What is 4 December?

"December 4th" redirects here. For the song by Jay-Z, see December 4th (song).

Events

• 771 - Austrasian King Carloman dies, leaving his brother Charlemagne King of the now complete Frankish Kingdom.
• 1110 - First Crusade: The Crusaders conquer 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).
• 1639 - Jeremiah Horrocks made the first observation of a transit of Venus. (November 24 under the Julian calendar.)
• 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.
• 1783 - At Fraunces Tavern in New York City, US General George Washington formally bids his officers farewell.
• 1791 - The first issue of The Observer, the world's first Sunday newspaper, is published.
• 1829 - In the face of fierce opposition, British governor Lord William Bentinck carries a regulation declaring that all who abetted suttee in India were guilty of culpable homicide.
• 1859 - Mekteb-i Mülkiye founded.
• 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 (Union forces did suffer more than three times the Confederate casualties, however).
• 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 was abandoned for 9 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 Los Angeles Times is first published.
• 1906 - Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Inc., the first intercollegiate Greek-letter fraternity in the United States established for men of African descent, was founded at Cornell University.
• 1918 - US 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 Virginia Rappe manslaughter trial against Roscoe 'Fatty' Arbuckle ends in a hung jury.
• 1942 - Holocaust: In Warsaw, Zofia Kossak-Szczucka and Wanda Filipowicz set up the Żegota organization.
• 1943 - World War II: In Yugoslavia, resistance leader Marshal Tito proclaims a provisional democratic Yugoslav government in-exile.
• 1943 - US 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 was established on October 24, 1945).
• 1951 - Mir Waiz Maulvi Muhammad Yusouf appointed President of Azad Kashmir Government.
• 1952 - Great Smog of 1952: A cold fog descends upon London, combining with air pollution and killing at least 12,000 in the weeks and months that follow.
• 1956 - During a Carl Perkins recording session also involving Jerry Lee Lewis and Johnny Cash at Sun Records in Memphis, Tennessee, Elvis Presley visits the studio and jams with Perkins and Lewis extensively with the tape recorders rolling. (Cash reportedly participates briefly in the jam before leaving the studio with his wife and daughter.) The four men become known as the Million Dollar Quartet, and the complete tape from this legendary session is eventually released on compact disc (CD) in 1987.
• 1958 - Dahomey (present-day Benin) becomes a self-governing country within the French Community.
• 1959 - A monkey returns to Earth safely, after being launched 55 miles high into outer space by the United States space program.
• 1967 - Vietnam War: US and South Vietnamese forces engage Viet Cong troops in the Mekong Delta. (But this happened all the time.)
• 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.
• 1969 - Surfer Greg Noll rides a 65-foot high wave off the North Shore of Oahu, still the highest ocean surfing ever recorded.
• 1971 - UN Security Council calls emergency session to consider deteriorating situation between India and Pakistan.
• 1971 - Attack on Pakistan Navy and Karachi by the Indian Navy.
• 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".
• 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 woman 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 - The rock group Led Zeppelin formally announces its breakup.
• 1981 - South Africa grants "homeland" Ciskei independence (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 - Journalist Terry Anderson is released after 7 years in captivity as a hostage in Beirut. He was the last and longest-held American hostage in Lebanon.
• 1991 - US airline Pan Am ends operations.
• 1992 - Somali Civil War: President George H. W. Bush orders 28,000 US troops to Somalia, east 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 - Adult giant squid is caught on video by Kubodera near the Ogasawara Islands, 1,000 km (620 miles) south of Tokyo.

Births

• 1555 - Heinrich Meibom, German historian and poet (d. 1625)
• 1580 - Samuel Argall, English adventurer and naval officer (d. 1626)
• 1585 - John Cotton, American Puritan leader (d. 1652)
• 1595 - Jean Chapelain, French writer (d. 1674)
• 1612 - Samuel Butler, English poet (d. 1680)
• 1646 - Alain Emmanuel de Coëtlogon, Marshal of France (d. 1730)
• 1660 - André Campra, French composer (d. 1744)
• 1670 - John Aislabie, English politician (d. 1742)
• 1711 - Barbara of Portugal, queen of Spain (d. 1758)
• 1713 - Gasparo Gozzi, Italian critic and dramatist (d. 1786)
• 1777 - Madame Récamier, French writer (d. 1849)
• 1795 - Thomas Carlyle, British writer and historian (d. 1881)
• 1798 - Jules Armand Dufaure, French statesman (d. 1881)
• 1835 - Samuel Butler, British writer (d. 1902)
• 1840 - Crazy Horse, Oglala Sioux chief (d. 1877)
• 1844 - Franz Xavier Wernz, German Superior General of the Society of Jesus (d. 1914)
• 1852 - Orest Khvolson, Russian physicist (d. 1934)
• 1861 - Lillian Russell, American singer and actress (d. 1922)
• 1866 (O.S.) - Wassily Kandinsky, Russian-born painter (d. 1944)
• 1868 - Jesse Burkett, baseball player (d. 1953)
• 1875 - Joe Corbett, baseball player (d. 1945)
• 1875 - Rainer Maria Rilke, Austrian poet (d. 1926)
• 1881 - Erwin von Witzleben, German field marshal (d. 1944)
• 1889 - Lloyd Bacon, American actor and film director (d. 1955)
• 1892 - Francisco Franco, dictator of Spain (d. 1975)
• 1895 - Fung Yu-lan, Chinese philosopher (d. 1990)
• 1903 - Cornell Woolrich, American writer (d. 1968)
• 1908 - Alfred Hershey, American bacteriologist, Nobel laureate (d. 1997)
• 1910 - Alex North, American film music composer (d. 1991)
• 1912 - Pappy Boyington, American pilot (d. 1988)
• 1913 - Mark Robson, Canadian-born film director and producer (d. 1978)
• 1914 - Rudolf Hausner, Austrian artist (d. 1995)
• 1915 - Eddie Heywood, American jazz musician (d. 1989)
• 1916 - Ely Jacques Kahn, Jr., American writer (d. 1994)
• 1921 - Deanna Durbin, Canadian actress
• 1922 - Gérard Philipe, French actor (d. 1959)
• 1922 - Charles Keating, American lawyer
• 1930 - Ronnie Corbett, Scottish actor
• 1930 - Jim Hall, jazz guitarist
• 1931 - Alex Delvecchio, Canadian hockey player
• 1931 - Wally George, American TV commentator (d. 2003)
• 1932 - Roh Tae-woo, President of South Korea
• 1933 - Horst Buchholz, German-born actor (d. 2003)
• 1934 - Victor French, American actor (d. 1989)
• 1934 - Wink Martindale, American game show host
• 1937 - Max Baer, Jr., American actor
• 1938 - Yvonne Minton, Australian soprano
• 1939 - Freddy Cannon, American musician
• 1942 - Gemma Jones, British actress
• 1944 - Anna McGarrigle, Canadian folk music singer and songwriter
• 1944 - François Migault, French racing driver
• 1944 - Dennis Wilson, American musician (The Beach Boys) (d. 1983)
• 1945 - Roberta Bondar, Canadian astronaut
• 1948 - Southside Johnny, American singer, born John Lyon
• 1949 - Jeff Bridges, American actor
• 1949 - Pamela Stephenson, actress
• 1951 - Gary Rossington, American musician (Lynyrd Skynyrd)
• 1953 - Rick Middleton, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1954 - Tony Todd, American actor and producer
• 1955 - Dave Taylor, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1957 - Raul Boesel, Brazilian racing driver
• 1957 - Eric S. Raymond, American open source advocate
• 1959 - Susan W Krebs, American politician
• 1959 - Paul McGrath, Irish footballer
• 1959 - Christa Rothenburger, German speed skater and cyclist
• 1960 - David Green, American baseball player
• 1960 - Glynis Nunn, Australian athlete
• 1961 - Frank Reich, American football player
• 1962 - Donny Osmond, American musician, actor
• 1962 - Kevin Richardson, English footballer
• 1963 - Sergei Bubka, Ukrainian pole vaulter
• 1964 - Marisa Tomei, American actress
• 1965 - Álex de la Iglesia, Spanish film director
• 1966 - Fred Armisen, American actor and musician
• 1966 - Chris Shepherd, British film director
• 1968 - Margaret Cho, American comedienne and actress
• 1969 - Lucas Radebe, South African footballer
• 1969 - Jay-Z, American rapper
• 1970 - Kevin Sussman, American actor
• 1970 - Sylvester Terkay, American professional wrestler
• 1972 - Jassen Cullimore, American ice hockey player
• 1972 - Nikki Tyler, American actress
• 1973 - Tyra Banks, American supermodel
• 1973 - Steven Menzies, Australian rugby league footballer
• 1974 - Tadahito Iguchi, Japanese baseball player
• 1976 - Amie Comeaux, American singer (d. 1997)
• 1976 - Ysabella Brave, American singer
• 1976 - Kristina Groves, Canadian speed skater
• 1982 - Ho-Pin Tung, Dutch-Chinese racing driver
• 1983 - Jimmy Bartel, Australian rules footballer
• 1984 - Lauren London, American actress
• 1984 - Lindsay Felton, American actress
• 1985 - Andrew Brackman, American baseball player
• 1986 - Martell Webster, American basketball player

Deaths

• 765 - Jafar Sadiq, Shia Imam (b. 702)
• 771 - Carloman, King of the Franks (b. 751)
• 1075 - Archbishop Anno II of Cologne
• 1123 - Omar Khayyám, Persian poet, astronomer, mathematician, and philosopher (b. 1048)
• 1214 - William I of Scotland
• 1270 - Theobald V of Champagne, King of Navarre
• 1334 - Pope John XXII (b. 1249)
• 1340 - Henry Burghersh, English bishop and chancellor (b. 1292)
• 1459 - Adolf VIII, Duke of Southern Jutland (b. 1401)
• 1576 - Rheticus, Austrian mathematician (b. 1514)
• 1585 - John Willock, Scottish reformer
• 1609 - Alexander Hume, Scottish poet
• 1642 - Armand Jean du Plessis, Cardinal Richelieu, French statesman (b. 1585)
• 1649 - William Drummond of Hawthornden, Scottish poet (b. 1585)
• 1679 - Thomas Hobbes, English philosopher (b. 1588)
• 1680 - Thomas Bartholin, Danish physician, mathematician, and theologian (b. 1616)
• 1696 - Empress Meishō, Japan (b. 1624)
• 1732 - John Gay, British playwright (b. 1685)
• 1798 - Luigi Galvani, Italian physicist (b. 1737)
• 1828 - Robert Jenkinson, 2nd Earl of Liverpool, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (b. 1770)
• 1845 - Gregor MacGregor, British con-man
• 1902 - Charles Dow, American journalist (Dow Jones & Company - Wall Street Journal) (b. 1851)
• 1926 - Ivana Kobilca, Slovenian-born painter (b. 1861)
• 1933 - Stefan George, German poet (b. 1868)
• 1935 - Johan Halvorsen, Norwegian composer (b. 1864)
• 1935 - Charles Robert Richet, French physiologist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1850)
• 1944 - Roger Bresnahan, baseball player (b. 1879)
• 1945 - Thomas Hunt Morgan, American geneticist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b. 1866)
• 1956 - Alexandr Rodchenko, Russian painter and photographer (b. 1891)
• 1967 - Bert Lahr, American actor (b. 1895)
• 1969 - Fred Hampton, American activist (b. 1948)
• 1975 - Hannah Arendt, German political theorist (b. 1906)
• 1976 - Tommy Bolin, American guitarist (b. 1951)
• 1976 - Benjamin Britten, British composer (b. 1913)
• 1976 - W. F. McCoy, Northern Irish politician (b. 1886)
• 1980 - Francisco Sá Carneiro, Prime Minister of Portugal (b. 1934)
• 1980 - Stanisława Walasiewicz, Polish-born athlete (b. 1911)
• 1987 - Rouben Mamoulian, Armenian-American film director (b. 1897)
• 1993 - Frank Zappa, American musician and composer (b. 1940)
• 1995 - Lionel Giroux, Canadian midget wrestler (b. 1935)
• 1997 - Richard Vernon, British actor (b. 1925)
• 2003 - Iggy Katona, American race car driver (b. 1916)
• 2004 - Elena Souliotis, Greek soprano (b. 1943)
• 2005 - Errol Brathwaite, New Zealand author (b. 1924)
• 2005 - Gregg Hoffman, American film producer (b. 1963)
• 2005 - Gloria Lasso, French-Spanish singer (b. 1922)
• 2006 - James Kim, CNET Reviewer (b. 1971)

Holidays and observances

• Roman festivals - secret ceremonies in honor of Bona Dea
• Calendar of Saints - Saint John of Damascus: optional memorial; also the Great Martyr Saint Barbara, St. Ada (feast day)
• Barbórka - Miners' Day in Poland
• First day that rain is prayed for in the Diaspora in Judaism. It is notably the only Jewish day which is tied to the civil calendar.
• Santería, Lukumí - Day of Shango
• Navy Day in India

External links

• BBC: On This Day
• The New York Times: On This Day
• On This Day in Canada