On This Day (December 4)

[MSFixR]

771 - Austrasian King Carloman dies, leaving his brother Charlemagne King of the now complete Frankish Kingdom.
1612 - Samuel Butler, English poet born. (d. 1680)
1619 - 38 colonists from Berkeley Parish in England disembark in Virginia and give thanks to God (this is considered by many to be the first Thanksgiving in the Americas).
1639 – English astronomer Jeremiah Horrocks made the first observation of a transit of Venus (2004 picture shown).

Transit of Venus

1674 - Father Jacques Marquette founds a mission on the shores of Lake Michigan to minister to the Illiniwek (the mission would later grow into the city of Chicago, Illinois).
1676 – Scanian War: Forces led by Swedish Field Marshal Simon Grundel-Helmfelt defeated the invading army of Denmark–Norway under the command of King Christian V at the Battle of Lund in an area north of Lund, Sweden.
1791 – The Observer, the world's first Sunday newspaper, was first published.
1840 - Crazy Horse, Oglala Sioux chief born. (d. 1877)
1872 - The crewless American ship Mary Celeste is found by the British brig Dei Gratia (the ship was abandoned for 9 days but was only slightly damaged).
1902 - Charles Dow, American journalist (Dow Jones & Company - Wall Street Journal) died. (b. 1851)
1952 - Great Smog of 1952: A cold fog descends upon London, combining with air pollution and killing at least 12,000 in the weeks and months that follow.
1991 – Pan American World Airways, which was the principal international airline of the United States and which was credited with many innovations, ended operations.
1992 – Operation Restore Hope: U.S. President George H. W. Bush ordered American troops into Somalia to help provide humanitarian aid and restore order after the dissolution of the country's central government during the ongoing Somali Civil War.