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 185^th day of the year 2025 in the Gregorian calendar. There are 180 days remaining until the end of this year. The day of the week is Friday.

Under the Julian calendar, this day is June 21, 2025 – a Friday. Both day of the week are the same but did you notice the difference with the Gregorian calendar?

When this day started, 29,193,120 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 ‘hectaoctacontapentagon’ day.

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 228 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 4,578 days since this fabled cataclysmic event.

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

• 1120 –
  Jordan II of Capua is anointed as prince after his infant nephew’s death.
• 1569 –
  The King of Poland and the Grand Duke of Lithuania, Sigismund II Augustus finally sign the document of union between Poland and Lithuania, creating new country known as Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth.
• 1802 –
  At West Point, New York the United States Military Academy opens.
• 1863 –
  The Army of Northern Virginia withdraws from the battlefield after its loss at the Battle of Gettysburg, signalling an end to the Southern invasion of the North.
• 1879 –
  Anglo-Zulu War: the Zululand capital of Ulundi is captured by British troops and burnt to the ground, thus, ending the war and forcing King Cetshwayo to flee.
• 1918 –
  Bolsheviks kill Tsar Nicholas II of Russia and his family (Julian calendar date).
• 1946 –
  After 381 years of near-continuous colonial rule by various powers, the Philippines attains full independence from the United States.
• 1966 –
  President Lyndon B. Johnson signs the Freedom of Information Act into United States law. The act goes into effect the next year.
• 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?

• 1868 –
  Henrietta Swan Leavitt, American astronomer (d. 1921)
• 1883 –
  Rube Goldberg, American cartoonist (d. 1970)
• 1898 –
  Dr. Pilar Barbosa, Puerto Rican historian (d. 1997)
• 1907 –
  Howard Taubman, American music and theater critic (d. 1996)
• 1928 –
  Chuck Tanner, American baseball player (d. 2011)
• 1944 –
  Ray Meagher, Australian actor
• 1965 –
  Harvey Grant, American basketball player
• 1974 –
  La'Roi Glover, American football player
• 1982 –
  Hannah Harper, English porn star
• 1990 –
  David Kross, German actor

Who died on July 4?

• 965 –
  Pope Benedict V (b. unknown)
• 1642 –
  Marie de' Medici, wife of Henry IV of France (b. 1573)
• 1648 –
  Antoine Daniel, French Jesuit missionary (b. 1601)
• 1826 –
  Thomas Jefferson 3rd President of the United States (b. 1743)
• 1831 –
  James Monroe, 5th President of the United States (b. 1758)
• 1857 –
  William L. Marcy, American statesman (b. 1786)
• 1941 –
  Antoni Łomnicki, Polish mathematician (b. 1881)
• 1991 –
  Art Sansom, American cartoonist (The Born Loser) (b. 1920)
• 1999 –
  Leo Garel, American artist and cartoonist (b. 1917)
• 2000 –
  Gustaw Herling-Grudzinski, Polish writer (b. 1919)