Wednesday, July 4, 2012

4th of July

It is the 185th day of the year, with only 180 days remaining until the end of the year.

The Aphelion, the point in the year when the Earth is farthest from the Sun, occurs around this date.

1776 - The United States Declaration of Independence is adopted by the Second Continental Congress.

1802 - At West Point, New York the United States Military Academy opens.

1803 - The Louisiana Purchase is announced to the American people.

1817 - At Rome, New York, construction on the Erie Canal begins.

1826 - Thomas Jefferson, 3rd U.S. President, dies the same day as John Adams, 2nd President of the United States, on the fiftieth anniversary of the adoption of the Declaration of Independence.

1855 - In Brooklyn, New York, the first edition of Walt Whitman's book of poems, titled Leaves of Grass is published.

1862 - Lewis Carroll tels Alice Liddell a story that would grow into Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and its sequels.

1863 - Vicksburg, Mississippi surrenders to Ulysses Grant after 47 days of siege.  150 miles up the Mississippi River, a Confederate Army is repulsed at the Battle of Helena, Arkansas.

1865 - Alice's Adventures in Wonderland is published.

1886 - The people of France offer the Statue of Liberty to the people of the United States.

1918 - Bolsheviks kills Tsar Nicholas II of Russia.

1934 - Leo Szilard patents the chain-reaction design for the atomic bomb.

1939 - Lou Gehrig, recently diagnosed with Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, tells a crowd at Yankee Stadium that he considers himself "The luckiest man on the face of the earth" as he announces his retirement from major league baseball.

1960 - Due to the post-Independence Day admission of Hawaii as the 50th U.S. state on August 21, 1959, the 50-star flag of the United States debuts in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania almost ten and a half months later.

1969 - One male and one female are attacked at Blue Rock Springs in California.  They are the second victims of the Zodiac Killer.  The male survives.

2004 - The cornerstone of the Freedom Tower is laid on the site of the World Trade Center in New York City.

No comments:

Post a Comment