July 4 in History

Historical Events on July 4

1778 American Revolutionary War: American forces under George Clark capture Kaskaskia during the Illinois campaign.

1827 Slavery is abolished in New York State.

1910 African-American boxer Jack Johnson knocks out white boxer Jim Jeffries in a heavyweight boxing match, sparking race riots across the United States.

1918 World War I: The Battle of Hamel, a successful attack by the Australian Corps against German positions near the town of Le Hamel on the Western Front.

1941 World War II: The Burning of the Riga synagogues: The Great Choral Synagogue in German occupied Riga is burnt with 300 Jews locked in the basement.

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

1966 U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson signs the Freedom of Information Act into United States law. The act went into effect the next year.

2009 The Statue of Liberty's crown reopens to the public after eight years of closure due to security concerns following the September 11 attacks.

2012 The discovery of particles consistent with the Higgs boson at the Large Hadron Collider is announced at CERN.

All Events

Famous Birthdays on July 4

1807 Giuseppe Garibaldi

1872 Calvin Coolidge

1952 Álvaro Uribe

1979 Josh McCown

All Births

Famous Deaths on July 4

1551 Gregory Cromwell, 1st Baron Cromwell

1826 John Adams

1826 Thomas Jefferson

2008 Jesse Helms

All Deaths

Choose Another Date