July 4

973 Ulrich, the bishop of Augsburg from 923, died on July 4, 973. Many miracles were said to have been wrought at his grave and only 20 years after his death, Ulrich was canonized by Pope John XV on July 4, 993. He was the first saint to be canonized by a Pope, rather than by a local authority. Before that time, the popular "cults", or venerations, of saints had been local and spontaneous.

1054 A supernova was seen by Chinese, Arab, and possibly Amerindian observers near the star Zeta Tauri in 1054. Chinese astronomers recorded it as a "guest star" on July 4th. For several months it remained bright enough to be seen during the day. Its remnants form the Crab Nebula. Below is a simulated image of the supernova, as presumably would have been observed from capital of Song Dynasty at Kaifeng, China during the morning of July 4, 1054.

Simulated image of supernova SN 1054

1187 Saladin, the sultan of Egypt and Syria defeated the Christian Jerusalem army at the Battle of Hattin on July 4, 1187 after setting fire to dry grass around the armored Crusaders in the already hot terrain. The Muslim armies under Saladin captured or killed the vast majority of the Crusader forces, removing their capability to wage war. As a result, the Muslims wrested control of Palestine - including the city of Jerusalem - from the Crusaders, who had conquered the area 88 years earlier.

1776 Independence Day, also known as the Fourth of July, is a significant holiday in the United States. It commemorates the adoption of the Declaration of Independence by the Continental Congress on July 4, 1776. This document declared the United States' separation from British rule and established the country as an independent nation. independence from the Kingdom of Great Britain.

1823 facsimile of the engrossed copy

1776 On July 4, 1776, immediately after the Declaration of Independence was officially passed, the Continental Congress asked John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, and Benjamin Franklin to design a seal that would clearly represent a symbol for the new United States. Their proposed national seal showed Moses parting the Red Sea.

1777 The Americans began observing the Fourth of July in 1777, when the first-ever Independence Day celebration in Philadelphia included a parade, a thirteen-shot cannon salute and fireworks, but Congress didn't make it official until 1870, when it made Independence Day an unpaid holiday for federal employees. According to the official census, 2.5 million people celebrated the first Independence Day, compared to over three hundred million people today.

1785 The 4th of July Parade in Bristol, Rhode Island, is the oldest continuous Independence Day celebration in the US. It was first held in 1785, just two years after the signing of the Declaration of Independence. The parade has been held every year since then, except for a few years during the Civil War and World War II.

Bristol Rhode Island July 4th Parade 2017 By Kenneth C. Zirkel

1826 By June 1826, Thomas Jefferson was on his death bed due to a combination of various illnesses and conditions probably including toxemia, uremia, and pneumonia. Jefferson was determined to last until the 50th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. At 12.45 pm on July 4, 1826, Jefferson mumbled "This is the fourth"? When he realized it was he mumbled "I resign my spirit to God, my daughter to my country" and died peacefully.

1826 John Adams, 2nd President of the United States, died the same day as his political rival Thomas Jefferson on July 4, 1826. On one occasion Adams warned of the consequences of a potential Jefferson presidency in an attack ad: “Murder, robbery, rape, adultery, and incest will be openly taught and practiced, the air will be rent with the cries of the distressed, the soil will be soaked with blood and the nation black with crimes.” Adams' last words were "Thomas Jefferson still survives."

1826 Songwriter Stephen Foster was born on July 4, 1826, in Lawrenceville, Pennsylvania, which is now part of Pittsburgh. He entered Jefferson College in Canonsburg, Pennsylvania, but his only interest was music and he left college after only a month. Foster's first great musical success was "Oh! Susanna" which was first performed in the Eagle Ice Cream Saloon in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in September 1847. It became an anthem of the California Gold Rush.

1829 The first London bus service was established on July 4, 1829 and ran between Marylebone Road, Paddington and the Bank of England. The buses ran every three hours and passengers could flag them down anywhere. The bus carried 22 people, who paid a shilling fare each and was pulled by three horses.

1831 "My Country, 'Tis of Thee" was first performed on July 4, 1831 at a children's Independence Day celebration at Park Street Church in Boston. The words were written by Baptist theological student Samuel Francis Smith after the renowned hymn composer Lowell Mason asked him to adapt the lyrics in some German school songbooks. The patriotic hymn became the de facto American National Anthem before the adoption of "The Star-Spangled Banner" as the official anthem in 1931.

1831 Former US President James Monroe retired from the presidency to Virginia where he was plagued by financial difficulties. After his wife's death in 1830, Monroe moved to New York to live with his daughter Maria Hester Monroe Gouverneur who had married Samuel L. Gouverneur. Monroe died there from heart failure and tuberculosis on July 4, 1831.

1831 July 4 is the only date on which three US presidents died: John Adams and Thomas Jefferson both passed away on July 4, 1826, at the age of 90 and 83, James Monroe died aged 73 on July 4, 1831. The deaths of these three presidents on Independence Day is a reminder of the long and rich history of the United States, and the sacrifices that have been made to build this country.

1837 The Grand Junction Railway was the world's first long-distance railway. It opened on July 4, 1837, running for 82 miles (132 km) from Birmingham through Wolverhampton (via Perry Barr and Bescot), Stafford, Crewe, and Warrington, then via the existing Warrington and Newton Railway to join the Liverpool and Manchester Railway at a triangular junction at Newton Junction.

Vauxhall railway station, Birmingham, in 1837

1838 After the 1803 Louisiana Purchase, the Iowa area was placed under United States control, but it was not until the construction of Fort Madison in 1808 that the U.S. established tenuous military control over the region. On July 4, 1838, the U.S. Congress established the Territory of Iowa. President Martin Van Buren appointed Robert Lucas governor of the territory, which at the time had 22 counties and a population of 23,242. Iowa became the 29th state in the Union in December 1846.

1855 The first edition of Walt Whitman's Leaves of Grass was published on July 4, 1855. Whitman paid for the first edition himself and had it printed at a local print shop. A total of 795 copies were printed. Whitman anonymously published fawning reviews of Leaves of Grass in order to boost sales but the free verse poetry collection scandalized the public with its overt celebration of sexuality and did not sell well.

1862 Alice's Adventures in Wonderland grew out of a story told by Charles Dodgson on July 4, 1862. It was told to amuse three little girls, 10-year-old Alice Liddel, the daughter of the Dean of Christchurch, and her two sisters during a rowing trip. Afterwards he wrote down the story for Alice. Before Alice received her copy, Dodgson was already preparing it for publication under his Lewis Carroll pseudonym, including adding the episodes about the Cheshire Cat and the Mad Tea-Party.

Illustration in a 1983 edition of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland 

1869 Rodeo contests began in the early days of the cattle industry when men gathered in cow towns at roundup time. Following the American Civil War, rodeo competitions emerged, with the first exhibition held on July 4, 1869 in Deer Trail, Colorado. It is documented as the first organized rodeo within the country with prizes awarded. First prize was a new suit of clothing, according to a Facebook page dedicated to the event.

1872 John Calvin Coolidge Jr. was born on July 4, 1872 in Plymouth Notch, Windsor County, Vermont. He was the 30th president of the United States, serving from 1923 to 1929. Coolidge was the only US president to be born on Independence Day.

The Coolidge Homestead, Coolidge's childhood home By Magicpiano 

1894 Queen Liliʻuokalani ascended the Hawaiian throne in 1891 upon the death of her brother, King Kalakaua. Her refusal to recognize the constitutional changes inaugurated in 1887 precipitated a revolt, fostered largely by sugar planters—mostly American residents of Hawaii. This led to her dethronement and the establishment of a provisional government on July 4, 1894. The short lived Republic of Hawaii lasted until 1898 when sovereignty was transferred to the United States.

1910 Galveston “Jack” Johnson was the first black world heavyweight boxing champion. When he knocked out white boxer Jim Jeffries in a heavyweight boxing match on July 4, 1910, it sparked race riots across the United States.

1931 27 years after they began a relationship, Irish author James Joyce finally married Nora Barnacle on July 4, 1931. Joyce had refused to marry Nora for several decades, as he had lost his Catholic faith. He refused to let any man say what he believed to be meaningless words over him. They finally married for “testamentary reasons” at Kensington register office in London. Their grown child Lucia attended their wedding.

1934 Polish-French physicist and chemist Marie Curie, who conducted pioneering research on radioactivity, died on July 4, 1934. She passed away at the sanatorium of Sancellemoz (Haute-Savoie), France, of aplastic anemia brought on by exposure to radiation. The damaging effects of ionising radiation were not known at the time of her work, which had been carried out without the safety measures later developed.

1946 On July 4, 1946 the Philippines finally gained their independence after 381 years of near-continuous colonial rule by various powers. The Philippines was recognized by the United States as fully independent on that day. In the Philippines, the Fourth of July is called "Republic Day" and is a celebration of Philippine independence from the United States.

1952 In 1952 President Harry S. Truman signed a bill proclaiming a National Day of Prayer to be observed on July 4, 1952.  In 1988, the law was amended by President Ronald Reagan so that the National Day of Prayer would be held on the first Thursday of May.

1954 Britain’s 14 years of food rationing ended on July 4, 1954, when the restrictions on the sale of meat were lifted. At a ceremony in Trafalgar Square to mark the occasion, the Minister of Fuel and Power burned a large replica of a ration book.

Child's ration book, used in Britain during the Second World War

1956 The most rain ever recorded in one minute was 1.22 inches (31.2 millimeters) in Unionville, Maryland, on July 4, 1956. The rain fell during a thunderstorm that also produced 72 mm (2.84 inches) of rain in 50 minutes. The storm was caused by a combination of factors, including a warm, moist air mass and a strong thunderstorm updraft.

1958 The "Telecopter," the world's first TV news helicopter was introduced by KTLA Channel 5 in Los Angeles. It made its first successful broadcast on on July 4, 1958. The "Telecopter" was a Bell Model 47 whose on-board video and audio equipment communicated with a line of sight KTLA transmitter receiver on top of Mount Wilson. For several years, KTLA was the only TV station with a helicopter based TV camera crewed reporting platform.

1960 The current 50-star version of the US Flag was designed as a history project by 17-year-old Lancaster, Ohio high school student Robert G. Heft, in 1958. Heft had an idea that Alaska and Hawaii would soon be states, and he set out to design a 50-star flag. His teacher gave him a "B-" for the project, but promised he'd change the grade if his flag was accepted by Congress. It was and the 50-star flag of the United States debuted in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on July 4, 1960,

1985 On July 4, 1985, 13-year-old Ruth Lawrence achieved a first-class degree in Mathematics at Oxford University. The youngest British person ever to get a first, she took just two years to complete the three-year university course.

Ruth Lawrence, Berkeley 1991

1996 The Hotmail service was one of the first webmail services on the Internet. It was founded by Sabeer Bhatia and Jack Smith, and commercially launched on July 4, 1996. The name hotmail was chosen because it contains HTML, and was originally styled HoTMaiL In 1997 Sabeer Bhatia and Jack Smith sold Hotmail to Microsoft for an estimated price of $385 million.

Hotmail 2001 By http://www.outlook-tips.net/howto/archive/hotmail.htm, 

1997 Amado Carrillo Fuentes was a Mexican drug lord who became known as "El Señor de Los Cielos" ("The Lord of the Skies"), because of the large fleet of jets he used to transport drugs. He died on July 4, 1997 while getting plastic surgery to alter his appearance. The two surgeons that performed the procedure were later found dead, encased in concrete inside steel drums, with their bodies showing signs of torture.

2012 The Higgs boson is a particle that gives mass to other particles, which is nicknamed by the popular press as the "God Particle." It was named after Peter Higgs, one of six physicists who, in 1964, proposed the mechanism that suggested the particle. On July 4, 2012, CERN announced the discovery of a new particle with properties consistent with the Higgs boson after experiments at the Large Hadron Collider. which lies in a 17 mile tunnel near Geneva, Switzerland.

2012 San Diego’s planned 20-minute firework display on July 4, 2012 lasted only thirty seconds when an error caused them all to go off at the same time. The fireworks were supposed to be launched in a choreographed display that lasted for 17 minutes. However, a computer glitch caused all of the fireworks to be launched at once, creating a massive explosion that lit up the night sky.

2015 Beau Retallick, an Australian adventurer, holds the Guinness World Record for the highest bungee jump with hands. He jumped from a height of 59.33 meters (194 ft 7 in) from Kobaebashi Bridge in Kumamoto, Japan, on July 4, 2015. 

The usual date of The Earth’s aphelion, when its orbit takes it furthest from the Sun, is July 4.