On this day, July 4

1776 The Declaration of Independence was adopted by delegates to the Second Continental Congress in Philadelphia. 1826 Composer Stephen Collins Foster was born at 3600 Penn Ave., Lawrenceville.

1902 A crowd estimated at between 75,000 and 100,000 assembled on Flagstaff Hill to hear a Fourth of July oration by President Theodore Roosevelt.

1939 Lou Gehrig, of the New York Yankees, delivered his famous farewell speech in which he called himself “the luckiest man on the face of the Earth.” 1985 Judge Henry Ellenbogen, 85, died in Miami. He served on the Allegheny County Common Pleas Court bench for 39 years and in the U.S. House of Representatives for five years. 2016 NASA received a radio signal from the solar-powered Juno spacecraft confirming that it was in orbit around the planet Jupiter after a trip of nearly five years and 1.8 billion miles.

Some items are from Stefan Lorant’s “Pittsburgh: The Story of an American City” (digital.library.pitt.edu/chronology).

— Compiled by Rick Nowlin Today’s birthdays: Actor Eva Marie Saint, 97. Actor Gina Lollobrigida, 94. Country singer Ray Pillow, 84. Actor Ed Bernard, 82. Actor Karolyn Grimes, 81. R&B singer Annette Beard (Martha and the Vandellas), 78. Broadcast journalist Geraldo Rivera, 78. Vietnam War veteran and peace activist Ron Kovic, 75. R&B musician Ralph Johnson (Earth, Wind and Fire), 70. Rock musician Domingo Ortiz (Widespread

Panic), 69. Singer John Waite, 69. Rock musician Kirk Pengilly (INXS), 63. International Tennis Hall of Famer Pam Shriver, 59. Christian rock singer Michael Sweet, 58. Actor-playwright-screenwriter Tracy Letts, 56. Actor Al Madrigal, 50. Actor Jenica Bergere, 47. Actor-singer John Lloyd Young, 46. Singer Stephen “Ste” McNally (BBMak), 43. Actor Becki Newton, 43. Actor Mo McRae, 39. TV personality Mike “The Situation” Sorrentino, 39. R&B singer Melanie Fiona, 38. Malia Obama, 23.

Thought for today: “All progress has resulted from people who took unpopular positions.”