December
4
Navy
Day
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)
For details, contact Datacentre
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