July 4

is the 185th day of the year (186th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 180 days remaining.

Events

836 - Pactum Sicardi, peace between the Principality of Benevento and the Duchy of Naples
993 - Saint Ulrich of Augsburg canonized.
1054 - A supernova is observed by the Chinese, the Arabs and possibly 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.
1120 - Jordan II of Capua anointed as prince after his infant nephew's death
1187 - The Crusades: Battle of Hattin - Saladin defeats Guy of Lusignan, King of Jerusalem.
1253 - Battle of West-Capelle: John I of Avesnes defeats Guy of Dampierre
1636 - City of 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 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 French occupy Amsterdam.
1817 - At Rome, New York, United States, construction on the Erie Canal begins.
1827 - Slavery is abolished in New York State.
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 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 - Austro-Sardinian 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 siege.
1865 - Alice's Adventures in Wonderland is published.
1881 - In Alabama, the Tuskegee Institute opens.
1887 - Qauid-i-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah joined Sindh-Madrasa-tul-Islam.
1886 - First scheduled Canadian transcontinental train arrives in Port Moody, British Columbia.
1892 - Western Samoa changes the International Date Line, so that year there were 367 days in this country, with two occurrences of Monday, July 4.
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 - 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 - Mass murder of Polish scientists and writers, committed by Nazi Germans in captured Polish city of Lwów.
1946 - After 381 years of colonial rule, the Philippines is granted full independence by the United States.
1947 - "Indian Independence Bill" is presented before British House of Commons, suggesting bifurcation of British India into two sovereign coutries - India and Pakistan.
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.
1970 - Popular syndicated radio show, "American Top 40", hosted by "Casey Kasem, debuts.
1976 - Israeli commandos raid Entebbe airport in Uganda, rescuing all of the passengers and crew of an Air France jetliner seized by Palestinian terrorists.
1976 - The United States celebrates its bicentennial.
1982 - Four Iranian diplomats kidnapped by Lebanese militia in Lebanon.
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.
1992 - USS George Washington (CVN-73), a Nimitz Class aircraft carrier of the United States Navy is commissioned at Norfolk, Virginia.
1997 - NASA's Pathfinder space probe lands on the surface of Mars.
1999 - David Beckham marries Victoria Adams in Ireland
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)
2005 - The Deep Impact collider hits the comet Tempel 1.
2006 - Space Shuttle program: STS-121 Mission - Space Shuttle Discovery launches at 18:37:55 UTC . The first Independence Day shuttle launch.
2006 - North Korea tests four short-range missiles one medium-range missile, and a long-range Taepodong-2. The latter reportedly fails in mid-air over the Sea of Japan.

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, French 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)
1847 - James Anthony Bailey, American circus impresario (d. 1906)
1854 - Victor Babeş, Romanian bacteriologist (d. 1926)
1872 - Calvin Coolidge, 30th President of the United States (d. 1933)
1878 - George M. Cohan, American entertainer (d. 1942)
1881 - Ulysses S. Grant III, American soldier (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)
1898 - Dr. Pilar Barbosa, Puerto Rican historian (d. 1997)
1901 - Louis Armstrong, American musician (d. 1971)
1902 - Meyer Lansky, Russian-born gangster (d. 1983)
1902 - George Murphy, American entertainer (d. 1992)
1904 - Angela Baddeley, English actress (d. 1976)
1905 - Irving Johnson, American adventurer (d. 1991)
1907 - Gordon Griffith, American director (d. 1958)
1910 - Gloria Stuart, American actress
1911 - Mitch Miller, American entertainer
1916 - Iva Toguri D'Aquino, American known as Tokyo Rose in World War II
1917 - Manolete, Spanish bullfighter (d. 1947)
1918 - Ann Landers, American advice columnist (d. 2002)
1918 - Abigail Van Buren American advice columnist
1920 - Norm Drucker, American basketball referee
1921 - Gerard Debreu, French economist, Nobel laureate (d. 2004)
1921 - Tibor Varga, Hungarian violinist (d. 2003)
1923 - Rudolf Friedrich, Swiss Federal Councilor
1924 - Eva Marie Saint, American actress
1926 - Alfredo Di Stefano, Argentine footballer
1927 - Gina Lollobrigida, Italian actress
1927 - Neil Simon, American playwright
1929 - Bill Tuttle, baseball player (d. 1998)
1929 - Al Davis, football team owner
1930 - George Steinbrenner, baseball team owner
1930 - Frunzik Mkrtchyan, Armenian actor
1931 - Stephen Boyd, Northern Irish actor (d. 1977)
1938 - Bill Withers, American singer and songwriter
1942 - Floyd Little, American football player
1942 - Stefan Meller, Polish foreign minister
1943 - Konrad "Conny" Bauer, German musician
1943 - Geraldo Rivera, American reporter
1943 - Alan "Blind Owl" Wilson, American musician (Canned Heat) (d. 1970)
1946 - Ron Kovic, American peace activist
1946 - Ed O'Ross, American actor
1948 - Tommy Körberg, Swedish singer
1951 - Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, American politician
1952 - Álvaro Uribe Vélez, Colombian politician
1960 - Sid Eudy, professional wrestler
1961 - Richard Garriott, English video game designer
1962 - Pam Shriver, American tennis player
1966 - Lee Reherman, American actor
1967 - Vinny Castilla, Mexican baseball player
1967 - Andy Walker, Canadian television personality
1973 - Gackt, Japanese singer
1973 - Tony Popovic, Australian footballer
1973 - Michael Johnson, England-born Jamaican footballer
1974 - La'Roi Glover, American football player
1976 - Daijiro Kato, Japanese motorcycle racer (d. 2003)
1979 - Martin Shearman-Brettle, English composer
1983 - Isabeli Fontana, Brazilian model
1995 - María Isabel, Spanish singer

Deaths

965 - Pope Benedict V
973 - Saint Ulrich of Augsburg, German bishop (b. 890)
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 Alexander 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 - Thomas Jefferson 3rd President of the United States (b. 1743)
1826 - John Adams, 2nd President of the United States (b. 1735)
1831 - James Monroe, 5th President of the United States (b. 1758)
1848 - François-René de Chateaubriand, French writer (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 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)
1905 - Élisée Reclus, French anarchist (b. 1830)
1910 - Giovanni Schiaparelli, Italian astronomer (b. 1835)
1916 - Alan Seeger, American war poet (b. 1888)
1922 - Lothar von Richthofen, German pilot (b. 1894)
1926 - Pier Giorgio Frassati, Italian mountaineer (b. 1901)
1931 - Buddie Petit, American jazz musician (b. 1895)
1934 - Maria Skłodowska-Curie, Polish scientist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry and Physics (b. 1867)
1938 - Suzanne Lenglen, French tennis player (b. 1899)
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 Słonimski, Polish poet (b. 1895)
1977 - Gersh Budker, Russian physicist (b. 1918)
1982 - Terry Higgins, early British AIDS death
1986 - Oscar Zariski, Russian mathematician (b. 1899)
1988 - Adrian Adonis, Professional wrestler
1991 - Victor Chang, Australian physician (murdered) (b. 1936)
1992 - Astor Piazzolla, Argentinian composer (b. 1921)
1994 - Joey Marella, American wresting referee (b. 1964)
1995 - Eva Gabor, Hungarian actress (b. 1919)
1997 - Charles Kuralt, American television reporter (b. 1934)
1997 - John Zachary Young, English zoologist (b. 1907)
1999 - Leo Garel, American artist and cartoonist (b.1917)
2000 - Gustaw Herling-Grudzinski, Polish writer (b. 1919)
2002 - Benjamin O. Davis Jr., American general (b. 1912)
2002 - Mansoor Hekmat, Iranian politician and activist (b. 1951)
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 (1776)
Filipino-American Friendship Day
In astronomy, the approximate date of Earth's aphelion.

External links

July 3 - July 5 - June 4 - August 4 - more historical anniversaries

Gourt Home::Gourt :: July 4

Events

Births

Deaths

Holidays and observances

External links