First Confidential

THIS DAY IN HISTORY - DECEMBER 4th

Thomas Carlyle, Quote

“The difference between the right word and the almost right word is really a large matter — it's the difference between a lightning bug and the lightning.”

~ Thomas Carlyle

Wikiquote (Thomas Carlyle (December 4, 1795 – February 5, 1881) a Scottish essayist, satirist, and historian, whose work was hugely influential during the Victorian era.)

This Day in History

December 4th, 306

Martyrdom of Saint Barbara

Martyrdom of Saint Barbara.

Wikipedia  Painting: Feast of Saint Barbara - one of the Fourteen Holy Helpers - was the beautiful daughter of a rich and powerful pagan named Dioscuros. credit Fisheaters.

December 4th, 771

Carloman I and Charlemagne are crowned Kings of The Franks; Statue équestre de Charlemagne, par Agostino Cornacchini (1725) - Basilique Saint-Pierre du Vatican, Italie

Austrasian King Carloman I dies, leaving his brother Charlemagne King of the now complete Frankish.

Wikipedia  Painting: The coronation of Charlemagne / Carloman I - Charlemagne, Kings of The Franks; Statue équestre de Charlemagne, par Agostino Cornacchini (1725) - Basilique Saint-Pierre du Vatican, Italie..

December 4th, 1110

Crusades collage: Crusades were a series of religious expeditionary wars blessed by Pope Urban II and the Catholic Church, with the stated goal of restoring Christian access to the holy places in and near Jerusalem - Jerusalem considered a sacred city and symbol of all three major Abrahamic faiths (Judaism, Christianity and Islam) Crusades: Battle of Montgisard; 1177, by Charles Philippe Larivière

Crusades
1110 - First Crusade; Siege of Sidon, sack Sidon.

Wikipedia  Image: The Siege of Antioch, from a 15th-century miniature; After the successful siege of Jerusalem in 1099, Godfrey of Bouillon, leader of the First Crusade, became the first ruler of the Kingdom of Jerusalem; Baldwin I of Jerusalem; Medieval image of Peter the Hermit, leading knights, soldiers and women toward Jerusalem during the First Crusade; The Battle of Ager Sanguinis, 1337 miniature; Pope Innocent III excommunicating the Albigensians, Massacre against the Albigensians by the crusaders; The capture of Jerusalem marked the First Crusade's success.
Crusades: Battle of Montgisard; 1177, by Charles Philippe Larivière.

December 4th, 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)

Thanksgiving in the Americas: Thirty eight 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).

Wikipedia  Painting: The First Thanksgiving at Plymouth by Jennie A. Brownscombe. (1914) Plymouth settlers held a harvest feast after a successful growing season.

December 4th, 1674

Illinois is one of the most extensive and populous of the 50 United States, and is often noted as a microcosm of the entire country - with Chicago a major transportation hub Pere Marquette and the Indians [at the Mississippi River], oil painting (1869) by Wilhelm Lamprecht (1838–1906), at Marquette University

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).

Wikipedia  Photo: Chicago skyline; Metallic sculpture “Cloud Gate” credit Ryan Bailey, National Geographic; Illinois River silver carp jump after being disturbed by boats, credit Houma Today, Treehugger; Chicago, Illinois - New Soldier Field; Illinois Farm, credit Illinois Farm Bureau.
Pere Marquette and the Indians [at the Mississippi River], oil painting (1869) by Wilhelm Lamprecht (1838–1906), at Marquette University.

December 4th, 1783

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

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

Wikipedia  Painting: General George Washington embraces a colleague as he bids farewell to his tearful officers at Fraunces' Tavern in New York City on December 4, 1783 (1860 engraving, by Thomas Phillibrown).

December 4th, 1864

Lincoln Memorial: an American national monument built to honor the 16th President of the United States, Abraham Lincoln - located on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. across from the Washington Monument American Civil War: Battle of Antietam; Stone Bridge at Antietam Battlefield - Sharpsburg, Maryland American Civil War: American Civil War: First Battle Between Ironclads; CSS Virginia/Merrimac (left) vs. USS Monitor, in 1862 at the Battle of Hampton Roads

American Civil War:
1864 - 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 Tecumseh Sherman's campaign destroying a wide swath of the South on his march to the

Wikipedia  Image: ● Lincoln Memorial; an American national monument built to honor the 16th President of the United States, Abraham Lincoln - located on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. across from the Washington Monument.
● The northern army led by George McClellan and the southern army led by Robert E. Lee met at Antietam Creek, Maryland in September, 1862. It was a bloody battle where 13,000 Confederates and 12,000 Union troops died in just one day. McClellan had hesitated to attack before the battle thus letting the southern troops regroup. Also, he had saved reserves and refused to use them at the end of the battle thinking that Lee was holding reserves for a counterattack, even though those reserves didn't exist. The Union victory stopped Lee's northward advance and was a turning point in the war.
● Battle of Antietam / Stone Bridge at Antietam Battlefield - Sharpsburg, Maryland
● First Battle Between Ironclads: CSS Virginia/Merrimac (left) vs. USS Monitor, in 1862 at the Battle of Hampton Roads.
● Although photography was still in its infancy, war correspondents produced thousands of images, bringing the harsh realities of the frontlines to those on the home front in a new and visceral way. The Atlantic.

December 4th, 1872

The crewless American ship Mary Celeste is found by the British brig Dei Gratia (the ship had been abandoned for nine days but was only slightly damaged)

The crewless American ship Mary Celeste is found by the British brig Dei Gratia (the ship had been abandoned for nine days but was only slightly damaged).

Wikipedia  Painting: An 1861 painting of the Ghost Ship Amazon (later renamed Mary Celeste) by an unknown artist (perhaps Honoré Pellegrin).

December 4th, 1875

Better known as Boss Tweed: William M. Tweed, Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from New York's 5th district; 'Stone Walls Do Not a Prison Make', January 1876 editorial cartoon by Thomas Nast depicting Tweed's escape from prison

Better known as Boss Tweed: Notorious Tammany Hall leader William Magear Tweed escapes from prison and flees to Cuba, then Spain.

Wikipedia  Image: William M. Tweed, Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from New York's 5th district; "Stone Walls Do Not a Prison Make", January 1876 editorial cartoon by Thomas Nast depicting Tweed's escape from prison.

December 4th, 1937

The first issue of the children's comic, The Dandy Comic, is published, one of the first to use speech balloons

The first issue of the children's comic, The Dandy Comic, is published, one of the first to use speech balloons..

Wikipedia.org  Image: The Dandy Comic issues; 1939 - 1944, credit Books.littleoak.com.au.

December 4th, 1939

World War II: Second firestorm raid on Germany, the Royal Air Force conducts an air raid on the town of Kassel, killing 10,000 and rendering 150,000 homeless World War II: Battle of Leyte Gulf; Battle of Leyte Gulf; The first kamikaze attack: A Japanese plane carrying a 200-kilogram (440 lb) bomb attacks HMAS Australia off Leyte Island

World War II:
1939 - HMS Nelson is struck by a sea mine (laid by German U-31) off the Scottish coast and is laid up for repairs until August 1940.
1942 - Guadalcanal Campaign; Carlson's patrol ends.
1943 - In Yugoslavia, resistance leader Marshal Josip Broz Tito proclaims a provisional democratic Yugoslav government in-exile.
1944 - United States President Franklin D. Roosevelt closes down the Works Progress Administration, because of the high levels of wartime employment in the United States.

Wikipedia  Photo: Bombing of Dresden in World War II; August Schreitmüller's sculpture 'Goodness' surveys Dresden after a firestorm started by Allied bombers in 1945.
USS Bunker Hill was hit by kamikazes piloted by Ensign Kiyoshi Ogawa and another airman on 11 May 1945. 389 personnel were killed or missing from a crew of 2,600; Ensign Kiyoshi Ogawa, who flew his aircraft into the USS Bunker Hill during a Kamikaze mission on 11 May 1945; Kamikaze Missions - Lt Yoshinori Yamaguchi's Yokosuka D4Y3 (Type 33 Suisei) "Judy" in a suicide dive against USS Essex. The dive brakes are extended and the non-self-sealing port wing tank is trailing fuel vapor and/or smoke 25 November 1944.

December 4th, 1969

Black Panther Party demonstrations late 1960s

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

Wikipedia  Photo: Chicago Democratic National Convention - 1968; "Try Police Not Huey" opening day Huey P Newton trial - Oakland Court house - l969; Demonstration out side court house for the Panther 21 trial - NYC - l969; Kathleen Cleaver speaking at Black Panther Rally - 1969. credit Newsreel, Black Panther Party late 1960's.

December 4th, 1980

The iconic Led Zeppelin logo

English rock group Led Zeppelin officially disbands, following the death of drummer John Bonham on September 25th.

Wikipedia  Photo: The iconic Led Zeppelin logo.