In Case You Didn’t Know…

The fourth day in July may be most well known as the holiday commemorating the adoption of the Declaration of Independence, but guess what? Other things have happened on that date as well.?Here are some additional July 4 events, births and deaths.

Events

1636?- City of?Providence,?Rhode Island?forms.

1827?-?Slavery?is abolished in?New York State.

1845?- Near?Concord, Massachusetts,?Henry David Thoreau?embarks on a two-year experiment in simple living at?Walden Pond?(see?Walden).

1865?-?Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland?is published.

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.

1997?-?NASA’s?Pathfinder?space probe lands on the surface of?Mars.

Births

1872?-?Calvin Coolidge, 30th?President of the United States?(d. 1933)

1881?-?Ulysses S. Grant III, American soldier (d. 1968)

1943 -?Geraldo Rivera, American reporter

1971 -?Koko, sign-language gorilla

1998?-?Malia Ann Obama, older daughter of US President?Barack Obama

Deaths

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)