Today in History: December 4, Terry Anderson freed after nearly seven years as hostage

Today is Wednesday, Dec. 4, the 339th day of 2024. There are 27 days left in the year.

Today in history:

On Dec. 4, 1991, after being abducted and held for nearly seven years as a hostage by Hezbollah militants in Lebanon, Associated Press correspondent Terry Anderson was released from captivity.

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.

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 1997, the NBA suspended Golden State Warriors guard Latrell Sprewell for one year after Sprewell attacked Warriors coach P.J. Carlesimo three days earlier.

In 2016, a North Carolina man armed with an assault rifle fired several shots 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 to police. (He was later sentenced to four years in prison.)

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

Today’s Birthdays: Game show host Wink Martindale is 91. Actor-producer Max Baer Jr. is 87. Actor Gemma Jones is 82. Actor Jeff Bridges is 75. Actor Patricia Wettig is 73. Jazz singer Cassandra Wilson is 69. Basketball Hall of Famer Bernard King is 68. Baseball Hall of Famer Lee Smith is 67. Olympic pole vault gold medalist Sergey Bubka is 61. Actor Marisa Tomei is 60. Actor-comedian Fred Armisen is 58. Rapper Jay-Z is 55. Actor-model Tyra Banks is 51. Football Hall of Famer Joe Thomas is 40. Musician Jelly Roll is 40.

By The Associated Press