Today In History
Today is Thursday, July 4, the 185th day of 2019. There are 180 days left in the year. This is Independence Day.
TODAY’S HIGHLIGHT
› 1776: The Declaration of Independence was adopted by delegates to the Second Continental Congress in Philadelphia.
ON THIS DATE
› 1802: The United States Military Academy officially opened at West Point, New York.
› 1817: Ground was broken for the Erie Canal in Rome, New York. The middle section of the waterway took three years to complete; the entire canal was finished in 1825.
› 1910: In what was billed as “The Fight of the Century,” black world heavyweight boxing champion Jack Johnson defeated white former champ James J. Jeffries in Reno, Nevada.
› 1982: The space shuttle Columbia concluded its fourth and final test flight with a smooth landing at Edwards Air Force Base in California. Heavy metal rocker Ozzy Osbourne married his manager, Sharon Arden, in Maui, Hawaii.
› 1997: NASA’s Pathfinder spacecraft landed on Mars.
› 2017: The United States confirmed that North Korea had launched an intercontinental ballistic missile, as the North had boasted and the U.S. and South Korea had feared. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson called it a “new escalation of the threat” to the U.S.
TODAY’S BIRTHDAYS
Actress Eva Marie Saint is 95. Actress Gina Lollobrigida is 92. Country singer Ray Pillow is
82. Singer Bill Withers is 81. Actor Ed Bernard is 80. Actress Karolyn Grimes is 79. Vietnam War veteran and peace activist Ron Kovic is
73. Rhythm and blues musician Ralph Johnson (Earth, Wind and Fire) is 68. Rock musician Domingo Ortiz (Widespread Panic) is 67. Singer John Waite is 67. Rock musician Kirk Pengilly (INXS) is 61. Country musician Teddy Carr is
59. Rock DJ Zonka is 57. International Tennis Hall of Famer Pam Shriver is
57. Actor Al Madrigal is
48. Actress Jenica Bergere is 45. Actor-singer John Lloyd Young is 44. Singer Stephen “Ste” McNally (BBMak) is 41. Actress Becki Newton is 41. Actor Mo McRae is 37. TV personality Mike “The Situation” Sorrentino is 37. Rhythm and blues singer Melanie Fiona is 36. Malia Obama is 21.