TODAY IN HISTORY
TODAY IS TUESDAY, DEC. 4, the 338th day of 2018. There are 27 days left in the year. TODAY’S HIGHLIGHTS IN HISTORY: On this date in 1783, Gen. George Washington bade farewell to his Continental Army officers at Fraunces Tavern in New York.
In 1619, a group of settlers from Bristol, England, arrived at Berkeley Hundred in present-day Charles City County, Va., where they held a service thanking God for their safe arrival.
In 1867, the National Grange of the Order of Patrons of Husbandry, also known as The Grange, was founded in Washington, D.C., to promote the interests of farmers.
In 1875, William Marcy Tweed, the “Boss” of New York City’s Tammany Hall political organization, escaped from jail and fled the country.
In 1918, President Woodrow Wilson left Washington on a trip to France to attend the Versailles Peace Conference.
In 1942, during World War II, U.S. bombers struck the Italian mainland for the first time with a raid on Naples. President Franklin D. Roosevelt ordered the dismantling of the Works Progress Administration, which had been created to provide jobs during the Depression.
In 1945, the Senate approved U.S. participation in the United Nations by a vote of 65-7.
In 1965, the United States launched Gemini 7 with Air Force Lt. Col. Frank Borman and Navy Cmdr. James A. Lovell aboard on a two-week mission. (While Gemini 7 was in orbit, its sister ship, Gemini 6A, was launched on Dec. 15 on a one-day mission; the two spacecraft were able to rendezvous within a foot of each other.)
In 1978, San Francisco got its first female mayor as City Supervisor Dianne Feinstein was named to replace the assassinated George Moscone.
In 1991, Associated Press correspondent Terry Anderson, the longest held of the Western hostages in Lebanon, was released after nearly seven years in captivity. The original Pan American World Airways ceased operations.
In 1995, the first NATO troops landed in the Balkans to begin setting up a peace mission that brought American soldiers into the middle of the Bosnian conflict.
In 1996, the Mars Pathfinder lifted off from Cape Canaveral and began speeding toward the red planet on a 310-million-mile odyssey. (It arrived on Mars in July 1997.)
In 2000, in a pair of legal setbacks for Al Gore, a Florida state judge refused to overturn George W. Bush’s certified victory in Florida and the U.S. Supreme Court set aside a ruling that had allowed manual recounts.
TODAY’S BIRTHDAYS: Game show host Wink Martindale is 85. Pop singer Freddy Cannon is 82. Actor-producer Max Baer Jr. is 81. Actress Gemma Jones and rock musician Bob Mosley (Moby Grape) are 76. Singer-musician Chris Hillman is 74. Musician Terry Woods (The Pogues) is 71. Rock singer Southside Johnny Lyon is 70. Actor Jeff Bridges is 69. Rock musician Gary Rossington (Lynyrd Skynyrd; the Rossington Collins Band) and actress Patricia Wettig are 67. Actor Tony Todd is 64. Jazz singer Cassandra Wilson and country musician Brian Prout (Diamond Rio) are 63. Rock musician Bob Griffin (formerly with The BoDeans) is 59. Rock singer Vinnie Dombroski (Sponge) is 56. Actresses Marisa Tomei and Chelsea Noble are 54. Actor-comedian Fred Armisen is 52. Rapper Jay-Z is 49. Actor Kevin Sussman is 48. Actress-model Tyra Banks is 45. Country singer Lila McCann is 37. Actress Lindsay Felton is 34. Actor Orlando Brown is 31. Actress Scarlett Estevez (TV: “Lucifer”) is 11.