TODAY’S HISTORY LESSON – JULY 4
1054 Brightest known supernova SN 1054 (creates the Crab Nebula) 1st reported by Chinese astronomers
1453 41 Jewish martyrs burned at stake at Breslau
1634 The city of Trois-Rivières is founded in New France, later to become the Canadian province of Quebec
1712 12 slaves are executed for starting an uprising in New York that killed nine whites.
1776 United States Declaration of Independence is adopted in Philadelphia
The statement declared the independence of the 13 British colonies from the British crown. It also announced the creation of a new country called the United States of America. Then handwritten declaration was approved by the Second Continental Congress and was signed by 56 delegates on August 2, 1776.
1789 1st US tariff act signed by President Washington
1802 West Point Military Academy is in Orange County, New York. Originally the United States Military Academy was the U.S. Corps of Engineers training school, but was made the U.S.M.A. by Congress on March 16th, 1802. It was officially opened as such on July 4th, 1802.
1817 Construction begins on the Erie Canal, to connect Lake Erie and the Hudson River.
1826 Two of America’s founding fathers–Thomas Jefferson and John Adams–die.
1831 The fifth president of the United States, James Monroe, dies at the age of 73.
1845 Henry David Thoreau begins his 26-month stay at Walden Pond.
1848 In Washington, DC, the cornerstone for the Washington Monument was laid.
1862 Charles Dodgson first tells the story of Alice’s adventures down the rabbit hole during a picnic along the Thames.
1865 Alice in Wonderland is published for the first time
The classic fantasy novel was written by author Lewis Carroll, whose real name was Charles Lutwidge Dodgson. The book recounted the adventures of a curious girl, Alice, who falls into a rabbit hole and meets human-like animals and creatures.
1881 Billy the Kid is shot dead in New Mexico.
1884 The Statue of Liberty was presented to the United States in Paris.
1894 After seizing power, Judge Stanford B. Dole declares Hawaii a republic.
1895 The poem America the Beautiful is first published.
1901 William H. Taft becomes the American governor of the Philippines.
1910 Race riots break out all over the United States after African American Jack Johnson knocks out Jim Jeffries in a heavyweight boxing match.
1946 The United States grants the Philippine Islands their independence.
1959 A 49th star is added to the American flag to represent the new state of Alaska.
1960 A 50th star is added to the American flag to represent the new state of Hawaii.
1966 Freedom of Information Act in the US is signed into law
The 36th President of the United States, Lyndon B. Johnson signed the law, which allows for the disclosure of government information to the public. It came into effect a year later in 1967.
1976 An Israeli raid at Entebbe airport in Uganda rescues 105 hostages.
2005 NASA’s Deep Impact spacecraft took pictures as a space probe smashed into the Tempel 1 comet. The mission was aimed at learning more about comets that formed from the leftover buidling blocks of the solar system. The Deep Impact mission launched on January 12, 2005.
2009 North Korea tested seven ballistic missiles over the Sea of Japan, in defiance of UN sanctions that banned any activities involving ballistic missiles in the country. The tests were thought to be a protest against the United States as they took place on the United States independence day.
2009 The Statue of Liberty’s crown reopened to visitors. It had been closed to the public since 2001.
2012 Discovery of Higgs boson particle is announced by scientists at the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN)
The existence of the elusive elementary particle in physics, was suggested in the 1960s. The Higgs boson, which is named after Nobel laureate, Peter Higgs, was finally detected by scientists working at the Large Hadron Collider.
** history.net, onthisday.com, infoplease.com, timeanddate.com, thepeoplehistory.com, on-this-day.com **
