What Happened In The World On December 4?
1154: Adrian IV become the sole English man to be elected Pope.
1791: First Sunday newspaper
Its name was the Observer. It was run from Britain. It was the world's first Sunday newspaper.
1829: Sati Abolition
It was the practice in India to burn alive the Hindu widows in husband's funeral fire. In British India, this practice was banned through legislation by Governor-General Lord William Bentick. In fact, in the 16th century, Humayun and later Akbar passed orders making Sati illegal. Later women practiced this voluntarily. But this practice was banned in Goa by the Portuguese much earlier. Raja Ram Mohan Roy, the biggest social reformer played a crucial role in the Sati Abolition as he constantly questioned the practice and fought against it.
1971: Navy Day
On this day in the year 1971, when the India-Pakistan war was in its supreme tempo, the Indian Navy launched an attack on Karachi harbor. The attack was named "Operation Trident". Karachi fuel fields were destroyed along with four Pakistani ships. To commemorate this incident, Navy Day is celebrated each year in India. Chatrapati Shivaji Bhosle who was a Maratha emperor is considered the Father of the Indian Navy.
1982: Chinese constitution
This was the day when China adopted its present constitution.
1991: Journalist Anderson freed from terrorists:
2454 days in prison...This is the worst experience one gets in a lifetime. American journalist Terry Anderson was caught by Islamic militants among other Americans included in 92 foreigners. He was the chief correspondent for Associated Press in the Middle East. Those were the days of serious civil war in Lebanon and he was the reporter of the same. He was abducted on March 16, 1985, and was kept captive for more than six years. This incident happened as a result of Kuwait jailing several Shiite Muslims on the allegation of bombing embassies of America and France. Iran gave all sorts of support to the wrongdoing. Later for winning US favor for promoting its own economic goals, Iran influenced Lebanon to release captives. Thus on December 4, 1991, Anderson among other captives was released. He later sued Iran for sponsoring the kidnappers.
1991: Largest US Airlines
Pan American World Airways stopped its operations on this day in 1991. It was the largest airline company in the USA.
1992: God's Work by Geroge Bush
Somalia is one of the worst war-hit nations which is still suffering the aftermath of war. Alleging the prevention of humanitarian aid to Somalia people by some rivals, US President George H.W.Bush deployed 28000 troops to this East African nation. He described the process as "God's work". The operation was called "Operation Restore Hope".
1996: Pathfinder
Mars Pathfinder set forth to explore surface of Mars. The launching was made from Cape Canaveral in Florida, USA. This was an unmanned Space vehicle.
2012: Typhoon in Philippines
Category 5 typhoon hit a Philippine village killing over 1000 people. The typhoon was named Bopha and nicknamed "Pablo".
