December 4

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December 4 is the 338th day (339th on leap years) of the Gregorian calendar. There are 27 days remaining.

Events

771 - Austrasia King Carloman dies, leaving his brother Charlemagne king of the now complete Frank kingdom (Pope Leo III crowned Charlemagne Emperor of the Franks at Rome on Christmas Day, 800).
1110 - First Crusade: The Crusaders conquer Sidon.
1563 - The final session of the Council of Trent is held (it opened on December 13, 1545).
1619 - Thirty-eight 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).
1674 - Father Jacques Marquette founds a mission on the shores of Lake Michigan to minister to the Illinois Indians (the mission would later grow into the city of Chicago, Illinois).
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 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 campaign of destroying a wide swath of the South on his march to the Gulf of Mexico (Union forces did suffer more than three times the casualties as the Confederates, 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 crew-less 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.
1918 - US President Woodrow Wilson sails for Versailles for the World War I peace talks, becoming the first American president to travel to Europe while in office.
1921 - The Virginia Rappe manslaughter trial against actor and film director Fatty Arbuckle ends in a hung jury.
1942 - Holocaust: In Warsaw, two Christian women, Zofia Kossak and Wanda Filipowicz risk their lives by setting up the Council for the Assistance of the Jews.
1943 - World War II: In Yugoslavia, resistance leader Marshal Tito proclaims a provisional democratic Yugoslav government in-exile.
1943 - Great Depression ends in the United States: With unemployment figures falling fast due to World War II-related employment, US 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).
1952 - Great Smog of 1952: A "killer fog" descends on London ("Smog" for "smoke" and "fog" becomes a word).
1958 - Dahomey becomes a self-governing country within the French Community.
1967 - Vietnam War: American and South Vietnamese forces engage Viet Cong troops in the Mekong Delta (235 of the 300-strong Viet Cong battalion were killed).
1969 - Black Panther members Fred Hampton and Mark Clark are shot to death in their sleep during a raid by 14 Chicago police officers.
1977 - Jean-Bedel Bokassa, president of Central African Republic, crowns himself Emperor.
1977 - A Malaysia Airlines Boeing 737 is hijacked, then exploded in mid-air over the Straits of Johore 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).
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 a seven years' captivity as a hostage in Bayrut (he was the last and longest-held American hostage in Lebanon).
1991 - Pan Am Arlines ends operations.
1992 - US President George H. W. Bush orders 28,000 American troops to Somalia.
1993 - A truce is concluded between the government of Angola and UNITA rebels.