July 4

Events

993 - Saint Ulrich of Augsburg canonized.

1054 - A supernova is observed by the Song Dynasty|Chinese and Indigenous Peoples of the Americas|Amerindians near the star ζ Taurus (constellation)|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, Kings of Jerusalem|King of Jerusalem, at the Battle of Hattin.

1584 - Sir Walter Ralegh first sees the coast of North Carolina

1636 - City of Providence, Rhode Island|Providence, Rhode Island forms.

1712 - 12 slaves are executed in New York for starting an uprising that killed 9 whites

1776 - American Revolutionary War: The Continental Congress approves a Declaration of Independence (United States)|Declaration of Independence from the Kingdom of Great Britain.

1802 - At West Point, New York the United States Military Academy opens.

1803 - The Louisiana Purchase is announced to the American people.

1810 - The France|French occupy Amsterdam.

1817 - At Rome, New York, United States, construction on the Erie Canal begins.

1826 - Fiftieth anniversary of the United States Declaration of Independence|Declaration of Independence, on which John Adams and Thomas Jefferson, two of America's Founding Fathers of the United States|Founding Fathers, died.

1827 - Slavery is abolished in New York State.

1831 - James Monroe dies on the fifty-fifth anniversary of the Declaration of Independence.

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 paddle steamer RMS Britannia|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 - Lewis Carroll tells Alice Liddell a story that would grow into Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and its sequels.

1863 - American Civil War: Battle of Vicksburg - Vicksburg, Mississippi surrenders to Ulysses S. Grant after 47 days of seige.

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 (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 - First 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 - Massacre of Lwów professors|Mass murder of Polish scientists and writers, committed by Nazi Germany|Germans in captured Poland|Polish city of Lwów.

1946 - After 381 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 of the United States|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 United States Bicentennial|bicentennial.

1982 - Four Iranian diplomats have been kidnapped upon Israel invasion of lebanon.

1984 - NASCAR driver Richard Petty wins his 200th and final career victory at the Firecracker 400 race.

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.

1989 - 14-year-old actress Drew Barrymore attempts suicide.

1993 - The Argentine national football team defeats Mexico national football team|mexico to win the Copa América 1993 in Guayaquil.

1997 - NASA's Mars Pathfinder|Pathfinder space probe lands on the surface of Mars (planet)|Mars.

1998 - Lin Newborn|Lin "Spit" Newborn and Daniel Shersty are murdered by neonazis in the desert just outside Las Vegas, Nevada|Las Vegas.

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 laid 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)

2004 - National Team of Greece won the EURO 2004 Cup 1-0 after the Final against Portugal.

2005 - The Deep Impact (space mission)|Deep Impact collider hits the comet Tempel 1.

Births

1330 - Ashikaga Yoshiakira, Japanese shogun (d. 1367)

1546 - Murat III, Ottoman Sultan (d. 1595)

1694 - Louis-Claude Daquin, French composer (d. 1772)

1715 - Christian Fürchtegott Gellert, German poet (d. 1769)

1719 - Michel-Jean Sedaine, French dramatist (d. 1797)

1799 - King Oscar I of Sweden (Joseph François Oscar Bernadotte), French Napoleonic general (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 humanitarian (d. 1905)

1854 - Victor Babeş, Romanian bacteriologist (d. 1926)

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)

1881 - Ulysses S. Grant III, American soldier and planner (d. 1968)

1882 - Louis B. Mayer, American film producer (d. 1957)

1883 - Rube Goldberg, American cartoonist (d. 1970)

1896 - Mao Dun, Chinese writer (d. 1981)

1900 - Louis Armstrong, American musician (d. 1971)

1902 - Meyer Lansky, Russian-born mobster (d. 1983)

1902 - George Murphy, American dancer, actor, and Senator from California (d. 1992)

1904 - Angela Baddeley, English actress (d. 1976)

1905 - Irving Johnson, American author and adventurer (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

1920 - Leona Helmsley, American hotel operator and real estate investor

1920 - Norm Drucker, prominent National Basketball Association referee

1921 - Gerard Debreu, French-born economist, Nobel Prize in Economics|Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2004)

1921 - Tibor Varga, Hungarian violinist and conductor (d. 2003)

1923 - Rudolf Friedrich, Swiss Federal Councilor

1924 - Eva Marie Saint, American actress

1926 - Alfredo Di Stefano, Argentinian footballer

1927 - Gina Lollobrigida, Italian actress

1927 - Neil Simon, American playwright

1929 - Bill Tuttle, baseball player

1930 - George Steinbrenner, baseball team owner

1938 - Bill Withers, American singer and songwriter

1942 - Floyd Little, American football player

1943 - Conny Bauer|Konrad "Conny" Bauer, German jazz trombonist

1943 - Geraldo Rivera, American reporter and talk show host

1946 - Ron Kovic, American peace activist

1946 - Ed O'Ross, American actor

1951 - Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, American politician

1961 - Richard Garriott, English video game designer

1962 - Pam Shriver, American tennis player

1967 - Vinny Castilla, Mexican Major League Baseball player

1967 - Andy Walker, Canadian television personality

1973 - Gackt, Japanese singer

1974 - La'Roi Glover, American football player

1976 - Daijiro Kato, Japanese motorcycle racer

1981 - Daniel Creaney, Lorraine Kelly impersonator

Deaths

965 - Pope Benedict V

1187 - Raynald of Chatillon, Prince of Antioch (executed)

1541 - Pedro de Alvarado, Spanish explorer (b. 1495)

1603 - Philippe de Monte, Flemish composer (b. 1521)

1623 - William Byrd, English composer

1742 - Guido Grandi, Italian mathematician (b. 1671)

1754 - Philippe Néricault Destouches, French dramatist (b. 1680)

1761 - Samuel Richardson, English writer (b. 1689)

1780 - Prince Charles of Lorraine, Austrian military leader (b. 1712)

1787 - Charles de Rohan, prince de Soubise, Marshal of France (b. 1715)

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)

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)

1881 - Johan Vilhelm Snellman, Finnish statesman (b. 1806)

1882 - Joseph Brackett, American religious leader and composer (b. 1797)

1891 - Hannibal Hamlin, U.S. Vice President (b. 1809)

1901 - Johannes Schmidt (linguist)|Johannes Schmidt, German linguist (b. 1843)

1902 - Swami Vivekananda, Indian spiritual leader (b. 1863)

1905 - Élisée Reclus, French geographer and anarchist (b. 1830)

1910 - Giovanni Schiaparelli, Italian astronomer (b. 1835)

1926 - Pier Giorgio Frassati, Italian mountaineer (b. 1901)

1931 - Buddie Petit, American jazz cornetist

1934 - Maria Sklodowska-Curie|Maria Skłodowska-Curie, Polish-born scientist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Nobel Prize in Chemistry|chemistry and Nobel Prize in Physics|physics (b. 1867)

1941 - Antoni Łomnicki, Polish mathematician (b. 1881)

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 Slonimski|Antoni Słonimski, Polish poet and writer (b. 1895)

1986 - Oscar Zariski, Russian mathematician (b. 1899)

1991 - Dr. Victor Chang, Australian physician (murdered) (b. 1936)

1992 - Astor Piazzolla, Argentinian composer (b. 1921)

1995 - Eva Gabor, Hungarian-born actress (b. 1919)

1997 - Charles Kuralt, American television reporter (b. 1934)

2002 - Benjamin O. Davis Jr., American general (b. 1912)

2003 - Barry White, American singer and record producer (b. 1944)

2004 - Jean-Marie Auberson, Swiss conductor (b. 1920)

2005 - Hank Stram, American football coach (b. 1923)

Holidays and observances

United States - Independence Day (US)|Independence Day (1776)

Filipino-American Friendship Day

In astronomy, the approximate date of Earth's aphelion.

External links

http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/july/4 ---- July 3 - July 5 - June 4 - August 4 - more historical anniversaries