Fourth of July in history has a great significance, with births and deaths of eminent figures, popular events and celebrations falling on this day.
Fourth of July marks the Independence of America, the Liberation Day of Rwanda, births and deaths of many renowned personalities, and holidays and observances across the globe. Let’s have a quick glance on 4th July – this day in history along with 4th July quotes.
Births on 4th July
People born on Fourth of July have their zodiac sign as Cancer. Below is the list of some famous people born on the 4th of July:
- Jean-Pierre Blanchard – French pioneer in aviation and ballooning.
- Nathaniel Hawthorne – American novelist and short story writer
- Giuseppe Garibaldi – Italian national hero. He was christened the “Hero of the Two Worlds” in tribute to his military expeditions in both South America and Europe.
- Stephen Foster – Pre-eminent songwriter in the United States in the 19th century. He is known as the “father of American music”.
- Calvin Coolidge – 30th president of the United States.
- Gloria Stuart – American actress best known for her roles as Claude Rains’ sweetheart in The Invisible Man and as the 100-year-old Rose in the Academy Award winning film Titanic.
- Sébastien Japrisot – French author, screenwriter and film director. He was nicknamed “the Graham Greene of France”.
- Thomas Nagel – American philosopher renowned for his contributions to political theory in The Possibility of Altruism (1970).
- René Alexandre Arnoux -A retired French racing driver who is a veteran of 12 Formula One seasons (1978 to 1989). In 2006 he raced in the inaugural season of the Grand Prix Masters for retired F1 drivers.
- Sir Philip Craven – Current President of the International Paralympic Committee.
- Kathleen Hartington Kennedy Townsend – The sixth Lieutenant Governor of the U.S. state of Maryland from 1995 to 2003 and the eldest grandchild of Joseph P. Kennedy.
- Pamela Howard Shriver Lazenby – Former Tennis player. She was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 2002.
- Rebecca Sara “Becki” Newton – American actress recognized for her role as Amanda Tanen on the television series Ugly Betty.
Deaths on 4th July
Following is the list of people who passed away on Fourth of July:
- Pope Benedict V – Roman Pope, who reigned barely for a month.
- William Byrd – English composer
- Guido Grandi – Italian mathematician who is best known for studying the Rose curve, and for Grandi’s series.
- John Adams – 2nd President of the United States
- Thomas Jefferson – 3rd President of the United States
- James Monroe – 5th President of the United States
- François-René de Chateaubriand – French writer and considered to be the founder of Romanticism in French literature.
- Marie Curie – Polish physicist and chemist and two Nobel Prizes winner (in physics and chemistry).
- Swami Vivekananda –Indian spiritual leader
- Suzanne Lenglen – French tennis player who won 31 Championship titles between 1914 and 1926.
4th July Celebrations
Below is the list of various July 4 celebrations:
- The feast day of St. Andrew (Andreas) of Crete according to the Julian calendar, of Saint Bertha of Artois, of Saint Elizabeth of Portugal and of Saint Oda of Canterbury.
- The feast day of Saint Ulrich of Augsburg, who was the first saint to be canonized (a deceased person declared to be a saint).
- The Philippines Independence Day holiday (Araw ng Kalayaan) was held on July 4. Former President Diosdado Macapagal moved it to June 12, the date on which the Philippines had declared independence from Spain in 1898. The Philippines was a US territory from 1898 to 1941, when it was occupied by Japanese forces, and again by Americans for a brief period after the war. Philippines gained complete independence on July 4, 1946. Filipino-American Friendship Day was created to commemorate the liberation of Philippines, and it coincides with the United States Independence Day on July 4th.
- Independence Day or the Fourth of July commemorates the adoption of Declaration of Independence by the Unites States on July 4, 1776. US declared freedom from Great Britain. America’s birthday is commonly associated with Fourth of July fireworks, parades, carnivals, fairs, barbecues, concerts, baseball games, family reunions, and ceremonies celebrating the history of US.
July 4 Events
- 1569 – The King of Poland and the Grand Duke of Lithuania, Sigismund II Augustus finally sign the document of union between Poland and Lithuania, creating new country known as Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth.
- 1610 – The Battle of Klushino between forces of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and Russia during the Polish-Muscovite War.
- 1837 – Grand Junction Railway, the world’s first long-distance railway, opens between Birmingham and Liverpool.
- 1862 – Lewis Carroll tells Alice Liddell a story that would grow into Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and its sequels.
- 1959 – With the admission of Alaska as the 49th US state, the 49-star flag of US debuts.
- 1960 – With the admission of Hawaii as the 50th US state, the 50-star flag of US debuts.
- 1987 – In France, former Gestapo chief Klaus Barbie (“Butcher of Lyon”) is convicted of crimes against humanity and is sentenced to life imprisonment.
- 1997 – NASA’s Pathfinder space probe lands on the surface of Mars.
- 2009 – The Statue of Liberty’s crown reopens to the public after 8 years, due to security reasons following the World Trade Center attacks.
Independence Day Quotes
Below are some of the famous 4th July quotes:
In the truest sense, freedom cannot be bestowed; it must be achieved. -Franklin D. Roosevelt
You have to love a nation that celebrates its independence every July 4, not with a parade of guns, tanks, and soldiers who file by the White House in a show of strength and muscle, but with family picnics where kids throw Frisbees, the potato salad gets iffy, and the flies die from happiness. You may think you have overeaten, but it is patriotism. -Erma Bombeck
A man’s country is not a certain area of land, of mountains, rivers, and woods, but it is a principle; and patriotism is loyalty to that principle. – George William Curtis
That’s why I stand here tonight. Because for two hundred and thirty two years, at each moment when that promise was in jeopardy, ordinary men and women – students and soldiers, farmers and teachers, nurses and janitors — found the courage to keep it alive. – Barrack Obama
