This day in history

[December 04, 2010]  (AP)  Today is Saturday, Dec. 4, the 338th day of 2010. There are 27 days left in the year.

Today's highlight in history:

On Dec. 4, 1783, Gen. George Washington bade farewell to his Continental Army officers at Fraunces Tavern in New York, telling them, "With a heart full of love and gratitude I now take leave of you."

On this date:

In 1619, settlers from Bristol, England, arrived at Berkeley Hundred in present-day Charles City County, Va.

In 1816, James Monroe of Virginia was elected the fifth president of the United States.

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 (vehr-SY') Peace Conference.

In 1942, U.S. bombers struck the Italian mainland for the first time in World War II. President Franklin D. Roosevelt ordered the dismantling of the Works Progress Administration, which had been created to provide jobs during the Depression.

In 1965, the United States launched Gemini 7 with Air Force Lt. Col. Frank Borman and Navy Cmdr. James A. Lovell aboard.

In 1978, San Francisco got its first female mayor as City Supervisor Dianne Feinstein (FYN'-styn) was named to replace the assassinated George Moscone (mahs-KOH'-nee).

In 1980, the bodies of four American churchwomen slain in El Salvador two days earlier were unearthed. (Five Salvadoran national guardsmen were later convicted of murdering nuns Ita Ford, Maura Clarke and Dorothy Kazel, and lay worker Jean Donovan.)

In 1984, a five-day hijack drama began as four armed men seized a Kuwaiti airliner en route to Pakistan and forced it to land in Tehran, where the hijackers killed American passenger Charles Hegna.

In 1996, the Mars Pathfinder lifted off from Cape Canaveral and began speeding toward Mars on a 310 million-mile odyssey. (It arrived on Mars in July 1997.)

Ten years ago: 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. PepsiCo agreed to pay $13.4 billion to acquire Quaker Oats. European Union farm ministers approved a six-month ban on animal products in fodder, part of an extraordinary plan to stem growing panic over mad cow disease.

Five years ago: Members of the former September 11th commission said the U.S. was at great risk for more terrorist attacks because Congress and the White House had failed to enact several strong security measures. Show business legends Robert Redford, Tina Turner, Tony Bennett, Julie Harris and ballerina Suzanne Farrell headlined the annual Kennedy Center Honors in Washington, D.C. Croatia won its first Davis Cup title.

One year ago: President Barack Obama began putting the finishing touches on a fresh job creation proposal, telling a community college crowd in Allentown, Pa., "I still consider one job lost one job too many." Gunmen and a suicide bomber attacked a mosque in a military installation in Rawalpindi, Pakistan, killing 35. Paula Hawkins, a Republican who in 1980 became the first woman elected to a full U.S. Senate term without a family political connection, died in Orlando, Fla. at age 82.

Today's birthdays: Actress-singer Deanna Durbin is 89. Game show host Wink Martindale is 77. Pop singer Freddy Cannon is 74. Actor-producer Max Baer Jr. is 73. Actress Gemma Jones is 68. Rock musician Bob Mosley (Moby Grape) is 68. Singer-musician Chris Hillman is 66. Musician Terry Woods (The Pogues) is 63. Rock singer Southside Johnny Lyon is 62. Actor Jeff Bridges is 61. Rock musician Gary Rossington (Lynyrd Skynyrd; the Rossington Collins Band) is 59. Actress Patricia Wettig is 59. Actor Tony Todd is 56. Jazz singer Cassandra Wilson is 55. Country musician Brian Prout (Diamond Rio) is 55. Rock musician Bob Griffin (The BoDeans) is 51. Rock singer Vinnie Dombroski (Sponge) is 48. Actress Marisa Tomei is 46. Actress Chelsea Noble is 46. Actor-comedian Fred Armisen is 44. Rapper Jay-Z is 41. Actor Kevin Sussman is 40. Actress-model Tyra Banks is 37. Country singer Lila McCann is 29. Actress Lindsay Felton is 26. Actor Orlando Brown is 23.

Thought for today: "There's much to be said for challenging fate instead of ducking behind it." -- Diana Trilling, American author and literary critic (1905-1996)

[Associated Press]

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