On this day, 29 November 1781, the Zong massacre began

 On this day, 29 November 1781, the Zong massacre began, during which crew of a British enslavers' ship began murdering 132 enslaved Africans by throwing them overboard.

The vessel was en route from Accra to Jamaica, and began with 442 enslaved people aboard, of whom around 60 died from maltreatment. In the Caribbean, the vessel accidentally overshot Jamaica, and on November 29 it was decided to begin murdering some of the surviving enslaved people, so that the owners of the ship could be compensated for their "loss" by their insurance company.

Over the next three days, 132 people were thrown into the sea and killed, and 10 more defied the enslavers by choosing instead to die by suicide. The stated justification for the murders was that the first mate claimed that they were short of water, and if they did not kill some of the Africans, all of them would have died. However, the ship still had large amounts of water upon its arrival in Jamaica.

The insurance claim ended up in court in Britain. The humanity of those murdered was not an issue in the case, as they were merely considered property like timber or grain. The claim by the enslavers for damages was denied, as the court decided that the negligence of the crew was responsible. This verdict was later overturned, but there is no evidence of a subsequent court case and its result.

The case received widespread publicity, and helped spur a big increase in support for abolition of the slave trade in Britain. This resulted in the foundation of the Abolition Society in 1787.