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Dec. 29 (UPI) — On this date in history: In 1170, Anglican churchman/politician Thomas Becket was killed at Britain’s Canterbury Cathedral.
In 1845, Texas was admitted into the United States as the 28th state.
In 1848, gaslights were installed at the White House for the first time.
In 1851, the first chapter of the Young Men’s Christian Association — the YMCA — opened in Boston.
In 1890, more than 200 Lakota men, women and children were massacred by the U.S. 7th Cavalry at Wounded Knee Creek, S.D.
In 1940, London had its most devastating air raid when Germans firebombed the city.
In 1975, a terrorist bomb exploded at LaGuardia Airport in New York City, killing 11 people and injuring 75.
In 1983, the United States announced its withdrawal from UNESCO, charging the U.N. cultural and scientific organization was biased against Western nations.
In 1989, playwright Vaclav Havel was sworn in as the first non-communist president of Czechoslovakia since 1948.
File Photo by Sean Gallup/UPI
In 1992, a Cuban airliner was hijacked to Miami as part of a mass defection. Forty-eight of the 53 people aboard sought and were granted political asylum.
In 2007, the New England Patriots became the first NFL team to finish the regular season with a 16-0 record. Quarterback Tom Brady also set the record for most touchdown passes in a season at 50, a record broken in 2013 by Peyton Manning.
In 2016, the Obama administration announced the expulsion of 25 Russian diplomats and news sanctions as punishment for meddling in the U.S. presidential election.
In 2020, the Milwaukee Bucks made an NBA-record 29 three-pointers to lead the team to a 47-point triumph over the Miami Heat.
File Photo by Erik S. Lesser/EPA-EFE
