December 4

2024 Calendar

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.

Events

Up to 1900

771 – Austrasian King Carloman dies, leaving his brother Charlemagne King of the now complete Frankish Kingdom.
963 - Pope Leo VIII is elected.
1110 – First Crusade: The Crusaders conquer Sidon.
1154 - Nicholas Breakspear is elected to become Pope Adrian IV, and is the only Englishman to have been Pope.
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.
1745 - Charles Edward Stuart's army reaches Derby, its furthest point during the second Jacobite Rising.
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.
1881 - The first edition of the Los Angeles Times is published.
1893 - First Matabele War: A patrol of 34 British South African company soldiers is ambushed and wiped out by more than 3,000 Matabele warriors on the Shangani River in Matabeleland in present-day Zimbabwe.

1901 – 1950

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.
1909 - The Montreal Canadiens ice hockey team is founded.
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.
1934 - Daisetzuan National Park is created in Japan.
1937 - The first issue of the Dandy is published.
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.
1944 - World War II: An Allied air raid on the German city of Heilbronn kills 6,500 people.
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 – 2000

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.
1954 - The first Burger King opens in Miami, Florida.
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, Illinois 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.
1974 - A Dutch Douglas DC-8 airliner, carrying Indonesian pilgrims to Mecca, crashes in Colombo, Sri Lanka, killing all 191 people on board.
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.
1984 - Sri Lankan Civil War: Sri Lankan army soldiers kill between 107 and 150 civilians.
1984 - Hezbollah militants hijack a Kuwaiti Airlines plane, killing 4 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 – 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.

From 2001

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.
2016 - Alexander Van der Bellen defeats Norbert Hofer in the re-run of Austria's presidential election.
2016 - Constitutional reform is rejected by a majority in a national referendum in Italy, leading to Prime Minister Matteo Renzi's announcement that he is to resign from office.

Births

Up to 1900

34 - Persius, Roman poet (d. 62)
1555 - Heinrich Meibom, German poet and historian (d. 1625)
1585 - John Cotton, English clergyman (d. 1652)
1595 - Jean Chapelain, French poet (d. 1674)
1647 - Daniel Eberlin, German composer and conductor (d. 1715)
1670 - John Aislabie, English politician (d. 1742)
1711 – Barbara of Portugal, Queen of Spain (d. 1758)
1713 - Gasparo Gozzi, Italian critic and playwright (d. 1785)
1791 - Jane Franklin, British adventurer (d. 1875)
1795 – Thomas Carlyle, Scottish writer and historian (d. 1881)
1798 - Jules Armand Dufaure, 33rd Prime Minister of France (d. 1884)
1808 – Duke Maximilian Joseph in Bavaria (d. 1888)
1817 - Nikoloz Baratashvili, Georgian poet (d. 1845)
1835 – Samuel Butler, English writer (d. 1902)
1844 - Franz Xavier Wernz, German religious leader (d. 1914)
1849 – Crazy Horse, Native American leader (d. 1877)
1852 - Orest Khvolson, Russian physicist (d. 1934)
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)
1878 - Grand Duke Michael Alexandrovich of Russia (d. 1918)
1881 – Erwin von Witzleben, German general and Resistance activist (d. 1944)
1889 - Lloyd Bacon, American actor and director (d. 1955)
1892 – Liu Bocheng, Chinese military commander (d. 1986)
1892 – Francisco Franco, dictator of Spain (d. 1975)
1893 - Herbert Read, English art historian and philosopher (d. 1968)
1895 – Fung Yu-lan, Chinese philosopher (d. 1990)
1899 - Charlie Spencer, English footballer and manager (d. 1953)

1901 – 1950

1908 – Alfred Hershey, American bacteriologist (d. 1997)
1909 - Archduke Karl Pius of Austria, Prince of Tuscany (d. 1953)
1910 – R. Venkataraman, 8th President of India (d. 2009)
1913 - Robert Adler, American physicist and inventor (d. 2007)
1913 - Mark Robson, Canadian-American movie director, producer and editor (d. 1978)
1914 – Claude Renoir, French cinematographer (d. 1993)
1917 - Movita Castaneda, American actress and singer (d. 2016)
1918 – Robert Ettinger, American academic and pioneer of Cryonics (d. 2011)
1919 - I. K. Gujral, Prime Minister of India (d. 2012)
1920 - Nadir Afonso, Portuguese painter (d. 2013)
1921 – Deanna Durbin, Canadian actress (d. 2013)
1921 – Carlos Franqui, Cuban writer and journalist (d. 2010)
1923 - Charles Keating, American lawyer, financier and real estate developer (d. 2014)
1923 - Demmus Hentze, Faroese politician (d. 2016)
1923 - John Krish, British screenwriter and director (d. 2016)
1925 – Lino Lacedelli, Italian mountain climber (d. 2009)
1926 - Shigeo Sugimoto, Japanese footballer (d. 2002)
1926 - Monty M. Wyche, American judge (d. 2014)
1927 - Gae Aulenti, Italian architect and designer (d. 2012)
1927 - Rafael Sánchez Ferlosio, Spanish writer (d. 2019)
1930 – Ronnie Corbett, Scottish actor and comedian (d. 2016)
1930 - Jim Hall, American jazz guitarist, composer and arranger (d. 2013)
1931 - Alex Delvecchio, Canadian ice hockey player
1932 - Roh Tae-woo, former President of South Korea
1933 – Horst Buchholz, German actor (d. 2003)
1935 - Paul Henry O'Neill, 72nd United States Secretary of the Treasury
1939 – Freddy Cannon, American rock musician
1939 - Stephen W. Bosworth, American diplomat (d. 2016)
1939 - Etienne Mourrut, French politician (d. 2014)
1940 – Gary Gilmore, American murderer (d. 1977)
1942 - Gemma Jones, English actress
1944 – Anna McGarrigle, Canadian folk musician, singer and songwriter
1944 – Dennis Wilson, American musician (d. 1983)
1944 - Chris Hillman, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
1945 - Roberta Bondar, Canadian astronaut
1949 – Jeff Bridges, American actor
1949 - Pamela Stephenson, New Zealand-born actress and psychologist

1951 – 1975

1951 – Gary Rossington, American musician (Lynyrd Skynyrd)
1951 - Patricia Wettig, American actress and playwright
1953 - Jean-Marie Pfaff, Belgian footballer
1954 - Tony Todd, American actor and movie producer
1955 – Philip Hammond, British politician
1955 - Cassandra Wilson, American singer
1956 - Bernard King, American basketball player
1956 - Nia Griffith, Welsh politician
1957 - Eric S. Raymond, American computer programmer and author
1959 - Christa Luding-Rothenburger, German speed skater
1960 – Glynis Nunn, Australian athlete
1962 - Nixon Kiprotich, Kenyan middle-distance runner
1963 – Sergey Bubka, Ukrainian pole vaulter
1964 – Sertab Erener, Turkish singer
1964 - Marisa Tomei, American actress
1965 - Carlos Carvalhal, Portuguese footballer and manager
1965 - Alex de la Iglesia, Spanish movie director, screenwriter and producer
1965 – Ulf Kirsten, German footballer
1966 - Fred Armisen, American actor, writer, producer, director, musician and comedian
1969 – Jay-Z, American rapper
1970 - Kevin Sussman, American actor
1972 – Jassen Cullimore, Canadian ice hockey player
1973 – Tyra Banks, American model
1974 - Tadahito Iguchi, Japanese baseball player

From 1976

1976 – Mbo Mpenza, Belgian footballer
1979 – Jay DeMerit, American footballer
1982 – Waldo Ponce, Chilean footballer
1984 – Lindsay Felton, American actress
1984 - Lauren London, American actress
1984 - Brooke Adams, American wrestler and model
1985 - Krista Siegfrids, Finnish singer
1986 - Kaija Udras, Estonian skier
1987 – Orlando Brown, American actor
1988 - Andriy Pylyavskyi, Ukrainian footballer
1988 - Mario Maurer, Thai actor and singer
1990 - Igor Sjunin, Estonian triple jumper
1990 - Lukman Haruna, Nigerian footballer
1992 - Jean-Claude Iranzi, Rwandan footballer
1992 - Guan Xueting, Chinese ice dancer
1995 - Dina Asher-Smith, English track-and-field athlete
1996 - Diogo Jota, Portuguese footballer

Deaths

Up to 1900

749 - John of Damascus, Syrian monk, priest and saint (b. 676)
771 – Carloman, Frankish ruler
1075 - Anno II, Archbishop of Cologne (b. 1010)
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)
1576 - George Joachim Rheticus, Austrian-Slovakian mathematician (b. 1544)
1609 - Alexander Hume, Scottish poet (b. 1560)
1642 – Cardinal Richelieu (b. 1885)
1679 – Thomas Hobbes, English philosopher (b. 1588)
1680 - Thomas Bartholin, Danish physician, mathematician and theologian (b. 1616)
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)
1891 - Frederick Whitaker, Prime Minister of New Zealand (b. 1812)
1893 – John Tyndall, Irish physicist (b. 1820)
1894 - Leon Ribbett, Governor of New Jersey (b. 1836)
1897 - Griffith Rhys Jones, Welsh conductor (b. 1834)

1901 – 2000

1902 - Charles Dow, American journalist (b. 1851)
1916 - Preston Lea, Governor of New Jersey (b. 1841)
1926 - Ivana Kobilca, Slovenian poet (b. 1861)
1935 – Charles Robert Richet, French physiologist, won the 1913 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b. 1850)
1935 - Johan Halvorsen, Norwegian violinist, composer and conductor (b. 1864)
1937 - Wilbur L. Adams, Governor of Delaware (b. 1884)
1938 - Tamanishiki San'emon, Japanese sumo wrestler (b. 1903)
1942 - Juhan Kukk, Estonian politician (b. 1885)
1945 – Thomas Hunt Morgan, American geneticist and embryologist (b. 1866)
1967 - Bert Lahr, American actor and singer (b. 1895)
1971 - Shunryu Suzuki, Japanese-American spiritual teacher (b. 1904)
1975 – Hannah Arendt, German philosopher (b. 1906)
1976 – Benjamin Britten, English composer (b. 1913)
1976 - Tommy Bolin, American guitarist (b. 1951)
1980 – Francisco Sá Carneiro, Prime Minister of Portugal (b. 1934)
1980 – Stanislawa Walasiewicz, Polish athlete (b. 1911)
1984 - Jack Mercer, American animator, screenwriter, voice actor and singer (b. 1910)
1987 – Rouben Mamoulian, Armenian-American movie director (b. 1897)
1993 – Frank Zappa, American musician (b. 1940)
2000 - Henck Arron, 1st Prime Minister of Suriname (b. 1936)

From 2001

2004 - Elizabeth Azcona Cranwell, Argentine poet and translator (b. 1933)
2007 – Pimp C, American rapper (b. 1973)
2008 - Forrest J Ackerman, American science fiction publisher (b. 1916)
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 - Hubert Sumlin, American blues guitarist (b. 1931)
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)
2013 - Joana Raspall i Juanola, Catalan writer (b. 1913)
2014 - Claudia Emerson, American poet (b. 1957)
2014 - V. R. Krishna Iyer, Indian judge (b. 1914)
2014 - Lynne Kosky, Australian politician (b. 1958)
2014 - Jeremy Thorpe, English politician (b. 1929)
2015 - Bill Bennett, Canadian politician, Premier of British Columbia (b. 1932)
2015 - Robert Loggia, American actor (b. 1930)
2015 - Yossi Sarid, Israeli politician (b. 1940)
2015 - Dag Skogheim, Norwegian writer (b. 1928)
2015 - Erik De Vlaeminck, Belgian cyclist (b. 1945)
2016 - Gotlib, French comics artist (b. 1934)
2017 - Jimmy Hood, Scottish politician (b. 1948)
2017 - Shashi Kapoor, Indian actor (b. 1938)
2017 - Christine Keeler, English model (b. 1942)
2017 - Manuel Marín, Spanish politician (b. 1949)
2017 - Ali Abdullah Saleh, President of Yemen (b. 1942)
2017 - Carles Santos, Spanish pianist (b. 1940)
2017 - Rudolph G. Wilson, American professor, storyteller, writer and public speaker (b. 1935)
2018 - Kadyrzhan Batyrov, Kyrgyz businessman and political activist (b. 1956)
2018 - Selma Engel-Wijnberg, Dutch Holocaust survivor (b. 1922)
2018 - Nika Rurua, Georgian politician (b. 1968)
2019 - Thomas Elsaesser, German film historian and critic (b. 1943)
2019 - Leonard Goldberg, American film and television producer (b. 1934)
2019 - Rosa Morena, Spanish flamenco pop singer and actress (b. 1941)
2019 - Margaret Morgan Lawrence, American psychiatrist and psychoanalyst (b. 1914)
2019 - Bob Willis, English cricketer (b. 1949)

Observances

Navy Day (India and Italy)
Miners' Day (Poland)
Thai Environment Day
Tupou I Day (Tonga)
St. Barbara - Christian Saint