Wikipedia defines history as the discovery, collection, organization, and presentation of information about past events. It came from the Greek word ‘historia’ – which means ‘inquiry, knowledge acquired by investigation’.

Did you know? There are many who claim Herodotus, a fifth century BC Greek historian, as the “father of history”.

This website utilizes pages from Wikipedia to extract historical events from 3761 BC up to the present. There are 105,060 records in the database that include events, births and deaths of popular individuals. The present day Gregorian calendar was adopted to show dates of interest.

Let us begin with today’s history. You may also enter a specific day using the form on the top bar. Year is optional.

What are the important events that happened on December 4? Here are historical events, facts, and some myths about this day.

December 4: Facts & Myths About This Day

December 4 is the 339^th day of the year 2024 in the Gregorian calendar. There are 27 days remaining until the end of this year. The day of the week is Wednesday.

Under the Julian calendar, this day is November 21, 2024 – a Wednesday. Both day of the week are the same but did you notice the difference with the Gregorian calendar?

When this day started, 1,733,270,400 seconds has elapsed since midnight of January 1, 1970 – the Unix epoch.

Strange as it may, if we name this day after a polygon then it will be called ‘trihectatriacontaenneagon’ day.

Sagittarius is the zodiac sign of a person born on this day. Turquoise is the modern birthstone for this month. Onyx is the mystical birthstone from Tibetan origin that dates back over a thousand years.

According to the lunisolar Chinese calendar, there are 56 days remaining before the start of the next Chinese New Year.

The ancient Maya civilization believes that the end of the world will happen on December 21, 2012. There are now 4,366 days since this fabled cataclysmic event.

December 4 Historical Events

• 1259 –
  Kings 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.
• 1791 –
  The first edition of The Observer, the world’s first Sunday newspaper, is published.
• 1893 –
  First Matabele War: A patrol of 34 British South Africa Police officers is killed in battle by an estimated 3,000 Ndebele on the Shangani River in Matabeleland.
• 1909 –
  The Montreal Canadiens ice hockey club, the oldest professional hockey franchise in the world, is founded as a charter member of the National Hockey Association.
• 2006 –
  Six black youths assault a white teenager in Jena, Louisiana, US; the subsequent court case becomes a cause célèbre.

Who were born on December 4?

• 1895 –
  Fung Yu-lan, Chinese philosopher (d. 1990)
• 1930 –
  Jim Hall, American jazz guitarist
• 1932 –
  Roh Tae-woo, former (13th) President of South Korea
• 1976 –
  Amie Comeaux, American singer (d. 1997)
• 1984 –
  Lauren London, American actress

Who died on December 4?

• 1642 –
  Armand Jean du Plessis, Cardinal Richelieu, French statesman (b. 1585)
• 1897 –
  Griffith Rhys Jones, Welsh conductor (b. 1834)
• 2003 –
  Iggy Katona, American race car driver (b. 1916)
• 2005 –
  Errol Brathwaite, New Zealand author (b. 1924)
• 2006 –
  Ross A. McGinnis, American soldier (b. 1987)