Today is Thursday, July 4th, the 186th day of the 12 months 2024. There are 180 days left within the 12 months. That is Independence Day.
Today’s highlight of the story:
On July 4, 1776, the Declaration of Independence was adopted by delegates to the Second Continental Congress in Philadelphia.
Also on this date:
In 1802, the United States Military Academy was officially opened at West Point, New York.
In 1817, construction of the Erie Canal began in Rome, New York.
In 1826, exactly 50 years after the adoption of the Declaration of Independence, former Presidents John Adams and Thomas Jefferson died.
In 1831, the fifth President of the United States, James Monroe, died in New York City on the age of 73.
The first edition of Walt Whitman’s “Leaves of Grass” was published in 1855.
In 1863, the Siege of Vicksburg, Mississippi, throughout the Civil War ended with the give up of a Confederate garrison to Union forces.
In 1910, the black world boxing champion Jack Johnson defeated the white former champion “Gentleman” Jim Jeffries within the fight in Reno, Nevada, which was heralded because the “fight of the century.” Over 20 people were killed within the racial riots that followed the fight across the country.
In 1912, the American flag with 48 stars was introduced, recognizing the statehood of New Mexico and Arizona.
In 1939, Lou Gehrig of the New York Yankees gave his famous farewell speech by which he called himself “the luckiest man on earth.”
In 1946, the United States and the Philippines signed the Treaty of Manila, recognizing the independence of the Philippines from the United States.
In 1960, the present version of the US flag with 50 stars was introduced.
In 1976, America celebrated its bicentennial with a day-long festivities, with President Gerald R. Ford stopping at Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, Independence Hall in Philadelphia, and New York City, where greater than 200 ships paraded up the Hudson River as a part of Operation Sail.
In 1987, Klaus Barbie, the previous Gestapo chief generally known as the “Butcher of Lyon,” was found guilty of crimes against humanity by a French court and sentenced to life imprisonment (he died in September 1991).
In 1995, the space shuttle Atlantis and the Russian space station Mir separated after spending five days docked together in orbit.
In 2012, scientists on the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) in Geneva celebrated the apparent end of the decades-long seek for a brand new subatomic particle called the Higgs boson, or “God particle.”
On July 4, 2013, the Statue of Liberty reopened, eight months after Superstorm Sandy destroyed the national symbol of freedom.
Today's birthdays:
- Actress Eva Marie Saint turns 100.
- Tuskegee Airman Harry Stewart Jr. turns 100.
- Queen Sonja of Norway is 87.
- Actress Karolyn Grimes (“It’s a Wonderful Life”) is 83.
- Broadcast journalist Geraldo Rivera is 81.
- Funk/jazz trombonist Fred Wesley is 81.
- Vietnam War veteran and peace activist Ron Kovic is 78.
- Singer John Waite is 72.
- Pam Shriver, a member of the International Tennis Hall of Fame, is 62.
- Christian rock singer Michael Sweet (Stryper) is 60.
- Actor, playwright and screenwriter Tracy Letts is 59.
- Actress Becki Newton is 46.
- Television star Mike “The Situation” Sorrentino is 42.
- R&B singer Melanie Fiona is 41.
- Singer and rapper Post Malone is 29.
- Malia Obama is 26.
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