✦ DateLore

On This Day · The 185th day of the year

July 4

A look at July 4 through the almanac — historic events, famous birthdays including Giuseppe Garibaldi and Tomaž Šalamun, and the day's notable deaths and observances.

♋ZodiacCancer ◈BirthstoneRuby ❀Birth flowerLarkspur
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Events

10 notable moments
  1. 1982

    1982 kidnapping of Iranian diplomats

    Three Iranian diplomats and a journalist are kidnapped in Lebanon by Phalange forces, and their fate remains unknown.

    Unsolved kidnapping incident during
  2. 1976

    Israel Defense Forces

    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.

    Combined military forces of
  3. 1973

    Barbados

    Barbados, Guyana, Jamaica, and Trinidad and Tobago sign the Treaty of Chaguaramas in Chaguaramas, Trinidad and Tobago establishing the Caribbean Community (CARICOM). It replaces the Caribbean Free Trade Association as another step towards Caribbean regional integration.

    Island nation in the
  4. 1951

    William Shockley

    William Shockley announces the invention of the junction transistor.

    American physicist (1910–1989)
  5. 1941

    World War II

    World War II: The Burning of the Riga synagogues: The Great Choral Synagogue in German-occupied Riga is burnt with 300 Jews locked in the basement.

    1939–1945 global conflict
  6. 1918

    World War I

    World War I: The Battle of Hamel, a successful attack by the Australian Corps against German positions near the town of Le Hamel on the Western Front.

    1914–1918 global conflict
  7. 1881

    Alabama

    In Alabama, the Tuskegee Institute opens.

    U.S. state
  8. 1863

    American Civil War

    American Civil War: Siege of Vicksburg: The Confederate army in Vicksburg, Mississippi surrenders to Union forces under Ulysses S. Grant after 47 days of siege, contributing to the Union capture of the Mississippi River.

    1861–1865 conflict in the
  9. 1837

    Grand Junction Railway

    Grand Junction Railway, the world's first long-distance railway, opens between Birmingham and Liverpool.

    Former railway company in
  10. 414

    Theodosius II

    Emperor Theodosius II, age 13, yields power to his older sister Aelia Pulcheria, who reigned as regent and proclaimed herself empress (Augusta) of the Eastern Roman Empire.

    Eastern Roman emperor from
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Famous birthday twins

Born on July 4

Giuseppe Garibaldi

b. 1807

Italian general and politician

Tomaž Šalamun

b. 1941

Croatian-Slovenian poet and academic

AD 68

b. 68

Roman daughter of Ulpia Marciana

Amantle Montsho

b. 1983

Botswanan sprinter

Calvin Coolidge

b. 1872

American lawyer and politician, 30th President of the United States

Gackt

b. 1973

Japanese musician, singer, songwriter, record producer and actor

Oscar I of Sweden

b. 1799

King of Sweden and Norway from 1844 to 1859

Pam Shriver

b. 1962

American tennis player and sportscaster

Deaths

  • 1943Władysław Sikorski, Polish general and politician, 9th Prime Minister of the Second Republic of Poland
  • 1938Otto Bauer, Austrian philosopher and politician, Austrian Minister of Foreign Affairs
  • 1934Marie Curie, French-Polish physicist and chemist, Nobel Prize laureate
  • 1831James Monroe, American soldier, lawyer, and politician, 5th President of the United States
  • 1826John Adams, American lawyer and politician, 2nd President of the United States
  • 1826Thomas Jefferson, American architect, lawyer, and politician, 3rd President of the United States

Holidays & observances

  • —Christian feast day: Andrew of Crete
  • —Christian feast day: Bertha of Artois
  • —Christian feast day: Blessed Catherine Jarrige
  • —Christian feast day: Saint Pier Giorgio Frassati
  • —Christian feast day: Elizabeth of Aragon (or of Portugal)
  • —Christian feast day: Oda of Canterbury
  • —Christian feast day: Ulrich of Augsburg
  • —Christian feast day: July 4 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)

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