Today in History....December 4

* 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

* 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

* 1864, during the 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)

* 1875, notorious New York City politician Boss Tweed escapes from prison and flees to Cuba, then Spain

* 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

* 1943, US President Franklin D. Roosevelt closes down the Works Progress Administration, because of the high levels of wartime employment in the United States

* 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)

* 1952, a cold fog descends upon London, combining with air pollution and killing at least 12,000 in the weeks and months that follow

* 1956, during a Carl Perkins recording session also involving Jerry Lee Lewis and Johnny Cash at Sun Records in Memphis, Tennessee, Elvis Presley visits the studio and jams with Perkins and Lewis extensively with the tape recorders rolling. (Cash reportedly participates briefly in the jam before leaving the studio with his wife and daughter.) The four men become known as the Million Dollar Quartet, and the complete tape from this legendary session is eventually released on compact disc
(CD) in 1987

* 1959, a monkey returns to Earth safely, after being launched 55 miles high into outer space by the United States space program

* 1991, journalist Terry Anderson is released after being held 7 years as a hostage by practitioners of that "religion of peace" in Beirut. He was the last and longest-held American hostage in Lebanon. ALSO: Captain Mark Pyle brings Clipper Goodwill, a Pan American World Airways Boeing 727-221ADV, into Miami International Airport ending 64 years of Pan Am operations

* 2005, tens of thousands of people in Hong Kong protest for democracy and call on the Government to allow universal and equal suffrage.