1170
Thomas Becket, the archbishop of Canterbury, is murdered in Canterbury Cathedral by four knights of Henry II.
1607
Indian chief Powhatan spares John Smith’s life after the pleas of his daughter Pocahontas.
1778
British troops, attempting a new strategy to defeat the colonials in America, capture Savannah.
1814
Emperor Napoleon I‘s
French forces defeat the Russian and Prussian forces commanded by
Prince Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher in the Battle of Brienne.
1845
Texas (comprised of the present state of
Texas and part of New Mexico, Colorado, and Wyoming) is admitted as the
28th state of the Union, with the provision that the area (389,166
square miles) should be divided into no more than five states “of
convenient size.”
1849
Gas lighting is installed in the White House.
1862
Union General William T. Sherman‘s troops try to gain the north side of Vicksburg in the Battle of Chickasaw Bluffs.
1890
The last major conflict of the Indian wars takes place at Wounded Knee Creek in South Dakota after Colonel James W. Forsyth of the 7th Cavalry tries to disarm Chief Big Foot and his followers.
1914
The production of Belgian newspapers is halted to protest German censorship.
1921
Sears Roebuck president Julius Rosenwald pledges $20 million of his personal fortune to help Sears through hard times.
1926
Germany and Italy sign an arbitration treaty.
1934
Japan formally denounces the Washington Naval Treaty of 1922.
1940
In a radio interview, President Roosevelt proclaims the United States to be the “arsenal of democracy.”
1940
London suffers its most devastating air raid when Germans firebomb the city on the evening of December 29.
1948
Tito declares Yugoslavia will follow its own path to Communism.
1956
President Dwight Eisenhower asks Congress for the authority to oppose Soviet aggression in the Middle East.
1965
A Xmas truce is observed in Vietnam, while President Johnson tries to get the North Vietnamese to the bargaining table.
1981
Reagan curtails Soviet trade in reprisal for its harsh policies on Poland.
