UN
Day
International
Day of Banks
Events
of the day
Navy
Day in India
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.
306
β Martyrdom of Saint Barbara.
771 β Austrasian King Carloman dies, leaving his
brother Charlemagne King of the now complete Frankish
Kingdom.
1110 β First Crusade: The Crusaders sack Sidon.
1259 β 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 β The final session of the Council of Trent
is held (it opened on December 13, 1545).
1619 β 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 β 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 β 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 β Charles Edward Stewart's army reaches Derby,
its furthest point during the second Jacobite
Rising.
1783 β At Fraunces Tavern in New York City, US
General George Washington formally bids his officers
farewell.
1791 β The first edition of The Observer, the
world's first Sunday newspaper, is published.
1829 β 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 β American Civil War: Sherman's March to
the Sea β 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 β Former Minnesota farmer Oliver Hudson Kelley
founds the Order of the Patrons of Husbandry (better
known today as the Grange).
1872 β 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 β Notorious New York City politician Boss
Tweed escapes from prison and flees to Cuba, then
Spain.
1881 β The first edition of the Los Angeles Times
is published.
1893 β 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 β 1st Grey Cup game is played. The University
of Toronto Varsity Blues defeat the Toronto Parkdale
Canoe Club 26β6.
1909 β 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 β 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 β The first Virginia Rappe manslaughter trial
against Roscoe 'Fatty' Arbuckle ends in a hung
jury.
1937 β The first issue of the children's comic,
The Dandy Comic, is published, one of the first
to use speech balloons.
1939 β 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 β Holocaust: In Warsaw, Zofia Kossak-Szczucka
and Wanda Krahelska-Filipowicz set up the Ε»egota
organization.
1942 β World War II: Carlson's patrol during the
Guadalcanal Campaign ends.
1943 β World War II: In Yugoslavia, resistance
leader Marshal Josip Broz Tito proclaims a provisional
democratic Yugoslav government in-exile.
1943 β 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 β 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 β The first Burger King is opened in Miami,
Florida, United States
1956 β 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 β Dahomey (present-day Benin) becomes a self-governing
country within the French Community.
1967 β Vietnam War: US and South Vietnamese forces
engage Viet Cong troops in the Mekong Delta.
1969 β 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 β The United Nations Security Council calls
an emergency session to consider the deteriorating
situation between India and Pakistan.
1971 β The Indian Navy attacks the Pakistan Navy
and Karachi.
1971 β 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 β McGurk's Bar bombing: An Ulster Volunteer
Force bomb kills 15 civilians and wounds 17 in
Belfast, Northern Ireland.
1975 β Suriname joins the United Nations.
1977 β Jean-BΓ©del Bokassa, president of the Central
African Republic, crowns himself Emperor Bokassa
I of the Central African Empire.
1977 β Malaysia Airlines Flight 653 is hijacked
and crashes in Tanjong Kupang, Johor, killing
100.
1978 β Following the murder of Mayor George Moscone,
Dianne Feinstein becomes San Francisco, California's
first female mayor (she served until January 8,
1988).
1979 β The Hastie fire in Hull, kills three schoolboys
and eventually leads police to arrest Bruce George
Peter Lee.
1980 β English rock group Led Zeppelin officially
disbands, following the death of drummer John
Bonham on September 25th.
1981 β South Africa grants independence to the
Ciskei "homeland" (not recognized by
any government outside South Africa).
1982 β The People's Republic of China adopts its
current constitution.
1984 β Hezbollah militants hijack a Kuwait Airlines
plane, killing four passengers.
1991 β Pan Am goes bankrupt and ceases operations.
1991 β 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 β 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 β Somali Civil War: President George H. W.
Bush orders 28,000 US troops to Somalia in Northeast
Africa.
1993 β A truce is concluded between the government
of Angola and UNITA rebels.
1998 β The Unity Module, the second module of
the International Space Station, is launched.
2005 β Tens of thousands of people in Hong Kong
protest for democracy and call on the Government
to allow universal and equal suffrage.
2006 β 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 β 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 (SanterΓa, LukumΓ)
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:
BarbΓ³rka, 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
