Events for December 4
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.
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.
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.
1875 – Notorious New York City politician Boss Tweed escapes from prison; he is later recaptured in Spain.
1984 – Sri Lankan Civil War: Sri Lankan Army soldiers kill 107–150 civilians in Mannar.
1949 – Sir Duncan George Stewart was fatally stabbed by Rosli Dhobi, a member leader of the Rukun 13, in Sibu, Sarawak, Malaysia during the British crown colony era in that state.
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.
1865 – North Carolina ratifies 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, followed soon by Georgia, and U.S. slaves were legally free within two weeks.
1971 – The PNS Ghazi, a Pakistan Navy submarine, sinks during the course of the Indo-Pakistani Naval War of 1971.
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."
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.
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.
2006 – Six black youths assault a white teenager in Jena, Louisiana.
1969 – Black Panther Party members Fred Hampton and Mark Clark are shot and killed during a raid by 14 Chicago police officers.
1864 – American Civil War: Sherman's March to the Sea: At Waynesboro, Georgia, forces under Union General Judson Kilpatrick prevent troops led by Confederate General Joseph Wheeler from interfering with Union General William T. Sherman's campaign destroying a wide swath of the South on his march to the Atlantic Ocean from Atlanta.
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.
2017 – The Thomas Fire starts near Santa Paula in California. It eventually became the largest wildfire in modern California history to date after burning 440 square miles (1,140 km2) in Ventura and Santa Barbara Counties.
1783 – At Fraunces Tavern in New York City, U.S. General George Washington bids farewell to his officers.
1979 – The Hastie fire in Hull kills three schoolboys and eventually leads police to arrest Bruce George Peter Lee.
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).
1978 – Following the murder of Mayor George Moscone, Dianne Feinstein becomes San Francisco's first female mayor.
1998 – The Unity Module, the second module of the International Space Station, is launched.
Notable Births & Deaths for December 4
2006 – K. Ganeshalingam, Sri Lankan accountant and politician, Mayor of Colombo (b. 1938)
1985 – Stephen Dawson, Irish footballer
1988 – Andriy Pylyavskyi, Ukrainian footballer
2011 – Sócrates, Brazilian footballer and manager (b. 1954)
2012 – Anthony Deane-Drummond, English general (b. 1917)
2006 – Ross A. McGinnis, American soldier, Medal of Honor recipient (b. 1987)
1992 – Jean-Claude Iranzi, Rwandan footballer
2017 – Shashi Kapoor, Indian actor (b. 1938)
1996 – Diogo Jota, Portuguese professional footballer
2014 – V. R. Krishna Iyer, Indian lawyer and judge (b. 1914)
2009 – Liam Clancy, Irish singer, actor, and guitarist (b. 1935)
1990 – Blake Leary, Australian rugby league player
2016 – Patricia Robins, British writer and WAAF officer (b. 1921).
2015 – Yossi Sarid, Israeli journalist and politician, 15th Israeli Minister of Education (b. 1940)
2012 – Jack Brooks, American colonel, lawyer, and politician (b. 1922)
1986 – Martell Webster, American basketball player
2014 – Vincent L. McKusick, American lawyer and judge (b. 1921)
2010 – King Curtis Iaukea, American wrestler (b. 1937)
2013 – Joana Raspall i Juanola, Spanish author and poet (b. 1913)
1984 – Anna Petrakova, Russian basketball player
2014 – Jeremy Thorpe, English lawyer and politician (b. 1929)
1983 – Jimmy Bartel, Australian footballer
2011 – Sonia Pierre, Haitian-Dominican activist (b. 1965)
1986 – Kaija Udras, Estonian skier
2015 – Bill Bennett, Canadian lawyer and politician, 27th Premier of British Columbia (b. 1932)
1985 – Carlos Gómez, Dominican baseball player
2015 – Robert Loggia, American actor and director (b. 1930)
1992 – Kim Seok-Jin, South Korean singer, songwriter and actor
2011 – Hubert Sumlin, American singer and guitarist (b. 1931)
1990 – Lukman Haruna, Nigerian footballer
1991 – Reality Winner, American intelligence specialist convicted of espionage
2012 – Vasily Belov, Russian author, poet, and playwright (b. 1932)
1988 – Yeng Constantino, Filipina singer and songwriter
2012 – Miguel Calero, Colombian footballer and manager (b. 1971)
1996 – Sebastián Vegas, Chilean footballer
1983 – Chinx, American rapper (d. 2015)
1987 – Orlando Brown, American actor and rapper
2005 – Gregg Hoffman, American film producer (b. 1963)
1984 – Joe Thomas, American football player
1984 – Marco Giambruno, Italian footballer
1996 – Ivan Belikov, Russian footballer
1985 – Andrew Brackman, American baseball player
1996 – Sheryl Sheinafia, Indonesian singer-songwriter and actress
2005 – Errol Brathwaite, New Zealand soldier and author (b. 1924)
1990 – Igor Sjunin, Estonian triple jumper
2014 – Claudia Emerson, American poet and academic (b. 1957)
Quick Start
Our API is incredibly easy to use, check out the code samples below to get started:
Fetch Historical Events
All you need to do is send a request to https://today.zenquotes.io/api/[month]/[day]/[key] in order to generate a JSON array of historical events, including notable births and deaths. API data pulled from WikiPedia.
*[key] not required but recommended.
Sample Requests
https://today.zenquotes.io/api/1/1 - Generate notable events, births, and deaths for January 1.
https://today.zenquotes.io/api/5/5 - Generate notable events, births, and deaths for May 5.
https://today.zenquotes.io/api/12/25 - Generate notable events, births, and deaths for December 25.
Response
The result data is formatted as a JSON array, grouped by event type.
{ "info":"OnThisDay API", "date":"April_20", "updated":"1615972324",
"data":{
"Events":[ { "text":"1303 – The Sapienza University of Rome is instituted by a bull of Pope Boniface VIII.[1]", "html":"<a href=\"https://wikipedia.org/wiki/1303\" title=\"1303\">1303</a> – The <a href=\"https://wikipedia.org/wiki/Sapienza_University_of_Rome\" title=\"Sapienza University of Rome\">Sapienza University of Rome</a> is instituted by a <a href=\"https://wikipedia.org/wiki/Papal_bull\" title=\"Papal bull\">bull</a> of <a href=\"https://wikipedia.org/wiki/Pope_Boniface_VIII\" title=\"Pope Boniface VIII\">Pope Boniface VIII</a>." },
//.. MORE DATA ..//
"Births":[ { "text":"1494 – Johannes Agricola, German theologian and reformer (d. 1566)[8]", "html":"<a href=\"https://wikipedia.org/wiki/1494\" title=\"1494\">1494</a> – <a href=\"https://wikipedia.org/wiki/Johannes_Agricola\" title=\"Johannes Agricola\">Johannes Agricola</a>, German theologian and reformer (d. 1566)" },
//.. MORE DATA ..//
"Deaths":[ { "text":"689 – Cædwalla, king of Wessex (b. 659)[21]", "html":"<a href=\"https://wikipedia.org/wiki/689\" title=\"689\">689</a> – <a href=\"https://wikipedia.org/wiki/C%C3%A6dwalla_of_Wessex\" title=\"Cædwalla of Wessex\">Cædwalla</a>, king of <a href=\"https://wikipedia.org/wiki/Wessex\" title=\"Wessex\">Wessex</a> (b. 659)" },
//.. MORE DATA ..//
} }Usage Limits and Attribution
Requests are restricted to 5 per 30 second period, an API key or registered IP is required for unlimited access and to enable Access-Control-Allow-Origin headers. We require that you show attribution with a link back to https://today.zenquotes.io/ when using the free version of this API. Contact support@zenquotes.io to chat with our friendly dev team and get registered.
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