GMT

Today in History December 29

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.

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.

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 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.

1956--President Dwight Eisenhower asks Congress for the authority to oppose Soviet aggression in the Middle East.

1965--A Christmas truce is observed in Vietnam, while President Johnson tries to get the North Vietnamese to the bargaining table.

1981--President Ronald Reagan curtails Soviet trade in reprisal for its harsh policies on Poland.

2018 Record lowest temperature of -111C registered by American satellite Noaa-20 in the western Pacific at top of large storm

Born on December 29


1800--Charles Goodyear, inventor of vulcanized rubber for tires.

JOKE OF THE DAY

Men vacuums in the same way that they have sex. They just put it in, make some noise during 3 minutes, before they collapse on the couch and think that their wife should be really happy.