Archbishop of Canterbury

Today in History 12/29 (Second Great Fire of London)

Leave a Comment
St Paul's Cathedral is seen through smoke from fires during the bombing of London by Germany on December 29, 1940 (© ullstein bild via Getty Images)(1940) The Blitz delivers the Second Great Fire of London
Germany firebombs London with more than 24,000 high explosive bombs and 100,000 incendiary bombs in one of its most aggressive attacks on the city, setting London afire. Firefighters work amid the dropping bombs and are able to save some of the city’s landmarks, such as St. Paul’s Cathedral, from total destruction.
The “Second Great Fire of London” refers to one of the most destructive air raids of the Blitz. An American correspondent in a cable to his office said, “The second Great Fire of London has begun”. The Luftwaffe raid caused fires over a greater area than the Great Fire of London in 1666.
Date: Dec 29, 1940
Location: London, England
Target: City of London
Attack type: Air raid
Deaths: 160
Non-fatal injuries: 250

Operations: A German Luftwaffe Heinkel He 111 bomber flying over Wapping and the Isle of Dogs in the East End of London at at the start of the Luftwaffe's evening raids of 7 September 1940
Operations: A German Luftwaffe Heinkel He 111 bomber flying over Wapping and the Isle of Dogs in the East End of London at at the start of the Luftwaffe’s evening raids of 7 September 1940. Copy negative of part of an aerial photograph taken from a German aircraft at 1848 hrs German time.
wiki/Second_Great_Fire_of_London
4.16.n18

(1940) The Blitz delivers the Second Great Fire of London.
Also on this day,

1170 | Archbishop Thomas Becket is murdered after king’s comment
When four knights hear King Henry II utter something like, “Who will rid me of this troublesome priest?,” they take it as a request to kill Thomas Becket, the Archbishop of Canterbury. The knights confront and kill Becket at Canterbury Cathedral, shocking Christians, who canonize Becket just three years later.
1890 | US troops massacre Indians at Wounded Knee
When a detachment of the US 7th Cavalry tries to disarm a band of Lakota Sioux, led by peace-seeking Spotted Elk, near Wounded Knee Creek in South Dakota, a gun goes off in a scuffle and the cavalry opens fire. More than 200 Lakota men, women, and children will be killed.
1998 | Khmer Rouge leaders apologize for Cambodia genocide
At a news conference, a Khmer Rouge leader whispers he is “sorry, very sorry” for the group’s murderous campaign to cleanse Cambodia of undesirables, including intellectuals and capitalists. The Khmer Rouge, led by Pol Pot, ruled Cambodia from 1975-’79 and sought to create an agrarian society.

Today in History 12/29/17

Sign from 1940 at the site of the Wounded Knee Massacre in South Dakota (© John Vachon/Library of Congress/Getty Images)(1890) US troops massacre Indians at Wounded Knee
When a detachment of the US 7th Cavalry tries to disarm a band of Lakota Sioux, led by peace-seeking Spotted Elk, near Wounded Knee Creek in South Dakota, a gun goes off in a scuffle and the cavalry opens fire. More than 200 Lakota men, women, and children will be killed.
The Wounded Knee Massacre occurred on December 29, 1890, near Wounded Knee Creek on the Lakota Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in the U.S. state of South Dakota.
Start date: Dec 28, 1890
End date: Dec 29, 1890

Wounded knee 1891
Burial of the dead after the massacre of Wounded Knee. U.S. Soldiers putting Indians in common grave; some corpses are frozen in different positions. South Dakota.

wiki/Wounded_Knee_Massacre
4.8.d17