December 4
Events
Pre-1600
- 771 - Austrasian king Carloman I dies, leaving his brother Charlemagne as sole king of the Frankish Kingdom.
- 963 - The lay papal protonotary is elected pope and takes the name Leo VIII, being consecrated on 6 December after ordination.
- 1110 - An army led by Baldwin I of Jerusalem and Sigurd the Crusader of Norway captures Sidon at the end of the First Crusade.
- 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 in exchange for Louis withdrawing his support for English rebels.
- 1563 - The final session of the Council of Trent is held nearly 18 years after the body held its first session on December 13, 1545.
1601–1900
- 1619 - Thirty-eight colonists arrive at Berkeley Hundred, Virginia. The group's charter proclaims that the day "be yearly and perpetually kept holy as a day of thanksgiving to Almighty God."
- 1623 - 50 Christians are executed in Edo, Japan, during the Great Martyrdom of Edo.
- 1676 - The Battle of Lund occurs, and is the bloodiest battle in Scandinavian history.
- 1745 - Charles Edward Stuart's army reaches Derby, its furthest point during the Second Jacobite Rising.
- 1783 - At Fraunces Tavern in New York City, U.S. General George Washington bids farewell to his officers.
- 1786 - Mission Santa Barbara is dedicated.
- 1791 - The first edition of The Observer, the world's first Sunday newspaper, is published.
- 1804 - The United States House of Representatives adopts articles of impeachment against Supreme Court Justice Samuel Chase.
- 1808 - Napoleonic Wars: Under the orders by commander Tomás de Morla, the city of Madrid surrenders to French Emperor Napoleon I after a 4 day long siege.
- 1829 - In the face of fierce local opposition, British Governor-General Lord William Bentinck issues a regulation declaring that anyone who abets sati in Bengal is guilty of culpable homicide.
- 1861 - American Civil War: The 109 electors of the several states of the Confederate States of America unanimously elect Jefferson Davis as President and Alexander H. Stephens as Vice President.
- 1863 - American Civil War: Confederate General James Longstreet lifts his unsuccessful siege of Knoxville, Tennessee after failing to capture the city.
- 1864 - American Civil War: Sherman's March to the Sea: Union cavalry forces defeat Confederate cavalry in the Battle of Waynesboro, Georgia, opening the way for General William T. Sherman's army to approach the coast.
- 1865 - North Carolina ratifies 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, followed two days later by Georgia, and U.S. slaves were legally free within two weeks.
- 1867 - Former Minnesota farmer Oliver Hudson Kelley founds the Order of the Patrons of Husbandry.
- 1872 - The American brigantine is discovered drifting in the Atlantic. Her crew is never found.
- 1875 - Notorious New York City politician Boss Tweed escapes from prison; he is later recaptured in Spain.
- 1881 - The first edition of the Los Angeles Times is published.
- 1893 - First Matabele War: A patrol of 34 British South Africa Company soldiers is ambushed and annihilated by more than 3,000 Matabele warriors on the Shangani River in Matabeleland.
1901–present
- 1906 - Alpha Phi Alpha, the first intercollegiate Greek lettered fraternity for African-Americans, was founded at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York.
- 1909 - In Canadian football, the First 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 surviving professional hockey franchise in the world, is founded as a charter member of the National Hockey Association.
- 1917 - The Finnish Senate submits to the Parliament of Finland a proposal for the form of government of the Republic of Finland and issues a communication to Parliament declaring the independence of Finland.
- 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.
- 1919 - Ukrainian War of Independence: The Polonsky conspiracy is initiated, with an attempt to assassinate the high command of the Revolutionary Insurgent Army of Ukraine.
- 1928 - Cosmo Gordon Lang was enthroned as the Archbishop of Canterbury, the first bachelor to be appointed in 150 years.
- 1939 - World War II: is struck by a mine off the Scottish coast and is laid up for repairs until August 1940.
- 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 65–7, the United States Senate approves United States participation in the United Nations.
- 1948 - Chinese Civil War: The SS Kiangya, carrying Nationalist refugees from Shanghai, explodes in the Huangpu River.
- 1949 - Sir Duncan George Stewart, governor of the Crown Colony of Sarawak, was fatally stabbed by a member of the Rukun 13.
- 1950 - Korean War: Jesse L. Brown is killed in action during the Battle of Chosin Reservoir.
- 1950 - Korean War: Associated Press photographer Max Desfor photographs hundreds of Korean refugees crossing a downed bridge in the Taedong River: 1951 Pulitzer Prize winner Flight of Refugees Across Wrecked Bridge in Korea.
- 1956 - The Million Dollar Quartet get together at Sun Studio for the first and last time.
- 1964 - Free Speech Movement: Police arrest over 800 students at the University of California, Berkeley, following their takeover and sit-in at the administration building in protest of the UC Regents' decision to forbid protests on UC property.
- 1965 - Launch of Gemini 7 with crew members Frank Borman and Jim Lovell. The Gemini 7 spacecraft was the passive target for the first crewed space rendezvous performed by the crew of Gemini 6A.
- 1969 - Black Panther Party members Fred Hampton and Mark Clark are shot and killed during a raid by 14 Chicago police officers.
- 1971 - The PNS Ghazi, a Pakistan Navy submarine, sinks during the course of the Indo-Pakistani Naval War of 1971.
- 1971 - During a concert by Frank Zappa and The Mothers of Invention at the Montreux Casino, an audience member fires a flare gun into the ceiling, causing a fire that destroys the venue. The incident served as the inspiration for Deep Purple's 1973 song Smoke on the Water.
- 1974 - Martinair Flight 138 crashes into the Saptha Kanya mountain range in Maskeliya, Sri Lanka, killing 191.
- 1977 - Jean-Bédel Bokassa, president of the Central African Republic, crowns himself Emperor Bokassa I of the Central African Empire.
- 1977 - Malaysian Airline System 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's first female mayor.
- 1979 - The Hastie fire in Hull kills three schoolboys and eventually leads police to arrest Bruce George Peter Lee.
- 1981 - South Africa grants independence to the Ciskei "homeland".
- 1982 - The People's Republic of China adopts its current constitution.
- 1983 - US Navy aircraft from USS John F. Kennedy and USS Independence attack Syrian missile sites in Lebanon in response to an F-14 being fired on by an SA-7. One A-6 Intruder and A-7 Corsair are shot down. One American pilot is killed, one is rescued, and one is captured.
- 1984 - Sri Lankan Civil War: Sri Lankan Army soldiers kill 107–150 civilians in Mannar.
- 1986 - The MV Amazon Venture oil tanker begins leaking oil while at the port of Savannah in the United States, resulting in an oil spill of approximately.
- 1991 - Terry A. Anderson is released after seven years in captivity as a hostage in Beirut; he is the last and longest-held American hostage in Lebanon.
- 1991 - Pan American World Airways ceases its operations after 64 years.
- 1992 - Somali Civil War: President George H. W. Bush orders 28,000 U.S. troops to Somalia in Northeast Africa.
- 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 - Six black youths assault a white teenager in Jena, Louisiana.
- 2014 - Islamic insurgents kill three state police at a traffic circle before taking an empty school and a "press house" in Grozny. Ten state forces die with 28 injured in gun battles ending with ten insurgents killed.
- 2015 - A firebomb is thrown into a restaurant in the Egyptian capital of Cairo, killing 17 people.
- 2017 - The Thomas Fire starts near Santa Paula in California. It eventually became the largest wildfire in modern California history to date after burning in Ventura and Santa Barbara Counties.
- 2021 - Semeru on the Indonesian island of Java erupts, killing at least 68 people.
- 2024 - UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson is shot and killed in Manhattan, New York City near the entrance of the New York Hilton Midtown.
Births
Pre-1600