Today in History: December 4, ‘Pizzagate’ shooting

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Today in history:Also on this date:Today’s Birthdays:

Today is Thursday, Dec. 4, the 338th day of 2025. There are 27 days left in the year.

Today in history:

On Dec. 4, 2016, a North Carolina man fired several shots from an assault rifle inside Comet Ping Pong, a Washington, D.C., pizzeria, as he attempted to investigate an online conspiracy theory that prominent Democrats were harboring child sex slaves at the restaurant; no one was hurt, and the man surrendered. (Edgar Maddison Welch was later sentenced to four years in prison; in 2025, police shot and killed him during a traffic stop in which officials said he pulled out a handgun and pointed it at one of the officers.)

Also on this date:

In 1783, Gen. George Washington bade farewell to his Continental Army officers at Fraunces Tavern in New York.

In 1956, Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis and Carl Perkins, dubbed the “Million Dollar Quartet,” gathered for the first and only time for a jam session at Sun Records in Memphis.

In 1964, police arrested some 800 students at the University of California, Berkeley, one day after the students stormed the administration building and staged a massive sit-in to protest university restrictions on political activity on campus.

In 1965, the United States launched Gemini 7 with Air Force Lt. Col. Frank Borman and Navy Cmdr. James A. Lovell aboard on a two-week mission. (While Gemini 7 was in orbit, its sister ship, Gemini 6A, was launched on Dec. 15 on a one-day mission; the two spacecraft were able to rendezvous within a foot of each other.)

In 1969, Fred Hampton and Mark Clark of the Black Panther Party were shot and killed during a raid by Chicago police.

In 1991, after being abducted and held hostage for nearly seven years by Hezbollah militants in Lebanon, Associated Press correspondent Terry Anderson was freed from captivity.

In 2018, long lines of people wound through the Capitol Rotunda to view the casket of former President George H.W. Bush.

In 2024, United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson was fatally shot on a midtown Manhattan sidewalk. (The accused shooter, Luigi Mangione, has pleaded not guilty to state and federal charges.)

In 2024, France’s far-right and left-wing lawmakers joined together in a no-confidence vote prompted by budget disputes, forcing Prime Minister Michel Barnier to resign, a first since 1962. President Emmanuel Macron insisted he would serve the rest of his term until 2027.