/year

December 4 in history

199 sourced entries recorded on December 4, from 502 BCE to 2024 CE. Every line is quoted from the revision it came from.

Events

  • 502 BCEA solar eclipse darkens Egypt (computed, no clear historical record of observation).source
  • 1259Kings Louis IX of France and Henry III of England agree to the Treaty of Paris, in which Henry renounces his claims to French-controlled territory on continental Europe (including Normandy), in exchange for Louis withdrawing his support for English rebels.source
  • 1304William Greenfield, Lord Chancellor of England, is elected Archbishop of York by the church leaders in the diocese, then sets off for Rome to receive the consecration of the office by the Pope.source
  • 1370In the Battle of Pontvallain, fought in the Hundred Years' War, a French army under Bertrand du Guesclin heavily defeats an English force in surprise attacks in northwest France.source
  • 1413By order of King Henry V of England, the remains of King Richard II (whom Henry V's father had overthrown and imprisoned in 1399) are moved from the grounds of King's Langley Priory in Hertfordshire and reinterred at Westminster Abbey, the traditional final resting place of English monarchs.source
  • 1419Louis III of Anjou is invested by Pope Martin V as the new King of Sicily.source
  • 1435The Livonian Confederation, with a capital at Valka (now on the border of Latvia and Lithuania) is formed by an agreement signed at Valka by the Archbishop of Riga; Courland; the Dorpat; the Ösel–Wiek and bishops of Courland, Dorpat, Ösel-Wiek and Reval; the representatives of the Livonian Order and its vassals; and the deputies of Riga, Reval and Dorpat city municipal councils.source
  • 1448Swedish troops attack Gotland again and climb the walls of the city's capital, Visby, making a surprise attack. Eric of Pomerania flees to the fortress of Visborg.source
  • 1514Juan Rodríguez de Fonseca and Pietro Martire d'Anghiera complete the first printed map of Central America as they record their data from the Pinzón–Solís voyage of 1508-1509.source
  • 1516Treaty of Brussels: Peace is declared between the Kingdom of France and the Holy Roman Empire.source
  • 1532A fire strikes the cathedral in Chambéry, now a part of France, but at the time a part of Italy's Duchy of Savoy. The fire burns several holes in the Shroud of Turin, believed by some Roman Catholics to be the burial shroud of Jesus of Nazareth after the crucifixion, and to have a miraculous imprint of Jesus, but the shroud is repaired by nuns at the cathedral.source
  • 1534The Ottoman army under Suleiman the Magnificent captures the city of Baghdad from the Safavids without a struggle, beginning almost 400 years of Ottoman rule of what is now Iraq.source
  • 1535The Consejo de i Diexe, governing body for the Republic of Venice, votes to replace the republic's treasury, made of wood, with the Zecca a structure that has stone vaults, and invites architects to submit designs.source
  • 1552Croft leaves Ireland; Sir Thomas Cusack and Sir Gerald Aylmer, Lord Justices, serve in his place.source
  • 1556Harsh winter causes the Rhône to freeze near Arles.source
  • 1563The Council of Trent (which had opened on December 13, 1545) officially closes. It reaffirms all major Roman Catholic doctrines, and declares the Deuterocanonical books of the Old Testament to be canonical, along with the rest of the Bible. Chapter 1, Session 24, promulgates the decree Tametsi, stipulating that for a marriage to be valid, consent (the essence of marriage) as expressed in the vows has to be given publicly before witnesses, one of whom has to be the parish priest.source
  • 1567Antão de Noronha, Viceroy of Portuguese India (the modern-day Indian state of Goa) issues decrees prohibiting the public performance of Hindu rituals for marriages, cremations, and sacred thread wearing. Other rules require all natives 15 or older to attend Christian religious services, upon penalty of punishment.source
  • 1592Yu Sŏngnyong becomes the new Yeonguijeong (Chief State Councillor of the government of the Korean Empire, similar to Prime Minister) and serves until 1598.source
  • 1604Christian IV’s Norwegian Law of 1604 is issued, essentially as a translation into Danish of the older Norwegian law of Magnus law-mender established and recorded in Norwegian in 1274 and 1276.source
  • 1604Hiring anyone who had attended Jesuit schools in positions in schools and churches was made illegal.source
  • 1614The Siege of Osaka begins in Japan.source
  • 1619Thirty-eight colonists from England disembark in Berkeley Hundred, Virginia from the Margaret of Bristol and have a day of celebration to give thanks to God, in what is considered by some historians to be the first Thanksgiving in the Americas.source
  • 1639English astronomer Jeremiah Horrocks makes the first successful prediction and observation of a transit of Venus.source
  • 1655Middelburg, the Netherlands forbids the building of a synagogue.source
  • 1659Sir Arthur Haselrig arrives in Portsmouth and draws up a declaration encouraging citizens to "restore Parliament to their former freedom"; the garrison comes over to him.source
  • 1662The Purefoy baronets British nobility title is created.source
  • 1665Jean Racine's tragedy Alexandre le Grand is premièred by Molière's troupe at the Théâtre du Palais-Royal (rue Saint-Honoré) in Paris. 11 days later, Racine moves it to the Comédiens du Roi at the Hôtel de Bourgogne, causing a rift with Molière.source
  • 1674Father Jacques Marquette, along with Pierre Poteret and Jacque Poteret, sails southward along the shore of Lake Michigan, accompanied by nine canoes of Indians from the Potawatomi tribe, and comes ashore at what is now Chicago. The three missionaries, the first Europeans to explore the area, camp there for the winter. Marquette notes in his journal "The land bordering it is of now value, except on the prairies," and adds "There are eight to ten quite fine rivers." A historical marker is now erected on the site of the landing. Father Marquette founds a mission (which will in time grow into the city of Chicago) on the shores of Lake Michigan, in order to create a Christian ministry to convent Native Americans in the Illinois Confederation.source
  • 1674Father Jacques Marquette founds a mission on the shores of Lake Michigan to minister to the Illinois Confederation (which will in time grow into the city of Chicago).source
  • 1676Scanian War – Battle of Lund: Sweden defeats the forces of Denmark.source
  • 1690A destructive earthquake in the Eastern Alps causes 24 casualties and results in damage in the Villach, Carinthia area.source
  • 1707The Danish East India Company's ship Norske Løve departs from Copenhagen but is hit by lightning on 18 December.source
  • 1745Jacobite rising of 1745: The Scottish Jacobite army reaches as far south as Derby in England, causing panic in London; two days later it begins to retreat.source
  • 1748Austria and Spain sign a second treaty to settle the War of the Austrian Succession, and Austria agrees to remove its troops from Modena and Genoa.source
  • 1756Pitt becomes Secretary of State for the Southern Department.source
  • 1760For the first time since the surrender of Fort Detroit by France, British authorities meet nearby at a Native American council house with delegates from various Indian tribes that had fought as allies of the French Army, such as the Wyandot and Ottawa Indians, and with tribes that had formerly been allies of the British. The European and Native American representatives open the peace conference with the presentation by the Indians to the British of a wampum belt, and the pronouncement from the principal chief that "The ancient friendship is now renewed, and I wash the blood off the earth that had been shed during the present war, that you may bury the war hatchet in the bottomless pit."source
  • 1762Less than six months after becoming Russia's Empress, Catherine the Great announces that almost all foreigners are welcome to travel to and settle in Russia, and waives previous requirements that new residents must be members of the Russian Orthodox Church; however, the manifesto adds the phrase kromye Zhydov - "except the Jews".source
  • 1783At Fraunces Tavern in New York City, U.S. General George Washington formally bids his officers farewell.source
  • 1786Mission Santa Barbara is founded by Padre Fermín Lasuén as the tenth of the Spanish missions in California.source
  • 1786Mission Santa Barbara is founded by Father Fermín Francisco de Lasuén, becoming the 10th mission in the California mission chain.source
  • 1791The first issue of The Observer, the world's first Sunday newspaper, is published in London.source
  • 1798British Prime Minister William Pitt the Younger announces the introduction of income tax in 1799.source
  • 1811Royal Navy frigate HMS Saldanha is driven in a gale onto rocks in Lough Swilly with no survivors from the estimated 253 aboard.source
  • 1811Royal Navy frigate HMS Saldanha is driven in a gale onto rocks in Lough Swilly in Ireland with no survivors from the estimated 253 aboard.source
  • 1829Bengal Sati Regulation, 1829source
  • 1829In the face of fierce opposition, Lord William Bentinck carries a regulation declaring that all who abet suttee in India are guilty of culpable homicide.source
  • 1829In India, Lord William Bentinck, British Governor General of the Presidency of Fort William in Bengal, pushes through a regulation declaring that all who abet sati (suttee) (the self-immolation of a widow on her husband's funeral pyre) in parts of British India are guilty of culpable homicide. This follows long campaigning by Bengali reformer Ram Mohan Roy.source
  • 1832Siege of Antwerp: The last remaining Dutch stronghold, Antwerp Citadel, comes under French attack in the aftermath of the Belgian Revolution.source
  • 1836The Whig Party (United States) holds its first national convention, in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.source
  • 1837Samuel Lount begins the Upper Canada Rebellion by marching with rebel followers to Toronto, one month after a similar rebellion against British rule had begun in Lower Canada.source
  • 18441844 United States presidential election: James K. Polk defeats Henry Clay.source
  • 18441844 United States presidential election: James K. Polk of Tennessee defeats Henry Clay of Kentucky.source
  • 1852The French capture Laghouat.source
  • 1864American 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 Sherman's campaign of destroying a wide swath of the South, on his march to Savannah; Union forces suffer more than 3 times the casualties as the Confederates, however.source
  • 1866The London Conference on resolutions discussed in 1864, to be added to the British North America Act.source
  • 1867Beginning of British expedition to Abyssinia.source
  • 1868Thomas Humber invented the safety bicycle.source
  • 1872The now-crewless American ship Mary Celeste is found (still seaworthy) by the British brig Dei Gratia in the Atlantic.source
  • 1872The crewless American-owned ship Mary Celeste is found by the British brig Dei Gratia in the Atlantic.source
  • 1873HMS Challenger, on its worldwide marine research expedition, is officially welcomed in Cape Town.source
  • 1875Notorious New York City politician Boss Tweed escapes from prison and flees to Spain.source
  • 1875Notorious New York City politician Boss Tweed escapes from prison and flees to Cuba, then to Spain.source
  • 1884Reformers in Korea who admire the Meiji Restoration in Japan stage the Gapsin Coup, with Japan's help. China intervenes to rescue the king and help suppress the rebels.source
  • 1887Örgryte IS, the Swedish football team is founded by Wilhelm Friberg.source
  • 1893First Matabele War: The Shangani Patrol of British South Africa Company soldiers is ambushed and annihilated, by more than 3,000 Matabele warriors.source
  • 18961896 New Zealand general election.source
  • 1898The wreck of the British steamer SS Clan Drummond in the Bay of Biscay kills 37 people on board.source
  • 1906Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity forms at Cornell University, Ithaca, New York; it is the first Black Greek-lettered collegiate order of its kind.source
  • 1910The railway line from Flisa to Elverum opened.source
  • 1915December 4–18 – The 'Peace Ship' Oscar II chartered by industrialist Henry Ford sails from Hoboken, New Jersey to Oslo on an independent and eventually unsuccessful mission to broker a peace conference.source
  • 1915First submarine to be launched at Pembroke Dock, HMS J3.source
  • 1918President Woodrow Wilson departs by ship to the Paris Peace Conference, becoming the first United States President to travel to Europe while holding office.source
  • 1919The French Opera House in New Orleans, Louisiana is destroyed by fire.source
  • 1928Cosmo Gordon Lang is enthroned as the Archbishop of Canterbury, the first bachelor to be appointed in 150 years.source
  • 1928The founding of the kibbutz Beit HaShita by members of "Kvuzat HaHugim" and members of "Tnuat HaMahanot HaOlim" from Haifa and Jerusalem.source
  • 1932Chancellor Schleicher meets with Gregor Strasser and offers to appoint him Vice-Chancellor and Reich Commissioner for Prussia out of the hope that if faced with a split in the NSDAP, Hitler will support his government.source
  • 1937The Dandy comic is first published in Scotland; it continued until 2012 as a physical publication, then online until 2013.source
  • 1939German submarine U-36 is torpedoed and sunk by British submarine HMS Salmon off Stavanger, the first enemy submarine lost to a British one during the war.source
  • 1941The State of Jefferson is declared in Yreka, California, with a judge, John Childs, as governor.source
  • 1943With unemployment figures falling fast due to WWII-related employment, U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt closes the Works Progress Administration.source
  • 1943The Great Depression officially ends in the United States: With unemployment figures falling fast due to World War II-related employment, U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt closes the Works Progress Administration.source
  • 1947French Interior Minister Jules S. Moch takes emergency measures against his country's rioters, after six days of violent arguments in the National Assembly.source
  • 1948Chinese liner SS Kiangya sinks after an explosion occurs at the stern, which is thought to have been caused by a Japanese mine from World War 2, killing up to 3920 people.source
  • 1951An Israeli woman is abducted in Jerusalem by Palestinian fedayeen, who rape and murder her.source
  • 1953Oil is discovered in the Exmouth Gulf off the coast of Western Australia.source
  • 1954The first Burger King opens in Miami, Florida.source
  • 1955The International Federation of Blood Donor Organizations is founded in Luxembourg.source
  • 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 in history.source
  • 1957The Lewisham rail crash in London, UK, leaves 92 people dead.source
  • 19571957 Bayankhongor Earthquake in Mongolia kills 30+ peoplesource
  • 1960The Islamic Republic of Mauritania had applied to be the 100th member of the United Nations, but the request was vetoed in the Security Council by the Soviet Union, on grounds that Mongolia had been denied admission.source
  • 1960The admission of Mauritania to the United Nations is vetoed by the Soviet Union.source
  • 1963The second period of the Second Vatican Council closes.source
  • 1963Senator Arnon de Melo, who was trying to shoot Senator Silvestre Péricles, shot and killed alternate Senator José Kairala.source
  • 1967At 6:50 PM, a volcano erupts on Deception Island in Antarctica.source
  • 1967A volcanic eruption —which occurred on Deception Island, South Shetland Islands, in the Antarctic—destroys the President Pedro Aguirre Cerda Station and the Cabo Gutiérrez Vargas Shelter.source
  • 1971The Montreux Casino burns down during a Frank Zappa concert (the event is memorialized in the Deep Purple song "Smoke on the Water"). The casino is rebuilt in 1975.source
  • 1971December 3–4 – The Pakistani submarine PNS Ghazi (former USS Diablo) sinks mysteriously near the Indian coast while laying mines.source
  • 1977Malaysian Airline System Flight 653 is hijacked and crashes in Tanjung Kupang, Johor, Malaysia, killing all 100 passengers and crew on board.source
  • 1977Malaysian Airline System Flight 653 was hijacked and crashed in Tanjung Kupang, Johor, killing all 100 people on board.source
  • 1978Dianne Feinstein succeeds the murdered George Moscone, to become the first woman mayor of San Francisco; she will remain in office until January 8, 1988.source
  • 1981South Africa grants Ciskei independence, not recognized outside South Africa.source
  • 1982The People's Republic of China adopts its current constitution.source
  • 1983General elections are celebrated in Venezuela in which the opposition party, Democratic Action, wins a majority in both chambers of the Venezuelan Congress and the presidency for the 1984–1989 period under Jaime Lusinchi. Voter turnout is 87.3% and Lusinchi obtains 58.4% of the votes.source
  • 1984Sri Lankan Civil War, 1984 Mannar massacre: Sri Lankan Army soldiers kill over 200 civilians in the town of Mannar.source
  • 19841984 Mannar massacre: The Sri Lanka Army perpetuates a brutal massacre of Sri Lankan Tamil civilians in the town of Mannar, claiming the lives of roughly 107–150 ethnic Tamils. The attack was in response to an incident when three army jeeps hit a land mine, killing one soldier.source
  • 1984Hezbollah militants hijack a Kuwait Airlines plane and kill 4 passengers.source
  • 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 gal.source
  • 1988In the 1988 Venezuelan general election, Carlos Andrés Pérez of Democratic Action is elected president with 52.9% of the vote, while Democratic Action win the most seats in the Chamber of Deputies and Senate, on a turnout of 81.9% in the presidential election and 81.7% in the Congressional elections.source
  • 1991John Leonard Orr, one of the most prolific serial arsonists of the 20th century, is arrested in California.source
  • 1991Pan Am is officially dissolved after 64 years of operationsource
  • 1996In Kabul, Afghanistan, Radio Shariat (Radio Islamic Law) announced that women should be covered from head to foot.source
  • 1998The Space Shuttle Endeavour launches the first U.S.-built component to the International Space Station, the 25,600 lb Unity module on STS-88. It docks with Zarya two days later.source
  • 2001The Science Hub (now one-north) is officially launched by JTC Corporation as a science park.source
  • 2002Xavier Deutsch awarded the Prix Rossel for La Belle Étoile.source
  • 2005Exit polls indicated that incumbent leader Nursultan Nazarbayev won the presidential election by a landslide.source
  • 2008The Czech Republic mission to Iraq ends.source
  • 2010November 29–December 10 – The 2010 United Nations Climate Change Conference is held in Cancún, Mexico. Formally referred to as the 16th session of the Conference of the Parties of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP 16), it serves too as the 6th meeting of the Parties to the Kyoto Protocol (CMP 6).source
  • 2012December 4-6 – Egyptian protestors protest outside the presidential palace against the 2012 constitutional declaration which gave President Morsi influence over the judiciary and turns violent when Morsi supporters clashed with anti-Morsi protestors. It led to the intervention of security forces. The incident caused the deaths of at least 10, including anti-Morsi protestors and supporters of Morsi as well as hundreds of injuries.source
  • 2012November 25–December 9 – Typhoon Bopha, known as "Pablo" in the Philippines, kills at least 1,067 with around 838 people missing. The typhoon causes considerable damage in the island of Mindanao.source
  • 2015Official opening of Amgalan Thermal Power Plant in Bayanzürkh, Ulaanbaatar.source
  • 2016A constitutional referendum is held in Italy, resulting in the resignation of Prime Minister Matteo Renzi.source
  • 2018December 1–8 – France experiences its worst civil unrest since the protests of 1968 due to the yellow vests movement. Protests in Paris morph into riots, with hundreds of people injured and thousands arrested; over 100 cars are burned, the Arc de Triomphe is vandalized and numerous other tourist sites are closed, both in the capital and elsewhere in the country.source
  • 2018A Spanish institutional crisis surrounding the General Council of the Judiciary (CGPJ) begins.source
  • 2019December 2–13 – The 2019 United Nations Climate Change Conference takes place in Madrid, Spain, after Chilean President Sebastián Piñera announced in October that his country could not host the conference due to political unrest in the country.source
  • 2020Vanuatu officially graduates from the United Nations official list of Least Developed Countries (LDC) becoming the sixth nation to ever do so. The UN Committee for Development Policy recommended for Vanuatu for graduation in 2012. In 2012, the Economic and Social Council and in 2013 the General Assembly approved the recommendation, however after Cyclone Pam, the country was granted an extension until 2020.source
  • 20212021 Gambian presidential election.source
  • 2024Clayton Fernander resigns as commissioner of the Royal Bahamas Police Force amid an investigation by the United States into the force's involvement in drug trafficking.source

Births

  • 34Aulus Persius Flaccus, Roman poet (died AD 62)source
  • 1406Margaret, Countess of Vertus, Duchess of Brittany (died 1466)source
  • 1428Bernard VII, Lord of Lippe (1429–1511) (died 1511)source
  • 1506Thomas Darcy, 1st Baron Darcy of Chiche, English courtier (died 1558)source
  • 1506Thomas Darcy, Courtier (died 1558)source
  • 1575The Nun of Monza, Italian nun (died 1650)source
  • 1580Samuel Argall, English adventurer and naval officer (died 1626)source
  • 1585John Cotton, clergyman in England and the American colonies, founder of Boston (died 1652)source
  • 1660André Campra, French composer (died 1744)source
  • 16604 December (bapt.) – André Campra, composer and conductor (died 1744)source
  • 1670John Aislabie, English politician, director of the South Sea Company (died 1742)source
  • 1683Shem Drowne, colonial coppersmith and tinplate worker in Boston (died 1774)source
  • 1724Princess Louise of Wales, daughter of the Prince and Princess of Wales (died 1751)source
  • 1726Lord Stirling, American brigadier-general during the American Revolutionary War (died 1783)source
  • 1795Thomas Carlyle, Scottish-born writer, historian (died 1881)source
  • 1835Samuel Butler, English writer (died 1902)source
  • 1888Alexander I of Yugoslavia (died 1934)source
  • 1892Francisco Franco, Spanish dictator (died 1975)source
  • 1969Jay-Z, African-American rappersource
  • 1996Diogo Jota, Portuguese footballer (died 2025)source

Deaths

  • 749John of Damascus, Syrian monk and priestsource
  • 771Carloman I, king of the Franks (born 751)source
  • 771King Carloman I, youngest son of Pepin III ("the Short"), dies (of a severe nosebleed, according to one source) at the Villa of Samoussy, leaving his brother Charlemagne sole ruler of the now reunified Frankish Kingdom. Gerberga, the widow of Carloman, flees with her two sons to the court of King Desiderius of the Lombards, at Pavia.source
  • 870Suairlech ind Eidnén mac Ciaráin, Irish bishopsource
  • 1075Anno II, archbishop of Colognesource
  • 1122Henry III, duke of Carinthiasource
  • 1126Omar Khayyam, Persian mathematician (born 1048)source
  • 1128Henry II, Margrave of the Nordmark, German nobleman (born 1102)source
  • 1131Omar Khayyám, Persian astronomer (born 1048)source
  • 1133Bernard degli Uberti, Italian bishopsource
  • 1137Lothair III, Holy Roman Emperor (born 1075)source
  • 1137Emperor Lothair III dies at Breitenwang in Tyrol, while retreating from Italy after a mutiny among his troops. His son-in-law Henry X (the Proud), duke of Bavaria, inherits the Duchy of Saxony.source
  • 1214King William the Lion of Scotland dies after a 49-year reign at Stirling. He is succeeded by his son, Alexander II, who is crowned at Scone (until 1249).source
  • 1214William the Lion, king of Scotland (born 1142)source
  • 1245Christian of Oliva, bishop of Prussia (born 1180)source
  • 1260Aymer de Valence, Bishop of Winchester (born 1222)source
  • 1270Theobald II of Navarre (Theobald V of Champagne) (born c. 1238)source
  • 1334Pope John XXII (born 1249)source
  • 1340Henry Burghersh, English bishop and chancellor (born 1292)source
  • 1341Janisław, Archbishop of Gnieznosource
  • 1371Stefan Uroš V, the Tsar of Serbia and King of the Greeks since 1346, dies childless at the age of 35. Marko Mrnjavčević, the young son of the late co-ruler of Serbia, King Vukasin, is designated as the nominal Emperor, although Prince Lazar Hrebeljanović controls most of the remaining territory of the Serbian Empire.source
  • 1408Valentina Visconti, Duchess of Orléans by marriage to Louis I, Duke of Orléanssource
  • 1408Valentina Visconti, Duchess of Orléans, noblewoman (born 1371)source
  • 1456Charles I, Duke of Bourbon (born 1401)source
  • 1456Charles I, Duke of Bourbon, nobleman (b.1401)source
  • 1459Adolf VIII, Duke of Southern Jutland (born 1401)source
  • 1574Georg Joachim Rheticus, German mathematician and cartographer (born 1514)source
  • 1585John Willock, Scottish reformer (born c. 1515)source
  • 1585John Willock, reformer (born c. 1515)source
  • 162350 Christians are executed in Edo, Japan, during the Great Martyrdom of Edo.source
  • 1637Nicholas Ferrar, English trader (born 1592)source
  • 1642Armand Jean du Plessis, Cardinal Richelieu, French statesman (born 1585)source
  • 1649William Drummond of Hawthornden, Scottish poet (born 1585)source
  • 1679Thomas Hobbes, English philosopher (born 1588)source
  • 1680Thomas Bartholin, physician, mathematician, and theologian (born 1616)source
  • 1694Bernardin Gigault de Bellefonds, Marshal of France (born 1630)source
  • 1696Empress Meishō, empress of Japan (born 1624)source
  • 1716Fifty people are killed, and 150 houses burned, when a fire breaks out in Wapping, London. The blaze comes two days after a fire at the Spring Gardens at St. James's, London, which destroyed the French Chapel there and which was put out by several rescuers, including the future King George II.source
  • 1718Fifty people are killed, and 150 houses burned, when a fire breaks out in Wapping, London. The blaze comes two days after a fire at the Spring Gardens at St. James's, London, which destroyed the French Chapel there and which was put out by several rescuers, including the future King George II.source
  • 1732John Gay, English poet and dramatist (born 1685)source
  • 1732William Baker, former Bishop of Bangor, 64source
  • 1753Richard Boyle, 3rd Earl of Burlington, English architect (born 1694)source
  • 1770John Perceval, 2nd Earl of Egmont, Irish politician (born 1711)source
  • 1772Dov Ber of Mezeritch, the Great Maggid, a preacher and founder of Hasidism.source
  • 1828Robert Jenkinson, 2nd Earl of Liverpool, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (born 1770)source
  • 1839John Leamy, Irish–American merchant (born 1757)source
  • 1867December 4 − Helgi G. Thordersen, the third Bishop of Iceland, served in office until 1866source
  • 1975Hannah Arendt, German political theorist (born 1906)source
  • 1976Benjamin Britten, English composer (born 1913)source
  • 1979The Hastie fire in Kingston upon Hull, England, leads to the deaths of 3 boys and begins the hunt for Bruce George Peter Lee, the UK's most prolific killer.source
  • 1993Frank Zappa, 52, American musician, singer-songwriter and record producer, prostate cancer.source