First Confidential

THIS DAY IN HISTORY - DECEMBER 29th

William Ewart Gladstone, Quote

“There should be a sympathy with freedom, a desire to give it scope, founded not upon visionary ideas, but upon the long experience of many generations...”

~ William Ewart Gladstone

Wikiquote (William Ewart Gladstone (December 29, 1809 – May 19, 1898) a British Liberal politician and Prime Minister (1868–1874, 1880–1885, 1886 and 1892–1894). He was a notable political reformer, known for his populist speeches, and was for many years the main political rival of Benjamin Disraeli.)

This Day in History

December 29th, 1170

Thomas Becket (Saint Thomas of Canterbury, Thomas of London and later Thomas à Becket; Archbishop of Canterbury from), venerated as a saint and martyr by both the Catholic Church and the Anglican Communion - He engaged in conflict with Henry II of England over the rights and privileges of the Church and was murdered by followers of the king in Canterbury Cathedral (soon after his death, he was canonised by Pope Alexander III) Canterbury Cathedral in Canterbury, Kent, is one of the oldest and most famous Christian structures in England and forms part of a World Heritage Site

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 Church and the Catholic Church.

Wikipedia  Image: Thomas Becket (Saint Thomas of Canterbury, Thomas of London and later Thomas à Becket; Archbishop of Canterbury from), venerated as a saint and martyr by both the Catholic Church and the Anglican Communion - He engaged in conflict with Henry II of England over the rights and privileges of the Church and was murdered by followers of the king in Canterbury Cathedral (soon after his death, he was canonised by Pope Alexander III).
Canterbury Cathedral, in Canterbury, Kent, is one of the oldest and most famous Christian structures in England and forms part of a World Heritage Site.


December 29th, 1778

American Revolutionary War Collage

American Revolutionary War:
1778 - Capture of Savannah; 3,000 British soldiers under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Archibald Campbell capture Savannah, Georgia.

Wikipedia  Paintings: Washington Crossing the Delaware, by Emanuel Leutz; Battle of the Chesapeake, French (left) and British (right) lines; Battle of Bunker Hill, The Death of General Warren at the Battle of Bunker Hill by John Trumbull; The Defeat of the Floating Batteries at Gibraltar, September 13, 1782, by John Singleton Copley; Washington and the Comte de Rochambeau at Yorktown, 1781; "The surrender at Saratoga" shows General Daniel Morgan in front of a French de Vallière 4-pounder; Surrender of Cornwallis at Yorktown by (John Trumbull, 1797).


December 29th, 1812

War of 1812 collage War of 1812: Battle of Lake Borgne, by Thomas Lyle Hornbrook

War of 1812:
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 soldiers burn Buffalo, New York.

Wikipedia  Painting: Damage to the US Capitol after the Burning of Washington; HMS Shannon leading the captured American frigate USS Chesapeake into Halifax, Nova Scotia (1813); USS Constitution vs HMS Guerriere; the death of Tecumseh at Moraviantown; Oliver Hazard Perry's message to William Henry Harrison after the Battle of Lake Erie began with what would become one of the most famous sentences in American military history: "We have met the enemy and they are ours; "Andrew Jackson leads the defence of New Orleans; The mortally wounded Isaac Brock spurs troops on at the Queenston Heights.
Battle of Lake Borgne, by Thomas Lyle Hornbrook.


December 29th, 1835

American Indians collage Indian Wars: Trail of Tears; American Indian Wars © Christine Chzasz.

American Indian Wars:
1835 - Treaty of New Echota is signed, ceding all the lands of the Cherokee east of the Mississippi River to the United States.
1890 - Wounded Knee Massacre; United States soldiers kill more than 200 Oglala Lakota people with four Hotchkiss guns.

Wikipedia  Photos: American Indians - Chief Crazy Horse, Tashunca-uitco (1849 - 1877) ● Geronimo Apache Chief (1829 - 1909) ● Indian Chief 'Two Eagles'; Crow Indian Chief ● Snake Cheif ● Band of Chiricahua Apache Indians, followers of legendary renegade Geronimo, attending a peace negotiation after a long struggle against U.S. government attempts to force them onto reservations - Tombstone, Arizona (1886), Life Magazine ● American Horse - Oglala ● Native American Arapaho Indian ● Washakie, Shoshone leader ● Arapaho American Indian Chief.
Painting: Trail of Tears; credit Susan Epps Oliver; R. Michelson Galleries.


December 29th, 1845

Manifest Destiny: US President James K. Polk announces to Congress that the United States should aggressively expand into the West Texas - The name, based on the Caddo word tejas meaning 'friends' or 'allies', was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in East Texas

In accordance with International Boundary delimitation, the United States annexes the Mexican state of Texas, following the Manifest Destiny doctrine. The Republic of Texas, which had been independent since the Texas Revolution of 1836, is thereupon admitted as the 28th U.S. state.

Wikipedia  Painting: Manifest Destiny; William S. Jewett, The Promised Land—The Grayson Family, 1850, Terra Foundation for American Art, Daniel J. Terra Collection, 1999.79.
Map: Texas - The name, based on the Caddo word tejas meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in East Texas, credit map of Texas, Geomart.


December 29th, 1860

Lincoln Memorial: an American national monument built to honor the 16th President of the United States, Abraham Lincoln - located on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. across from the Washington Monument American Civil War: Battle of Antietam; Stone Bridge at Antietam Battlefield - Sharpsburg, Maryland American Civil War: American Civil War: First Battle Between Ironclads; CSS Virginia/Merrimac (left) vs. USS Monitor, in 1862 at the Battle of Hampton Roads

American Civil War:
1860 - The first British sea going iron-clad warship HMS Warrior is launched.

Wikipedia  Image: ● Lincoln Memorial; an American national monument built to honor the 16th President of the United States, Abraham Lincoln - located on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. across from the Washington Monument.
● The northern army led by George McClellan and the southern army led by Robert E. Lee met at Antietam Creek, Maryland in September, 1862. It was a bloody battle where 13,000 Confederates and 12,000 Union troops died in just one day. McClellan had hesitated to attack before the battle thus letting the southern troops regroup. Also, he had saved reserves and refused to use them at the end of the battle thinking that Lee was holding reserves for a counterattack, even though those reserves didn't exist. The Union victory stopped Lee's northward advance and was a turning point in the war.
Battle of Antietam / Stone Bridge at Antietam Battlefield - Sharpsburg, Maryland
● First Battle Between Ironclads: CSS Virginia/Merrimac (left) vs. USS Monitor, in 1862 at the Battle of Hampton Roads.
Although photography was still in its infancy, war correspondents produced thousands of images, bringing the harsh realities of the frontlines to those on the home front in a new and visceral way. The Atlantic.


December 29th, 1911

Map of Mongol Empire at its height; Genghis Khan, credit The Field Museum in Chicago; Genghis Khan various Mongolian tribes joined together in 1206; Mongol warriors was created for an Islamic history book, Rashid al-Din's History of the World of 1307, courtesy of the Edinburgh University Library, Scotland

Mongolia gains independence from the Qing dynasty.

Wikipedia  Image: Map of Mongol Empire at its height; Genghis Khan, credit The Field Museum in Chicago; Genghis Khan various Mongolian tribes joined together in 1206; Mongol warriors was created for an Islamic history book, Rashid al-Din's History of the World of 1307, courtesy of the Edinburgh University Library, Scotland.


December 29th, 1930

World War II: Second firestorm raid on Germany, the Royal Air Force conducts an air raid on the town of Kassel, killing 10,000 and rendering 150,000 homeless World War II: Battle of Leyte Gulf; Battle of Leyte Gulf; The first kamikaze attack: A Japanese plane carrying a 200-kilogram (440 lb) bomb attacks HMAS Australia off Leyte Island World War II: German V1 flying-bomb and V2 Rockets - Preparations for a Salvo Launch of V-2 Rockets in the Heidelager near Blizna (Poland) (1944) World War II: Eastern Front (World War II); was a theatre of World War II between the European Axis powers and co-belligerent Finland against the Soviet Union, Poland, and some other Allies which encompassed Northern, Southern and Eastern Europe from 22 June 1941 to 9 May 1945

Pre-World War II:
1930 - Sir Muhammad Iqbal's presidential address in Allahabad introduces the Two-Nation Theory and outlines a vision for the creation of Pakistan.
1934 - Japan renounces the Washington Naval Treaty of 1922 and the London Naval Treaty of 1930.
1937 - The Irish Free State is replaced by a new state called Ireland with the adoption of a new constitution.
World War II:
1939 - First flight of the Consolidated B-24 Liberator.
1940 - The Second Great Fire of London; the Luftwaffe fire-bombs London, killing almost 200 civilians.

Wikipedia  Photo: Bombing of Dresden in World War II; August Schreitmüller's sculpture 'Goodness' surveys Dresden after a firestorm started by Allied bombers in 1945.
USS Bunker Hill was hit by kamikazes piloted by Ensign Kiyoshi Ogawa and another airman on 11 May 1945. 389 personnel were killed or missing from a crew of 2,600; Ensign Kiyoshi Ogawa, who flew his aircraft into the USS Bunker Hill during a Kamikaze mission on 11 May 1945; Kamikaze Missions - Lt Yoshinori Yamaguchi's Yokosuka D4Y3 (Type 33 Suisei) "Judy" in a suicide dive against USS Essex. The dive brakes are extended and the non-self-sealing port wing tank is trailing fuel vapor and/or smoke 25 November 1944.
German V1 flying-bomb and V2 Rockets - Preparations for a Salvo Launch of V-2 Rockets in the Heidelager near Blizna (Poland) (1944), credit German History in Documents and Images GHDI.

Eastern Front (World War II); Germans race towards Stalingrad. August 1942; Soviet children during a German air raid in the first days of the war, June 1941, by RIA Novosti archive; Soviet sniper Roza Shanina in 1944. About 400,000 Soviet women served in front-line duty units Caucasus Mountains, winter 1942/43; Finnish ski patrol: the invisible enemy of the Soviet Army with an unlimited supply of skis; Men of the German Engineers Corps cross a river which is swollen after the first autumn rains, to strengthen bridges linking the German positions on the central front in Russia. by Keystone / Getty Images. October 1942; Russian snipers fighting on the Leningrad front during a blizzard. Photo by Hulton Archive / Getty Images, 1943; German soldiers surrendering to the Russians in Stalingrad, the soldier holding the white flag of surrender is dressed in white so that there could be no doubt of his intentions, a Russian soldier is on the right of the photograph. by Keystone / Getty Images, January 1943.


December 29th, 1972

Airliners Crash: ● Pan AM 747 ● U.S. Airways flight 1549 also known as the 'Miracle on the Hudson' navigates an exit ramp near Burlington, New Jersey, June 5, 2011 ● Passengers stand on the wings of a U.S. Airways plane as a ferry pulls up to it after it landed in the Hudson River in New York, Reuters ● US Airways plane crashes into New York Hudson River, Photo: AP

Aviation accidents and incidents:
1972 - Eastern Air Lines Flight 401; (a Lockheed Tristar) crashes on approach to Miami International Airport, Florida, killing 101.
1975 - LaGuardia Airport bombing; A bomb explodes at LaGuardia Airport in New York City, killing 11 people and injuring 74.

Wikipedia  Photo: ● Pan AM 747 ● U.S. Airways flight 1549 also known as the "Miracle on the Hudson" navigates an exit ramp near Burlington, New Jersey, June 5, 2011 ● Passengers stand on the wings of a U.S. Airways plane as a ferry pulls up to it after it landed in the Hudson River in New York, Reuters ● US Airways plane crashes into New York Hudson River, Photo: AP


December 29th, 1997

Poultry Farm, credit Quebec Canadian poultry farmers

Hong Kong begins to kill all the nation's 1.25 million chickens to stop the spread of a potentially deadly influenza strain.

Wikipedia  Photo: Poultry Farm, credit Quebec Canadian poultry farmers.


December 29th, 1998

Khmer Rouge Genocide Trials: Pictures of the Children killed in s-21 prison from the Tuol Sleng Memorial

Leaders of the Khmer Rouge apologize for the 1970s genocide in Cambodia that claimed over 1 million lives.

Wikipedia  Photo: Khmer Rouge Genocide Trials: Pictures of the Children killed in s-21 prison from the Tuol Sleng Memorial.


December 29th, 2003

A Sami (Lapp) family in Norway around 1900.

The last known speaker of Akkala Sami dies, rendering the language extinct.

Wikipedia  Photo: A Sami (Lapp) family in Norway around 1900.