GMT 12/04//2017

Today in History
December 4


771-- With the death of his brother Carloman, Charlemagne becomes sole ruler of the Frankish Empire.

1861-- The U.S. Senate, voting 36 to 0, expels Senator John C. Brekinridge of Kentucky because of his joining the Confederate Army.

1861-- Queen Victoria of Britain forbids the export of gunpowder, firearms and all materials for their production.

1862-- Winchester, Va., falls into Union hands, resulting in the capture of 145 Southern soldiers.

1863-- Seven solid days of bombardment ends at Charleston, S.C. The Union fires some 1,307 rounds.

1872-- The U.S. brigantine Marie Celeste is found adrift and deserted with its cargo intact, in the Atlantic Ocean between the Azores and Portugal.

1900-- The French National Assembly, successor to the States-General, rejects Nationalist General Mercier's proposal to plan an invasion of England.

1914-- The first Seaplane Unit formed by the German Navy officially comes into existence and begins operations from Zeebrugge, Belgium.

1918-- France cancels trade treaties in order to compete in the postwar economic battles.

1941-- Operation Taifun (Typhoon), which was launched by the German armies on October 2, 1941, as a prelude to taking Moscow, is halted because of freezing temperatures and lack of serviceable aircraft.

1942-- U.S. planes make the first raids on Naples, Italy.

1947-- Tennessee William's play A Streetcar Named Desire premieres on Broadway starring Marlon Brando and Jessica Tandy.

1950-- The University of Tennessee defies court rulings by rejecting five Negro applicants.

1952-- The Grumman XS2F-1 makes its first flight.

1959-- Peking pardons Pu Yi, ex-emperor of China and of the Japanese puppet-state of Manchukuo.

1981-- President Ronald Reagan broadens the power of the CIA by allowing spying in the United States.

1985-- Robert McFarland resigns as National Security Advisor. Admiral John Poindexter is named to succeed.

1991-- The last American hostages held in Lebanon are released.

1992-- US Pres. George H. W. Bush orders 28,000 troops to Somalia during the Somali Civil War.


Born on December 4

1584-- John Cotton, English-born Puritan clergyman (The Way of the Church of Christ in New England).

1795-- Thomas Carlyle, Scottish historian and essayist (The French Revolution, Sartor Resartus).

1835-- Samuel Butler, English writer and painter (Erewhon, The Way of All Flesh).

1861-- Lillian Russell, singer and actress.

1865-- Edith Cavell, English nurse who tended to friend and foe alike during World War I.

1866-- Wassily Kandinsky, Russian-born painter.

1875-- Rainer Maria Rilke, German poet.

1892-- Francisco Franco, Spanish general and dictator who came to power as a result of the Spanish Civil War.

1924-- Frank Press, geophysicist.

1937-- Max Baer Jr., actor, screenwriter, director, producer; best know for his role as Jethro on The Beverly Hillbillies TV series

1940-- Gary Gilmore, American murderer who demanded his death sentence be carried out; he was the first prisoner executed in the US following the Supreme Court's ruling on the death penalty in Gregg v. Georgia.

1944-- Chris Hillman, singer, songwrier, musician; performed with the bands The Byrds, The Hillmen, The Flying Burrito Brothers, and Manassas.

1945-- A. Scott Berg, Pulitzer Prize–winning biographer (Lindberg, 1998).

1949-- Jeff Bridges, actor, producer; won Academy Award for Best Actor as Otis "Bad" Blake in Crazy Heart (2009).