On This Day — 29 November

2025

The Government of Jordan officially announces the launch of the Amra City development project during a site visit by the Prime Minister.

Politics of Jordan

2013

LAM Mozambique Airlines 470 crashes in the Bwabata National Park in a pilot mass murder-suicide, killing all 33 people on board.

LAM Mozambique Airlines Flight 470

2009

Maurice Clemmons shoots and kills four police officers inside a coffee shop in Lakewood, Washington.

2009 Lakewood shooting

2007

The Armed Forces of the Philippines lay siege to the Peninsula Manila after soldiers led by Senator Antonio Trillanes stage a mutiny.

Armed Forces of the Philippines

1987

North Korean agents plant a bomb on Korean Air Flight 858, which kills all 115 passengers and crew.

Korean Air Flight 858

1986

The Surinamese military attacks the village of Moiwana during the Suriname Guerrilla War, killing at least 39 civilians, mostly women and children.

Suriname National Army

1982

Michael Jackson releases Thriller, the best-selling music album of all time.

Michael Jackson

1972

Atari releases Pong, the first commercially successful video game.

Atari, Inc.

1967

U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara announces his resignation.

United States Secretary of Defense

1963

U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson establishes the Warren Commission to investigate the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.

Lyndon B. Johnson

1963

Trans-Canada Air Lines Flight 831 crashes shortly after takeoff from Montreal-Dorval International Airport, killing all 118 people on board.

Trans-Canada Air Lines Flight 831

1963

"I Want to Hold Your Hand", recorded on October 17, 1963, is released by the Beatles in the United Kingdom.

I Want to Hold Your Hand

1961

Enos, a chimpanzee, is launched into space. The spacecraft orbits the Earth twice and splashes down off the coast of Puerto Rico.

Enos (chimpanzee)

1952

U.S. President-elect Dwight D. Eisenhower fulfills a campaign promise by traveling to Korea to find out what can be done to end the conflict.

Dwight D. Eisenhower

1947

The United Nations General Assembly approve the United Nations Partition Plan for Palestine.

United Nations General Assembly

1947

French forces carry out a massacre at Mỹ Trạch, Vietnam during the First Indochina War.

Mỹ Trạch massacre

1945

The Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia is declared.

Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia

1944

Albania is liberated by the Partisans.

Albania

1943

The second session of the Anti-Fascist Council for the National Liberation of Yugoslavia (AVNOJ), held to determine the post-war ordering of the country, concludes in Jajce (present-day Bosnia and Herzegovina).

Anti-Fascist Council for the National Liberation of Yugoslavia

1929

U.S. Admiral Richard E. Byrd leads the first expedition to fly over the South Pole.

Richard E. Byrd

1920

The Armenian Revolutionary Committee declares Armenia to be a Soviet Socialist Republic, starting 71 years of Soviet rule in Armenia

Revolutionary committee (Soviet)

1899

FC Barcelona is founded by Catalan, Spanish and Englishmen. It later develops into one of Spanish and world football's most iconic and strongest teams.

FC Barcelona

1890

The Meiji Constitution goes into effect in Japan, and the first Diet convenes.

Meiji Constitution

1877

Thomas Edison demonstrates his phonograph for the first time.

Thomas Edison

1872

The Modoc War begins with the Battle of Lost River.

Modoc War

1864

Colorado War: Colorado volunteers led by Colonel John Chivington massacre at least 150 Cheyenne and Arapaho noncombatants at Sand Creek inside Colorado Territory.

Colorado War

1864

American Civil War: The Confederate Army of Tennessee misses an opportunity to crush the Union Army of the Ohio in the Battle of Spring Hill during the Franklin–Nashville campaign.

Army of Tennessee

1863

American Civil War: Union forces under General Ambrose Burnside successfully defend Knoxville, Tennessee from an attack by Confederate forces under General James Longstreet in the Battle of Fort Sanders during the Siege of Knoxville.

American Civil War

1850

The treaty, Punctation of Olmütz, is signed in Olomouc. Prussia capitulates to Austria, which will take over the leadership of the German Confederation.

Punctation of Olmütz

1847

The Sonderbund is defeated by the joint forces of other Swiss cantons under General Guillaume-Henri Dufour.

Sonderbund War

1847

Missionaries Dr. Marcus Whitman, his wife Narcissa, and 15 others are killed by Cayuse and Umatilla Indians, causing the Cayuse War.

Marcus Whitman

1830

An armed rebellion against Russia's rule in Poland begins.

November Uprising

1807

John VI of Portugal flees Lisbon from advancing Napoleonic forces during the Peninsular War, transferring the Portuguese court to Brazil.

John VI of Portugal

1783

A 5.3 magnitude earthquake strikes New Jersey.

1783 New Jersey earthquake

1781

The crew of the British slave ship Zong murders 54 Africans by dumping them into the sea to claim insurance, beginning the Zong massacre.

Insurance

1777

San Jose, California, is founded as Pueblo de San José de Guadalupe by José Joaquín Moraga. It is the first civilian settlement, or pueblo, in Alta California.

San Jose, California

1776

During the American Revolutionary War, the Battle of Fort Cumberland, Nova Scotia, comes to an end with the arrival of British reinforcements.

American Revolutionary War

1732

The magnitude 6.6 Irpinia earthquake causes 1,940 deaths in the former Kingdom of Naples, southern Italy.

1732 Irpinia earthquake

1729

Natchez Indians massacre 138 Frenchmen, 35 French women, and 56 children at Fort Rosalie, near the site of modern-day Natchez, Mississippi.

Natchez people

1612

The Battle of Swally takes place, which loosens the Portuguese Empire's hold on India.

Battle of Swally

1549

The papal conclave of 1549–50 begins.

1549–1550 conclave

1114

A large earthquake damages the areas of the Crusaders in the Middle East. Antioch, Mamistra, Marash and Edessa are hit by the shocks.

1114 Marash earthquake

903

The Abbasid army under Muhammad ibn Sulayman al-Katib defeats the Qarmatians at the Battle of Hama.

Abbasid Caliphate

618

The Tang dynasty scores a decisive victory over their rival Xue Rengao at the Battle of Qianshuiyuan.

Tang dynasty

561

Following the death of King Chlothar I at Compiègne, his four sons, Charibert I, Guntram, Sigebert I and Chilperic I, divide the Frankish Kingdom.

Chlothar I

528

Antioch suffers its second major earthquake in two years, killing thousands and destroying its remaining edifice.

528 Antioch earthquake