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Events

771 - Austrasian King Carloman dies, leaving his brother Charlemagne King of the now complete Frankish Kingdom.

1110 - First Crusade: The Crusaders conquer Sidon.

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.

1563 - The final session of the Council of Trent is held (it opened on December 13, 1545).

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 - Jeremiah Horrocks made the first observation of a transit of Venus. (November 24 under the Julian calendar.)

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 - Battle of Lund: A Danish army under the command of King Christian V of Denmark engages the Swedish army commanded by Field Marshal Simon Grundel-Helmfelt.

1783 - At Fraunces Tavern in New York City, US General George Washington formally bids his officers farewell.

1791 - The first issue of The Observer, the world's first Sunday newspaper, is published.

1829 - In the face of fierce opposition, British governor Lord William Bentinck carries a regulation declaring that all who abetted suttee in India were guilty of culpable homicide.

1864 - American Civil War: Sherman's March to the Sea - At Waynesboro, Georgia, forces under Union General Judson Kilpatrick prevent troops led by Confederate General Joseph Wheeler from interfering with Union General William T. Sherman's campaign destroying a wide swath of the South on his march to the Atlantic Ocean from Atlanta (Union forces did suffer more than three times the Confederate casualties, however).

1867 - Former Minnesota farmer Oliver Hudson Kelley founds the Order of the Patrons of Husbandry (better known today as the Grange movement).

 
 

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).

1875 - Notorious New York City politician Boss Tweed escapes from prison and flees to Cuba, then Spain.

1906 - Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Inc., the first intercollegiate Greek-letter fraternity in the United States established for men of African descent, was founded at Cornell University.

1918 - US President Woodrow Wilson sails for the World War I peace talks in Versailles, becoming the first US president to travel to Europe while in office.

1921 - The Virginia Rappe manslaughter trial against Roscoe 'Fatty' Arbuckle ends in a hung jury.

1942 - Holocaust: In Warsaw, Zofia Kossak-Szczucka and Wanda Filipowicz set up ?egota.

1943 - World War II: In Yugoslavia, resistance leader Marshal Tito proclaims a provisional democratic Yugoslav government in-exile.

1943 - US President Franklin D. Roosevelt closes the Works Progress Administration.

1945 - By a vote of 65 to 7, the United States Senate approves United States participation in the United Nations (the UN was established on October 24, 1945).

1951 - Mir Waiz Maulvi Muhammad Yusouf appointed President of Azad Kashmir Government.

1952 - Great Smog of 1952: A cold fog descends upon London, combining with air pollution and killing up to 12,000 in the weeks and months that follow.

1958 - Dahomey (present-day Benin) becomes a self-governing country within the French Community.

1967 - Vietnam War: US and South Vietnamese forces engage Viet Cong troops in the Mekong Delta.

 
 

1969 - Black Panther members Fred Hampton and Mark Clark are shot and killed in their sleep during a raid by 14 Chicago police officers.

1969 - Surfer Greg Noll rides a 65-foot wave on the North Shore of Oahu, still the highest ever recorded.

1971 - UN Security Council calls emergency session to consider deteriorating situation between India and Pakistan.

1977 - Jean-Bédel Bokassa, president of the Central African Republic, crowns himself Emperor Bokassa I of the Central African Empire.

1977 - Malaysia Airlines Flight 653 is hijacked and crashes in Tanjong Kupang, Johor, killing 100.

1978 - Following the murder of Mayor George Moscone, Dianne Feinstein becomes San Francisco, California's first woman mayor (she served until January 8, 1988).

1979 - The Hastie fire in Hull, kills three schoolboys and eventually leads police to arrest Bruce George Peter Lee.

1980 - The rock group Led Zeppelin formally announce their breakup.

1981 - South Africa grants "homeland" Ciskei independence (not recognized outside South Africa).

1982 - The People's Republic of China adopts its current constitution.

1991 - Journalist Terry Anderson is released after 7 years in captivity as a hostage in Beirut (he was the last and longest-held American hostage in Lebanon).

1991 - US airline Pan Am ends operations.

1992 - Somali Civil War: President George H. W. Bush orders 28,000 US troops to Somalia.

1993 - A truce is concluded between the government of Angola and UNITA rebels.

1994 - Pakistan wins World Hockey Championship after 12 years, beating the Netherlands by four goals to three, in Sydney.

1998 - Unity, the second module of the International Space Station, is launched.

2001 - Lisa Beamer, wife of Todd Beamer, through the Todd M. Beamer Foundation, registers [1] the trademark "Let's Roll" with the United States Patent and Trademark Office less than three months after his death in the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks in the United States.

2005 - Tens of thousands of people in Hong Kong protested for democracy and called on the Government to allow universal and equal suffrage.

 

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