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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. (more...)

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December 4: Navy Day in India

• 1639 – English astronomer Jeremiah Horrocks made the first observation of a transit of Venus (2004 transit pictured).
• 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

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