12 History Lessons + 7 Births & 7 Deaths for November 29, 2025
Today’s History:
- 1777 – The city of San Jose is founded, becoming the first civil settlement in what is now California.
- 1864 – The Sand Creek Massacre: Colorado militia attack a surrendered Cheyenne and Arapaho village, killing around 230 people, many of them women and children.
- 1890 – The first Army–Navy football game is played in West Point, New York.
- 1899 – FC Barcelona is founded in Spain, becoming one of the world’s most storied football clubs.
- 1929 – American explorer Richard E. Byrd and his crew complete the first flight over the South Pole.
- 1947 – The UN General Assembly passes Resolution 181, approving the partition of Palestine into Jewish and Arab states and placing Jerusalem under international administration.
- 1961 – Enos the chimpanzee orbits Earth aboard Mercury-Atlas 5, a key step toward crewed American orbital flights.
- 1963 – President Lyndon B. Johnson establishes the Warren Commission to investigate the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.
- 1972 – Atari releases Pong, one of the first commercially successful video games.
- 1981 – Actress Natalie Wood drowns off Santa Catalina Island, California, under circumstances that remain controversial.
- 1987 – Korean Air Flight 858 is destroyed by a bomb planted by North Korean agents, killing all 115 people on board.
- 2012 – The UN General Assembly recognizes Palestine as a non-member observer state.
Today’s Birthdays:
- 1952 – Jeff Fahey, American film and TV actor (Lost, Grindhouse) (73).
- 1954 – Joel Coen, American filmmaker, half of the Coen brothers team behind films like Fargo and No Country for Old Men (71).
- 1955 – Howie Mandel, Canadian-American comedian, actor, and longtime game-show host (Deal or No Deal, America’s Got Talent judge) (70).
- 1961 – Kim Delaney, American actress known for NYPD Blue and All My Children (64).
- 1964 – Don Cheadle, American actor and filmmaker (Hotel Rwanda, Avengers series) (61).
- 1976 – Anna Faris, American actress and podcaster known for the Scary Movie series and Mom (49).
- 1988 – Russell Wilson, American NFL quarterback and Super Bowl champion (37).
Today’s Deaths:
- 1314 – Philip IV of France, king known for strengthening royal power and clashing with the papacy (age 46).
- 1924 – Giacomo Puccini, Italian composer of operas such as La Bohème and Madama Butterfly (age 66).
- 1974 – James J. Braddock, American heavyweight boxing champion nicknamed “Cinderella Man” (age 69).
- 1981 – Natalie Wood, American film actress known for West Side Story and Rebel Without a Cause (age 43).
- 1986 – Cary Grant, British-American leading man of Hollywood’s classic era (age 82).
- 2001 – George Harrison, British musician, singer-songwriter, and lead guitarist of The Beatles (age 58).
- 2021 – David Gulpilil, Indigenous Australian actor and dancer known for Walkabout and Rabbit-Proof Fence (age 68).
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