December 4 ::: Project ETERNITY

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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 - Austrasian King Carloman dies, leaving his brother Charlemagne king of the now complete Frank kingdom.

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).

1676 - Battle of Lund

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 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.

1918 - US President Woodrow Wilson sails for Versailles for the World War I peace talks, becoming the first US president to travel to Europe while in office.

1921 - The Virginia Rappe manslaughter trial against actor and film director Roscoe 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 (present-day Benin) becomes a self-governing country within the French Community.

1967 - Vietnam War: US 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.

1969 - Legendary surfer Greg "Da Bull" Noll rode a 65-foot wave on the North Shore of Oahu, still the highest ever recorded.

1977 - Jean-Bédel Bokassa, president of the Central African Republic, crowns himself Emperor Bokassa I of the Central African Empire.

1977 - A Malaysia Airlines Boeing 737 is hijacked and then blown up 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 Beirut (he was the last and longest-held American hostage in Lebanon).

1991 - US airline Pan Am ends operations.

1992 - 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.