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On this day in History Archives
 
At PaulsQuiz.com we aim to provide you with as much information as we possibly can. That's why we have built our On This Day in History section, to do just that. Our database is forever growing, we're adding more and more events from history to help you write your quiz questions.

Simply enter a date using the drop-down boxes below and click the 'Go' button to display events from the past that ocurred on that day.
 

 
04 December, 2006
Adult giant squid is caught on video by Kubodera near the Ogasawara Islands, 1,000 km (620 miles) south of Tokyo.
04 December, 2005
Tens of thousands of people in Hong Kong protest for democracy and call on the Government to allow universal and equal suffrage.
04 December, 1998
The Unity Module, the second module of the International Space Station, is launched.
04 December, 1993
A truce is concluded between the government of Angola and UNITA rebels.
04 December, 1992
Somali Civil War: President George H. W. Bush orders 28,000 US troops to Somalia, east Africa.
04 December, 1991
Journalist Terry Anderson is released after 7 years in captivity as a hostage in Beirut. He was the last and longest-held American hostage in Lebanon.
04 December, 1991
US airline Pan Am ends operations.
04 December, 1984
Hezbollah militants hijack a Kuwait Airlines plane, killing four passengers.
04 December, 1982
The Peoples Republic of China adopts its current constitution.
04 December, 1981
South Africa grants "homeland" Ciskei independence (not recognized by any government outside South Africa).
04 December, 1980
The rock group Led Zeppelin formally announces its breakup.
04 December, 1979
The Hastie fire in Hull, kills three schoolboys and eventually leads police to arrest Bruce George Peter Lee.
04 December, 1978
Following the murder of Mayor George Moscone, Dianne Feinstein becomes San Francisco, Californias first woman mayor (she served until January 8, 1988).
04 December, 1977
Jean-Bédel Bokassa, president of the Central African Republic, crowns himself Emperor Bokassa I of the Central African Empire.
04 December, 1977
Malaysia Airlines Flight 653 is hijacked and crashes in Tanjong Kupang, Johor, killing 100.
04 December, 1971
UN Security Council calls emergency session to consider deteriorating situation between India and Pakistan.
04 December, 1971
Attack on Pakistan Navy and Karachi by the Indian Navy.
04 December, 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".
04 December, 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.
04 December, 1969
Surfer Greg Noll rides a 65-foot high wave off the North Shore of Oahu, still the highest ocean surfing ever recorded.
04 December, 1967
Vietnam War: US and South Vietnamese forces engage Viet Cong troops in the Mekong Delta. (But this happened all the time.)
04 December, 1959
A monkey returns to Earth safely, after being launched 55 miles high into outer space by the United States space program.
04 December, 1958
Dahomey (present-day Benin) becomes a self-governing country within the French Community.
04 December, 1956
During a Carl Perkins recording session also involving Jerry Lee Lewis and Johnny Cash at Sun Records in Memphis, Tennessee, Elvis Presley visits the studio and jams with Perkins and Lewis extensively with the tape recorders rolling. (Cash reportedly participates briefly in the jam before leaving the studio with his wife and daughter.) The four men become known as the Million Dollar Quartet, and the complete tape from this legendary session is eventually released on compact disc (CD) in 1987.
04 December, 1952
Great Smog of 1952: A cold fog descends upon London, combining with air pollution and killing at least 12,000 in the weeks and months that follow.
04 December, 1951
Mir Waiz Maulvi Muhammad Yusouf appointed President of Azad Kashmir Government.
04 December, 1945
By a vote of 65 to 7, the United States Senate approves United States participation in the United Nations (the UN was established on October 24, 1945).
04 December, 1943
World War II: In Yugoslavia, resistance leader Marshal Tito proclaims a provisional democratic Yugoslav government in-exile.
04 December, 1943
US President Franklin D. Roosevelt closes down the Works Progress Administration, because of the high levels of wartime employment in the United States.
04 December, 1942
Holocaust: In Warsaw, Zofia Kossak-Szczucka and Wanda Filipowicz set up the Zegota organization.
04 December, 1921
The Virginia Rappe manslaughter trial against Roscoe Fatty Arbuckle ends in a hung jury.
04 December, 1918
US 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.
04 December, 1906
Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Inc., the first intercollegiate Greek-letter fraternity in the United States established for men of African descent, was founded at Cornell University.
04 December, 1881
The Los Angeles Times is first published.
04 December, 1875
Notorious New York City politician Boss Tweed escapes from prison and flees to Cuba, then Spain.
04 December, 1872
The crewless American ship Mary Celeste is found by the British brig Dei Gratia (the ship was abandoned for 9 days but was only slightly damaged).
04 December, 1867
Former Minnesota farmer Oliver Hudson Kelley founds the Order of the Patrons of Husbandry (better known today as the Grange).
04 December, 1864
American Civil War: Shermans 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. Shermans campaign destroying a wide swath of the South on his march to the Atlantic Ocean from Atlanta (Union forces did suffer more than three times the Confederate casualties, however).
04 December, 1859
Mekteb-i Mülkiye founded.
04 December, 1829
In the face of fierce opposition, British governor Lord William Bentinck carries a regulation declaring that all who abetted suttee in India were guilty of culpable homicide.
04 December, 1791
The first issue of The Observer, the worlds first Sunday newspaper, is published.
04 December, 1783
At Fraunces Tavern in New York City, US General George Washington formally bids his officers farewell.
04 December, 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.
04 December, 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).
04 December, 1639
Jeremiah Horrocks made the first observation of a transit of Venus. (November 24 under the Julian calendar.)
04 December, 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).
04 December, 1563
The final session of the Council of Trent is held (it opened on December 13, 1545).
04 December, 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.
04 December, 1210
First Crusade: The Crusaders conquer Sidon.
04 December, 771
Austrasian King Carloman dies, leaving his brother Charlemagne King of the now complete Frankish Kingdom.

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