A Brief History
This article presents a chronological list of notable events that happened on December 4th. For each date below, please click on the date to be taken to an article covering that date’s event.
Digging Deeper
On December 4, 1619, 38 British settlers landed from the ship, Margaret (out of Bristol, England) along the North shore of the James River in Virginia in order to found a new town in the Virginia Colony called Berkeley Hundred.
On December 4, 1791, the first edition of The Observer, the world’s first Sunday newspaper, was published.
On December 4, 1829, the British Governor-General Lord William Bentinck, representative of the King of the United Kingdom in India, made a ruling that was vehemently opposed by local Indian people (presumably men) that made the traditional practice of suttee (also known as sati) illegal.
On December 4, 1872, in the Atlantic Ocean west of the Iberian peninsula, the American brigantine Mary Celeste was found by the British brigantine Dei Gratia sailing east without its crew toward the Mediterranean.
On December 4, 1956, Sun Records Studio in Memphis, Tennessee was the location of an impromptu jam session by four of the rising stars of the Rock and Roll Era.
On December 4, 1969, the Chicago Police took the “war” with the militant African-American extremists, the Black Panthers, right into the bedroom when they shot Fred Hampton, a high-ranking member of the Black Panther Party (BPP), to death while he was sleeping.
On December 4, 1971, rock legend Frank Zappa and his band, The Mothers of Invention, were holding a concert at the Montreux Casino in Switzerland, on the shores of beautiful Lake Geneva, when disaster struck.
On December 4, 1977, Jean-Bedel Bokassa crowned himself Emperor of the Central African Empire.
Science fiction psychological horror thriller film fans of John Carroll University had their chance to be among the first in Cleveland, Ohio to see Escape Room on Tuesday, December 4, 2018 at 7:00 PM at Cinemark in Valley View, Ohio!
On Tuesday, November 17, 2020, a limited number of you had a chance at watching a virtual screening of Sound of Metal at 7:30PM.
Question for students (and subscribers) to ponder: Which event that occurred on today’s date would you like to learn more about?
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Historical Evidence
For more information, please see…
Andrews, John and Matt Baker. Timeline of World History. Thunder Bay Press, 2020.
You can also watch video versions of this article on YouTube.