On This Day — 4 December

2025

Yasser Abu Shabab is assassinated near Rafah, Gaza Strip.

Killing of Yasser Abu Shabab

2024

UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson is shot and killed in Manhattan, New York City near the entrance of the New York Hilton Midtown.

UnitedHealth Group

2021

Semeru on the Indonesian island of Java erupts, killing at least 68 people.

Semeru

2017

The Thomas Fire starts near Santa Paula in California. It eventually became the largest wildfire in modern California history to date after burning 1,140 square kilometers (440 sq mi) in Ventura and Santa Barbara Counties.

Thomas Fire

2015

A firebomb is thrown into a restaurant in the Egyptian capital of Cairo, killing 17 people.

2015 Cairo restaurant fire

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.

Caucasus Emirate

2006

Six black youths assault a white teenager in Jena, Louisiana.

Jena Six

2005

Tens of thousands of people in Hong Kong protest for democracy and call on the government to allow universal and equal suffrage.

December 2005 protest for democracy in Hong Kong

1998

The Unity Module, the second module of the International Space Station, is launched.

Unity (ISS module)

1992

Somali Civil War: President George H. W. Bush orders 28,000 U.S. troops to Somalia in Northeast Africa.

Somali Civil War

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.

Terry A. Anderson

1991

Pan American World Airways ceases its operations after 64 years.

Pan Am

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 500,000 US gallons (1,900,000 L).

Port of Savannah

1984

Sri Lankan Civil War: Sri Lankan Army soldiers kill 107–150 civilians in Mannar.

Sri Lankan civil war

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.

United States Navy

1982

The China adopts its current constitution.

China

1981

South Africa grants independence to the Ciskei "homeland" (not recognized by any government outside South Africa).

Ciskei

1979

The Hastie fire in Hull kills three schoolboys and eventually leads police to arrest Bruce George Peter Lee.

Kingston upon Hull

1978

Following the murder of Mayor George Moscone, Dianne Feinstein becomes San Francisco's first female mayor.

Assassinations of George Moscone and Harvey Milk

1977

Jean-Bédel Bokassa, president of the Central African Republic, crowns himself Emperor Bokassa I of the Central African Empire.

Jean-Bédel Bokassa

1977

Malaysian Airline System Flight 653 is hijacked and crashes in Tanjong Kupang, Johor, killing 100.

Malaysian Airline System Flight 653

1974

Martinair Flight 138 crashes into the Saptha Kanya mountain range in Maskeliya, Sri Lanka, killing 191.

Martinair Flight 138

1971

The PNS Ghazi, a Pakistan Navy submarine, sinks during the course of the Indo-Pakistani Naval War of 1971.

PNS Ghazi

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.

Frank Zappa

1969

Black Panther Party members Fred Hampton and Mark Clark are shot and killed during a raid by 14 Chicago police officers.

Black Panther Party

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.

Gemini 7

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.

Free Speech Movement

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.

Million Dollar Quartet

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.

Associated Press

1949

Sir Duncan George Stewart, governor of the Crown Colony of Sarawak, was fatally stabbed by a member of the Rukun 13.

Duncan Stewart (colonial administrator)

1948

Chinese Civil War: The SS Kiangya, carrying Nationalist refugees from Shanghai, explodes in the Huangpu River.

Chinese Civil War

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.)

United States Senate

1943

World War II: In Yugoslavia, resistance leader Marshal Josip Broz Tito proclaims a provisional democratic Yugoslav government in-exile.

Kingdom of Yugoslavia

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.

Franklin D. Roosevelt

1942

World War II: Carlson's patrol during the Guadalcanal campaign ends.

Carlson's patrol

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.

World War II

1928

Cosmo Gordon Lang was enthroned as the Archbishop of Canterbury, the first bachelor to be appointed in 150 years.

Cosmo Gordon Lang

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.

Ukrainian War of Independence

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.

Woodrow Wilson

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.

Senate of Finland

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.

Canadian football

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.

Montreal Canadiens

1906

Alpha Phi Alpha, the first intercollegiate Greek lettered fraternity for African-Americans, was founded at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York.

Alpha Phi Alpha

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.

First Matabele War

1881

The first edition of the Los Angeles Times is published.

Los Angeles Times

1875

Notorious New York City politician Boss Tweed escapes from prison; he is later recaptured in Spain.

William M. Tweed

1872

The American brigantine Mary Celeste is discovered drifting in the Atlantic. Her crew is never found.

Mary Celeste

1867

Former Minnesota farmer Oliver Hudson Kelley founds the Order of the Patrons of Husbandry (better known today as the Grange).

Minnesota

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.

North Carolina

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.

Sherman's March to the Sea

1863

American Civil War: Confederate General James Longstreet lifts his unsuccessful siege of Knoxville, Tennessee after failing to capture the city.

James Longstreet

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.

American Civil War

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.

Governor-General of India

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.

Peninsular War

1804

The United States House of Representatives adopts articles of impeachment against Supreme Court Justice Samuel Chase.

United States House of Representatives

1791

The first edition of The Observer, the world's first Sunday newspaper, is published.

The Observer

1786

Mission Santa Barbara is dedicated (on the feast day of Saint Barbara).

Mission Santa Barbara

1783

At Fraunces Tavern in New York City, U.S. General George Washington bids farewell to his officers.

Fraunces Tavern

1745

Charles Edward Stuart's army reaches Derby, its furthest point during the Second Jacobite Rising.

Charles Edward Stuart

1676

The Battle of Lund occurs, and is the bloodiest battle in Scandinavian history.

Battle of Lund

1623

50 Christians are executed in Edo, Japan, during the Great Martyrdom of Edo.

Edo

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."

Colony

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.

Council of Trent

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.

Louis IX of France

1110

An army led by Baldwin I of Jerusalem and Sigurd the Crusader of Norway captures Sidon at the end of the First Crusade.

Baldwin I of Jerusalem

963

The lay papal protonotary is elected pope and takes the name Leo VIII, being consecrated on 6 December after ordination.

Protonotary apostolic

771

Austrasian king Carloman I dies, leaving his brother Charlemagne as sole king of the Frankish Kingdom.

Austrasia