December 4 - Events

Events

• 306 – Martyrdom of Saint Barbara.
• 771 – Austrasian King Carloman dies, leaving his brother Charlemagne King of the now complete Frankish Kingdom.
• 1110 – First Crusade: The Crusaders sack Sidon.
• 1259 – Kings Louis IX of France and Henry III of England agree to the Treaty of Paris, in which Henry renounces his claims to French-controlled territory on continental Europe (including Normandy) in exchange for Louis withdrawing his support for English rebels.
• 1563 – The final session of the Council of Trent is held (it opened on December 13, 1545).
• 1619 – 38 colonists from Berkeley Parish in England disembark in Virginia and give thanks to God (this is considered by many to be the first Thanksgiving in the Americas).
• 1674 – Father Jacques Marquette founds a mission on the shores of Lake Michigan to minister to the Illiniwek (the mission would later grow into the city of Chicago, Illinois).
• 1676 – Battle of Lund: A Danish army under the command of King Christian V of Denmark engages the Swedish army commanded by Field Marshal Simon Grundel-Helmfelt.
• 1745 – Charles Edward Stewart's army reaches Derby, its furthest point during the second Jacobite Rising.
• 1783 – At Fraunces Tavern in New York City, US General George Washington formally bids his officers farewell.
• 1791 – The first edition of The Observer, the world's first Sunday newspaper, is published.
• 1829 – In the face of fierce local opposition, British governor Lord William Bentinck issues a regulation declaring that all who abet suttee in India are guilty of culpable homicide.
• 1864 – American Civil War: Sherman's March to the Sea – At Waynesboro, Georgia, forces under Union General Judson Kilpatrick prevent troops led by Confederate General Joseph Wheeler from interfering with Union General William T. Sherman's campaign destroying a wide swath of the South on his march to the Atlantic Ocean from Atlanta, Georgia.
• 1867 – Former Minnesota farmer Oliver Hudson Kelley founds the Order of the Patrons of Husbandry (better known today as the Grange).
• 1872 – The crewless American ship Mary Celeste is found by the British brig Dei Gratia (the ship had been abandoned for nine days but was only slightly damaged).
• 1875 – Notorious New York City politician Boss Tweed escapes from prison and flees to Cuba, then Spain.
• 1881 – The first edition of the Los Angeles Times is published.
• 1893 – First Matabele War: A patrol of 34 British South Africa Police officers is killed in battle by an estimated 3,000 Ndebele on the Shangani River in Matabeleland.
• 1909 – 1st Grey Cup game is played. The University of Toronto Varsity Blues defeat the Toronto Parkdale Canoe Club 26–6.
• 1909 – The Montreal Canadiens ice hockey club, the oldest professional hockey franchise in the world, is founded as a charter member of the National Hockey Association.
• 1918 – U.S. President Woodrow Wilson sails for the World War I peace talks in Versailles, becoming the first US president to travel to Europe while in office.
• 1921 – The first Virginia Rappe manslaughter trial against Roscoe 'Fatty' Arbuckle ends in a hung jury.
• 1937 – The first issue of the children's comic, The Dandy Comic, is published, one of the first to use speech balloons.
• 1939 – World War II: HMS Nelson is struck by a mine (laid by U-31) off the Scottish coast and is laid up for repairs until August 1940.
• 1942 – Holocaust: In Warsaw, Zofia Kossak-Szczucka and Wanda Krahelska-Filipowicz set up the Żegota organization.
• 1942 – World War II: Carlson's patrol during the Guadalcanal Campaign ends.
• 1943 – World War II: In Yugoslavia, resistance leader Marshal Josip Broz Tito proclaims a provisional democratic Yugoslav government in-exile.
• 1943 – World War II: U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt closes down the Works Progress Administration, because of the high levels of wartime employment in the United States.
• 1945 – By a vote of 65 to 7, the United States Senate approves United States participation in the United Nations (the UN is established on October 24, 1945).
• 1954 – The first Burger King is opened in Miami, Florida, United States
• 1956 – The Million Dollar Quartet (Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins, and Johnny Cash) get together at Sun Studios for the first and last time in history.
• 1958 – Dahomey (present-day Benin) becomes a self-governing country within the French Community.
• 1967 – Vietnam War: US and South Vietnamese forces engage Viet Cong troops in the Mekong Delta.
• 1969 – Black Panther Party members Fred Hampton and Mark Clark are shot and killed in their sleep during a raid by 14 Chicago police officers.
• 1971 – The United Nations Security Council calls an emergency session to consider the deteriorating situation between India and Pakistan.
• 1971 – The Indian Navy attacks the Pakistan Navy and Karachi.
• 1971 – The Montreux Casino in Switzerland is set ablaze by someone wielding a flare gun during a Frank Zappa concert; the incident would be noted in the Deep Purple song "Smoke on the Water".
• 1971 – McGurk's Bar bombing: An Ulster Volunteer Force bomb kills 15 civilians and wounds 17 in Belfast, Northern Ireland.
• 1975 – Suriname joins the United Nations.
• 1977 – Jean-Bédel Bokassa, president of the Central African Republic, crowns himself Emperor Bokassa I of the Central African Empire.
• 1977 – Malaysia Airlines Flight 653 is hijacked and crashes in Tanjong Kupang, Johor, killing 100.
• 1978 – Following the murder of Mayor George Moscone, Dianne Feinstein becomes San Francisco, California's first female mayor (she served until January 8, 1988).
• 1979 – The Hastie fire in Hull, kills three schoolboys and eventually leads police to arrest Bruce George Peter Lee.
• 1980 – English rock group Led Zeppelin officially disbands, following the death of drummer John Bonham on September 25th.
• 1981 – South Africa grants independence to the Ciskei "homeland" (not recognized by any government outside South Africa).
• 1982 – The People's Republic of China adopts its current constitution.
• 1984 – Hezbollah militants hijack a Kuwait Airlines plane, killing four passengers.
• 1991 – Pan Am goes bankrupt and ceases operations.
• 1991 – Journalist Terry A. Anderson is released after 7 years in captivity as a hostage in Beirut. He is the last and longest-held American hostage in Lebanon.
• 1991 – Captain Mark Pyle pilots Clipper Goodwill, a Pan American World Airways Boeing 727-221ADV, to Miami International Airport ending 64 years of Pan Am operations.
• 1992 – Somali Civil War: President George H. W. Bush orders 28,000 US troops to Somalia in Northeast Africa.
• 1993 – A truce is concluded between the government of Angola and UNITA rebels.
• 1998 – The Unity Module, the second module of the International Space Station, is launched.
• 2005 – Tens of thousands of people in Hong Kong protest for democracy and call on the Government to allow universal and equal suffrage.
• 2006 – An adult giant squid is caught on video for the first time by Tsunemi Kubodera near the Ogasawara Islands, 1,000 km (620 mi) south of Tokyo.
• 2006 – Six black youths assault a white teenager in Jena, Louisiana, US; the subsequent court case becomes a cause célèbre.