📜 This Day in History

December 4

• 1370Hundred Years' War: In two separate engagements in the Battle of Pontvallain, French forces wiped out an English army which had split up because of a dispute between the commanders.
• 1893First Matabele War: A patrol of 34 British South Africa Company soldiers was ambushed and annihilated by more than 3,000 Matabele warriors.
• 1909The first Grey Cup, the championship game of the Canadian Football League, was held in Toronto.
• 1971The Troubles: The Ulster Volunteer Force, an Ulster-loyalist paramilitary group, detonated a bomb at a Catholic-owned pub in Belfast, Northern Ireland, killing 15 people.
• 1980The English rock group Led Zeppelin officially disbanded.
• 2012"Il Canto degli Italiani" officially became the national anthem of Italy, 66 years after it was provisionally chosen following the birth of the Italian Republic.

Born on this day

• 1795Thomas Carlyle, Scottish-English historian, philosopher, and academic (died 1881)
• 1875Rainer Maria Rilke, Austrian-Swiss poet and author (died 1926)
• 1892Francisco Franco, Spanish general and dictator, Prime Minister of Spain (died 1975)
• 1969Jay-Z, American rapper, producer, actor, and co-founder of Roc-A-Fella Records