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This day in history

This day in history: 4 December

Events, births and deaths on this date, ordered by how many people look them up.

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Key facts

365 historical events, births and deaths are listed for 4 December.
Entries come from Wikipedia’s day pages and are ordered by page views.
2025: Yasser Abu Shabab is assassinated near Rafah, Gaza Strip.

Holidays and observances

Christian feast day: Ada

Christian feast day: Anno II

Christian feast day: Barbara, and its related observances: Barbórka, Miners' Day in Poland

Christian feast day: Barbara, and its related observances: Eid il-Burbara, a holiday similar to Halloween in honor of Saint Barbara. (Russia, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine, Syria, Turkey)

Christian feast day: Bernardo degli Uberti

Christian feast day: Clement of Alexandria (Anglicanism, Eastern Catholicism)

Christian feast day: December 4 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)

Christian feast day: Giovanni Calabria

Christian feast day: John of Damascus

Christian feast day: Maruthas

Christian feast day: Nicholas Ferrar (Anglicanism)

Christian feast day: Osmund

Events

2025Yasser Abu Shabab is assassinated near Rafah, Gaza Strip.

2024UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson is shot and killed in Manhattan, New York City near the entrance of the New York Hilton Midtown.

2021Semeru on the Indonesian island of Java erupts, killing at least 68 people.

2017The 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.

2015A firebomb is thrown into a restaurant in the Egyptian capital of Cairo, killing 17 people.

2014Islamic 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.

2006Six black youths assault a white teenager in Jena, Louisiana.

2005Tens of thousands of people in Hong Kong protest for democracy and call on the government to allow universal and equal suffrage.

1998The Unity Module, the second module of the International Space Station, is launched.

1996Journalists Fernando Balderas Sánchez and Yolanda Figueroa and their three children are murdered in a case that initially prompted speculation about links to organized crime, corruption, or their journalistic work.

1992Somali Civil War: President George H. W. Bush orders 28,000 U.S. troops to Somalia in Northeast Africa.

1991Pan American World Airways ceases its operations after 64 years.

1991Terry 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.

1986The 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).

1984Sri Lankan Civil War: Sri Lankan Army soldiers kill 107–150 civilians in Mannar.

1983US 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 res

1982The China adopts its current constitution.

1981South Africa grants independence to the Ciskei "homeland" (not recognized by any government outside South Africa).

1979The Hastie fire in Hull kills three schoolboys and eventually leads police to arrest Bruce George Peter Lee.

1978Following the murder of Mayor George Moscone, Dianne Feinstein becomes San Francisco's first female mayor.

1977Jean-Bédel Bokassa, president of the Central African Republic, crowns himself Emperor Bokassa I of the Central African Empire.

1977Malaysian Airline System Flight 653 is hijacked and crashes in Tanjong Kupang, Johor, killing 100.

1974Martinair Flight 138 crashes into the Saptha Kanya mountain range in Maskeliya, Sri Lanka, killing 191.

1971During 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 197

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

1969Black Panther Party members Fred Hampton and Mark Clark are shot and killed during a raid by 14 Chicago police officers.

1965Launch 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.

1964Free 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.

1956The Million Dollar Quartet (Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins, and Johnny Cash) get together at Sun Studio for the first and last time.

1950Korean 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.

1950Korean War: Jesse L. Brown (the 1st African-American Naval aviator) is killed in action during the Battle of Chosin Reservoir.

1949Sir Duncan George Stewart, governor of the Crown Colony of Sarawak, was fatally stabbed by a member of the Rukun 13.

1948Chinese Civil War: The SS Kiangya, carrying Nationalist refugees from Shanghai, explodes in the Huangpu River.

1945By 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.)

1943World War II: In Yugoslavia, resistance leader Marshal Josip Broz Tito proclaims a provisional democratic Yugoslav government in-exile.

1943World 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.

1942World War II: Carlson's patrol during the Guadalcanal campaign ends.

1939World 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.

1928Cosmo Gordon Lang was enthroned as the Archbishop of Canterbury, the first bachelor to be appointed in 150 years.

1919Ukrainian War of Independence: The Polonsky conspiracy is initiated, with an attempt to assassinate the high command of the Revolutionary Insurgent Army of Ukraine.

Born on this day

2003Jackson Holliday, American baseball player

2003Kim Do-ah, South Korean singer and actress

2002María Dueñas, Spanish violinist and composer

1999Kang Mi-na, South Korean actress and singer

1999Kim Do-yeon, South Korean singer and actress

1996Diogo Jota, Portuguese footballer (died 2025)

1996Sebastián Vegas, Chilean footballer

1994Gabriel Lundberg, Danish basketball player

1992Blake Snell, American baseball player

1992Jean-Claude Iranzi, Rwandan footballer

1992Jin, South Korean singer, songwriter and actor

1992Joe Musgrove, American baseball player

1992Peta Hiku, New Zealand rugby league player

1992Robin Bruyère, Belgian politician

1991André Roberson, American basketball player

1991Duje Dukan, Croatian basketball player

1991Max Holloway, American mixed martial artist

1991Reality Winner, American intelligence specialist convicted of espionage

1990Blake Leary, Australian rugby league player

1990Lukman Haruna, Nigerian footballer

1988Yeng Constantino, Filipina singer and songwriter

1987Orlando Brown, American actor and rapper

1986Kaija Udras, Estonian skier

1986Martell Webster, American basketball player

1985Andrew Brackman, American baseball player

1985Carlos Gómez, Dominican baseball player

1984Anna Petrakova, Russian basketball player

1984Jelly Roll, American singer and rapper

1984Joe Thomas, American football player

1984Lindsay Felton, American actress

1983Chinx, American rapper (died 2015)

1983Jimmy Bartel, Australian footballer

1982Ho-Pin Tung, Dutch-Chinese race car driver

1982Nathan Douglas, English triple jumper

1982Nick Vujicic, Australian evangelist

1982Waldo Ponce, Chilean footballer

1981Brian Vandborg, Danish cyclist

1980Brian Cook, American basketball player

1980Viktor, Canadian wrestler and manager

1979Jay DeMerit, American soccer player

Died on this day

2024Brian Thompson, businessman (born 1974)

2024Princess Birgitta of Sweden, Swedish royal (born 1937)

2022Bob McGrath, American singer and actor (born 1932)

2022Patrick Tambay, French race car driver (born 1949)

2017Shashi Kapoor, Indian actor (born 1938)

2016Patricia Robins, British writer and WAAF officer (born 1921)

2015Bill Bennett, Canadian lawyer and politician, 27th Premier of British Columbia (born 1932)

2015Robert Loggia, American actor and director (born 1930)

2015Yossi Sarid, Israeli journalist and politician, 15th Israeli Minister of Education (born 1940)

2014Claudia Emerson, American poet and academic (born 1957)

2014Jeremy Thorpe, English lawyer and politician (born 1929)

2014Vincent L. McKusick, American lawyer and judge (born 1921)

2014V. R. Krishna Iyer, Indian lawyer and judge (born 1914)

2013Joana Raspall i Juanola, Spanish author and poet (born 1913)

2012Anthony Deane-Drummond, English general (born 1917)

2012Jack Brooks, American colonel, lawyer, and politician (born 1922)

2012Miguel Calero, Colombian footballer and manager (born 1971)

2012Vasily Belov, Russian author, poet, and playwright (born 1932)

2011Hubert Sumlin, American singer and guitarist (born 1931)

2011Sócrates, Brazilian footballer and manager (born 1954)

2011Sonia Pierre, Haitian-Dominican activist (born 1965)

2010King Curtis Iaukea, American wrestler (born 1937)

2009Liam Clancy, Irish singer, actor, and guitarist (born 1935)

2007Pimp C, American rapper (born 1973)

2006K. Ganeshalingam, Sri Lankan accountant and politician, Mayor of Colombo (born 1938)

2006Ross A. McGinnis, American soldier, Medal of Honor recipient (born 1987)

2005Errol Brathwaite, New Zealand soldier and author (born 1924)

2005Gregg Hoffman, American film producer (born 1963)

2004Elena Souliotis, Greek soprano and actress (born 1943)

2003Iggy Katona, American race car driver (born 1916)

Quote of the day

“The mind is everything. What you think you become.”

attributed to the Buddha

Questions people ask

Where do the entries come from?

From Wikipedia’s on-this-day pages for this language, updated once a day and ordered by how often each article is read.

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