1669: Mary Rose successfully defended a convoy of merchantmen against seven Algerine pirate ships.

1758: A squadron of Royal Navy ships under Commodore Keppel, with an Army detachment embarked, captured Goree in Senegal from the French.

1778: As the Amercian Revolution continued 3,500 British soldiers under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Archibald Campbell captured Savannah, Georgia without firing a shot.

1812: The USS Constitution under the command of Captain William Bainbridge captured HMS Java off Brazil after a three-hour battle

1813: British soldiers burnt Buffalo, New York during the War of 1812

1837: Royal Navy Commander Andrew Drew and a group of Canadian militiamen crossed the Niagara River to Fort Schlosser and captured the American supply steamer Caroline used by William Lyon Mackenzie and his rebels on Navy Island. They set the ship ablaze, cut her adrift and send her toward Niagara Falls. This incident almost caused war between Britain and US.

1860: Australian forces were deployed for the first time overseas, a detachment of sailors from the steam sloop Victoria taking part in an engagement ashore during the closing stages of the Second New Zealand War.

In Britain, the Royal Navy's first ironclad warship, HMS Warrior, was launched at Blackwall on the Thames. The French had built the first armoured warship, Gloire, the previous year, but had proved unable to build an iron hull, resorting instead to armour plating over a wooden hull. Warrior in contrast boasted an iron hull, wood only being used for shock absorption behind the armour.

1877: During the Ninth Cape Frontier War, a trooper of the Frontier Mounted Police was dismounted during a skirmish with tribesmen from the Ngquika clan of the Xhosa, and unable to escape. Spotting his predicament, Major Hans Moore of the 88th Regiment galloped up to attempt a rescue, charging into the midst of the enemy force. He proved unable to save the trooper's life, and had to fight his way back to safety, being wounded by an assegai in the process. Moore was awarded the Victoria Cross for his gallant effort.

1934: The Japanese Government formally renounced their participation in the Washington Naval Treaty of 1922 and the London Naval Treaty of 1930 and started a massive arms building program. (The 1922 treaty established the maximum tonnage of capital ships that could be built by the five signatories, the British Empire, France, Italy, Japan and the US. The 1930 treaty aimed to regulated submarine warfare and limited military shipbuilding).

1937: The Irish Free State is replaced by a new state called Ireland with the adoption of a new constitution

1940: The City of London suffered heavy damage during a large Luftwaffe raid on the night 29/30 December. The famous picture of St Paul's Dome undamaged in the smoke and fire was taken that night, but eight other churches built by Sir Christopher Wren were burnt out along with many other public buildings.

Some 20,000 regular and auxiliary firemen from all over the London area fought the fires but the raid still killed almost 200 civilians

President Roosevelt drafted a US$17 billion budget for the fiscal year 1942, including US$10 billion for the armament program.

1944: A serious fire broke out in a rocket magazine in Mogadishu. Captain Latutin of the Somerset Light Infantry suffered severe burns whilst successfully rescuing two men and attempting in vain to rescue a boy caught in the blaze. Latutin died of his injuries the following day, and was awarded a posthumous George Cross.

Flight-Lieutenant R.J. Audet, No.411 Squadron, Royal Canadian Air Force, shot down five German fighters during a patrol over the Rhine

1945: Lavrenty Beria was relieved from the duties of the Minister of the Interior and entrusted with work to supervise the implementation of the USSR nuclear weapons programme

The Canadian Department of National Defense released the following World War II casualty statistics:

41,371 killed
43,178 wounded
10,844 prisoners of war
32 missing in action

1956: HMCS Magnificent sailed for Port Said with Canadian troops and equipment to monitor the ceasefire between Franco-British and Egyptian forces. It was Canada's first experience of ‘peacekeeping’.