Today July 4th in history click read more below to view detail events, deaths, births, Holidays and observances, and video clips in hisotry. Please comments, last database updated: Jan 17th, 2009
Events
836 – Pactum Sicardi, peace between the Principality of Benevento and the Duchy of Naples
993 – Saint Ulrich of Augsburg is canonized.
1054 – A supernova is observed by the Chinese, the Arabs and possibly Amerindians near the star ? 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 is 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.
1359 – Francesco II Ordelaffi of Forlì surrenders to the Papal commander Gil de Albornoz.
1456 – The Siege of Nándorfehérvár (Belgrade) begins. (Part of the Ottoman wars in Europe)
1534 – Christian III is elected King of Denmark and Norway in the town of Rye.
1634 – The city of Trois-Rivières is founded in New France, later to become the Canadian province of Quebec.
1636 – City of Providence, Rhode Island forms.
1754 – French and Indian War: George Washington surrenders Fort Necessity to French Capt. Louis Coulon de Villiers.
1774 – Orangetown Resolutions adopted in the Province of New York, one of many protests against the British Parliament s Coercive Acts
Births
1776 – American Revolution: the United States Declaration of Independence is adopted by the Second Continental Congress
1778 – American Revolutionary War: Forces under George Rogers Clark capture Kaskaskia during the Illinois campaign.
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, the 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 crossing with a scheduled end.
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: Siege of Vicksburg – Vicksburg, Mississippi surrenders to Ulysses S. Grant after 47 days of siege. 150 miles up the Mississippi River, a Confederate Army is repulsed at the Battle of Helena, Arkansas.
1865 – Alice s Adventures in Wonderland is published.
1881 – In Alabama, the Tuskegee Institute opens.
1886 – The people of France offer the Statue of Liberty to the people of the United States.
1886 – The first scheduled Canadian transcontinental train arrives in Port Moody, British Columbia.
1887 – The founder of Pakistan, Quaid-i-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah, joins Sindh-Madrasa-tul-Islam, Karachi.
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.
1913 – President Woodrow Wilson addresses American Civil War veterans at the Great Reunion of 1913.
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 – 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 considers himself The luckiest man on the face of the earth as he announces his retirement from major league baseball.
1941 – Nazi Germans massacre Polish scientists and writers in the captured Polish city of Lwów.
1946 – After 381 years of near-continuous colonial rule, the Philippines is granted full independence by the United States.
1947 – The Indian Independence Bill is presented before British House of Commons, suggesting bifurcation of British India into two sovereign countries – India and Pakistan.
1950 – The 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 Hawai i 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).
1961 – Walt Disney is one of the two main speakers on the Independence Day in The Rebuild Hills at Skørping in Denmark
1966 – President Lyndon B. Johnson signs the Freedom of Information Act into United States law. The act goes into effect the next year.
1969 – Two teens (one male, one female) are attacked at Blue Rock Springs in California. They were the second (known) victims of the Zodiac Killer. The male survives.
1969 – The Ohio Fireworks Derecho kills 18 Ohioans and destroys over 100 boats on Lake Erie.
1976 – Israeli commandos raid Entebbe airport in Uganda, rescuing all but four of the passengers and crew of an Air France jetliner seized by Palestinian terrorists.
1976 – American people celebrates 200th year of the nationhood. It s called bicential anversity. USA celebrated 200th year.
1982 – Iranian diplomats kidnapping (1982): four Iranian diplomats are 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.
1993 – Sumitomo Chemical s resin plant in Nihama explodes killing one worker and injuring three others.
1997 – NASA s Pathfinder space probe lands on the surface of Mars.
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.
2006 – North Korea tests four short-range missiles, one medium-range missile, and a long-range Taepodong-2. The long-range Taepodong-2 reportedly fails in mid-air over the Sea of Japan/East Sea.
Deaths
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)
1790 – George Everest, Welsh surveyor (d. 1866)
1799 – King Oscar I of Sweden, French general (d. 1859)
1804 – Nathaniel Hawthorne, American writer (d. 1864)
1807 – Giuseppe Garibaldi, Italian patriot (d. 1882)
1816 – Hiram Walker, American grocer and distiller (d. 1899)
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 Babes, Romanian bacteriologist (d. 1926)
1868 – Henrietta Swan Leavitt, American astronomer (d. 1921)
1872 – Calvin Coolidge, 30th President of the United States (d. 1933)
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)
1895 – Irving Caesar, American lyricist and composer (d. 1996)
1896 – Mao Dun, Chinese writer (d. 1981)
1898 – Dr. Pilar Barbosa, Puerto Rican historian (d. 1997)
1898 – Gertrude Lawrence, English-born actress (d. 1952)
1902 – Meyer Lansky, Russian-born American gangster (d. 1983)
1902 – George Murphy, American entertainer (d. 1992)
1903 – Flor Peeters, Belgian composer, organist and teacher (d. 1986)
1904 – Angela Baddeley, English actress (d. 1976)
1905 – Irving Johnson, American adventurer (d. 1991)
1907 – Gordon Griffith, American director (d. 1958)
1907 – Howard Taubman, American music and theater critic (d. 1996)
1910 – Gloria Stuart, American actress
1911 – Mitch Miller, American entertainer
1912 – Viviane Romance, French actress (d. 1991)
1916 – Iva Toguri D Aquino, American World War II figure (d. 2006)
1917 – Manolete, Spanish bullfighter (d. 1947)
1918 – Ann Landers, American advice columnist (d. 2002)
1918 – Abigail Van Buren, American advice columnist
1918 – King Taufa ahau Tupou IV of Tonga (d. 2006)
1918 – Johnnie Parsons, American race car driver (d. 1984)
1920 – Norm Drucker, American basketball referee
1920 – Leona Helmsley, American hotel operator and real estate investor (d. 2007)
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 Stéfano, Argentine-Spanish footballer
1927 – Gina Lollobrigida, Italian actress
1927 – Neil Simon, American playwright
1929 – Al Davis, American businessman
1929 – Chuck Tanner, American baseball player
1929 – Bill Tuttle, American baseball player (d. 1998)
1930 – Frunzik Mkrtchyan, Armenian actor
1930 – George Steinbrenner, American businessman
1930 – Yuri Tyukalov, Soviet Olympic rower
1931 – Stephen Boyd, Northern Irish actor (d. 1977)
1931 – Sébastien Japrisot, French author, film director and sreenwriter (d. 2003)
1932 – Aurèle Vandendriessche, Belgian athlete
1934 – Colin Welland, English actor
1935 – Paul Scoon, Governor General of Grenada
1937 – Sonja Haraldsen, Queen of Norway (spouse of King Harald V of Norway)
1937 – Thomas Nagel, American philosopher
1938 – Bill Withers, American singer and songwriter
1940 – Karolyn Grimes, American actress
1941 – Brian Willson, American peace activist
1942 – Hal Lanier, American baseball player
1942 – Floyd Little, American football player
1942 – Stefan Meller, Polish foreign minister (d. 2008)
1943 – Konrad Conny Bauer, German musician
1943 – Geraldo Rivera, American reporter
1943 – Alan Blind Owl Wilson, American musician (d. 1970)
1943 – Emerson Boozer, American football player
1943 – Milan Mácala, Czech football coach
1944 – Ray Meagher, Australian actor
1946 – Tish Howard, American model
1946 – Ron Kovic, American peace activist
1946 – Michael Milken, American financier
1946 – Ed O Ross, American actor
1947 – Morganna Roberts, American entertainer
1948 – Ed Armbrister, baseball player
1948 – René Arnoux, French race car driver
1948 – Tommy Körberg, Swedish singer and actor
1948 – Jeremy Spencer, English musician
1950 – David Jensen, Canadian-born British radio DJ
1951 – Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, American politician
1952 – Álvaro Uribe Vélez, Colombian politician
1954 – Jim Beattie, American baseball player
1955 – John Waite, English singer
1957 – Princess Chulabhorn of Thailand
1958 – Kirk Pengilly, Australian musician
1959 – Victoria Abril, Spanish actress
1960 – Sid Eudy, American professional wrestler
1960 – Barry Windham, American professional wrestler
1960 – Roland Ratzenberger, Austrian racing driver (d. 1994)
1961 – Richard Garriott, English video game designer
1962 – Neil Morrissey, English actor
1962 – Pam Shriver, American former tennis player
1963 – Henri Leconte, French former tennis player
1963 – Matt Malley, American musician
1963 – José Oquendo, Puerto Rican baseball player
1964 – Cle Kooiman, American soccer player
1964 – Mark Slaughter, American singer
1964 – Mark Whiting, American filmmaker and actor
1965 – Horace Grant, American basketball player
1965 – Jo Whiley, English radio DJ
1966 – Lee Reherman, American actor
1967 – Vinny Castilla, Mexican baseball player
1967 – Andy Walker, Canadian television personality
1967 – Rick Wilkins, American baseball player
1968 – Jack Frost, American musician
1969 – Todd Marinovich, American football player
1970 – Tony Vidmar, Australian former footballer
1971 – Andy Creeggan, Canadian musician
1971 – Brendan Donnelly, American baseball player
1971 – Koko, sign-language gorilla
1971 – Andrew Murray, English entrepreneur
1971 – Ned Zelic, Australian soccer player
1972 – Oleg Prudius, Ukrainian professional wrestler
1973 – Gackt, Japanese singer
1973 – Keiko Ihara, Japanese racing driver
1973 – Michael Johnson, English-born Jamaican footballer
1973 – Jan Magnussen, Danish racing driver
1973 – Tony Popovic, Australian soccer player
1974 – La Roi Glover, American football player
1974 – Vince Spadea, American tennis player
1975 – Tania Davis, Australian violist
1976 – Daijiro Kato, Japanese motorcycle racer (d. 2003)
1977 – Katia Zygouli, Greek supermodel
1977 – Jonas Kjellgren, Swedish musician (Scar Symmetry)
1978 – Vicky Kaya, Greek supermodel and actress
1978 – Stephen McNally, British singer and songwriter (BBMak)
1978 – Emile Mpenza, Belgian footballer
1978 – Becki Newton, American actress
1980 – Muhammad Ali Hasan, American filmmaker
1980 – Max Elliott Slade, American film actor
1981 – Francisco Cruceta, Dominican baseball player
1982 – Hannah Harper,English porn star
1983 – Isabeli Fontana, Brazilian model
1983 – Ben Jorgensen, American musician
1983 – Andy Mrotek, American musician
1984 – Gina Glocksen, American singer
1984 – Akanishi Jin, Japanese singer
1985 – Kane Tenace, Australian rules footballer
1986 – Takahisa Masuda, Japanese singer
1998 – Malia Obama, oldest daughter of Barack Obama
2003 – Alessia di Matteo, Italian medical figure (d. 2005)
Holidays and observances
907 – Luitpold, Margrave of Bavaria
943 – Taejo of Goryeo, ruler of Korea (b. 877)
965 – Pope Benedict V, Italian Roman Catholic Pope (b. unknown)
973 – Ulrich of Augsburg, German bishop (b. 890)
1187 – Raynald of Chatillon, Prince of Antioch
1541 – Pedro de Alvarado, Spanish explorer (b. 1495)
1546 – Hayreddin Barbarossa, Admiral of the Ottoman Navy (b. 1478)
1603 – Philippe de Monte, Flemish composer (b. 1521)
1623 – William Byrd, English composer
1648 – Antoine Daniel, French Jesuit missionary, one of the Canadian Martyrs (b. 1601)
1742 – Guido Grandi, Italian mathematician (b. 1671)
1754 – Philippe Néricault Destouches, French dramatist and author (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 – 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 (b. 1768)
1850 – William Kirby, English entomologist (b. 1759)
1854 – Karl Friedrich Eichhorn, German jurist (b. 1781)
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 – Melville Weston Fuller, 8th Chief Justice of the United States (b. 1833)
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 Saint (b. 1901)
1931 – Buddie Petit, American jazz musician (b. 1895)
1931 – Emanuele Filiberto, 2nd Duke of Aosta, Italian aristocrat (b. 1869)
1934 – Maria Sklodowska-Curie, Nobel Prize in Chemistry and Physics (b. 1867)
1938 – Otto Bauer, Austrian Social Democratic politician (b. 1881)
1938 – Suzanne Lenglen, French tennis player (b. 1899)
1941 – Antoni Lomnicki, Polish mathematician (b. 1881)
1946 – Gerda Steinhoff, Nazi concentration camp overseer (b. 1922)
1948 – Monteiro Lobato, Brazilian writer (b. 1882)
1963 – Bernard Freyberg, Governor-General of New Zealand (b. 1889)
1964 – Henry_(Hank)_Sylvern, U.S. radio personality (b. 1908)
1970 – Barnett Newman, American artist (b. 1905)
1970 – Harold Stirling Vanderbilt, member of the Vanderbilt family (b. 1884)
1971 – August Derleth, American writer and editor (b. 1909)
1975 – Georgette Heyer, English author (b. 1902)
1976 – Antoni Slonimski, Polish poet (b. 1895)
1977 – Gersh Budker, Russian physicist (b. 1918)
1979 – Lee Wai Tong, Chinese footballer (b. 1905)
1980 – Maurice Grevisse, Belgian grammarian (b. 1895)
1982 – Terry Higgins, early British AIDS death (b. 1945)
1984 – Jimmie Spheeris, American singer-songwriter (b. 1949)
1986 – Oscar Zariski, Russian mathematician (b. 1899)
1986 – Flor Peeters, Belgian composer, organist, and teacher (b. 1903)
1988 – Adrian Adonis, American professional wrestler (b. 1954)
1989 – Jack Haig , A British actor (b. 1913)
1991 – Victor Chang, Australian physician (b. 1936)
1992 – Ástor Piazzolla, Argentinian composer (b. 1921)
1993 – Bona Arsenault, French Canadian politician and historian (b. 1903)
1994 – Joey Marella, American professional wrestling referee (b. 1964)
1995 – Eva Gabor, Hungarian actress (b. 1919)
1995 – Bob Ross, American artist and television host (b. 1942)
1997 – Charles Kuralt, American television presenter (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)
2001 – Keenan Milton, Professional Skater (b. 1974)
2002 – Benjamin O. Davis Jr., American general (b. 1912)
2002 – Mansoor Hekmat, Iranian politician (b. 1951)
2002 – Winnifred Quick, American Titanic survivor (b. 1904)
2003 – Barry White, American singer (b. 1944)
2003 – André Claveau, French singer (b. 1915)
2004 – Jean-Marie Auberson, Swiss conductor (b. 1920)
2004 – Frank Robinson (Xylophone Man), an eccentric street entertainer in Nottingham, England (b. 1932)
2005 – Hank Stram, American football coach (b. 1923)
2007 – Baris Akarsu, Turkish rock musician (b. 1979)
2007 – Bill Pinkney, American singer and performer (b. 1925)
2008 – Charles Wheeler, British journalist (b. 1923)
2008 – Jesse Helms, American politician (b. 1921)
2008 – Terrence Kiel, American Football Player (b. 1980)
2008 – Thomas M. Disch, American science fiction author (b. 1940)
2008 – Evelyn Keyes, American actress (b. 1916)
