Events on December 4 48
Year 771
Austrasian king Carloman I dies, leaving his brother Charlemagne king of the now complete Frankish Kingdom.
Year 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.
Year 1563
The final session of the Council of Trent is held. (It had opened on December 13, 1545.)
Year 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."
Year 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.)
Year 1676
Battle of Lund: A Danish army under the command of King Christian V engages the Swedish army commanded by Field Marshal Simon Grundel-Helmfelt.
Year 1745
Charles Edward Stuart's army reaches Derby, its furthest point during the Second Jacobite Rising.
Year 1783
At Fraunces Tavern in New York City, U.S. General George Washington bids farewell to his officers.
Year 1791
The first edition of The Observer, the world's first Sunday newspaper, is published.
Year 1829
In the face of fierce local opposition, British Governor-General Lord William Bentinck issues a regulation declaring that anyone who abets suttee in Bengal is guilty of culpable homicide.
Year 1864
American Civil War: Sherman's 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. Sherman's campaign destroying a wide swath of the South on his march to the Atlantic Ocean from Atlanta.
Year 1867
Former Minnesota farmer Oliver Hudson Kelley founds the Order of the Patrons of Husbandry (better known today as the Grange).
Year 1872
The crewless American ship Mary Celeste is found by the Canadian brig Dei Gratia. The ship had been abandoned for nine days but was only slightly damaged.
Year 1875
Notorious New York City politician Boss Tweed escapes from prison; he is later recaptured in Spain.
Year 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.
Year 1906
Alpha Phi Alpha the first black intercollegiate Greek lettered fraternity was founded at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York.
Year 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.
Year 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.
Year 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.
Year 1939
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.
Year 1943
World War II: In Yugoslavia, resistance leader Marshal Josip Broz Tito proclaims a provisional democratic Yugoslav government in-exile.
Year 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.
Year 1945
By a vote of 65-7, the United States Senate approves United States participation in the United Nations. (The UN had been established on October 24, 1945.)
Year 1956
The Million Dollar Quartet (Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins, and Johnny Cash) get together at Sun Studio for the first and last time.
Year 1967
Vietnam War: U.S. and South Vietnamese forces engage Viet Cong troops in the Mekong Delta.
Year 1969
Black Panther Party members Fred Hampton and Mark Clark are shot and killed during a raid by 14 Chicago police officers.
Year 1977
Jean-Bédel Bokassa, president of the Central African Republic, crowns himself Emperor Bokassa I of the Central African Empire.
Year 1977
Malaysian Airline System Flight 653 is hijacked and crashes in Tanjong Kupang, Johor, killing 100.
Year 1978
Following the murder of Mayor George Moscone, Dianne Feinstein becomes San Francisco's first female mayor.
Year 1979
The Hastie fire in Hull kills three schoolboys and eventually leads police to arrest Bruce George Peter Lee.
Year 1981
South Africa grants independence to the Ciskei "homeland" (not recognized by any government outside South Africa).
Year 1984
Sri Lankan Civil War: Sri Lankan Army soldiers kill 107-150 civilians in Mannar.
Year 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.
Year 1992
Somali Civil War: President George H. W. Bush orders 28,000 U.S. troops to Somalia in Northeast Africa.
Year 1998
The Unity Module, the second module of the International Space Station, is launched.
Year 2005
Tens of thousands of people in Hong Kong protest for democracy and call on the government to allow universal and equal suffrage.
Year 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.
Year 2015
A firebomb is thrown into a restaurant in the Egyptian capital of Cairo, killing 17 people.