II's orders. 1812 - The USS Constitution won a battle with the British ship HMS Java about 30 miles off the coast of Brazil. Before Commodore William Bainbridge ordered the sinking of the Java he had her wheel removed to replace the one the Constitution had lost during the battle. 1813 - The British burned Buffalo, NY, during the War of 1812. 1837 - Canadian militiamen destroyed the Caroline, a U.S. steamboat docked at Buffalo, NY. 1845 - U.S. President James Polk and signed legislation making Texas the 28th state of the United States. 1848 - U.S. President James Polk turned on the first gas light at the White House. 1851 - The first American Young Men's Christian Association was organized, in Boston, MA. 1860 - The HMS Warrior, Britain's first seagoing first iron-hulled warship, was launched. 1888 - The first performance of Macbeth took place at the Lyceum Theatre. 1890 - The U.S. Seventh Cavalry massacred over 400 men, women and children at Wounded Knee Creek, SD. This was the last major conflict between Indians and U.S. troops. 1895 - The Jameson Raid from Mafikeng into Transvaal, which attempted to overthrow Kruger's Boer government, started. 1911 - Sun Yat-sen became the first president of a republican China. 1913 - "The Unwelcome Throne" was released by Selig’s Polyscope Company. This was a moving picture and the first serial motion picture. 1934 - The first regular-season, college basketball game was played at Madison Square Garden in New York City. New York University defeated Notre Dame 25-18. 1934 - Japan renounced the Washington Naval Treaty of 1922 and the London Naval Treaty of 1930. 1937 - Babe Ruth returned to baseball as the new manager of the Class D, De Land Reds of the Florida State League. Ruth had retired from baseball in 1935. 1940 - During World War II, Germany began dropping incendiary bombs on London. 1945 - The mystery voice of Mr. Hush was heard for the first time on the radio show, "Truth or Consequences", hosted by Ralph Edwards. 1945 - Sheb Wooley recorded the first commercial record made in Nashville, TN. 1949 - KC2XAK of Bridgeport, Connecticut became the first ultrahigh frequency (UHF) television station to begin operating on a regular daily schedule. 1952 - The first transistorized hearing aid was offered for sale by Sonotone Corporation. 1953 - Jean Stapleton debuted in her first Broadway play, "In the Summer House", which closed after only 55 performances. 1972 - Following 36 years of publication, the last weekly issue of "LIFE" magazine hit the newsstands. The magazine later became a monthly publication. 1975 - A bomb exploded in the main terminal of New York's LaGuardia Airport. 11 people were killed. 1985 - Phil Donahue and a Soviet radio commentator hosted the "Citizens’ Summit" via satellite TV. 1986 - The Biltmore Hotel in Coral Gables, FL, reopened for business after eighteen years and $47 million expended on restoration. 1989 - Following Hong Kong's decision to forcibly repatriate some Vietnamese refugees, thousands of Vietnamese 'boat people' battled with riot police. 1996 - The Guatemalan government and leaders of the leftist Guatemalan National Revolutionary Union signed a peace accord in Guatemala City, ending a civil war that had lasted 36 years. 1997 - Hong Kong began killing 1.25 million chickens, the entire population, for fear of the spread of 'bird flu'. 1998 - Khmer Rouge leaders apologized for the 1970s genocide in Cambodia that claimed 1 million lives.
1170 Thomas Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury, was murdered by four knights acting under the orders of Henry II. 1845 Texas became the 28th state in the United States. 1851 The first Young Men's Christian Association (YMCA) opened in Boston. 1890 The last major battle of the Indian Wars, at Wounded Knee Creek, took place with hundreds of Indian men, women, and children massacred. 1937 The Constitution of Ireland, changing the Irish Free State into Eire, went into effect. 1940 During World War II, Germany began dropping incendiary bombs on London. 1989 Vaclav Havel was elected president of Czechoslovakia. 1996 A peace agreement was signed, ending 36 years of conflict in Guatemala.
The following links are to web sites that were used to complete this blog entry:
http://www.historyorb.com/today/events.php
http://on-this-day.com/onthisday/thedays/alldays/dec29.htm
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history
http://www.infoplease.com/dayinhistory
No comments:
Post a Comment