December 4
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
December 4 is the 338th day of the year (339th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 27 days remaining until the end of the year.
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Births [change]
- 1711 – Barbara of Portugal, Queen of Spain (d. 1758)
- 1795 – Thomas Carlyle, Scottish writer and historian (d. 1881)
- 1808 – Duke Maximilian Joseph in Bavaria (d. 1888)
- 1835 – Samuel Butler, English writer (d. 1902)
- 1849 – Crazy Horse, Native American leader (d. 1877)
- 1861 – Hannes Hafstein, 1st Prime Minister of Iceland (d. 1922)
- 1861 – Lillian Russell, American actress and singer (d. 1922)
- 1865 – Edith Cavell, British nurse (d. 1915)
- 1875 – Rainer Maria Rilke, Austrian poet and writer (d. 1926)
- 1881 – Erwin von Witzleben, German general and Resistance activist (d. 1944)
- 1892 – Liu Bocheng, Chinese military commander (d. 1986)
- 1892 – Francisco Franco, dictator of Spain (d. 1975)
- 1895 – Fung Yu-lan, Chinese philosopher (d. 1990)
- 1908 – Alfred Hershey, American bacteriologist (d. 1997)
- 1910 – R. Venkataraman, 8th President of India (d. 2009)
- 1914 – Claude Renoir, French cinematographer (d. 1993)
- 1918 – Robert Ettinger, American academic and pioneer of Cryonics (d. 2011)
- 1919 - I. K. Gujral, Prime Minister of India (d. 2012)
- 1921 – Deanna Durbin, Canadian actress
- 1921 – Carlos Franqui, Cuban writer and journalist (d. 2010)
- 1925 – Lino Lacedelli, Italian mountain climber (d. 2009)
- 1927 - Gae Aulenti, Italian architect and designer (d. 2012)
- 1930 – Ronnie Corbett, Scottish actor and comedian
- 1933 – Horst Buchholz, German actor (d. 2003)
- 1939 – Freddy Cannon, American rock musician
- 1940 – Gary Gilmore, American murderer (d. 1977)
- 1942 – Roh Tae-woo, former President of South Korea
- 1944 – Anna McGarrigle, Canadian Folk musician, singer and songwriter
- 1944 – Dennis Wilson, American musician (d. 1983)
- 1949 – Jeff Bridges, American actor
- 1951 – Gary Rossington, American musician (Lynyrd Skynyrd)
- 1955 – Philip Hammond, British politician
- 1960 – Glynis Nunn, Australian athlete
- 1963 – Sergey Bubka, Ukrainian pole vaulter
- 1964 – Sertab Erener, Turkish singer
- 1965 – Ulf Kirsten, German footballer
- 1969 – Jay-Z, American rapper
- 1972 – Jassen Cullimore, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1973 – Tyra Banks, American model
- 1976 – Mbo Mpenza, Belgian footballer
- 1979 – Jay DeMerit, American footballer
- 1982 – Waldo Ponce, Chilean footballer
- 1984 – Lindsay Felton, American actress
- 1987 – Orlando Brown, American actor
Deaths [change]
- 771 – Carloman, Frankish ruler
- 1123 – Omar Khayyam, Persian poet, philosopher, astronomer and mathematician (b. 1048)
- 1214 – William the Lion, King of Scotland (b. 1143)
- 1334 – Pope John XXII (b. 1249)
- 1642 – Cardinal Richelieu (b. 1885)
- 1679 – Thomas Hobbes, English philosopher (b. 1588)
- 1696 – Empress Meisho of Japan (b. 1624)
- 1798 – Luigi Galvani, Italian physicist (b. 1737)
- 1828 – Robert Jenkinson, 2nd Earl of Liverpool, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (b. 1770)
- 1850 – William Sturgeon, British physicist and inventor (b. 1783)
- 1893 – John Tyndall, Irish physicist (b. 1820)
- 1935 – Charles Robert Richet, French physiologist, won the 1913 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, (b. 1850)
- 1945 – Thomas Hunt Morgan, American geneticist and embryologist (b. 1866)
- 1975 – Hannah Arendt, German philosopher (b. 1906)
- 1976 – Benjamin Britten, English composer (b. 1913)
- 1980 – Francisco Sa Carneiro, Prime Minister of Portugal (b. 1934)
- 1980 – Stanislawa Walasiewicz, Polish athlete (b. 1911)
- 1987 – Rouben Mamoulian, Armenian-American director (b. 1897)
- 1993 – Frank Zappa, American musician (b. 1940)
- 2007 – Pimp C, American rapper (b. 1973)
- 2009 – Eddie Fatu, professional wrestler better known as Umaga (b. 1973)
- 2011 – Dev Anand, Indian actor, director and producer (b. 1923)
- 2011 – Socrates, Brazilian footballer (b. 1954)
- 2011 – Matti Yrjana Joensuu, Finnish crime fiction writer (b. 1948)
- 2012 - Miguel Calero, Colombian footballer (b. 1971)
- 2012 – Besse Cooper, American supercentenarian, oldest person in the world from June 21, 2011 (b. 1896)
Events [change]
- 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 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, United States 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.
- 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 movement).
- 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.
- 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 – United States President Woodrow Wilson sails for the World War I peace talks in Versailles, becoming the first United States 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 Żegota.
- 1943 – World War II: In Yugoslavia, resistance leader Marshal Tito proclaims a provisional democratic Yugoslav government in-exile.
- 1943 – United States President Franklin D. Roosevelt closes the Works Progress Administration.
- 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 up to 12,000 in the weeks and months that follow.
- 1958 – Dahomey (present-day Benin) becomes a self-governing country within the French Community.
- 1967 – Vietnam War: US and South Vietnamese forces engage NLF troops in the Mekong Delta.
- 1969 – Black Panther 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 wave on the North Shore of Oahu, still the highest ever recorded.
- 1971 – UN Security Council calls emergency session to consider deteriorating situation between India and Pakistan.
- 1971 – The Montreux Casino in Switzerland is set ablaze by someone wielding a flare gun during a Frank Zappa concert.
- 1975 – Suriname joins the UN.
- 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 announce their breakup.
- 1981 – South Africa grants "homeland" Ciskei independence (not recognized outside South Africa).
- 1982 – The People's Republic of China adopts its current constitution.
- 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 – United States airline Pan Am ends operations.
- 1992 – Somali Civil War: President George H. W. Bush orders 28,000 US troops to Somalia.
- 1993 – A truce is concluded between the government of Angola and UNITA rebels.
- 1994 – Pakistan wins World Hockey Championship after 12 years, beating the Netherlands by four goals to three, in Sydney.
- 1998 – Unity, the second module of the International Space Station, is launched.
- 2001 – Lisa Beamer, wife of Todd Beamer, through the Todd M. Beamer Foundation, registers [1] the trademark "Let's Roll" with the United States Patent and Trademark Office less than three months after his death in the September 11 attacks in the United States.
- 2005 – Tens of thousands of people in Hong Kong protested for democracy and called on the Government to allow universal and equal suffrage.
- 2006 – An adult giant squid is caught on video for the first time near the Ogasawara Islands of Japan.
- 2009 – A fire in a night club in Perm, Russia, kills 113 people.
