THIS DAY IN HISTORY ― DECEMBER 4

December 4 is the 338th day of the year (339th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 27 days remaining until the end of the year. This date is slightly more likely to fall on a Tuesday, Friday or Sunday (58 in 400 years each) than on Wednesday or Thursday (57), and slightly less likely to occur on a Monday or Saturday (56). 

NATIONAL SOCK DAY  

1154 — Adrian IV is elected Pope. The only Englishman to become pontiff, Nicholas Breakspear was a member of the family which until recent years brewed beer in Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire.

1619 — Thirty-eight colonists from Berkeley Parish in England disembark in Virginia and give thanks to God. Considered by many as the first Thanksgiving in the Americas.


1783 —  On this day in 1783, future President George Washington, then commanding general of the Continental Army, summons his military officers to Fraunces Tavern in New York City to inform them that he will be resigning his commission and returning to civilian life.

1791 — Britain's Observer, the oldest Sunday newspaper in the world, was first published.

1833 — The American Anti-Slavery Society is formed by Arthur Tappan in Philadelphia.

1861 — Queen Victoria of England forbids export of gunpowder, firearms, and all materials for their production.

1872 — The ship the Mary Celeste is discovered mysteriously abandoned by her crew in the Atlantic Ocean.


1917 — Well-known psychiatrist W.H. Rivers reports on the psychological phenomena of "shell shock."


1918 —  President Woodrow Wilson sails for Versailles (Paris) Peace Conference in France.

1942 —  On this day in Warsaw, a group of Polish Christians put their own lives at risk when they set up the Council for the Assistance of the Jews. The group was led by two women, Zofia Kossak and Wanda Filipowicz.


1945 — In an overwhelming vote of 65 to 7, the U.S. Senate approves full U.S. participation in the United Nations. The United Nations had officially came into existence on October 24, 1945, when its charter was ratified by China, France, the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom, the United States and a majority of other signatories. Senate approval meant the U.S. could join most of the world's nations in the international organization, which aimed to arbitrate differences between countries and stem military aggression.


1952 — Heavy smog begins to hover over London, England, on this day in 1952. It persists for four days, leading to the deaths of at least 4,000 people.

1969 — Black Panthers Fred Hampton, 21, and Mark Clark, 22, are gunned down by 14 police officers as they lie sleeping in their Chicago, Illinois apartment. 

1980 — Two months after the death of drummer John Bonham, Led Zeppelin breaks up.

1997 — Nizar Hamdoon warns that Iraq will not allow oil to flow during a third six-month phase of the UN's oil-for-food sale until the UN approves an aid distribution plan.

1999 — NASA loses contact with the Mars Polar Lander moments before the spacecraft enters Mars atmosphere and was assumed lost. The primary conclusion for the loss was failure of the decent engines.

2019 — Kamala Harris ends her campaign to become the Democrat Presidential candidate.

TODAY'S BIRTHS

1585 – John Cotton, English-American minister and theologian (d. 1652)

1795 – Thomas Carlyle, Scottish-English historian, philosopher, and academic (d. 1881)

1835 – Samuel Butler, English author and critic (d. 1902)

1908 – Alfred Hershey, American bacteriologist and geneticist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1997)

1912 – George "Pappy" Boyington, American colonel and pilot (WWII "Flying TIgers"), Medal of Honor recipient (d. 1988)

From Wikipedia and Google, except as noted.