Today in History

Today in History

1712 12 slaves are executed for starting a uprising in New York that killed nine whites.

1776 The amended Declaration of Independence, prepared by Thomas Jefferson, is approved and signed by John Hancock–President of the Continental Congress–and Charles Thomson, Congress secretary. The state of New York abstains from signing.

1817 Construction begins on the Erie Canal, to connect Lake Erie and the Hudson River.

1826 Two of America’s founding fathers–Thomas Jefferson and John Adams–die.

1831 The fifth president of the United States, James Monroe, dies at the age of 73.

1845 Henry David Thoreau begins his 26-month stay at Walden Pond.

1855 Walt Whitman publishes the first edition of Leaves of Grass at his own expense.

1861 Union and Confederate forces skirmish at Harpers Ferry.

1862 Charles Dodgson first tells the story of Alice’s adventures down the rabbit hole during a picnic along the Thames.

1863 The Confederate town of Vicksburg, Mississippi, surrenders to General Ulysses S. Grant.

1881 Billy the Kid is shot dead in New Mexico.

1894 After seizing power, Judge Stanford B. Dole declares Hawaii a republic.

1895 The poem America the Beautiful is first published.

1901 William H. Taft becomes the American governor of the Philippines.

1910 Race riots break out all over the United States after African American Jack Johnson knocks out Jim Jeffries in a heavyweight boxing match.

1931 Novelist James Joyce and Nora Barnacle are married in London after being together for 26 years.

1934 Boxer Joe Louis wins his first professional fight.

1946 The United States grants the Philippine Islands their independence.

1960 The 50-star flag makes its debut in Philadelphia.

1976 An Israeli raid at Entebbe airport in Uganda rescues 105 hostages.

Born on July 4

1804 Nathaniel Hawthorne, American writer (The Scarlet Letter).

1807 Giuseppe Garibaldi, Italian military leader and unifier of modern Italy.

1826 Stephen Foster, American composer.

1872 Calvin Coolidge, 30th president of the United States (1923-1929).

1883 Rube Goldberg, Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist.

1898 Gertrude Lawrence, English actress.

1905 Lionel Trilling, literary critic and educator.

1927 Neil Simon, American playwright (The Odd Couple, The Prisoner of Second Avenue).

History