Today is Saturday, July 4, the 185th day of 2009. There are 180 days left in the year. This is Independence Day.
Today’s Highlight in History
On July 4, 1776, the Continental Congress adopted the Declaration of Independence.
On this date:
In 1054, the Crab Nebula, the brightest known remnant of a supernova, was first noticed by Chinese astronomers.
In 1190, Richard Lionheart and Philipp II of France joined forces for the third crusade. Emperor Friedrich I had set off from the town of Regensburg in 1189 with 100,000 men. When he drowned in 1190, his son Duke Friedrich von Schwaben took command. The British and French armies arrived in 1191 to win back Akkon from Sultan Saladin. The French king returned home, but Lionheart continued his crusade against Saladin.
In 1631, Cardinal Richelieu established the Bureau d’Adresse (work exchange office) in Paris. People seeking work left their personal details, information about their skills and their address at this office. Anyone offering work could then look through the details to find someone who was suitable for the job. As soon as it became evident that the principle of the “Bureau d’Adresse” worked, Richelieu made it an obligatory step. From then onwards, all job seekers had to register there if they were foreign nationals.
In 1802, the United States Military Academy officially opened at West Point, N.Y.
In 1826, 50 years to the day after the Declaration of Independence was adopted, death claimed the second and third presidents of the United States: John Adams died at age 90 in Braintree, Mass., while Thomas Jefferson died at 83 at Monticello, his home near Charlottesville, Va.
In 1831, the fifth president of the United States, James Monroe, died in New York City.
In 1845, American writer Henry David Thoreau began a two-year experiment in simple living at Walden Pond near Concord, Mass.
In 1872, the 30th president of the United States, Calvin Coolidge, was born in Plymouth, Vt.
In 1919, Jack Dempsey won the world heavyweight boxing title by defeating Jess Willard in Toledo, Ohio.
In 1934, chemist Marie Curie, who discovered radium, dies of leukemia, a disease caused by prolonged exposure to radiation during her research.
In 1939, baseball player Lou Gehrig, afflicted with a fatal illness, bid a tearful farewell at Yankee Stadium in New York, telling fans, “Today, I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of the Earth.”
In 1948, the Philippines became independent.
In 1958, Karol Wojtyla, the future Pope John Paul II, was appointed auxilliary bishop of Krakow, Poland, by Pope Pius XII.
In 1959, America’s 49-star flag, honoring Alaskan statehood, was officially unfurled.
In 1960, America’s 50-star flag, honoring Hawaiian statehood, was officially unfurled.
In 1966, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Freedom of Information Act, which went into effect the following year.
In 1976, Israeli commandos raided Entebbe airport in Uganda, rescuing almost all of the passengers and crew of an Air France jetliner seized by pro-Palestinian hijackers.
In 1987, Klaus Barbie, the former Gestapo chief known as the “Butcher of Lyon,” was convicted by a French court of crimes against humanity and sentenced to life in prison.
In 1999, ten years ago: White supremacist Benjamin Nathaniel Smith shot himself to death as police closed in on him in southern Illinois, hours after he’d apparently shot and killed a Korean man outside a church in Bloomington, Ind.; authorities believe Smith was also responsible for killing former college basketball coach Ricky Byrdsong during a three-day rampage targeting minorities.
In 1999, Pete Sampras and Lindsay Davenport won the singles titles at Wimbledon, defeating Andre Agassi and Steffi Graf.
In 2004, five years ago: A 20-ton slab of granite, inscribed to honor “the enduring spirit of freedom,” was laid at the World Trade Center site as the cornerstone of the Freedom Tower skyscraper that will replace the destroyed twin towers. Defending the war in Iraq, President George W. Bush told a cheering crowd outside the West Virginia state capitol that America was safer because Saddam Hussein was in a prison cell.
In 2004, Roger Federer overcame Andy Roddick’s power game to win his second straight Wimbledon title, 4-6, 7-5, 7-6 (3), 6-4.
In 2004, Meg Mallon won the Women’s U.S. Open with a 6-under 65.
In 2008, one year ago: Former Sen. Jesse Helms, an unyielding champion of the conservative movement who’d spent three combative and sometimes caustic decades in Congress, died in Raleigh, N.C., at age 86.
In 2008, Dara Torres completed her improbable Olympic comeback at age 41, making the U.S. team for the fifth time by winning the 100 freestyle at the trials in Omaha, Neb.
In 2008, actress Evelyn Keyes died in Montecito, Calif., at age 91.
Today’s Birthdays
Actress Gloria Stuart is 99. Conductor Mitch Miller is 98. Advice columnist Pauline Phillips (the original “Dear Abby”) is 91. Actress Eva Marie Saint is 85. Actress Gina Lollobrigida is 82. Playwright Neil Simon is 82. Baseball team owner George Steinbrenner is 79. Country singer Ray Pillow is 72. Singer Bill Withers is 71. Actor Ed Bernard is 70. Actress Karolyn Grimes is 69. Broadcast journalist Geraldo Rivera is 66. Rhythm-and-blues musician Ralph Johnson (Earth, Wind and Fire) is 58. Rock musician Domingo Ortiz (Widespread Panic) is 57. Singer John Waite is 54. Rock musician Kirk Pengilly (INXS) is 51. Country musician Teddy Carr is 49. Rock DJ Zonka is 47. Tennis Hall of Famer Pam Shriver is 47. Rock musician Matt Malley is 46. Christian rock singer Michael Sweet is 46. Actor Al Madrigal is 38. Actress Jenica Bergere is 35. Actor-singer John Lloyd Young is 34. Singer Stephen “Ste” McNally (BBMak) is 31. Actress Becki Newton (TV: “Ugly Betty”) is 31. Presidential daughter Malia Obama is 11.
Today’s Historic Birthdays
Jean-Pierre Blanchard
7/4/1753 – 3/7/1809
French balloonist; made first English Channel aerial crossing
Nathaniel Hawthorne
7/4/1804 – 5/19/1864
American novelist and short story writer
Giuseppe Garibaldi
7/4/1807 – 6/2/1882
Italian patriot
E. R. Squibb
7/4/1819 – 10/25/1900
American pharmaceutical manufacturer
Stephen Foster
7/4/1826 – 1/13/1864
American composer of minstrel and romantic songs
Calvin Coolidge
7/4/1872 – 1/5/1933
American 30th president of the U.S.
Rube Goldberg
7/4/1883 – 12/7/1970
American satirical cartoonist
Louis B. Mayer
7/4/1885 – 10/29/1957
Russian-born American movie executive
Gertrude Lawrence
7/4/1898 – 9/6/1952
English musical comedy actress
Meyer Lansky
7/4/1902 – 1/15/1983
American crime syndicate chief
George Murphy
7/4/1902 – 5/3/1992
American actor and politician
Lionel Trilling
7/4/1905 – 11/5/1975
American literary critic and teacher
Ann Landers (1918-2002), pseudonym of Esther Pauline “Eppie” Friedman Lederer, newspaper advice columnist.
Thought for Today
“If the American Revolution had produced nothing but the Declaration of Independence, it would have been worthwhile.” — Samuel Eliot Morison, American historian (1887-1976).
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Full article: http://www.boston.com/news/history/articles/2009/07/04/today_in_history___july_4/
http://www.todayinhistory.de/index.php?tag=4&monat=7&dayisset=1&year=2009&lang=en
http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/20090704.html
