December 4

From Wikipedia, a free encyclopedia written in simple English for easy reading.

[edit] Births

• 1585 - John Cotton, American Puritan leader (died 1652)
• 1777 - Madame Récamier, French writer (died 1849)
• 1795 - Thomas Carlyle, Scottish writer and historian (died 1881)
• 1835 - Samuel Butler, English writer (died 1902)
• 1849 - Crazy Horse, Native American leader (died 1877)
• 1861 - Lillian Russell, American singer and actress (died 1922)
• 1866 - Wassily Kandinsky, Russian-born painter (died 1944)
• 1875 - Rainer Maria Rilke, Austrian poet (died 1926)
• 1892 - Francisco Franco, dictator of Spain (died 1975)
• 1895 - Fung Yu-lan, Chinese philosopher (died 1990)
• 1903 - Cornell Woolrich, crime writer (died September 24, 1968)
• 1908 - Alfred Hershey, American psychologist, Nobel winner (died 1997)
• 1912 - Pappy Boyington, American fighter pilot (died 1988)
• 1914 - Rudolf Hausner, painter and graphic artist (died 1995)
• 1916 - Ely Jacques Kahn, Jr., American magazine writer (died 1994)
• 1921 - Deanna Durbin, actress, singer
• 1922 - Gérard Philipe, actor (died 1959)
• 1931 - Alex Delvecchio, ice hockey Hall of Fame player
• 1934 - Victor French, actor (died 1989)
• 1934 - Wink Martindale, game show host
• 1937 - Max Baer, Jr., actor, screen writer, director, producer
• 1938 - Yvonne Minton, Australian soprano
• 1939 - Freddy Cannon, American rock musician
• 1940 - John Cale, rock musician (The Velvet Underground)
• 1942 - Gemma Jones, British actress
• 1942 - Roh Tae-woo, President of South Korea
• 1944 - Dennis Wilson, pop musician (The Beach Boys) (died 1983)
• 1945 - Roberta Bondar, astronaut and scientist
• 1949 - Jeff Bridges, actor
• 1957 - Eric S. Raymond, open source advocate
• 1960 - Glynis Nunn, Australian heptathlete
• 1963 - Sergei Bubka, athlete (pole vault)
• 1964 - Marisa Tomei, actress
• 1969 - Shawn Carter, AKA 'Jay-Z,' singer
• 1973 - Tyra Banks, model

[edit] Deaths

• 1993 - Frank Zappa, musician

[edit] 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 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.
• 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, 2001 terrorist 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.