Almanac
Today is Thursday, Dec. 4, the 338th day of 2025 with 27 to follow.
The moon is full. Morning stars are Jupiter, Mercury, Neptune, Saturn, Uranus and Venus. Evening stars are Jupiter, Neptune, Saturn, Uranus and Venus.
Those born on this date are under the sign of Sagittarius. They include nurse Edith Cavell in 1865; Spanish dictator Francisco Franco in 1892; TV personality Wink Martindale in 1933; actor Max Baer Jr. in 1937 (age 88); actor Gemma Jones in 1942 (age 83); musician member Dennis Wilson (Beach Boys) in 1944; musician Chris Hillman (Byrds) in 1944 (age 81); writer A. Scott Berg in 1949 (age 76); actor Jeff Bridges in 1949 (age 76); actor Patricia Wettig in 1951 (age 74); sports broadcaster Skip Bayless in 1951 (age 74); actor Tony Todd in 1954; Mauritanian President Mohamed Ould Ghazouani in 1956 (age 68); International Association of Athletics Federations Hall of Fame pole vaulter Sergey Bubka in 1963 (age 62); actor Marisa Tomei in 1964 (age 61); news commentator Suzanne Malveaux in 1966 (age 59); actor Fred Armisen in 1966 (age 59); musician Jay-Z in 1969 (age 56); actor Kevin Sussman in 1970 (age 55); actor Dolly Wells in 1971 (age 54); model/TV personality Tyra Banks in 1973 (age 52); musician Jelly Roll in 1984 (age 41); actor Orlando Brown in 1987 (age 38); musician Jin (BTS) in 1992 (age 33).
On this date in history:
In 1881, the Los Angeles Times published its first edition.
In 1918, President Woodrow Wilson became the first sitting U.S. president to travel to Europe. He lead the U.S. delegation to a peace conference ending World War I.
In 1942, U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt ordered liquidation of the Works Projects Administration, created during the Great Depression to provide work for the unemployed. The WPA was originally called the Works Progress Administration.
In 1954, the first Burger King fast-food restaurant opened -- in Miami.
In 1969, Chicago police killed two members of the Black Panthers -- Mark Clark and Fred Hampton -- in what officials described as a gun fight. An investigation later determined police falsified their report and fired about 100 bullets compared to one from the two men. All charges against the police were dismissed.
In 1971, India joined East Pakistan in its war for independence from West Pakistan. East Pakistan became the republic of Bangladesh.
In 1991, American Terry Anderson was freed by his pro-Iranian captors after six years.
In 1992, President George H.W. Bush ordered U.S. troops into Somalia.
In 1997, health officials in Europe voted to ban most forms of advertising of tobacco beginning in four to five years.
In 2006, John Bolton resigned as U.S. envoy to the United Nations. He had been a harsh critic of U.N. bureaucracy.
In 2009, an Italian jury found U.S. exchange student Amanda Knox and her Italian boyfriend, Raffaele Sollecito, guilty of murdering her roommate, Meredith Kercher. Knox and Sollecito were acquitted in 2011.
In 2024, UnitedHealth Group CEO Brian Thompson was shot and killed on a Manhattan sidewalk. The gunman fled the scene, prompting a nearly weeklong manhunt. Police in Altoona, Pa., arrested Luigi Mangione on Dec. 9 and charged him with murder.
A thought for the day: "Change your life today. Don't gamble on the future, act now, without delay." -- French writer Simone de Beauvoir
