December 4th, 2008

Today in History

1978:
Following the murder of Mayor George Moscone, Dianne Feinstein becomes San Francisco, California's first woman mayor (she served until January 8, 1988).

1967:
Vietnam War: US and South Vietnamese forces engage Viet Cong troops in the Mekong Delta (235 of the 300-strong Viet Cong battalion were killed).

1872:
The crewless American ship Mary Celeste is found by the British brig Dei Gratia (the ship was abandoned for 9 days but was only slightly damaged).

1864:
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 campaign of destroying a wide swath of the South on his march to the Gulf of Mexico (Union forces did suffer more than three times the casualties as the Confederates, however).

1619:
Thirty-eight colonists from Berkeley Parish in England disembark in Virginia and give thanks to God (this is considered to be the first Thanksgiving in the Americas).