July 4

Aphelion, the point during its orbit, when the Earth is furthest from the Sun, occurs around this date.
Events
Up to 1900
993 - Ulrich of Augsburg is canonized as a saint.
1054 - Chinese astronomers observe a supernova.
1187 - The Crusades: Battle of Hattin - Saladin defeats Guy of Lusignan, King of Jerusalem.
1534 - Christian III is elected King of Denmark and Norway.
1569 - The Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth is created.
1610 - Battle of Klushino: Fought between forces of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and Russia.
1744 - The Treaty of Lancaster, in which the Iroquois cede lands between the Allegheny Mountains and the Ohio River to British colonies, is signed in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.
1754 - French and Indian War: George Washington surrenders Fort Necessity to French captain Louis Coulon de Villiers.
1776 - Officials from 13 British colonies in North America sign their Declaration of Independence; this is later celebrated every year by the US's Independence Day.
1802 - At West Point, New York, the United States Military Academy opens.
1803 - The Louisiana Purchase is announced to the American people.
1805 - The Louisiana Territory is created out of part of the land bought by the United States from France in the Louisiana Purchase.
1817 - In Rome, New York, building work on the Erie Canal begins.
1819 - The Arkansas Territory is created.
1826 - US Presidents John Adams and Thomas Jefferson both die on the 50th Anniversary of the Declaration of Independence.
1827 - Slavery is abolished in New York State.
1831 - US President James Monroe dies, as the third man in this position to die on Independence Day.
1837 - Grand Junction Railway, the first long-distance railway, is opened between Birmingham and Liverpool, England.
1838 - Iowa Territory is organized.
1855 - In Brooklyn, New York, the first edition of Walt Whitman's book of poems, Leaves of Grass, is published.
1863 - American Civil War: The Siege of Vicksburg ends.
1865 - Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll is first published.
1872 - US President Calvin Coolidge is born.
1879 - Anglo-Zulu War: The Zululand capital of Ulundi is captured by British forces and burned to the ground.
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 Fort Moody, British Columbia.
1892 - Samoa experiences two occurrences of July 4, as the International Date Line is shifted to its west, meaning that Samoa has the experience of a 367-day year in 1892. This change is reversed when Samoa skips December 30, 2011.
1894 - The short-lived Republic of Hawaii is declared by Sanford Dole.
1898 - French passenger steamer La Bourgogne is hit by a British sailing boat in thick fog off Nova Scotia, Eastern Canada, killing 565 out of the 730 people on board, including all but one of the women on the steamer.
1901 2000
1903 - The Philippine-American War officially ends.
1911 - A massive heatwave strikes the Northeastern United States.
1918 - Mehmed VI becomes Sultan of the Ottoman Empire.
1934 - Leo Szilard patents the chain reaction design for the Atomic Bomb.
1934 - Marie Curie dies.
1939 - Having been diagnosed with Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, Lou Gehrig announces his retirement from baseball.
1941 - Nazi troops massacre Polish scientists and writers in Lviv, present-day Ukraine.
1943 - World War II: Battle of Kursk begins.
1945 - Austria is divided into four occupation zones by the Allies.
1946 - The Philippines attain full independence from the United States.
1950 - Radio Free Europe is first broadcast.
1953 - Imre Nagy is elected Prime Minister of Hungary.
1954 - One of the most notorious cases in US criminal history occurs when Marilyn Sheppard is murdered in the home she shared at Lake Erie with her husband Sam Sheppard. The case remains unsolved.
1954 - West Germany wins the 1954 FIFA World Cup. A lot of controversy surrounds the 3-2 win over the Hungary national football team, which becomes known in Germany as the "Miracle of Bern".
1954 - Following World War II, the United Kingdom ends food rationing.
1959 - In the United States, the 49-star flag is introduced.
1960 - In the United States, the 50-star flag is introduced.
1973 - Caribbean Community is founded.
1976 - Israeli commandos raid Entebbe Airport in Uganda, rescuing all but four of the passengers and crew of an Air France jetliner that was seized by Palestinian terrorists.
1982 - Four Iranian diplomats are abducted by Lebanese militia in London.
1987 - Nazi war criminal Klaus Barbie is convicted of crimes against humanity in France.
1997 - NASA's Pathfinder probe lands on Mars.
1998 - Japan launches the Nazomi probe to Mars.
From 2001
2001 - A Tupolev Tu-54 of the Vladivostok Avia airline crashes on landing at Irkutsk, Siberia, killing all 145 people on board.
2004 - The cornerstone of the Freedom Tower is laid on the site of the World Trade Center in New York City.
2004 - UEFA Euro 2004: The Greece national football team, as a rank outsider, wins the European Championships, defeating the host nation, the Portugal national football team, 1-0 in the final. It is also the first final to be a repeat of the first game of the tournament.
2005 - The Deep Impact collider hits the comet Tempel 1.
2007 - Sochi, on the Russian Black Sea coast, wins the right to host the 2014 Winter Olympics.
2009 - The crown of the Statue of Liberty is reopened after almost 8 years.
2011 - Otto von Habsburg, the last heir to the Austrian throne, dies in Bavaria aged 98.
2012 - The discovery of particles consistent with those of the Higgs boson at the Large Hadron Collider is announced at CERN.
2015 - The Chile national football team wins the 2015 Copa America. The host nation defeats the Argentina national football team on penalties.
2017 - Russia and the People's Republic of China urge North Korea to halt its missile and nuclear programs after it successfully tests its first intercontinental ballistic missile.
Births
Up to 1900
1330 - Ashikaga Yoshiakira, Japanese shogun (d. 1367)
1477 - Johannes Aventinus, German historian (d. 1534)
1546 - Murad III, Ottoman Sultan (d. 1595)
1694 - Louis-Claude Daquin, French organist and composer (d. 1772)
1715 - Christian Furchtegott Gellert, German poet and academic (d. 1769)
1719 - Michel-Jean Sedaine, French playwright (d. 1797)
1753 - Jean-Pierre Blanchard, French inventor and balloonist (d. 1809)
1768 - Adam Karl August von Eschenmeier, German philosopher and physicist (d. 1852)
1776 - Ethan Allen Brown, American politician, 7th Governor of Ohio (d. 1852)
1790 - George Everest, Welsh surveyor (d. 1866)
1795 - Karl Eichwald, Russian scientist (d. 1876)
1799 - King Oscar I of Sweden (d. 1859)
1804 - Nathaniel Hawthorne, American writer (d. 1864)
1807 - Giuseppe Garibaldi, Italian patriot (d. 1882)
1826 - Stephen Foster, American songwriter (d. 1864)
1845 - Thomas John Barnardo, Irish philanthropist and humanitarian (d. 1905)
1847 - James Anthony Bailey, American circus ringmaster (d. 1906)
1862 - Walter L. Fisher, American politician (d. 1935)
1867 - Stephen Mather, American entrepreneur and conservationist (d. 1930)
1868 - Henrietta Swan Leavitt, American astronomer (d. 1921)
1868 - Johannes van Dijk, Dutch rower (d. 1938)
1872 - Calvin Coolidge, 30th President of the United States (d. 1933)
1874 - John McPhee, Australian politician, 27th Premier of Tasmania (d. 1952)
1881 - Ulysses S. Grant III, American soldier (d. 1968)
1882 - Louis B. Mayer, Belarus-born American movie producer (d. 1957)
1883 - Rube Goldberg, American cartoonist (d. 1970)
1888 - Henry Armetta, Italian-American actor and singer (d. 1945)
1895 - Irving Caesar, American songwriter and composer (d. 1996)
1896 - Mao Dun, Chinese journalist, author and critic (d. 1981)
1897 - Alluri Sita Rama Raju, Indian activist (d. 1924)
1898 - Gulzarilal Nanda, Indian politician (d. 1998)
1898 - Gertrude Lawrence, English-born actress (d. 1952)
1898 - Gertrude Weaver, American supercentenarian (d. 2015)
1901 1950
1902 - Meyer Lansky, American Mafia boss (d. 1983)
1903 - Corrado Bafile, Italian cardinal (d. 2005)
1903 - Flor Peeters, Belgian organist, composer and educator (d. 1986)
1905 - Irving Johnson, American sailor and author (d. 1991)
1908 - Aurelio Peccei, Italian industrialist and co-founder of the Club of Rome (d. 1984)
1910 - Robert K. Merton, American sailor (d. 2003)
1910 - Gloria Stuart, American actress (d. 2010)
1911 - Mitch Miller, American entertainer and musician (d. 2010)
1911 - Franco Ferrara, Italian composer and conductor (d. 1985)
1911 - Said Akl, Lebanese poet, writer and playwright (d. 2014)
1916 - Iva Toguri D'Aquino, World War II figure, alleged Tokyo Rose (d. 2006)
1917 - Manolete, Spanish bullfighter (d. 1947)
1918 - Taufa'ahau Tupou IV, King of Tonga (d. 2006)
1918 - Pauline Phillips, American columnist (d. 2013)
1918 - Eppie Lederer, American writer and columnist (d. 2002)
1918 - Johnnie Parsons, American racing driver (d. 1984)
1920 - Norm Drucker, American basketball referee (d. 2015)
1921 - Gerard Debreu, French economist (d. 2004)
1921 - Tibor Varga, Hungarian violinist and conductor (d. 2003)
1923 - Rudolf Friedrich, Swiss politician (d. 2013)
1924 - Bjorn Beinteinsson, Icelandic Neopagan religious leader
1924 - Eva Marie Saint, American actress
1925 - Ciril Zlobec, Slovenian poet, writer and politician (d. 2018)
1926 - Alfredo Di Stefano, Argentine-born footballer (d. 2014)
1927 - Neil Simon, American playwright (d. 2018)
1927 - Gina Lollobrigida, Italian actress
1928 - Giampiero Boniperti, Italian footballer
1930 - Frunzik Mkrtchyan, Soviet-Armenian actor (d. 1993)
1930 - George Steinbrenner, American businessman (d. 2010)
1931 - Stephen Boyd, Northern Irish-American actor (d. 1977)
1935 - Paul Scoon, 2nd Governor-General of Grenada (d. 2013)
1937 - Sonja Haraldsen, Queen of Norway
1937 - Thomas Nagel, American philosopher
1938 - Bill Withers, American singer-songwriter and producer (d. 2020)
1940 - Dave Rowberry, English pianist and songwriter (d. 2003)
1941 - Sam Farr, American politician
1941 - Sergio Oliva, Cuban-American bodybuilder (d. 2012)
1941 - Tomaz Salamun, Slovenian poet (d. 2014)
1942 - Stefan Meller, Polish politician (d. 2008)
1942 - Hal Lanier, American baseball player, coach and manager
1942 - Prince Michael of Kent, British nobleman
1943 - Alan "Blind Owl" Wilson, American musician (d. 1970)
1943 - Heide Simonis, German politician
1943 - Adam Hart-Davis, British historian
1945 - Andre Spitzer, Romanian-Israeli fencer and coach (d. 1972)
1946 - Ron Kovic, American activist
1948 - Jeremy Spencer, English guitarist (Fleetwood Mac)
1949 - Horst Seehofer, German politician, Interior Minister and former Minister-President of Bavaria
1951 1975
1951 - Vincent Marzello, American voice actor (d. 2020)
1951 - Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, 6th Lieutenant Governor of Maryland
1952 - Alvaro Uribe, former President of Colombia
1953 - Francis Maude, English politician
1954 - Morganna, American model and dancer
1954 - Jim Beattie, American baseball player and coach
1957 - Jenny Seagrove, English actress
1957 - Princess Chulabhorn of Thailand
1959 - Victoria Abril, Spanish singer and actress
1959 - Eirikur Hauksson, Icelandic singer
1960 - Roland Ratzenberger, Austrian racing driver (d. 1994)
1960 - Mark Steel, English comedian, columnist and author
1961 - Valentin Ivanov, Russian football referee
1962 - Neil Morrissey, English actor
1962 - Pam Shriver, American tennis player
1963 - Ute Lemper, German singer
1963 - Henri Leconte, French tennis player
1963 - William Ramallo, Bolivian footballer and coach
1963 - Michael Sweet, American singer-songwriter, guitarist and producer
1964 - Cle Kooiman, American soccer player and manager
1964 - Edi Rama, Prime Minister of Albania
1965 - Harvey Grant, American basketball player and coach
1965 - Giancarlo Marocchi, Italian footballer
1965 - Jo Whiley, English radio presenter
1966 - Anton Nossik, Israeli-Russian journalist and social media activist (d. 2017)
1968 - Ronni Ancona, Scottish actress
1970 - Doddie Weir, Scottish rugby player
1970 - Tony Vidmar, Australian footballer
1971 - Koko, famous sign language Gorilla (d. 2018)
1973 - Tony Popovic, Australian footballer
From 1976
1976 - Daijiro Kato, Japanese motorcycle racer (d. 2003)
1976 - Yevgeniya Medvedeva, Russian skier
1977 - Orri Pall Dyrason, Icelandic drummer (Sigur Ros)
1978 - Emile Mpenza, Belgian footballer
1978 - Becki Newton, American actress
1982 - Hannah Harper, English pornographic actress
1983 - Miguel Pinto, Chilean footballer
1984 - Jin Akanishi, Japanese singer-songwriter and actor
1985 - Wason Renteria, Colombian footballer
1986 - Takahisa Masuda, Japanese singer
1986 - Fanny Valette, French actress
1987 - Wude Ayalew, Ethiopian long-distance runner
1988 - Angelique Boyer, French-Mexican actress, model and singer
1989 - Yoon Doo-joon, South Korean singer, dancer and actor
1990 - Naoki Yamada, Japanese footballer
1992 - Basim, Danish singer-songwriter
1998 - Malia Obama, daughter of US President Barack Obama
1999 - Moa Kikuchi, Japanese singer and model
Deaths
Up to 1900
673 - Ecgberht of Kent
907 - Luitpold, Margrave of Bavaria
965 - Pope Benedict V
1541 - Pedro de Alvarado, Spanish explorer (b. 1495)
1546 - Hayreddin Barbarossa, Greek-Turkish admiral (b. 1478)
1641 - Pedro Teixeira, Portuguese explorer
1742 - Luigi Guido Grandi, Italian monk, mathematician and engineer (b. 1671)
1780 - Prince Charles Alexander of Lorraine (b. 1712)
1787 - Charles, Prince of Soubise (b. 1715)
1808 - Fisher Ames, American politician (b. 1758)
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 - Francois-Rene de Chateaubriand, French writer (b. 1768)
1857 - William L. Marcy, 21st United States Secretary of State (b. 1786)
1881 - Johan Vilhelm Snellman, Finnish statesman (b. 1806)
1882 - Joseph Brackett, American composer (b. 1797)
1888 - Theodor Storm, German writer (b. 1817)
1891 - Hannibal Hamlin, Vice President of the United States and Governor of Maine (b. 1809)
1901 2000
1901 - Johannes Schmidt, American composer (b. 1843)
1902 - Swami Vivekananda, Indian spiritual leader (b. 1863)
1910 - Melvin Weston Fuller, Chief Justice of the United States (b. 1833)
1910 - Giovanni Schiaparelli, Italian astronomer (b. 1835)
1916 - Alan Seeger, American poet (b. 1888)
1921 - Antoni Grabowski, early proponent of Esperanto (b. 1857)
1922 - Lothar von Richthofen, German pilot (b. 1894)
1925 - George W. Atkinson, American politician, 10th Governor of West Virginia (b. 1865)
1926 - Pier Giorgio Frassati, Italian activist and saint (b. 1901)
1931 - Prince Emanuele Filiberto, Duke of Aosta, Italian nobleman (b. 1869)
1934 - Marie Curie, Polish-French chemist and physicist (b. 1867)
1934 - Hayim Nahman Bialik, Ukrainian-Israeli writer and poet (b. 1873)
1938 - Otto Bauer, Austrian politician (b. 1881)
1938 - Suzanne Lenglen, French tennis player (b. 1899)
1941 - Antoni Lomnicki, Polish mathematician (b. 1881)
1943 - Wladyslaw Sikorski, Polish military leader (b. 1881)
1963 - Bernard Freyberg, 1st Baron Freyberg, 7th Governor-General of New Zealand (b. 1889)
1963 - Pingali Venkayya, Indian activist (b. 1876)
1964 - Gaby Morlay, French actress and singer (b. 1893)
1969 - Henri Decoin, French director and screenwriter (b. 1890)
1975 - Georgette Heyer, British writer (b. 1902)
1976 - Yonatan Netanyahu, Israeli soldier (in raid on Entebbe Airport) (b. 1946)
1976 - Antoni Slonimski, Polish poet and playwright (b. 1895)
1986 - Flor Peeters, Belgian organist, composer and educator (b. 1903)
1991 - Victor Chang, Chinese-Australian surgeon (b. 1936)
1991 - Art Sansom, American cartoonist (b. 1920)
1992 - Astor Piazzolla, Argentine bandoneon player and composer (b. 1921)
1995 - Eva Gabor, Hungarian actress (b. 1919)
1995 - Bob Ross, American painter (b. 1942)
From 2001
2003 - Barry White, American singer (b. 1944)
2004 - Jean-Marie Auberson, Swiss violinist and conductor (b. 1921)
2008 - Jesse Helms, American politician (b. 1921)
2008 - Thomas M. Disch, American writer (b. 1940)
2009 - Allen Klein, American record label executive (b. 1931)
2010 - Muhammad Hussein Fadlallah, Lebanese spiritual leader (b. 1935)
2011 - Otto von Habsburg, Austrian nobleman, aristocrat and politician (b. 1912)
2012 - Eric Sykes, English actor, director and screenwriter (b. 1923)
2013 - Bernie Nolan, Irish singer and actress (b. 1960)
2014 - Giorgio Faletti, Italian writer, actor and comedian (b. 1950)
2014 - Alan Alan, English escapologist and magician (b. 1926)
2014 - C. J. Henderson, American author (b. 1939)
2014 - Archibald Wilson, Australian fighter pilot (b. 1921)
2015 - Nedelcho Beronov, Bulgarian politician (b. 1928)
2015 - Scot Breithaupt, American motorcycle racer (b. 1957)
2015 - Carlo de Gavardo, Chilean rally driver and motorcycle racer (b. 1969)
2015 - Alan Walton, British biochemist (b. 1936)
2016 - Romesh Chandra, Indian activist and journalist (b. 1919)
2016 - William Hawkins, Canadian songwriter and poet (b. 1940)
2016 - Abbas Kiarostami, Iranian filmmaker (b. 1940)
2016 - Abner J. Mikva, American politician and judge (b. 1926)
2017 - Bryan Avery, English architect (b. 1944)
2017 - Gene Conley, American baseball and basketball player (b. 1930)
2017 - Daniil Granin, Russian writer (b. 1919)
2017 - Carol Lee Scott, English actress and singer (b. 1942)
2017 - David Yewdall, American sound editor (b. 1950)
2018 - Carmen Campagne, Canadian singer (b. 1959)
2018 - Georges-Emmanuel Clancier, French poet, journalist and novelist (b. 1914)
2018 - Henri Dirickx, Belgian footballer (b. 1927)
2018 - Ernst W. Hamburger, German-born Brazilian physicist (b. 1933)
2018 - Robby Muller, Dutch cinematographer (b. 1940)
Holidays
Christian feast day:
Andrew of Crete
Bertha of Artois
Blessed Catherine Jarrige
Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati
Elizabeth of Aragon (or of Portugal)
Oda of Canterbury
Ulrich of Augsburg
Independence Day (United States)
Filipino-American Friendship Day
Liberation Day (Rwanda)
July 04