Frank Zappa (1940–1993) was an American composer, electric guitarist, record producer and film director. In a career spanning more than 30 years, Zappa wrote rock, jazz, electronic, orchestral, and musique concrète works. He also directed feature-length films and music videos, and designed album covers. Zappa produced almost all of the more than 60 albums he released with the band Mothers of Invention and as a solo artist. His 1966 debut album with the Mothers of Invention, Freak Out!, combined songs in conventional rock and roll format with collective improvisations and studio-generated sound collages. His later albums shared this eclectic and experimental approach, irrespective of whether the fundamental format was one of rock, jazz or classical. He wrote the lyrics to all his songs, which—often humorously—reflected his skeptical view of established political processes, structures and movements. He was a strident critic of mainstream education and organized religion, and a forthright and passionate advocate for freedom of speech and the abolition of censorship. Zappa was a highly productive and prolific artist and he gained widespread critical acclaim. Many of his albums are considered essential in rock history, and he is regarded as one of the most original guitarists and composers of his time; he remains a major influence on musicians and composers. (more...)

From Wikipedia's newest articles:

• ... that forage fish (anchovy pictured), which feed the world's great marine predators, are now being removed from the oceans on an industrial scale and fed instead to farmed fish, pigs, and poultry?
• ... that it now requires 250 employees and costs US$5-9 million to open a new location of the six-year-old America's Incredible Pizza Company?
• ... that after executing Caesar Gallus, officer Apodemius grabbed his shoes, ran quickly from Pula to Mediolanum, and threw them at the feet of Roman Emperor Constantius II to prove his cousin's death?
• ... that as a result of the Saxon Brother War and the subsequent divisions of land, Saxony was no longer one of the most powerful German states?
• ... that Wessagusset Colony was the site of Miles Standish's real-life attack against Native Americans as depicted in Longfellow's poem The Courtship of Miles Standish?
• ... that each country who participated in MGP Nordic 2008 entered two songs, rather than one, to make the contest bigger?
• ... that the National Waterways Museum, Ellesmere Port, in Cheshire, England, contains the largest collection of canal boats in the world?
• ... that the campus of the now-defunct University of Plano included a pagoda that had been the Malaysian pavilion at the 1964 New York World's Fair?
  
  Archive – Start a new article – Nominate an article

• In the Thai political crisis, the Constitutional Court dissolves three parties in the ruling coalition, and Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat (pictured) resigns.
• A cholera outbreak in Zimbabwe spreads, with hundreds dead and over 10,000 people infected since August 2008.
• Rioting over disputed election results kills more than 381 people and injures hundreds in Jos, Nigeria.
• Attacks at the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel and several other locations in Mumbai, India, kill 183 people and injure hundreds.
• The people of Greenland pass a referendum regarding greater autonomy from Denmark.
• Brazilian officials declare a state of emergency as flooding in the Southern state of Santa Catarina causes at least 116 deaths and forces the evacuation of over 78,000 people.
  Wikinews – Recent deaths – More current events...

December 4: Navy Day in India

• 1639 – English astronomer Jeremiah Horrocks made the first observation of a transit of Venus (2004 picture shown).
• 1676 – Scanian War: Forces led by Swedish Field Marshal Simon Grundel-Helmfelt defeated the invading army of Denmark–Norway under the command of King Christian V in an area north of Lund, Sweden.
• 1829 – The practice of sati was formally abolished in British India after years of campaigning by Ram Mohan Roy against the Hindu funeral custom of widows immolating themselves.
• 1977 – Jean-Bédel Bokassa, the President of the Central African Republic, had himself crowned as Emperor Bokassa I.
• 1992 – Operation Restore Hope: One day after the United Nations Security Council passed Resolution 794, U.S. President George H. W. Bush ordered American troops into Somalia to help provide humanitarian aid and restore order after the dissolution of the country's central government during the ongoing Somali Civil War.

• More events: December 3 – December 4 – December 5

  Archive – By email – More anniversaries...
  It is now 01:50, December 4, 2008 (UTC) – Refresh this page