Today in History 12/29/16

Today in History
(1170) Archbishop Thomas Becket is murdered after king’s comment
Death of Thomas Beckett. Thomas Becket, 1118 – 29 December 1170. Archbishop of Canterbury from 1162 until his murder in 1170. (Photo by: Universal History Archive/UIG via Getty Images)
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.

Thomas Becket was Archbishop of Canterbury from 1162 until his murder in 1170. He is venerated as a saint and martyr by both the Catholic Church and the Anglican Communion. He engaged in conflict with Henry II, King 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.

Born: Dec 21, 1118 · London, England
Related movies: Becket
Buried: Canterbury Cathedral
Education: Merton Priory · University of Paris
Parents: Matilda Becket (Mother) · Gilbert Becket (Father)

Highlights

  • 1154: Theobald in 1154 named Becket Archdeacon of Canterbury, and other ecclesiastical offices included a number of benefices, prebends at Lincoln Cathedral and St Paul’s Cathedral, and the office of Provost of Beverley.

  • 1155: His efficiency in those posts led to Theobald recommending him to King Henry II for the vacant post of Lord Chancellor, to which Becket was appointed in January 1155.

  • 1162: Becket was nominated as Archbishop of Canterbury in 1162, several months after the death of Theobald.

  • 1162: His election was confirmed on 23 May 1162 by a royal council of bishops and noblemen.

  • 1163: Attempts by Henry to influence the other bishops against Becket began in Westminster in October 1163, where the King sought approval of the traditional rights of the royal government in regard to the church.

  • 1164: Henry summoned Becket to appear before a great council at Northampton Castle on 8 October 1164, to answer allegations of contempt of royal authority and malfeasance in the Chancellor’s office.

— Source: wiki/Thomas_Becket
(1890) US troops massacre Indians at Wounded Knee
November 1940: A sign at the site of the Wounded Knee Massacre, South Dakota, where 250 American Indians were killed in 1890. (Photo by John Vachon/Library Of Congress/Getty Images)
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. The previous day, a detachment of the U.S. 7th Cavalry Regiment commanded by Major Samuel M. Whitside intercepted Spotted Elk’s band of Miniconjou Lakota and 38 Hunkpapa Lakota near Porcupine Butte and escorted them 5 miles westward to Wounded Knee Creek, where they made camp. The remainder of the 7th Cavalry Regiment, led by Colonel James W. Forsyth, arrived and surrounded the encampment. The regiment was supported by a battery of four Hotchkiss mountain guns.

Date: Dec 28, 1890

— Source: wiki/Wounded_Knee_Massacre
(1940) The Blitz delivers the Second Great Fire of London
(GERMANY OUT) 2.WW, Air War: Battle of Britain (07.40-05.41) Burning inner city of London after german air raid of dec.12.1940 - center: St. paul's cathedral. / Blitz (Photo by ullstein bild/ullstein bild via Getty Images)
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” is a name used at the time to refer to one of the most destructive air raids of the London Blitz, over the night of 29/30 December 1940. Between 6 pm and the early hours of the morning, more than 24,000 high explosive bombs and 100,000 incendiary bombs were dropped. The raid and the subsequent fire destroyed many Livery Halls and City churches and gutted the medieval Great Hall of the City’s Guildhall.

Date: Dec 29, 1940

— Source: wiki/Second_Great_Fire_of_London
(1998) Khmer Rouge leaders apologize for Cambodia genocide
Former Khmer Rouge leaders Khieu Samphan, gestures while saying he is very sorry to Cambodians, as Nuon Chea listens in the background, during a news conference in Phnom Penh on Tuesday Dec. 29, 1998. The two top Khmer Rouge leaders long wanted for genocide arrived by military helicopter at a base outside the capital to meet Hun Sen, who has ruled out putting them on trial. (AP Photo/Ou Neakiry)
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.

Khmers rouges, more commonly known in English as Khmer Rouge was the name given to the followers of the Communist Party of Kampuchea in Cambodia. It was formed in 1968 as an offshoot of the Vietnam People’s Army from North Vietnam, and allied with North Vietnam, the Viet Cong, and Pathet Lao during the Vietnam War against the anti-communist forces from 1968 to 1975. Khmer Rouge emerged victorious in the Cambodian Civil War, overthrew the military dictatorship of the Khmer Republic and installed their own government Democratic Kampuchea in 1975, led by Pol Pot, Nuon Chea, Ieng Sary, Son Sen, and Khieu Samphan. This was followed by the Cambodian genocide from 1975 until 1979, when Khmer Rouge was finally removed from power by Vietnam in the Cambodian–Vietnamese War. The military power of the Khmer Rouge organization was not broken however, and a long era of guerilla warfare involving large swaths of the Cambodian countryside began. Many different military factions were involved in the guerilla war era and it ended around 1994.

Founded: 1968

— Source: wiki/Khmer_Rouge
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