On This Day — 29 December
2000s
2024
Jeju Air Flight 2216 crashes into a wall in Muan, South Korea, killing 179 of the 181 occupants. It is the worst aircraft accident on South Korean soil in history.
Jeju Air Flight 2216
2023
South Africa files a genocide case against Israel at the International Court of Justice over Israeli conducts in the Gaza Strip.
South Africa
2020
A magnitude 6.4 earthquake hits near the town of Petrinja in Sisak-Moslavina County, Croatia, killing seven people.
2020 Petrinja earthquake
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.
December 2013 Volgograd bombings
2013
Seven-time Formula One champion Michael Schumacher suffers a massive head injury while skiing in the French Alps.
Formula One
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.
Tupolev Tu-204
2006
The UK settles its Anglo-American loan, post-WWII loan debt.
Anglo-American loan
2003
The last known speaker of Akkala Sami dies, rendering the language extinct.
Akkala Sámi
1900s
1998
Leaders of the Khmer Rouge apologize for the Cambodian genocide that claimed over one million lives.
Khmer Rouge
1996
Guatemala and leaders of Guatemalan National Revolutionary Unity sign a peace accord ending a 36-year civil war.
Guatemala
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.
Turkish Airlines Flight 278
1992
Fernando Collor de Mello, president of Brazil, tries to resign amidst corruption charges, but is then impeached.
Fernando Collor de Mello
1989
Czech writer, philosopher and dissident Václav Havel is elected the first post-communist President of Czechoslovakia.
Václav Havel
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.
Nikkei 225
1975
A bomb explodes at LaGuardia Airport in New York City, killing 11 people and injuring more than 75.
1975 LaGuardia Airport bombing
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.
Eastern Air Lines Flight 401
1940
World War II: in the Second Great Fire of London, the Luftwaffe fire-bombs London, England, killing almost 200 civilians.
World War II
1937
The Irish Free State is replaced by a new state called Ireland with the adoption of a new constitution.
Irish Free State
1934
Japan renounces the Washington Naval Treaty of 1922 and the London Naval Treaty of 1930.
Washington Naval Treaty
1930
Sir Muhammad Iqbal's presidential address in Allahabad introduces the two-nation theory and outlines a vision for the creation of Pakistan.
Muhammad Iqbal
1913
Cecil B. DeMille starts filming Hollywood's first feature film, The Squaw Man.
Cecil B. DeMille
1911
Mongolia gains independence from the Qing dynasty, enthroning 8th Jebtsundamba Khutughtu as Khagan of Mongolia.
Mongolia
1800s
1890
Wounded Knee Massacre: On Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, 300 Lakota are killed by the United States 7th Cavalry Regiment.
Wounded Knee Massacre
1876
The Ashtabula River railroad disaster occurs, leaving 64 injured and 92 dead at Ashtabula, Ohio.
Ashtabula River railroad disaster
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.
Arsenio Martínez Campos
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.
American Civil War
1860
The launch of HMS Warrior, with her combination of screw propeller, iron hull and iron armour, renders all previous warships obsolete.
HMS Warrior (1860)
1845
The United States annexes the Republic of Texas and admits it as the 28th state.
Texas annexation
1835
The Treaty of New Echota is signed, ceding all the lands of the Cherokee east of the Mississippi River to the United States.
Treaty of New Echota
1812
USS Constitution, under the command of Captain William Bainbridge, captures HMS Java off the coast of Brazil after a three-hour battle.
USS Constitution
Before 1800
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.
American Revolutionary War
1607
According to John Smith, Pocahontas, daughter of Powhatan leader Wahunsenacawh, successfully pleads for his life after tribal leaders attempt to execute him.
John Smith (explorer)
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.
Battle of Garigliano (1503)
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.
Thomas Becket