History of the Day for:
December 4
- 1619: America's first Thanksgiving Day was celebrated in Virginia.
- 1674: French Jesuit explorer Father Marquette established a mission at what is now Chicago.
- 1791: Britain's Observer newspaper, the oldest Sunday newspaper in the world, was first published.
- 1812: The power mower was patented by Peter Gaillard of Lancaster, Pa.
- 1816: James Monroe was elected fifth president of the United States.
- 1829: Britain abolished the practice of "suttee" in India -the widow burning herself to death on her husband's funeral pyre.
- 1839: The Whig Party opened a national convention in Harrisburg, Pa., during which delegates nominated William Henry Harrison for president.
- 1844: James K. Polk was elected to be the 11th U.S. President.
- 1875: William Marcy Tweed, the "Boss" of New York City's Tammany Hall political organization, escaped from jail and fled the country.
- 1892: General Francisco Franco, Spanish dictator, was born.
- 1915: F. F. Fletcher became the first admiral to receive the Congressional Medal of Honor.
- 1915: The Ku Klux Klan received a charter from Fulton County, Ga.
- 1923: Cecil B. DeMille's first version of "The Ten Commandments" premiered in Hollywood.
- 1927: Duke Ellington's big band opened the famed Cotton Club in Harlem.
- 1930: The Vatican approved the rhythm method for birth control.
- 1931: "Frankenstein" opened at the Mayfair. Boris Karloff received fourth billing at the end of the movie.
- 1933: President Franklin D. Roosevelt created the Federal Alcohol Control Administration.
- 1942: U.S. bombers struck the Italian mainland for the first time in World War II; President Franklin D. Roosevelt ordered the dismantling of the Works Progress Administration, which had been created to provide jobs during the Great Depression.
- 1943: Baseball Commissioner Landis announced any baseball club may sign blacks.
- 1945: The Senate approved American participation in the United Nations.
- 1976: Elizabeth Taylor married future senator John Warner in her seventh trip down the aisle.
- 1976: Tommy Bolin, the lead guitarist with Deep Purple, died of a heroin overdose at a Miami hotel.
- 1978: Dianne Feinstein was named San Francisco's first female mayor.
- 1980: Two months after the death of drummer John Bonham, the remaining members of Led Zeppelin announced the end of the group.
- 1982: China adopted its constitution.
- 1991: Florida resident Patricia Bowman testified at William Kennedy Smith's trial in West Palm Beach that Smith had raped her the previous Easter weekend.
- 1991: Pan American World Airways ceased operations.
- 1991: Journalist Terry Anderson, the last American and longest?held Western hostage in Lebanon, was freed by his Islamic Jihad captors after being held for 2,454 days.
- 1996: The Orlando Magic scored 57 points in 84-57 loss to Cleveland Cavaliers, matching NBA record for fewest points since inception of the 24-second clock in 1954-55.
- 1996: NASA's first Mars rover was launched from Cape Canaveral; it landed successfully on July 4, 1997.
- 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: An adult giant squid is caught on video by Kubodera near the Ogasawara Islands, 1,000 km (620 miles) south of Tokyo.