July 4
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July 4 is the 185th day of the year (186th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 180 days remaining.
The phrase Fourth of July has acquired widespread significance in American lingo as a reference to the Independence Day celebration in the United States and that celebration's many cultural accoutrements.
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Events
- 993 - Saint Ulrich of Augsburg canonized.
- 1054 - A supernova is observed by the Chinese and Amerindians near the star ζ Tauri. For several months it remains bright enough to be seen during the day. Its remnants form the Crab Nebula.
- 1187 - Saladin defeats Guy of Lusignan, King of Jerusalem, at the Battle of Hattin.
- 1776 - American Revolutionary War: The Continental Congress approves a Declaration of Independence from the Kingdom of Great Britain forming the United States of America.
- 1802 - At West Point, New York the United States Military Academy opens.
- 1803 - The Louisiana Purchase is announced to the American people.
- 1817 - At Rome, New York, construction on the Erie Canal begins.
- 1826 - Fiftieth anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, on which John Adams and Thomas Jefferson, two of America's Founding Fathers, died. (Luther Martin, another Founding Father would die a few days later, on July 8,1826.)
- 1837 - Grand Junction Railway, world's first long-distance railway, opens between Birmingham and Liverpool.
- 1838 - The Iowa Territory is organized.
- 1840 - The Cunard Line's 700 ton wooden paddlewheel steamer RMS Britannia departs from Liverpool bound for Halifax, Nova Scotia on the first transatlantic passenger cruise.
- 1845 - Near Concord, Massachusetts, Henry David Thoreau embarks on a two-year experiment in simple living at Walden Pond (see Walden).
- 1855 - In Brooklyn, New York, the first edition of Walt Whitman's book of poems titled Leaves of Grass is published.
- 1859 - Franco-Piedmontese War: The Battle of Magenta.
- 1862 - Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (Lewis Carroll) goes on a boating picnic with Alice Liddell, who asks to be entertained with a story. This story would grow into Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and its sequels.
- 1863 - American Civil War: Battle of Vicksburg - Ulysses S. Grant and the Union Army capture the Confederate city Vicksburg, Mississippi after the town surrendered. The siege lasted 47 days.
- 1865 - Alice's Adventures in Wonderland is published.
- 1881 - In Alabama, the Tuskegee Institute opens.
- 1894 - The short-lived Republic of Hawaii is proclaimed by Sanford B. Dole.
- 1910 - African-American boxer Jack Johnson knocks out white boxer Jim Jeffries in a heavyweight boxing match sparking race riots across the United States.
- 1918 - Ottoman sultan Mehmed VI ascends to the throne.
- 1918 - Bolsheviks kill Tsar Nicholas II of Russia and his family (Julian calendar date).
- 1927 - Initial flight of the Lockheed Vega.
- 1934 - Joe Louis wins his first professional boxing match.
- 1934 - Leo Szilard patents the chain-reaction design for the atomic bomb.
- 1939 - Lou Gehrig, recently diagnosed with Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, tells a crowd at Yankee Stadium that he considered himself "The luckiest man on the face of the earth" as he announces his retirement from major league baseball.
- 1941 - Mass murder of Polish scientists and writers, committed by Nazi Germans in captured Polish city of Lwów.
- 1946 - After over 400 years of colonial rule, the Philippines is granted full independence by the United States
- 1950 - First broadcast by Radio Free Europe
- 1959 - With the admission of Alaska as the 49th U.S. state earlier in the year, the 49-star flag of the United States debuts in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
- 1960 - Due to the post-Independence Day admission of Hawaii as the 50th U.S. state on August 21, 1959, the 50-star flag of the United States debuts in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania almost ten and a half months later (see Flag Act).
- 1966 - President Lyndon B. Johnson signs the Freedom of Information Act into United States law. The act goes into effect the next year.
- 1976 - Israeli commandos raid Entebbe airport in Uganda, rescuing most of the passengers and crew of an Air France jetliner seized by pro-Palestinian hijackers.
- 1976 - The citizens of the United States celebrate their country's bicentennial.
- 1987 - In France, former Gestapo chief Klaus Barbie (aka the "Butcher of Lyon") is convicted of crimes against humanity and is sentenced to life imprisonment.
- 1990 - On 214th anniversary of the United States Declaration of Independence, Die Hard 2: Die Harder is the second Die Hard movie to open in theaters, starring Bruce Willis.
- 1993 - (soccer) The Argentine national football team wins the Copa América 1993 championahip game 2-1 against Jorge Campos' Mexico national football team in Guayaquil.
- 1997 - NASA's Pathfinder space probe lands on the surface of Mars.
- 1998 - Lin "Spit" Newborn and Daniel Shersty are murdered by neonazis in the desert just outside Las Vegas, Nevada, USA.
- 2002 - Three people are shot at the El Al check-in booth at Los Angeles International Airport. The gunman is shot and killed by a security officer.
- 2002 - A Prestige Airlines cargo Boeing 707 crashes just short of the runway in Bangui, Central African Republic killing 25
- 2004 - The cornerstone of the Freedom Tower is lain on the site of the World Trade Center in New York City. (This was largely a symbolic event; actual construction would not start for several weeks)
Births
- 1330 - Ashikaga Yoshiakira, Ashikaga shogun (d. 1367)
- 1546 - Murat III, Ottoman Emperor (d. 1595)
- 1799 - Joseph François Oscar Bernadotte, French general and King Oscar I of Sweden and Norway (d. 1859)
- 1804 - Nathaniel Hawthorne, American writer (d. 1864)
- 1807 - Giuseppe Garibaldi, Italian patriot (d. 1882)
- 1826 - Stephen Foster, American songwriter (d. 1864)
- 1845 - Thomas Barnardo, Irish founder of homes for underprivileged children (d. 1905)
- 1847 - James Anthony Bailey, American circus impresario (d. 1906)
- 1872 - Calvin Coolidge, 30th President of the United States (d. 1933)
- 1878 - George M. Cohan, American singer, dancer, composer, actor, and writer (d. 1942)
- 1883 - Rube Goldberg, American cartoonist (d. 1970)
- 1902 - Meyer Lansky, Russian-born mobster (d. 1983)
- 1902 - George Murphy, American dancer, actor, and Senator from California (d. 1992)
- 1904 - Angela Baddeley, actress (d. 1976)
- 1905 - Irving Johnson, Author, adventurer, sail training pioneer (d. 1991)
- 1910 - Gloria Stuart, American actress
- 1911 - Mitch Miller, American bandleader and television personality
- 1917 - Manolete, Spanish bullfighter (d. 1947)
- 1918 - Ann Landers, American advice columnist (d. 2002)
- 1918 - Abigail Van Buren, American advice columnist and twin sister to Ann Landers
- 1921 - Tibor Varga, violinist and conductor
- 1923 - Rudolf Friedrich, member of the Swiss Federal Council
- 1924 - Eva Marie Saint, American actress
- 1926 - Alfredo Di Stefano, Argentinian/Colombian/Spanish footballer
- 1927 - Gina Lollobrigida, Italian actress
- 1929 - Bill Tuttle, baseball player
- 1930 - George Steinbrenner, American owner of the New York Yankees
- 1938 - Bill Withers, American singer and songwriter
- 1942 - Floyd Little, American football player
- 1943 - Konrad "Conny" Bauer, German jazz trombonist
- 1943 - Geraldo Rivera, American reporter and talk show host
- 1946 - Ed O'Ross, American actor
- 1946 - Ron Kovic, American peace activist
- 1951 - Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, American politician
- 1961 - Richard Garriott, English video game designer
- 1967 - Vinny Castilla, Mexican baseball player
- 1973 - Gackt, Japanese singer
- 1973 - Justin Ring, Canadian Football League Linebacker
- 1974 - La'Roi Glover, American football player
- 1976 - Daijiro Kato, Japanese motorcycle racer
- 1986 - Shane Kippel, Canadian actor
- 1989 - Dion Gee, New Zealand Actor & Dance
Deaths
- 965 - Pope Benedict V
- 1187 - Raynald of Chatillon, (executed)
- 1623 - William Byrd, English composer
- 1821 - Richard Cosway, English artist (b. 1742)
- 1826 - John Adams 2nd President of the United States (b. 1735)
- 1826 - Thomas Jefferson, 3rd President of the United States (b. 1743)
- 1831 - James Monroe, 5th President of the United States (b. 1758)
- 1838 - Colonel José Antonio Vidaurre, Chilean revolutionary (shot)
- 1848 - François-René de Chateaubriand, French writer and diplomat (b. 1768)
- 1850 - William Kirby, English entomologist (b. 1759)
- 1857 - William L. Marcy, American statesman (b. 1786)
- 1882 - Joseph Brackett, Shaker religious leader and composer (b. 1797)
- 1891 - Hannibal Hamlin, U.S. Vice President (b. 1809)
- 1901 - Johannes Schmidt, German linguist (b. 1843)
- 1902 - Swami Vivekananda, Indian spiritual leader (b. 1863)
- 1910 - Giovanni Schiaparelli, Italian astronomer (b. 1835)
- 1926 - Pier Giorgio Frassati, Italian mountaineer (b. 1901)
- 1931 - Buddie Petit, American jazz musician
- 1934 - Maria Skłodowska-Curie, Polish-born scientist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in chemistry and physics (b. 1867)
- 1970 - Barnett Newman, American artist (b. 1905)
- 1971 - August Derleth, American writer and editor (b. 1909)
- 1975 - Georgette Heyer, English author (b. 1902)
- 1976 - Antoni Słonimski, Polish poet and writer (b. 1895)
- 1986 - Oscar Zariski, Russian mathematician (b. 1899)
- 1991 - Dr. Victor Chang, Australian physician (murdered) (b. 1936)
- 1995 - Eva Gabor, Hungarian-born actress (b. 1919)
- 1997 - Charles Kuralt, American television reporter (b. 1934)
- 2002 - Benjamin O. Davis Jr., U.S. general (b. 1912)
- 2003 - Barry White, American singer and record producer (b. 1944)
- 2004 - Jean-Marie Auberson, Swiss conductor (b. 1920)
Holidays and observances
External links
- BBC: On This Day (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/july/4)
July 3 - July 5 - June 4 - August 4 - more historical anniversaries
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