History for July 4

History for July 4 - On-This-Day.com
Deaths

1831	James Monroe, 5th president (1817-25), dies at 73
1826	John Adams, 2nd president 1797-1801, dies at 90
1826	Thomas Jefferson, 3rd president (1801-09), dies at 83

Birthday!
Nathaniel Hawthorne 1804, Stephen Foster 1826, Calvin Coolidge (U.S.) 1872 - 30th President of the United States 


Mitch Miller 1911, Ann Landers 1918, Abigail Van Buren 1918, Geraldo Rivera 1943 


1776 - The amended Declaration of Independence, prepared by Thomas Jefferson, was approved and signed by John Hancock, the President of the Continental Congress in America. 


1802 - The U.S. Military Academy officially opened at West Point, NY. 


1817 - Construction began on the Erie Canal, to connect Lake Erie and the Hudson River. 


1934 - Boxer Joe Louis won his first professional fight. 


1934 - At Mount Rushmore, George Washington's face was dedicated. 


1946 - The Philippines achieved full independence for the first time in over four hundred years. 


1960 - The 50-star U.S. flag made its debut in Philadelphia, PA. 


1966 - U.S. President Johnson signed the Freedom of Information Act, which went into effect the following year. 


1976 - The U.S. celebrated its Bicentennial. 


2009 - North Korea launched seven ballistic missiles into waters off its east coast that defied U.N. resolutions.