On This Day: What happened on 4 December?

We look back on this day in history and remember the people and events that shaped the world we live in today. Every day is worth remembering.

Here’s a look at what happened on this day, 4 December, throughout history. We remember the news, events, and people that influenced the course of history forever.

ON THIS DAY: 4 DECEMBER

1534 | Sultan Suleiman Ottoman the Magnificent occupies Baghdad.

1945 | The Senate approves US participation in the United Nations.

1990 | Iraq announces the release of all 3 300 Soviet captives.

2013 | Xavier Bettel becomes openly the first gay Prime Minister of Luxenberg.

1918 | United States President Woodrow Wilson sails for the Versailles Peace Conference in France.

1969 | On this day, United States civil rights leader Fred Hampton, a charismatic member of the Black Panthers, was shot and killed during a police raid in Chicago. His death sparked public outrage, and subsequent investigations led to further investigations into FBI attempts to dismantle the Panthers and other Black organisations.

DEATHS

1945 | American evolutionary biologist, scientist and embryologist,  Thomas Hunt Morgan, 79.

1975 | German-American theorist and historian Hannah Arendt, 69.

1999 | California Supreme Court Judge (1977-1987), Rose Elizabeth Bird, 63.

ALSO READ: What happened on 3 December?

ON THIS DAY: BIRTHDAYS

1969 | American rapper, businessman, entrepreneur, songwriter, record producer and investor, Jay-Z.

1982 | Serbian-Australian evangelist and motivational speaker, Nick Vujicic.

1991 | South African cricket player. He made his international debut for the South African cricket team in October 2019, George Linde.

1953 | South African physiologist and academic based at Stellenbosch University, Anton Albert van Niekerk.

SPORTS

1943 | Commissioner Landis announces any baseball club can sign Blacks.

2007 | Ballon d’Or: Milan Brazilian midfielder Kaká is named the world’s best footballer on this day.

ENTERTAINMENT

1933 | Jack Kirkland’s play ‘Tobacco Road‘ was screened for the first time in NYC, becoming the longest-running drama of its kind.

AFRICA FACT

Tanzania is four times the size of the UK, seven times larger than England, or slightly larger than Texas.