What are the important events that happened on July 4? Here are historical events, facts, and some myths about this day.
July 4: Facts & Myths About This Day
July 4 is the 186th day of the year 2020 in the Gregorian calendar. There are 180 days remaining until the end of this year. The day of the week is Saturday.
Under the Julian calendar, this day is June 21, 2020 – a Saturday. Both day of the week are the same but did you notice the difference with the Gregorian calendar?
When this day started, 26,563,680 minutes has elapsed since midnight of January 1, 1970 – the Unix epoch.
Strange as it may, if we name this day after a polygon then it will be called ‘hectaoctacontahexagon’ day.
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Cancer is the zodiac sign of a person born on this day. Ruby is the modern birthstone for this month. Ruby is the mystical birthstone from Tibetan origin that dates back over a thousand years.
According to the lunisolar Chinese calendar, there are 223 days remaining before the start of the next Chinese New Year.
The ancient Maya civilization believes that the end of the world will happen on December 21, 2012. There are now 2,752 days since this fabled cataclysmic event.
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July 4: This Day In History
The Aphelion, the point in the year when the Earth is farthest from the Sun, occurs around this date.
July 4 Historical Events
- 1534 –Christian III is elected King of Denmark and Norway in the town of Rye.
- 1754 –French and Indian War: George Washington surrenders Fort Necessity to French Capt. Louis Coulon de Villiers.
- 1817 –At Rome, New York, United States, construction on the Erie Canal begins.
- 1827 –Slavery is abolished in New York State.
- 1838 –The Iowa Territory is organized.
- 1881 –In Alabama, the Tuskegee Institute opens.
- 1892 –Western Samoa changes the International Date Line, so that year there were 367 days in this country, with two occurrences of Monday, July 4.
- 1918 –Bolsheviks kill Tsar Nicholas II of Russia and his family (Julian calendar date).
- 1976 –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.
- 1977 –The George Jackson Brigade plants a bomb at the main power substation for the Washington state capitol in Olympia in solidarity with a prison strike at the Walla Walla State Penitentiary Intensive Security Unit
Who were born on July 4?
- 1826 –Stephen Foster, American songwriter (d. 1864)
- 1854 –Bill Tilghman, American peace officer (d. 1924)
- 1902 –George Murphy, American entertainer (d. 1992)
- 1916 –Iva Toguri D'Aquino, American World War II figure (d. 2006)
- 1932 –Aurèle Vandendriessche, Belgian athlete
- 1936 –Zdzisława Donat, Polish coloratura soprano
- 1945 –Bruce French, American actor
- 1948 –Jeremy Spencer, English musician
- 1965 –Jo Whiley, English radio DJ
- 1970 –Christian Giesler, American bassist (Kreator)
Who died on July 4?
- 1541 –Pedro de Alvarado, Spanish explorer (b. 1495)
- 1648 –Antoine Daniel, French Jesuit missionary (b. 1601)
- 1754 –Philippe Néricault Destouches, French dramatist and author (b. 1680)
- 1902 –Swami Vivekananda, Indian spiritual leader (b. 1863)
- 1922 –Lothar von Richthofen, German pilot (b. 1894)
- 1976 –Antoni Słonimski, Polish poet (b. 1895)
- 1986 –Flor Peeters, Belgian composer and organist (b. 1903)
- 1991 –Art Sansom, American cartoonist (The Born Loser) (b. 1920)
- 1994 –Joey Marella, American professional wrestling referee (b. 1964)
- 2008 –Jesse Helms, American politician (b. 1921)
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