Historical timeline for December 4

Yasser Abu Shabab is assassinated near Rafah, Gaza Strip.

UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson is shot and killed in Manhattan, New York City near the entrance of the New York Hilton Midtown.

Semeru on the Indonesian island of Java erupts, killing at least 68 people.

The Thomas Fire starts near Santa Paula in California. It eventually became the largest wildfire in modern California history to date after burning 1,140 square kilometers (440 sq mi) in Ventura and Santa Barbara Counties.

A firebomb is thrown into a restaurant in the Egyptian capital of Cairo, killing 17 people.

Islamic insurgents kill three state police at a traffic circle before taking an empty school and a "press house" in Grozny. Ten state forces die with 28 injured in gun battles ending with ten insurgents killed.

Six black youths assault a white teenager in Jena, Louisiana.

Tens of thousands of people in Hong Kong protest for democracy and call on the government to allow universal and equal suffrage.

The Unity Module, the second module of the International Space Station, is launched.

Journalists Fernando Balderas Sánchez and Yolanda Figueroa and their three children are murdered in a case that initially prompted speculation about links to organized crime, corruption, or their journalistic work.

Somali Civil War: President George H. W. Bush orders 28,000 U.S. troops to Somalia in Northeast Africa.

Pan American World Airways ceases its operations after 64 years.

Terry A. Anderson is released after seven years in captivity as a hostage in Beirut; he is the last and longest-held American hostage in Lebanon.

The MV Amazon Venture oil tanker begins leaking oil while at the port of Savannah in the United States, resulting in an oil spill of approximately 500,000 US gallons (1,900,000 L).

Sri Lankan Civil War: Sri Lankan Army soldiers kill 107–150 civilians in Mannar.

US Navy aircraft from USS John F. Kennedy and USS Independence attack Syrian missile sites in Lebanon in response to an F-14 being fired on by an SA-7. One A-6 Intruder and A-7 Corsair are shot down. One American pilot is killed, one is rescued, and one is captured.

The China adopts its current constitution.

South Africa grants independence to the Ciskei "homeland" (not recognized by any government outside South Africa).

The Hastie fire in Hull kills three schoolboys and eventually leads police to arrest Bruce George Peter Lee.

Following the murder of Mayor George Moscone, Dianne Feinstein becomes San Francisco's first female mayor.