12 History Lessons + 7 Births & 7 Deaths for December 4, 2025
Today’s History:
- 1533 – Three-year-old Ivan IV (“Ivan the Terrible”) is proclaimed grand prince of Moscow upon the death of his father, Vasily III, with his mother ruling as regent.
- 1783 – George Washington bids an emotional farewell to his Continental Army officers at Fraunces Tavern in New York City, signaling the winding down of the Revolutionary War.
- 1956 – At Sun Records in Memphis, Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Carl Perkins informally jam together in what becomes known as the “Million Dollar Quartet.”
- 1964 – Nearly 800 students are arrested in a massive sit-in at UC Berkeley’s Sproul Hall, a key moment in the campus Free Speech Movement.
- 1965 – NASA launches Gemini 7, a two-man spacecraft that spends almost 14 days in orbit, proving humans can endure the length of a future Moon mission.
- 1969 – Black Panther leaders Fred Hampton and Mark Clark are killed in a controversial pre-dawn raid by Chicago police, later scrutinized for heavy FBI involvement.
- 1971 – The Pakistani submarine PNS Ghazi mysteriously sinks off India’s eastern coast during the Indo-Pakistani War, becoming one of the conflict’s enduring naval mysteries.
- 1971 – During a Frank Zappa concert at the Montreux Casino in Switzerland, a fan fires a flare gun into the ceiling, igniting a fire that burns the venue down and later inspires Deep Purple’s “Smoke on the Water.”
- 1977 – Central African leader Jean-Bédel Bokassa crowns himself Emperor Bokassa I in a lavish ceremony costing tens of millions of dollars, symbolizing his short-lived “Central African Empire.”
- 1982 – The People’s Republic of China adopts its current constitution, replacing earlier versions and codifying reforms that frame the modern Chinese state.
- 1991 – Longtime American hostage Terry Anderson is released in Lebanon after nearly seven years in captivity, ending a grim chapter of the Lebanese hostage crisis.
- 1991 – Cash-strapped Pan American World Airways (Pan Am) permanently ceases operations after 64 years, marking the end of an era in international aviation.
Today’s Birthdays:
- 1949 – Jeff Bridges – Oscar-winning American actor known for roles in The Big Lebowski, Crazy Heart, and True Grit (76).
- 1963 – Sergey Bubka – Ukrainian pole-vault legend and former world-record holder, long regarded as one of track and field’s greatest technicians (62).
- 1964 – Marisa Tomei – American actress and Academy Award winner for My Cousin Vinny, also acclaimed for roles in indie films and the MCU’s Aunt May (61).
- 1969 – JAY-Z (Shawn Carter) – American rapper, mogul, and entrepreneur, co-founder of Roc-A-Fella Records and one of the most influential figures in modern hip-hop (56).
- 1973 – Tyra Banks – American supermodel, TV host, and creator of America’s Next Top Model, a trailblazer in fashion and reality television (52).
- 1984 – Jelly Roll (Jason DeFord) – American singer-rapper whose blend of country, rock, and hip-hop has powered a late-career surge in mainstream popularity (41).
- 1992 – Jin (Kim Seok-jin) – South Korean singer, songwriter, and member of BTS, one of the most globally successful K-pop groups (33).
Today’s Deaths:
- 1642 – Cardinal Richelieu – Powerful French clergyman and statesman who centralized royal authority under Louis XIII and reshaped European politics (57).
- 1679 – Thomas Hobbes – English philosopher, author of Leviathan, whose social-contract theory profoundly shaped modern political thought (91).
- 1975 – Hannah Arendt – German-born political theorist known for works like The Origins of Totalitarianism and the concept of the “banality of evil” (69).
- 1976 – Benjamin Britten – English composer of Peter Grimes and War Requiem, a key figure in 20th-century classical music (63).
- 1993 – Frank Zappa – American guitarist, composer, and bandleader famed for his experimental rock and biting satire (52).
- 2015 – Robert Loggia – American actor known for roles in Big, Scarface, and countless TV appearances (85).
- 2017 – Ali Abdullah Saleh – Long-time Yemeni leader and president, killed amid shifting alliances in Yemen’s civil conflict (75).
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