21 Things That Happened on 4th of July Over The Ages

1.

1776 – American Revolution: The United States Declaration of Independence is adopted by the Second Continental Congress (duh).

2.

1881 – Ulysses S. Grant III, American general, grandson of President Grant is born (d. 1968).

3.

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

4.

1892 – Western Samoa changes the International Date Line, so that year it had 367 days, with two occurrences of Monday, July 4. Yeah, double the Independence.

5.

1902 – Meyer Lansky, Belarusian-American gangster is born (d. 1983).

6.

1911 – A massive heat wave strikes the northeastern United States, killing 380 people in eleven days and breaking temperature records in several cities.

7.

1914 – The funeral of Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife Sophie takes place in Vienna, six days after their assassinations in Sarajevo, which is considered what started World War I.

8.

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

9.

1938 – Bill Withers, American singer-songwriter and producer was born.

10.

1941 – Nazi troops massacre Polish scientists and writers in the captured Ukrainian city of Lviv.

11.

1943 – Geraldo Rivera, American lawyer, journalist, and author is born.

12.

1946 – After 381 years of near-continuous colonial rule by various powers, the Philippines attains full independence.

13.

1950 – Radio Free Europe first broadcasts.

14.

1964 – Mark Slaughter, American singer-songwriter and producer was born.

15.

1973 – Gackt, Japanese singer-songwriter, producer, and actor is born.

16.

1973 – Michael Johnson, English-Jamaican footballer and manager was also born.

17.

1982 – Hannah Harper, American porn actress and director is born.

18.

1982 – Michael Sorrentino, American model and celebrity was born.

19.

1997 – NASA's Pathfinder space probe lands on the surface of Mars.

20.

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

21.

2009 – The Statue of Liberty's crown reopens to the public after eight years of closure.