Today In History - December 4

1110 The Syria harbor city Saida surrenders to the Crusaders
1197 Crusaders wound Rabbi Elezar ben Judah
1259 Treaty of Paris is signed
1489 Battle of Baza
1534 Turkish sultan Suleiman occupies Baghdad
1563 The Council of Trent holds its last session
1619 America's first Thanksgiving Day
1644 The first European peace congress opens in Munster
1655 Middelburg Netherlands forbids building of a synagogue
1665 Jean Racine's "Alexandre le Grand," premieres in Paris
1674 Father Marquette builds the first dwelling in what is now Chicago
1680 A hen in Rome lays an egg imprinted with a comet not seen until Dec 16th
1682 The first General Assembly in Pennsylvania
1691 Emperor Leopold I takes control of Transylvania
1691 Spanish king Carlos II names Maximilian II the Viceroy of S. Netherlands
1745 Bonnie Prince Charles reaches Derby
1783 General Washington bids officers farewell at Fraunce's Tavern, New York City
1791 Britain's Observer, oldest Sunday newspaper in the world, is first published
1812 Peter Gaillard of Lancaster, Pennsylvania patents a horse-drawn mower
1816 James Monroe is elected the 5th president of the US
1829 Britain abolished "suttee" in India (widow burning herself to death on her husband's funeral pyre)
1832 French army begins bombing citadel of Antwerp
1833 The American Anti-Slavery Society is formed by Arthur Tappan in Phila
1836 The Whig party holds its first national convention, Harrisburg, PA
1843 Manila paper (made from sails, canvas and rope) is patented
1844 James K. Polk is elected the 11th President of US
1851 President Louis Napolean Boaparte's forces crush a coup d' tat in France
1863 Storm flood ravages Nethe coastal provinces
1864 Battle of Waynesborough, GA
1864 Romanian Jews are forbidden to practice law
1867 The Grange is organized to protect farm interests
1875 William Marcy "Boss" Tweed
1889 Stanley's expedition reaches Bagamoyo in the Indian Ocean
1899 The 56th Congress (1899-1901) convenes
1899 Webb Hayes, son of President Rutherford Hayes, receives the Medal Of Honor
1906 Alpha Phi Alpha, the first Black Greek Letter Fraternity, forms
1908 Haiti's president-General Alexis Nord flees from military coup
1915 F. F. Fletcher is the first Admiral to receive Congressional Medal of Honor
1915 Ku Klux Klan receives its charter from Fulton County, GA
1915 The Panama Pacific International Exposition opens
1918 President Wilson sails for the Versailles Peace Conference in France: first chief executive to travel outside the U.S. while in office
1923 Cecil B. DeMille's first version of "Ten Commandments" premieres
1923 WEAF radio begins broadcasting the Eveready Hour variety show
1927 Duke Ellington opens at the Cotton Club in Harlem
1930 The French government of Tardieu falls
1930 The Vatican approves the rhythm method for birth control
1931 "Frankenstein" opens at the Mayfair
1933 Franklin D. Roosevelt creates Federal Alcohol Control Administration
1935 1,200 at St. Joseph's College enroll in anticommunism class
1941 Nazi ordinances place the Jews of Poland outside the protection of courts
1942 Franklin D. Roosevelt orders the dismantling of Works Progress Administration
1942 U.S. bombers struck the Italian mainland for first time in WW II
1943 The 2nd conference of Cairo: FDR, Churchill, and Turkish President Inonu
1943 The Yugoslavian resistance forms provisionary government under Dr. Ribar
1944 The Germans destroy Rhine dikes, Betuwe flooded
1945 The Senate approves U.S. participation in UN
1947 The U.S.S.R. joins International Amateur Athletic Union
1948 SS Kiangya hits a mine in Whangpoo River, China and sinks killing 2,750 people
1951 Superheated gases roll down Mount Catarman in the Philippines killing 500 people
1952 Killer fogs begin in London England: "Smog" becomes a word
1952 Walter P. Reuther is chosen the Chairman of CIO
1957 Two commuter trains collide in heavy fog killing 92 people in St. John's, England
1961 Floyd Patterson KOs Tom McNeeley in 4 rounds for the heavyweight boxing title
1961 The Museum of Modern Art hangs Matisse's Le Bateau upside down for 47 days
1961 Tanganyika becomes the 104th member of UN
1961 PBS begins broadcasting
1962 The U.S. performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
1963 Aldo Moro forms the Italian government
1963 Pope Paul VI closes 2nd session of 2nd Vatican Council
1964 Baseball approves a free-agent draft
1964 Beatles release the "Beatles For Sale" album
1965 Two passenger planes collide above Danbury, CT and 4 people die
1965 The Gemini 7 (Borman and Lovell) is launched
1966 Sandra Haynie wins the LPGA Pensacola Ladies Golf Invitational
1970 Unemployment in the U.S. increases to 5.8 percent
1973 Pioneer 10 reaches Jupiter
1974 A Dutch DC-8 charter crashes in Sri Lanka killing 191 Moslem pilgrims
1974 Jean-Paul Sartre visits RAF leader Andreas Baader in prison
1976 Liz Taylor's 7th marriage: to John Warner
1978 Dianne Feinstein is named San Francisco first female mayor
1978 Dutch War criminal Pieter Menten is freed
1978 Pioneer Venus 1 goes into orbit around Venus
1979 Liza Minnelli's 3rd marriage: Mark Gero
1980 Led Zeppelin breaks up
1981 "Falcon Crest" premieres on CBS-TV
1981 President Reagan allows the CIA to engage in domestic counter-intelligence
1981 Reagan Executive Order on Intelligence (No 12333) is signed
1982 China adopts its new constitution
1982 Police and racist demonstrators clash in Antwerp
1983 US jet fighters strike Syrian anti-aircraft positions in Lebanon
1984 Hijackers commandeered a Kuwaiti airliner
1985 French President Mitterrand receives Polish leader Jaruzelski
1985 President Reagan appoints Vice Admiral John Poindexter as Security Adviser
1988 Actor Gary Busey is critically injured in motorcycle crash
1988 The U.S.S.R. performs nuclear test at Novaya Zemlya U.S.S.R.
1990 Due to the Persian Gulf crisis gas hits $1.60 per gallon price in New York City
1990 Iraq announces it will release all 3,300 Soviet hostages
1991 The Judds' final concert is held in Nashville
1991 Muslim Shites release their last U.S. hostage: Terry Anderson, held for 6 years
1991 Pan American World Airways ceased operations
1991 Patricia Bowman testifies that William Kennedy Smith raped her
1996 The 7th Billboard Music Awards
1996 NASA's first Mars rover is launched from Cape Canaveral
1997 NBA suspends Latrell Sprewell for one year for attacking his coach

Today In History - December 4

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