Britannica On This Day December 29 2023 * U.S. annexation of Texas approved, Pablo Casals is featured, and more *

This Day in History: December 29

Featured Event

1845





U.S. annexation of Texas approved
The annexation of the Republic of Texas by the United States, approved by the U.S. Congress this day in 1845, sparked the Mexican War because land between the Rio Grande and the Nueces River was disputed territory.

More Events On This Day

2022

Brazilian football (soccer) legend Pelé, one of the sport's greatest players and among the first athletes to become global celebrities, died at age 82.Test your knowledge of football
Marka/Fioroni/age fotostock
2020

French designer Pierre Cardin, a pioneer in the design of high fashion for men, died at age 98.How much do you know about fashion?
Reg Lancaster—Hulton Archive/Getty Images
2015

Guinea was declared free of ebola by the World Health Organization, some two years after the deadly disease was reported in the country and sparked an outbreak in western Africa.Take our quiz about viruses, bacteria, and diseases
Cynthia Goldsmith/Center for Disease Control and Prevention
1998

Leaders of the Khmer Rouge, the radical communist movement that controlled Cambodia from 1975 to 1979, publicly apologized for the estimated 1.5 million people who were killed during their rule.Test your knowledge of Asian history
AdstockRF
1937

With the enactment of a new constitution, the Irish Free State became known as Ireland.Take our quiz about European history
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
1936

American actress Mary Tyler Moore, best known for her roles on two iconic TV sitcoms—The Dick Van Dyke Show (1961–66) and The Mary Tyler Moore Show (1970–77)—was born in Brooklyn, New York.Discover 10 of the best American sitcoms
Collection Christophel/Alamy
1895

Leander Starr Jameson launched an abortive raid into the Transvaal to overthrow the Boer government of Paul Kruger.Sort fact from fiction in our Africa quiz
1890

U.S. troops under Colonel James W. Forsyth massacred more than 200 Sioux Indians in the area of Wounded Knee Creek, southwestern South Dakota.Test your knowledge of Native American history
Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. (reproduction no. LC-DIG-ppmsca-15849)
1865

Abolitionist crusader William Lloyd Garrison published the last issue of The Liberator.Take our fast facts quiz about abolitionism
Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.
1809

British statesman William Ewart Gladstone, who served as prime minister of Great Britain four times (1868–74, 1880–85, 1886, 1892–94), was born.Test your knowledge of notable prime ministers
Culver Pictures
1808

Andrew Johnson, 17th U.S. president and the first ever to be impeached, was born.Discover what happens if the U.S. president is impeached
Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.
1743

Hyacinthe Rigaud, one of the most prolific and successful French portrait painters of the Baroque period, died in Paris.Take our quiz about famous artists
Scala/Art Resource, New York
1170

Knights of King Henry II of England killed the archbishop of Canterbury, Thomas Becket, in the cathedral.Sort fact from fiction in our quiz about famous Englishmen
The British Library (Public Domain)

Featured Biography

Pablo Casals
Spanish musician

BornDecember 29, 1876
Vendrell, Spain
(Birthday tomorrow)
DiedOctober 22, 1973 (aged 96)
Río Piedras, Puerto Rico




Jon Voight
American actor



Mary Tyler Moore
American actress



William Ewart Gladstone
prime minister of United Kingdom



Andrew Johnson
president of United States



Jeanne-Antoinette Poisson, marquise de Pompadour
French aristocrat