On This Day
What Happened on December 4 in History
8 events that happened on December 4, oldest first. Every entry is written in our own words and links to its source.
Colonial America and the Revolution
1783
George Washington bids farewell to his officers at Fraunces Tavern in New York City.
With the Revolutionary War won, the commander of the Continental Army gathered his officers to tell them he was returning to civilian life. Later that month he formally resigned his commission to Congress.
Source: history.com; battlefields.org
The Early 1900s and the World Wars
1917
President Woodrow Wilson asks Congress to declare war on Austria-Hungary.
In his annual message, Wilson called it an obstacle that the United States was at war with Germany but not with its allies, and urged an immediate declaration. Congress declared war on Austria-Hungary three days later.
Source: millercenter.org
The Cold War
1959
A rhesus monkey named Sam rides a Little Joe rocket to test the Mercury capsule's escape system.
Sam's name came from the U.S. Air Force School of Aviation Medicine. About a minute into the flight, the Mercury capsule aborted from the rocket as part of the test.
Source: nasa.gov
1965
Gemini 7 launches with astronauts Frank Borman and Jim Lovell on a two-week mission.
The crew spent a record of nearly 14 days in orbit to study the effects of long spaceflight. Gemini 7 also served as the target for Gemini 6, which met it in orbit in the first rendezvous of two crewed spacecraft.
Source: nasa.gov
1969
Black Panther leaders Fred Hampton and Mark Clark are killed in a Chicago police raid.
Officers fired about a hundred shots into the apartment where the two men lay sleeping. Ballistics experts later found that only one shot came from the Panthers' side, contradicting police accounts of a fierce gun battle.
Source: history.com
The Modern Era
1992
President George H.W. Bush announces he is sending U.S. troops to Somalia to protect famine relief.
Armed factions in the war-torn country were blocking and looting food meant for starving civilians. Bush told the nation the mission was humanitarian and would not be open-ended.
Source: history.com; millercenter.org
1996
NASA launches Mars Pathfinder, carrying the first robotic rover sent to Mars.
The spacecraft landed in the Ares Vallis region on July 4, 1997, and delivered the small Sojourner rover to the surface. The mission demonstrated a new way to land safely on the planet.
Source: science.nasa.gov
1998
Space Shuttle Endeavour lifts off with Unity, the first U.S.-built module of the International Space Station.
Two days after launch the crew captured the Russian Zarya module with the shuttle's robotic arm and joined it to Unity. The STS-88 mission began the assembly of the station in orbit.
Source: nasa.gov