What Happened on December 4 in History?
Major historical events that occurred on December 4 include George Washington's farewell to his officers in 1783, the founding of the Los Angeles Times in 1881, the disbandment of Led Zeppelin in 1980, and the deployment of U.S. troops to Somalia in 1992.
December 4 has been marked by many significant historical events throughout the years:
Key Historical Events
1619: The first Thanksgiving in the Americas is considered to have taken place in Virginia with the arrival of 38 colonists.
1783: George Washington officially said goodbye to his officers in New York City at the end of the Revolutionary War.
1791: The Observer, the world's first Sunday newspaper, was first published in Britain.
1829: The British outlawed sati, a practice where a Hindu widow would self-immolate on her husband's funeral pyre, in Bengal, India.
1867: Oliver Hudson Kelley established the Grange, which became a significant political organization for American farmers.
1872: The Mary Celeste, an American brigantine, was found adrift and deserted in the Atlantic Ocean.
1881: The first edition of the Los Angeles Times was published.
1906: Alpha Phi Alpha, the first intercollegiate Greek-lettered fraternity for African-Americans, was founded at Cornell University.
1945: The U.S. Senate approved participation in the United Nations.
1956: Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Carl Perkins, known as the "Million Dollar Quartet," had an impromptu jam session at Sun Studio in Memphis.
1965: Gemini VII launched, carrying astronauts Frank Borman and James Lovell, with the main goal of testing long-duration spaceflight for the Apollo program.
1969: Fred Hampton and Mark Clark, members of the Black Panther Party, were killed by Chicago police officers during a raid.
1971: A fire started at a Frank Zappa concert in Switzerland, an event referenced in Deep Purple's "Smoke on the Water".
1980: Led Zeppelin announced they were disbanding after the death of drummer John Bonham.
1991: Terry Anderson, the final and longest-held Western hostage in Lebanon, was freed. Pan American World Airways (Pan Am) also ended operations after 64 years.
1992: President George H.W. Bush sent U.S. troops to Somalia for Operation Restore Hope, a humanitarian mission to protect food distribution during a famine.
1997: The NBA suspended Latrell Sprewell of the Golden State Warriors for one year for assaulting his coach.
Notable Birthdays
December 4 is the birthday of several notable figures, including Spanish dictator Francisco Franco (1892), actors Jeff Bridges (1949) and Marisa Tomei (1964), rapper Jay-Z (1969), model Tyra Banks (1973), and BTS singer Jin (1992).
Notable Deaths
Notable deaths on this date include English philosopher Thomas Hobbes (1679), physicist John Tyndall (1893), actor Bert Lahr (1967), and musician Frank Zappa (1993).
