July 4

For other uses, see 4th of July.

July 4 in recent years

2024 (Thursday)

2023 (Tuesday)

2022 (Monday)

2021 (Sunday)

2020 (Saturday)

2019 (Thursday)

2018 (Wednesday)

2017 (Tuesday)

2016 (Monday)

2015 (Saturday)

July 4 is the 185th day of the year (186th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar; 180 days remain 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.

Events

• 414 – Emperor Theodosius II, age 13, yields power to his older sister Aelia Pulcheria who reigns as regent and proclaimed herself empress (Augusta) of the Eastern Roman Empire.
• 836 – Pactum Sicardi, peace between the Principality of Benevento and the Duchy of Naples.
• 993 – Saint Ulrich of Augsburg is canonized.
• 1054 – A supernova is seen by Chinese, Arab, and possibly Amerindian observers near the star Zeta Tauri. For several months it remains bright enough to be seen during the day. Its remnants form the Crab Nebula.
• 1120 – Jordan II of Capua is anointed as prince after his infant nephew's death.
• 1187 – The Crusades: Battle of Hattin – Saladin defeats Guy of Lusignan, King of Jerusalem.
• 1253 – Battle of West-Capelle: John I of Avesnes defeats Guy of Dampierre.
• 1359 – Francesco II Ordelaffi of Forlì surrenders to the Papal commander Gil de Albornoz.
• 1456 – The Siege of Nándorfehérvár (Belgrade) begins. (Part of the Ottoman wars in Europe)
• 1534 – Christian III is elected King of Denmark and Norway in the town of Rye.
• 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.
• 1610 – The Battle of Klushino between forces of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth and Russia during the Polish-Muscovite War.
• 1634 – The city of Trois-Rivières is founded in New France (Quebec, Canada)
• 1636 – City of Providence, Rhode Island forms.
• 1744 – The Treaty of Lancaster, in which the Iroquois ceded lands between the Allegheny Mountains and the Ohio River to the British colonies, is signed in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.
• 1754 – French and Indian War: George Washington surrenders Fort Necessity to French Capt. Louis Coulon de Villiers.
• 1774 – Orangetown Resolutions adopted in the Province of New York, one of many protests against the British Parliament's Coercive Acts

The United States declares its independence in 1776.

• 1776 – American Revolution: The United States Declaration of Independence is adopted by the Second Continental Congress.
• 1778 – American Revolutionary War: American forces under George Clark capture Kaskaskia during the Illinois campaign.
• 1802 – At West Point, New York the United States Military Academy opens.
• 1803 – The Louisiana Purchase is announced to the American people.
• 1810 – The French occupy Amsterdam.
• 1817 – At Rome, New York, United States, construction on the Erie Canal begins.
• 1826 – Thomas Jefferson, third president of the United States, dies the same day as John Adams, second president of the United States, on the fiftieth anniversary of the adoption of the United States Declaration of Independence.
• 1827 – Slavery is abolished in New York State.
• 1831 – Samuel Francis Smith wrote My Country, 'Tis of Thee for the Boston, MA July 4th festivities.
• 1837 – Grand Junction Railway, the world's first long-distance railway, opens between Birmingham and Liverpool.
• 1838 – The Iowa Territory is organized.
• 1855 – In Brooklyn, New York, the first edition of Walt Whitman's book of poems, titled Leaves of Grass, is published.
• 1862 – Lewis Carroll tells Alice Liddell a story that would grow into Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and its sequels.
• 1863 – American Civil War: Siege of Vicksburg – Vicksburg, Mississippi surrenders to Ulysses S. Grant after 47 days of siege. 150 miles up the Mississippi River, a Confederate Army is repulsed at the Battle of Helena, Arkansas.
• 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.
• 1865 – Alice's Adventures in Wonderland is published.
• 1878 – Thoroughbred horses Ten Broeck and Mollie McCarty run a match race, immortalized in the song Molly and Tenbrooks.
• 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.
• 1881 – In Alabama, the Tuskegee Institute opens.
• 1886 – The people of France offer the Statue of Liberty to the people of the United States.
• 1886 – The first scheduled Canadian transcontinental train arrives in Port Moody, British Columbia.
• 1887 – The founder of Pakistan, Quaid-i-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah, joins Sindh-Madrasa-tul-Islam, Karachi.
• 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.
• 1894 – The short-lived Republic of Hawaii is proclaimed by Sanford B. Dole.
• 1903 – Dorothy Levitt is reported as the first woman in the world to compete in a 'motor race'.
• 1910 – African-American boxer Jack Johnson knocks out white boxer Jim Jeffries in a heavyweight boxing match sparking race riots across the United States.
• 1913 – President Woodrow Wilson addresses American Civil War veterans at the Great Reunion of 1913.
• 1918 – Ottoman sultan Mehmed VI ascends to the throne.
• 1918 – Bolsheviks kill Tsar Nicholas II of Russia and his family (Julian calendar date).
• 1927 – First flight of the Lockheed Vega.
• 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.
• 1941 – Nazi Germans massacre Polish scientists and writers in the captured Ukrainian city of Lviv.
• 1943 – World War II: Beginning of the Battle of Kursk, the largest full-scale battle in history and the world's largest tank battle at Prokhorovka village.
• 1946 – After 381 years of near-continuous colonial rule by various powers, the Philippines attains full independence from the United States.
• 1947 – The "Indian Independence Bill" is presented before British House of Commons, suggesting bifurcation of British India into two sovereign countries – India and Pakistan.
• 1950 – The first broadcast by Radio Free Europe.
• 1951 – A court in Czechoslovakia sentences American journalist William N. Oatis to ten years in prison on a charge of espionage.
• 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 (see Flag Act).
• 1966 – President Lyndon B. Johnson signs the Freedom of Information Act into United States law. The act goes into effect the next year.
• 1969 – Two teens (one male, one female) are attacked at Blue Rock Springs in California. They are the second (known) victims of the Zodiac Killer. The male survives.
• 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
• 1982 – Iranian diplomats kidnapping (1982): four Iranian diplomats are kidnapped by Lebanese militia in Lebanon.
• 1987 – In France, former Gestapo chief Klaus Barbie (aka the "Butcher of Lyon") is convicted of crimes against humanity and is sentenced to life imprisonment.
• 1993 – Sumitomo Chemical's resin plant in Nihama explodes killing one worker and injuring three others.
• 1997 – NASA's Pathfinder space probe lands on the surface of Mars.
• 2004 – The cornerstone of the Freedom Tower is laid on the site of the World Trade Center in New York City.
• 2005 – The Deep Impact collider hits the comet Tempel 1.
• 2006 – North Korea tests four short-range missiles, one medium-range missile, and a long-range Taepodong-2. The long-range Taepodong-2 reportedly fails in mid-air over the Sea of Japan.
• 2009 – The Statue of Liberty's crown reopens to the public after 8 years, due to security reasons following the World Trade Center attacks.

Births

• 68 – Salonina Matidia, niece of Emperor Trajan (d. 119)
• 1330 – Ashikaga Yoshiakira, Japanese shogun (d. 1367)
• 1546 – Murat III, Ottoman Sultan (d. 1595)
• 1694 – Louis-Claude Daquin, French composer (d. 1772)
• 1715 – Christian Fürchtegott Gellert, German poet (d. 1769)
• 1719 – Michel-Jean Sedaine, French dramatist (d. 1797)
• 1790 – George Everest, Welsh surveyor (d. 1866)
• 1799 – King Oscar I of Sweden and Norway (d. 1859)
• 1804 – Nathaniel Hawthorne, American writer (d. 1864)
• 1807 – Giuseppe Garibaldi, Italian military and political figure (d. 1882)
• 1816 – Hiram Walker, American grocer and distiller (d. 1899)
• 1826 – Stephen Foster, American songwriter (d. 1864)
• 1845 – Thomas Barnardo, Irish humanitarian (d. 1905)
• 1847 – James Anthony Bailey, American circus impresario (d. 1906)
• 1854 – Victor Babeş, Romanian bacteriologist (d. 1926)
• 1854 – Bill Tilghman, American peace officer (d. 1924)
• 1867 – Stephen Mather, American entrepreneur and conservationist (d. 1930)
• 1868 – Henrietta Swan Leavitt, American astronomer (d. 1921)
• 1872 – Calvin Coolidge, 30th President of the United States (d. 1933)
• 1874 – Sir John McPhee, Australian politician, Premier of Tasmania (d. 1952)
• 1881 – Ulysses S. Grant III, American soldier (d. 1968)
• 1882 – Louis B. Mayer, American film producer (d. 1957)
• 1883 – Rube Goldberg, American cartoonist (d. 1970)
• 1895 – Irving Caesar, American lyricist and composer (d. 1996)
• 1896 – Mao Dun, Chinese writer (d. 1981)
• 1897 – Alluri Sita Rama Raju, Indian Freedom Fighter (d. 1924)
• 1898 – Dr. Pilar Barbosa, Puerto Rican historian (d. 1997)
• 1898 – Gertrude Lawrence, English-born actress (d. 1952)
• 1902 – Meyer Lansky, Russian-born American gangster (d. 1983)
• 1902 – George Murphy, American entertainer (d. 1992)
• 1903 – Flor Peeters, Belgian composer, organist and teacher (d. 1986)
• 1904 – Angela Baddeley, English actress (d. 1976)
• 1905 – Irving Johnson, American adventurer (d. 1991)
• 1907 – Gordon Griffith, American director (d. 1958)
• 1907 – Howard Taubman, American music and theater critic (d. 1996)
• 1910 – Gloria Stuart, American actress (d. 2010)
• 1911 – Mitch Miller, American entertainer (d. 2010)
• 1912 – Viviane Romance, French actress (d. 1991)
• 1916 – Iva Toguri D'Aquino, American World War II figure (d. 2006)
• 1917 – Manolete, Spanish bullfighter (d. 1947)
• 1918 – Ann Landers, American advice columnist (d. 2002)
• 1918 – Abigail Van Buren, American advice columnist
• 1918 – King Taufa'ahau Tupou IV of Tonga (d. 2006)
• 1918 – Johnnie Parsons, American race car driver (d. 1984)
• 1920 – Norm Drucker, American basketball referee
• 1920 – Leona Helmsley, American hotel operator and real estate investor (d. 2007)
• 1920 – Fritz Wilde, German footballer (d. 1977)
• 1921 – Gerard Debreu, French economist, Nobel laureate (d. 2004)
• 1921 – Tibor Varga, Hungarian violinist (d. 2003)
• 1923 – Rudolf Friedrich, Swiss Federal Councilor
• 1924 – Eva Marie Saint, American actress
• 1926 – Alfredo Di Stéfano, Argentine-Spanish footballer
• 1927 – Gina Lollobrigida, Italian actress
• 1927 – Neil Simon, American playwright
• 1928 – Giampiero Boniperti, Italian footballer
• 1928 – Chuck Tanner, American baseball player (d. 2011)
• 1929 – Peter Angelos, majority owner of the Baltimore Orioles baseball team
• 1929 – Al Davis, American businessman
• 1929 – Bill Tuttle, American baseball player (d. 1998)
• 1930 – Frunzik Mkrtchyan, Armenian actor (d. 1993)
• 1930 – George Steinbrenner, American businessman (d. 2010)
• 1930 – Yuri Tyukalov, Soviet Olympic rower
• 1931 – Stephen Boyd, Northern Irish actor (d. 1977)
• 1931 – Sébastien Japrisot, French author, film director and screenwriter (d. 2003)
• 1932 – Aurèle Vandendriessche, Belgian athlete
• 1934 – Peter Behn, American voice actor
• 1934 – Colin Welland, English actor
• 1935 – Paul Scoon, Governor General of Grenada
• 1936 – Zdzisława Donat, Polish coloratura soprano
• 1937 – Sonja Haraldsen, Queen of Norway (spouse of King Harald V of Norway)
• 1937 – Thomas Nagel, American philosopher
• 1938 – Bill Withers, American singer and songwriter
• 1938 – Sergio Oliva, Cuban born American bodybuilder
• 1940 – Karolyn Grimes, American actress
• 1941 – Brian Willson, American peace activist
• 1941 – Sam Farr, American politician
• 1942 – Hal Lanier, American baseball player
• 1942 – Floyd Little, American football player
• 1942 – Stefan Meller, Polish foreign minister (d. 2008)
• 1943 – Konrad "Conny" Bauer, German musician
• 1943 – Geraldo Rivera, American reporter
• 1943 – Alan "Blind Owl" Wilson, American musician (d. 1970)
• 1943 – Emerson Boozer, American football player
• 1943 – Milan Máčala, Czech football coach
• 1944 – Joe Berardo, Portuguese millionaire
• 1944 – Ray Meagher, Australian actor
• 1945 – Bruce French, American actor
• 1946 – Tish Howard, American model
• 1946 – Ron Kovic, American peace activist
• 1946 – Michael Milken, American financier
• 1946 – Ed O'Ross, American actor
• 1948 – Ed Armbrister, baseball player
• 1948 – René Arnoux, French race car driver
• 1948 – Tommy Körberg, Swedish singer and actor
• 1948 – Jeremy Spencer, English musician
• 1948 – Phil Wheatley, Director-General of the National Offender Management Service
• 1950 – Philip Craven, British International Paralympic Committee president
• 1950 – David Jensen, Canadian-born British radio DJ
• 1951 – Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, American politician
• 1952 – Álvaro Uribe, President of Colombia
• 1954 – Jim Beattie, American baseball player
• 1954 – Morganna Roberts, American entertainer
• 1955 – John Waite, English singer
• 1956 – Mark Belling, American radio talkshow host
• 1957 – Princess Chulabhorn of Thailand
• 1957 – Rein Lang, Estonian politician and diplomat
• 1958 – Kirk Pengilly, Australian musician
• 1958 – Carl Valentine, English-born Canadian former footballer
• 1958 – Steve Hartman, American sports radio host
• 1959 – Victoria Abril, Spanish actress
• 1960 – Sid Eudy, American professional wrestler
• 1960 – Barry Windham, American professional wrestler
• 1960 – Roland Ratzenberger, Austrian racing driver (d. 1994)
• 1960 – Mark Steel, British socialist columnist and comedian
• 1961 – Richard Garriott, English video game designer
• 1962 – Neil Morrissey, English actor
• 1962 – Pam Shriver, American former tennis player
• 1963 – Henri Leconte, French former tennis player
• 1963 – José Oquendo, Puerto Rican baseball player
• 1963 – William Ramallo, former Bolivian footballer
• 1964 – Cle Kooiman, American soccer player
• 1964 – Mark Slaughter, American singer
• 1964 – Mark Whiting, American filmmaker and actor
• 1965 – Horace Grant, American basketball player
• 1965 – Harvey Grant, American basketball player
• 1965 – Jo Whiley, English radio DJ
• 1966 – Minas Hantzidis, Greek footballer
• 1966 – Lee Reherman, American actor
• 1967 – Vinny Castilla, Mexican baseball player
• 1967 – Andy Walker (journalist), Canadian television personality
• 1967 – Rick Wilkins, American baseball player
• 1968 – Jack Frost, American musician
• 1968 – Ronni Ancona, Scottish actress and impressionist
• 1969 – Todd Marinovich, American football player
• 1969 – Wilfred Mugeyi, Zimbabwean soccer player
• 1970 – Christian Giesler, American bassist (Kreator)
• 1970 – Tony Vidmar, Australian former footballer
• 1971 – Andy Creeggan, Canadian musician
• 1971 – Brendan Donnelly, American baseball player
• 1971 – Koko, sign-language gorilla
• 1971 – Ned Zelic, Australian soccer player
• 1972 – Nina Badrić, Croatian singer
• 1972 – Stephen Giles, Canadian canoer
• 1972 – William Goldsmith, American drummer (Sunny Day Real Estate, Foo Fighters)
• 1972 – Mike Knuble, Canadian hockey player
• 1972 – Oleg Prudius, Ukrainian professional wrestler
• 1973 – Gackt, Japanese musician
• 1973 – Keiko Ihara, Japanese racing driver
• 1973 – Michael Johnson, English-born Jamaican footballer
• 1973 – Jan Magnussen, Danish racing driver
• 1973 – Tony Popovic, Australian soccer player
• 1973 – Elton Williams, Montserratian footballer
• 1974 – La'Roi Glover, American football player
• 1974 – Adrian Griffin, American basketball player
• 1974 – Vince Spadea, American tennis player
• 1975 – Tania Davis, Australian violist
• 1976 – Daijiro Kato, Japanese motorcycle racer (d. 2003)
• 1976 – Yevgeniya Medvedeva-Arbuzova, Russian cross-country skier
• 1977 – Jonas Kjellgren, Swedish musician (Scar Symmetry)
• 1978 – Vicky Kaya, Greek model and actress
• 1978 – Stephen McNally, British singer and songwriter (BBMak)
• 1978 – Emile Mpenza, Belgian footballer
• 1978 – Becki Newton, American actress
• 1978 – Katia Zygouli, Greek model
• 1980 – Max Elliott Slade, American film actor
• 1980 – Kwame Steede, Bermudan footballer
• 1981 – Francisco Cruceta, Dominican baseball player
• 1981 – Dédé, Angolan soccer player
• 1982 – Hannah Harper, English porn star
• 1983 – Isabeli Fontana, Brazilian model
• 1983 – Ben Jorgensen, American musician
• 1983 – Andy Mrotek, American musician
• 1983 – Miguel Ángel Muñoz, Spanish actor and singer
• 1983 – Miguel Pinto, Chilean footballer
• 1983 – Mattia Serafini, Italian footballer
• 1984 – Gina Glocksen, American singer
• 1984 – Akanishi Jin, Japanese singer
• 1984 – Miguel Santos Soares, Timorese footballer
• 1985 – Kane Tenace, Australian rules footballer
• 1986 – Takahisa Masuda, Japanese singer
• 1986 – Nguyen Ngoc Duy, Vietnamese soccer player
• 1987 – Guram Kashia, Georgian footballer
• 1990 – Backer Aloenouvo, Togolese football player
• 1990 – David Kross, German actor
• 1990 – Naoki Yamada, Japanese footballer
• 1990 – Ihar Yasinski, Belarusian soccer player
• 1993 – Thomas Barkhuizen, English footballer

Deaths

• 907 – Luitpold, Margrave of Bavaria
• 943 – Taejo of Goryeo, of Korea (b. 877)
• 965 – Pope Benedict V (b. unknown)
• 973 – Ulrich of Augsburg, German bishop (b. 890)
• 1187 – Raynald of Chatillon, French Second Crusade figure (b.c. 1125)
• 1541 – Pedro de Alvarado, Spanish explorer (b. 1495)
• 1546 – Hayreddin Barbarossa, Greek-born Turkish naval officer (b. 1478)
• 1551 – Gregory Cromwell, English nobleman (b. 1514)
• 1603 – Philippe de Monte, Flemish composer (b. 1521)
• 1623 – William Byrd, English composer
• 1642 – Marie de' Medici, wife of Henry IV of France (b. 1573)
• 1648 – Antoine Daniel, French Jesuit missionary (b. 1601)
• 1742 – Guido Grandi, Italian mathematician (b. 1671)
• 1754 – Philippe Néricault Destouches, French dramatist and author (b. 1680)
• 1761 – Samuel Richardson, English writer (b. 1689)
• 1780 – Prince Charles Alexander of Lorraine, Austrian military leader (b. 1712)
• 1787 – Charles de Rohan, prince de Soubise, Marshal of France (b. 1715)
• 1821 – Richard Cosway, English artist (b. 1742)
• 1826 – John Adams, 2nd President of the United States (b. 1735)
• 1826 – Thomas Jefferson 3rd President of the United States (b. 1743)
• 1831 – James Monroe, 5th President of the United States (b. 1758)
• 1848 – François-René de Chateaubriand, French writer (b. 1768)
• 1850 – William Kirby, English entomologist (b. 1759)
• 1854 – Karl Friedrich Eichhorn, German jurist (b. 1781)
• 1857 – William L. Marcy, American statesman (b. 1786)
• 1881 – Johan Vilhelm Snellman, Finnish statesman (b. 1806)
• 1882 – Joseph Brackett, American composer (b. 1797)
• 1891 – Hannibal Hamlin, U.S. Vice President (b. 1809)
• 1901 – Johannes Schmidt, German linguist (b. 1843)
• 1902 – Swami Vivekananda, Indian spiritual leader (b. 1863)
• 1905 – Élisée Reclus, French anarchist (b. 1830)
• 1910 – Melville Weston Fuller, American jurist (b. 1833)
• 1910 – Giovanni Schiaparelli, Italian astronomer (b. 1835)
• 1916 – Alan Seeger, American war poet (b. 1888)
• 1918 – Tsar Nicholas II, last Emperor of Russia before the 1917 Russian Revolution (b. 1868)
• 1922 – Lothar von Richthofen, German pilot (b. 1894)
• 1926 – Pier Giorgio Frassati, Italian Saint (b. 1901)
• 1931 – Emanuele Filiberto, 2nd Duke of Aosta, Italian aristocrat (b. 1869)
• 1931 – Buddie Petit, American jazz musician (b. 1895)
• 1934 – Maria Sklodowska-Curie, Nobel Prize in Chemistry and Physics (b. 1867)
• 1938 – Otto Bauer, Austrian Social Democratic politician (b. 1881)
• 1938 – Suzanne Lenglen, French tennis player (b. 1899)
• 1941 – Antoni Łomnicki, Polish mathematician (b. 1881)
• 1946 – Gerda Steinhoff, Polish-born German concentration camp overseer (b. 1922)
• 1948 – Monteiro Lobato, Brazilian writer (b. 1882)
• 1963 – Bernard Freyberg, New Zealander statesman (b. 1889)
• 1964 – Henry (Hank) Sylvern, American radio personality (b. 1908)
• 1970 – Barnett Newman, American artist (b. 1905)
• 1970 – Harold Stirling Vanderbilt, American industrialist (b. 1884)
• 1971 – August Derleth, American writer and editor (b. 1909)
• 1975 – Georgette Heyer, English author (b. 1902)
• 1974 – Mohammad Amin al-Husayni, Palestinian Muslim nationalist (b. 1895 or 1897)
• 1976 – Yonatan Netanyahu, Israeli soldier and Entebbe rescue commander (b. 1946)
• 1976 – Antoni Słonimski, Polish poet (b. 1895)
• 1977 – Gersh Budker, Russian physicist (b. 1918)
• 1979 – Lee Wai Tong, Chinese footballer (b. 1905)
• 1980 – Maurice Grevisse, Belgian grammarian (b. 1895)
• 1982 – Terry Higgins, British AIDS victim (b. 1945)
• 1984 – Jimmie Spheeris, American singer-songwriter (b. 1949)
• 1986 – Flor Peeters, Belgian composer and organist (b. 1903)
• 1986 – Oscar Zariski, Russian mathematician (b. 1899)
• 1988 – Adrian Adonis, American professional wrestler (b. 1954)
• 1989 – Jack Haig, British actor (b. 1913)
• 1991 – Victor Chang, Australian physician (b. 1936)
• 1991 – Art Sansom, American cartoonist (The Born Loser) (b. 1920)
• 1992 – Ástor Piazzolla, Argentinian composer (b. 1921)
• 1993 – Bona Arsenault, French Canadian politician and historian (b. 1903)
• 1994 – Joey Marella, American professional wrestling referee (b. 1964)
• 1995 – Eva Gabor, Hungarian actress (b. 1919)
• 1995 – Bob Ross, American artist and television host (b. 1942)
• 1997 – Charles Kuralt, American television presenter (b. 1934)
• 1997 – John Zachary Young, English zoologist (b. 1907)
• 1999 – Leo Garel, American artist and cartoonist (b. 1917)
• 2000 – Gustaw Herling-Grudzinski, Polish writer (b. 1919)
• 2001 – Keenan Milton, American skateboarder (b. 1974)
• 2002 – Benjamin O. Davis Jr., American Air Force general (b. 1912)
• 2002 – Mansoor Hekmat, Iranian politician (b. 1951)
• 2002 – Winnifred Quick, American Titanic survivor (b. 1904)
• 2003 – André Claveau, French singer (b. 1915)
• 2003 – Barry White, American singer (b. 1944)
• 2004 – Jean-Marie Auberson, Swiss conductor (b. 1920)
• 2004 – Frank Robinson (Xylophone Man), British street entertainer (b. 1932)
• 2005 – Hank Stram, American football coach (b. 1923)
• 2007 – Barış Akarsu, Turkish rock musician (b. 1979)
• 2007 – Bill Pinkney, American singer and performer (b. 1925)
• 2008 – Jesse Helms, American politician (b. 1921)
• 2008 – Evelyn Keyes, American actress (b. 1916)
• 2008 – Terrence Kiel, American football player (b. 1980)
• 2008 – Charles Wheeler, British journalist (b. 1923)
• 2009 – Brenda Joyce, American actress (b. 1917)
• 2009 – Allen Klein, American music executive (b. 1931)
• 2009 – Drake Levin, American rock musician (b. 1946)
• 2009 – Steve McNair, American football player (b. 1973)
• 2009 – Lasse Strömstedt, Swedish writer (b. 1935)
• 2009 – Jean-Baptiste Tati Loutard, Congolese politician (b. 1938)
• 2009 – Jim Chapin, American drummer (b. 1919)
• 2010 – Mohammad Hussein Fadlallah, Iraqi-born Lebanese Shiite Muslim cleric and Hezbollah mentor (b. 1935)
• 2011 – Otto von Habsburg, last crown prince of Austria-Hungary and MEP (1979–1999) (b. 1912)

Holidays and observances

• Christian Feast Day:
  • Andrew of Crete
  • Bertha of Artois
  • Bl Catherine Jarrige
  • Elizabeth of Portugal, patron saint of Coimbra (city holiday), known there as Rainha Santa Isabela.
  • Oda of Canterbury
  • Bl Pier Giorgio Frassati
  • Ulrich of Augsburg
  • July 4 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)

• Filipino-American Friendship Day (Philippines)
• Independence Day, celebrates the Declaration of Independence of the United States from Great Britain in 1776. (United States and its dependencies)
• Liberation Day (Rwanda)

External links

• BBC: On This Day
• The New York Times: On This Day
• On This Day in Canada

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