4 December

4 December is celebrated as Navy Day in India. This was the day when the Indian Navy played a significant role in the bombing of Karachi harbor in the 1971 war. The name given to the attack was Operation Trident which was launched on December 4. Owing to its success, the day of the attack has been celebrated as Navy Day ever since.

Events

306 – Martyrdom of Saint Barbara.
771 – Austrasian King Carloman dies, leaving his brother Charlemagne King of the now complete Frankish Kingdom.
1110 – First Crusade: The Crusaders sack 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 by many 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 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 Stewart's army reaches Derby, its furthest point during the second Jacobite Rising.
1783 – At Fraunces Tavern in New York City, US General George Washington formally bids his officers farewell.
1791 – The first edition of The Observer, the world's first Sunday newspaper, is published.
1829 – In the face of fierce local opposition, British governor Lord William Bentinck issues a regulation declaring that all who abet suttee in India are 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, Georgia.
1867 – Former Minnesota farmer Oliver Hudson Kelley founds the Order of the Patrons of Husbandry (better known today as the Grange).
1872 – The crewless American ship Mary Celeste is found by the British brig Dei Gratia (the ship had been abandoned for nine 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 Africa Police officers is killed in battle by an estimated 3,000 Ndebele on the Shangani River in Matabeleland.
1909 – 1st Grey Cup game is played. The University of Toronto Varsity Blues defeat the Toronto Parkdale Canoe Club 26–6.
1909 – The Montreal Canadiens ice hockey club, the oldest professional hockey franchise in the world, is founded as a charter member of the National Hockey Association.
1918 – U.S. President Woodrow Wilson sails for the World War I peace talks in Versailles, becoming the first US president to travel to Europe while in office.
1921 – The first Virginia Rappe manslaughter trial against Roscoe 'Fatty' Arbuckle ends in a hung jury.
1937 – The first issue of the children's comic, The Dandy Comic, is published, one of the first to use speech balloons.
1939 – World War II: HMS Nelson is struck by a mine (laid by U-31) off the Scottish coast and is laid up for repairs until August 1940.
1942 – Holocaust: In Warsaw, Zofia Kossak-Szczucka and Wanda Krahelska-Filipowicz set up the Żegota organization.
1942 – World War II: Carlson's patrol during the Guadalcanal Campaign ends.
1943 – World War II: In Yugoslavia, resistance leader Marshal Josip Broz Tito proclaims a provisional democratic Yugoslav government in-exile.
1943 – World War II: U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt closes down the Works Progress Administration, because of the high levels of wartime employment in the United States.
1945 – By a vote of 65 to 7, the United States Senate approves United States participation in the United Nations (the UN is established on October 24, 1945).
1954 – The first Burger King is opened in Miami, Florida, United States
1956 – The Million Dollar Quartet (Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins, and Johnny Cash) get together at Sun Studios for the first and last time in history.
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.
1969 – Black Panther Party members Fred Hampton and Mark Clark are shot and killed in their sleep during a raid by 14 Chicago police officers.
1971 – The United Nations Security Council calls an emergency session to consider the deteriorating situation between India and Pakistan.
1971 – The Indian Navy attacks the Pakistan Navy and Karachi.
1971 – The Montreux Casino in Switzerland is set ablaze by someone wielding a flare gun during a Frank Zappa concert; the incident would be noted in the Deep Purple song "Smoke on the Water".
1971 – McGurk's Bar bombing: An Ulster Volunteer Force bomb kills 15 civilians and wounds 17 in Belfast, Northern Ireland.
1975 – Suriname joins the United Nations.
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 female 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 – English rock group Led Zeppelin officially disbands, following the death of drummer John Bonham on September 25th.
1981 – South Africa grants independence to the Ciskei "homeland" (not recognized by any government outside South Africa).
1982 – The People's Republic of China adopts its current constitution.
1984 – Hezbollah militants hijack a Kuwait Airlines plane, killing four passengers.
1991 – Pan Am goes bankrupt and ceases operations.
1991 – Journalist Terry A. Anderson is released after 7 years in captivity as a hostage in Beirut. He is the last and longest-held American hostage in Lebanon.
1991 – Captain Mark Pyle pilots Clipper Goodwill, a Pan American World Airways Boeing 727-221ADV, to Miami International Airport ending 64 years of Pan Am operations.
1992 – Somali Civil War: President George H. W. Bush orders 28,000 US troops to Somalia in Northeast Africa.
1993 – A truce is concluded between the government of Angola and UNITA rebels.
1998 – The Unity Module, the second module of the International Space Station, is launched.
2005 – Tens of thousands of people in Hong Kong protest for democracy and call on the Government to allow universal and equal suffrage.
2006 – An adult giant squid is caught on video for the first time by Tsunemi Kubodera near the Ogasawara Islands, 1,000 km (620 mi) south of Tokyo.
2006 – Six black youths assault a white teenager in Jena, Louisiana, US; the subsequent court case becomes a cause célèbre.

Holidays and observances

Christian Feast Day:
Ada
Barbara
Bernard degli Uberti
John of Damascus
Nicholas Ferrar (Anglican Communion)
Osmund
Sigiramnus
Day of Shango (Santería, Lukumí)
First day that rain is prayed for, notably the only Jewish day which is tied to the civil calendar. (Diaspora in Judaism)
Navy Day (India and Italy)
Saint Barbara Day-related observance:
Barbórka, Miners' Day in Poland
Eid il-Burbara, a holiday similar to Halloween in honor of Saint Barbara. (Lebanon, Syria, and Palestine)
Secret ceremonies in honor of Bona Dea (Roman Empire)
Thai Environment Day (Thailand)
Tupou I Day (Tonga)