Today in History - July 4
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1054 Jul 4,
Chinese and Arabian observers first documented the massive supernova of
the Crab Nebula created thousands of years ago and consisting of a huge
expanding cloud of gas and dust 6,000 light-years from Earth. The great
nova, as Oriental astronomers described it, was six times brighter than
Venus and was only outshone by the sun and moon. For 23 days the nova
could be observed in broad daylight. An entry in the Records of the
Royal Observatory of Peking reads: "In the first year of the period
Chihha, the fifth moon, the day Chi-chou, a great star appeared
approximately several inches southeast of T’ien-Kuan (i.e. Zeta Tauri).
After more than a year it gradually became invisible."
(LSA., S. Pobojewski, p.29)(TNG, Klein, p.96)(SCTS,
p.183)(IB, 12/7/98)
1187 Jul 4, In the Battle of
Hittin (Tiberias) Saladin defeated Reynaud of Chatillon. Salah al Din,
who ruled from his imperial seat in ancient Syria, defeated Christian
armies of the Crusaders and forced their retreat from the Holy Land.
The battle was depicted in a mosaic that was found and restored for the
palace of Pres, Hafez Assad of Syria. Saladin personally executed
Crusader Reynaud of Chatillon (b.1124/5). Reynaud of Chatillon, Lord of
Kerak, Jordan, had violated twice violated a tenuous truce and earlier
this year attacked a caravan of pilgrims returning from Mecca.
(WSJ, 9/30/96, p.A1)(Econ, 5/30/09,
p.24)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raynald_of_Chatillon)
1301 Jul 4, Battle at Breukelen:
Holland vs. Lichtenberg.
(Maggio, 98)
1415 Jul 4, Angelo Correr became
Pope Gregory XII.
(Maggio, 98)
1453 Jul 4, 41 Jewish martyrs
burned at stake at Breslau.
(Maggio, 98)
1610 Jul 4, Battle at Klushino:
King Sigismund II beat Russia & Sweden.
(Maggio, 98)
1623 Jul 4, William Byrd (80),
English composer (Ave verum corpus), died.
(MC, 7/4/02)
1636 Jul 4, City of Providence,
Rhode Island, was formed.
(Maggio, 98)
1652 Jul 4, Prince of Cond‚
started a blood bath in Paris.
(Maggio, 98)
1653 Jul 4, British Barebones
Parliament went into session.
(Maggio, 98)
1672 Jul 4, States of Holland
declared "Eternal Edict" void.
(Maggio, 98)
1693 Jul 4, Battle at
Boussu-lez-Walcourt: French-English vs. Dutch army.
(Maggio, 98)
1708 Jul 4, Swedish King Karel XII
beat Russians.
(Maggio, 98)
1712 Jul 4, Twelve slaves were
executed for starting a slave uprising in New York that killed nine
whites. [see Apr 7]
(HN, 7/4/98)(PCh, 1992, p.278)
1753 Jul 4, Jean-Pierre-Francois
Blanchard (d.1809), French balloonist, was born. He made the 1st
balloon flights in England and US.
(www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/AVblanchard.htm)
1754 Jul 4, George Washington gave
Ft. Necessity to France.
(Maggio, 98)
1761 Jul 4, Samuel Richardson,
English novelist, died at 72 in London.
(WUD, 1994, p.1231)
1776 Jul 4, The Continental
Congress approved adoption of the amended Declaration of Independence,
prepared by Thomas Jefferson and signed by John Hancock--President of
the Continental Congress--and Charles Thomson, Congress secretary,
without dissent. However, the New York delegation abstained as directed
by the New York Provisional Congress. On July 9, the New York Congress
voted to endorse the declaration. On July 19, Congress then resolved to
have the "Unanimous Declaration" inscribed on parchment for the
signature of the delegates. Among the signers of the Declaration of
Independence, two went on to become presidents of the United States,
John Adams and Thomas Jefferson. The Declaration of Independence was
signed by president of Congress John Hancock and secretary Charles
Thomson. John Hancock said, "There, I guess King George will be able to
read that." referring to his signature on the Declaration of
Independence. Other signers later included Benjamin Rush and Robert
Morris. Of the 56 signers of the Declaration of Independence, eight
were born outside North America. In 2007 David Armitage authored “The
Declaration of Independence: A Global History.”
(HN, 7/4/98)(SFC,12/19/97,p.B6)(SFC,2/9/98,
p.A19)(HNQ, 9/10/00)(WSJ, 1/4/07, p.B11)
1777 Jul 4, No member of Congress
thought about commemorating the adoption of the Declaration of
Independence until July 3 - one day too late. So the first organized
elaborate celebration of independence occurred the following day: July
4, 1777, in Philadelphia.
(http://tinyurl.com/mpsa8y)
1779 Jul 4, French fleet occupied
Grenada.
(Maggio, 98)
1785 Jul 4, The first Fourth of
July parade was held in Bristol, Rhode Island. It served as a prayerful
walk to celebrate independence from England.
(SFC, 7/5/97, p.A3)
1789 Jul 4, 1st US tariff act.
(Maggio, 98)
1796 Jul 4, 1st Independence Day
celebration was held.
(Maggio, 98)
1802 Jul 4, The United State
Military Academy opened its doors at West Point, New York, welcoming
the first 10 cadets.
(AP, 7/4/97)(IB, 12/7/98)
1804 Jul 4, Nathaniel Hawthorne
(1804-1864) American novelist and short-story writer, was born in
Marblehead, [Salem], Massachusetts. Hawthorne was born to a prominent
but decaying family. One of his ancestors, a judge in the Salem
witchcraft trials, became the model for the accursed founder of The
House of the Seven Gables. Hawthorne would often wonder whether the
decline of his family’s fortune was a punishment for the sins of his
"sable-cloaked steeple-crowned progenitors. "Marblehead is also the
location of the house in his book "The House of Seven Gables." He also
wrote "The Scarlet Letter."
(WUD, 1994, p.651)(SFEC, 7/13/97, p.T9)(HN, 7/4/98)
(IB, 12/7/98)
1807 Jul 4, Giuseppe Garibaldi
(1807-1882) Italian military leader, was born in Nice, France. He led
the movement to make Italy one nation.
(HN, 7/4/98) (IB, 12/7/98)
1810 Jul 4, French troops occupied
Amsterdam.
(Maggio, 98)
1817 Work began on the Erie
Canal, more properly named the New York State Barge Canal. The canal
connected Lake Erie with the Hudson and opened on October 26, 1825.
(WSJ, 7/3/96, p.A8)(HN, 7/4/98)(IB, 12/7/98)
1819 Jul 4, The Territory of
Arkansas was created. [see Mar 2]
(IB, Internet, 12/7/98)
1819 Jul 4, William Herschel made
his last telescopic observation of an 1819 comet.
(Maggio, 98)
1826 Jul 4, Stephen Foster
(Stephen Collins Foster, d. Jan 13, 1864) composer, was born near
Pittsburgh. His famous songs include "My Old Kentucky Home," "O
Susanna," "Old Folks at Home," "Old Black Joe" and "Camptown Races."
(HFA, ‘96, p.22)(AHD, p. 519)(BAAC PN, Chambers,
1/8/96) (IB, 12/7/98)
1826 Jul 4, Construction of the
Pennsylvania Grand Canal was begun.
(WSJ, 7/3/96, p.A8)
1826 Jul 4, Thomas Jefferson, the
nation's third president, died deeply in debt at age 83 at one o'clock
in the afternoon and was buried near Charlottesville, Virginia. He was
the founder of the Univ. of Virginia and wrote the state’s statute of
religious freedom. In 1997 Joseph J. Ellis won the National Book Award
in nonfiction for "American Sphinx: The Character of Thomas Jefferson."
"Nothing gives one person so much of an advantage over another as to
remain unruffled in all circumstances."
(A&IP, Miers, p.29)(SFEC, 6/29/97, BR p.5)(AP,
7/4/97) (SFC, 4/29/98, p.A6)(SFEC, 10/25/98, Z1 p.12)(IB,
12/7/98)(SFEC, 5/16/99, p.A9)
1826 Jul 4, John Adams died at age
90 in Braintree [Quincy], Mass, just a few hours after Jefferson.
Because communications was slow in those days, Adams and Jefferson, at
their death, thought the other was still alive. Adams' last words were,
"Thomas Jefferson still survives." It was 50 years to the day after the
Declaration of Independence was adopted. Adams was the 2nd president of
the US. A multi-generational biography of the Adams family was later
written by Paul C. Nagel: "Descent from Glory." The Joseph Ellis book
The Passionate Edge" helped restore Adams to his rightful place in the
American pantheon. The 1972 musical film 1776 focused on Adams’ efforts
to get an independence resolution through Congress. In 1998 C. Bradley
Thompson published "John Adams and the Spirit of Liberty." In 2001
David McCullough authored "John Adams." In 2005 James Grant authored
“John Adams: Party of One.”
(A&IP, p.29)(AP, 7/4/97)(SFC, 7/4/98, p.E4)(IB,
Internet, 12/7/98)(WSJ, 12/22/98, p.A16)(WSJ, 5/30/01, p.A20)(WSJ,
3/24/05, p.D8)
1827 Jul 4, New York state law
emancipated adult slaves.
(SFEC, 12/1/96, BR p.5)(Maggio, 98)
1828 Jul 4, James Johnston
Pettigrew, scholar, teacher, Brig General (Confederate Army), was born.
(MC, 7/4/02)
1828 Jul 4, Ground-breaking
ceremonies were held in Baltimore for construction of the Baltimore and
Ohio Railroad. On the same day, in nearby Georgetown, President John
Quincy Adams, with great fanfare, lifted the first shovel of dirt to
begin construction of the Chesapeake & Ohio Canal that would link
Washington, Baltimore and Pittsburgh by water. The railroad went on to
become one of the nation's longest rail lines, reaching St. Louis,
Missouri, in 1857. The 185-mile canal, though it had many years of use,
was quickly eclipsed as a transportation medium by the superior
technology of the railroad.
(IB, 12/7/98)
1829 Jul 4, Cornerstone laid for
1st US mint (Chestnut & Juniper St, Phil).
(Maggio, 98)
1829 Jul 4, In Boston, Mass.,
abolitionist William Lloyd Garrison (1805-1879) gave a passionate
antislavery sermon at the Park Street Church and was attacked by a
white supremacist mob who dragged him from the pulpit and beat him
nearly to death. Garrison published the anti-slavery newspaper, the
Liberator, from 1831-1865.
(www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part4/4p1561.html)(AH, 10/07,
p.72)
1830 Jul 4, William Sublette, a
trapper and explorer, named Independence Rock, Wyo., when he celebrated
his 54th birthday there.
(SFC, 8/13/98, p.A3)
1831 Jul 4, "America (My Country
'Tis of Thee)" was 1st sung in Boston. [see Jul 4, 1832]
(Maggio, 98)
1831 Jul 4, James Monroe, 5th
President of the United States, died in New York City at age 73, making
him the third ex-President to die on Independence Day.
(AP, 7/4/97)(HN, 7/4/98)(IB, 12/7/98)
1832 Jul 4, The song "America" was
sung publicly for the first time at a Fourth of July celebration by a
group of children at Park Street Church in Boston. The words were
written on a scrap of paper in half an hour by Dr. Samuel Francis
Smith, a Baptist minister, and were set to the music of "God Save the
King." [see Jul 4, 1831]
(IB, 12/7/98)
1835 Jul 4, The Boston and
Worcester Railroad was inaugurated.
(WSJ, 7/3/96, p.A8)
1836 Jul 4, The territorial
government of Wisconsin was established.
(IB, 12/7/98)
1840 Jul 4, The Cunard Line took
just over 14 days to make its first Atlantic crossing with the paddle
steamer "Britannia", which embarked from Liverpool.
(IB, 12/7/98)
1845 Jul 4, American writer Henry
David Thoreau began his 26 month experiment in simple living at Walden
Pond, near Concord, Mass. He chose this day to move to a rustic hut in
the peace and quiet of Walden Pond. He doubted that there was a spot in
Massachusetts where one could not hear a train whistle. The Fitchburg
trains passed Walden Pond about a hundred rods south of his cabin. He
lived there until September 6, 1947. His writings about his thoughts
and experiences there are still read and remembered by millions around
the world. "I went to the woods because I wished to see if I could not
learn what it [life] had to teach, and not, when I came to die,
discover that I had not lived."
(Civil., Jul-Aug., '95, p.76) (NOHY, Weiner, 3/90,
p.53)(AP, 7/4/97)(IB, 12/7/98)
1845 Jul 4, Texas Congress voted
for annexation to US. [see Jun 23, 1845]
(Maggio, 98)
1848 Jul 4, The Communist
Manifesto was published.
(IB, 12/7/98)
1848 Jul 4, The Cornerstone of the
Washington Monument in Washington, D.C. was laid by President Polk.
Each state of the union was invited to donate a memorial stone. The
white marble obelisk, which is 555 feet tall and 55 fee square at the
base, was not completed until 1884. The public was admitted to the
monument on October 9, 1888. Architect Robert Mills (1781-1855)
designed the monument.
(ON, 3/00, p.9)(WSJ, 2/16/08, p.W18)
1848 Jul 4,
Vicomte Francois-Rene de Chateaubriand (b.1768), French writer and
statesman, 79, died in Paris.
(WUD, 1994, p.250)
1850 Jul 4, President Zachary
Taylor stood hatless in the sun for hours listening to long-winded
speeches. He returned to the White House and attempted to cool off by
eating cherries, cucumbers and drinking iced milk. Severe stomach
cramps followed and it is likely that Taylor's own physicians
inadvertently killed him with a whole series of debilitating
treatments. Taylor died July 9.
(HN, 7/11/99)
1852 Jul 4, Frederick Douglass
delivered the keynote speech for the Independence Day celebration in
Rochester, NY. In 2006 James A. Colaiaco authored Frederick Douglass
and the Fourth of July.”
(WSJ, 7/1/06, p.P6)
1855 Jul 4, One of America's
greatest poets -- Walt Whitman -- published the first edition of his
famous "Leaves of Grass", a collection of 12 poems. Whitman published
the edition himself and had about 1,000 copies printed. He later
recalled about the publication, "I don't think one copy was sold, not a
copy." The book was published in Philadelphia after the Boston district
attorney cited 22 passages as violating a state law against obscenity.
(IB, 12/7/98)(SFC, 3/3/99, Z1 p.9)
1861 Jul 4, In a special session
of 27th Congress Lincoln requested 400,000 troops.
(Maggio, 98)
1861 Jul 4, Union and Confederate
forces skirmished at Harpers Ferry, West Virginia.
(HN, 7/4/98)
1862 Jul 4, Charles Dodgson, an
Oxford mathematician whose penname of Lewis Carroll would make him
world famous, told little Alice Liddell on a boat trip the fairy tale
he had dreamed up for her called "Alice's Adventures Underground." He
later wrote it out for her and it became the classic children's tale,
"Alice in Wonderland."
(IB, 12/7/98)
1862 Jul 4, Battle at Green River,
Ky. (Morgan's Ohio Raid).
(Maggio, 98)
1862 Jul 4, Battle of Port Royal,
SC. (Port Royal Ferry). [see Jun 6, 1862]
(Maggio, 98)
1863 Jul 4, Boise, Idaho, was
founded.
(Maggio, 98)
1863 Jul 4, General U.S. Grant's
Union army captured the Confederate town of Vicksburg, Miss., after a
long siege during the Civil War. In 2009 Winston Groom authored
“Vicksburg 1863.”
(HN, 7/4/98)(IB, 12/7/98)(Econ, 4/4/09, p.88)
1863 Jul 4, General Lee’s army
limped toward Virginia after defeat at Gettysburg. 28,063 of 75,000
confederate soldiers were lost. General Meade’s army suffered 23,049
soldiers killed, wounded and missing.
(SFC, 7/7/96, T6)
1863 Jul 4, Paul Joseph Revere, US
grandson of Paul Revere, Union brig-gen, died from wounds at Gettysburg.
(MC, 7/4/02)
1863 Jul 4, Failed Confederate
assault on Helena, Arkansas, left 640 casualties.
(Maggio, 98)
1863 Jul 4, Skirmish at Smithburg,
TN.
(Maggio, 98)
1864 Jul 4-9, Battle at
Chattahoochee River, Georgia.
(MC, 7/4/02)
1865 Jul 4, 1st edition of "Alice
in Wonderland" was published. English mathematician Charles Lutwidge
Dodgson is best known for writing the children’s book Alice’s
Adventures in Wonderland under the pen name Lewis Carroll. Born in
1832, also a skilled portrait photographer, Dodgson pioneered in the
art of photographing children.
(SFEM, 11/24/96, p.59)(HNQ, 6/12/98)(Maggio,
98)
1866 Jul 4, Firecracker thrown in
wood started a fire that destroyed Portland, Me.
(Maggio, 98)
1868 Jul 4, In Japan the last
Tokugawa armies were defeated at the Battle at Ueno.
(Maggio, 98)
1872 Jul 4, John Calvin Coolidge
(d.1933) 30th President of the United States (1923-29), was born in
Plymouth, Vermont. Calvin Coolidge, also known as ‘Silent Cal,’ was a
Republican; Vice President from 1921-23 and succeeded to the Presidency
on the death of Warren Harding in 1923; elected President in 1924 and
served a full term. He was especially known for his economy of
language. A lady dinner companion during his presidency told him she
had a bet she could get him to say more than two words; he replied:
"You lose." "Little progress can be made by merely attempting to
repress what is evil. Our great hope lies in developing what is good."
(AP, 7/4/97)(HN, 7/4/98)(IB, Internet, 12/7/98)(AP,
12/26/99)
1874 Jul 4, Social Democratic
Workmen's Party of North America was formed.
(Maggio, 98)
1875 Jul 4, White Democrats killed
several blacks in terrorist attacks in Vicksburg, Miss.
(Maggio, 98)
1876 Jul 4, 1st public exhibition
of electric light in SF.
(Maggio, 98)
1876 Jul 4, Batholdi visited
Bedloe Island, future home of his Statue of Liberty.
(Maggio, 98)
1879 Jul 4, Afrikaner Union was
formed by Rev SJ du Toit at Cape colony.
(Maggio, 98)
1879 Jul 4, Battle at Rorkes
Drift: Britain ended attack on Zulus.
(Maggio, 98)
1881 Jul 4, In Alabama Tuskegee
Institute enrolled 30 students. It was founded by former slave Booker
T. Washington as a "normal" school and industrial institute where
"colored" people with little or no formal schooling could be trained as
teachers and skilled workers.
(NH, 2/97, p.82)(WSJ, 2/24/98, p.A22)(IB, Internet,
12/7/98)
1881 Jul 4, Billy the Kid was shot
dead in New Mexico. [see Jul 14]
(HN, 7/4/98)
1882 Jul 4, Telegraph Hill
Observatory opened in SF.
(Maggio, 98)
1883 Jul 4, Alan Brooke, English
general, was born.
(MC, 7/4/02)
1883 Jul 4, Rube Goldberg (Ruben
Lucius Goldberg, 1883-1970) cartoonist, was born in San Francisco. He
was known for cartoons featuring absurdly complicated mechanical
devices to accomplish absurdly simple tasks.
(WUD, 1994, p.607)(SFEC, 4/5/98, p.A28)(IB,
Internet, 12/7/98)
1883 Jul 4, Maximilian Oseyevich
Shteynberg, composer, was born.
(MC, 7/4/02)
1883 Jul 4, One of the first Wild
West shows was performed in North Platte, Nebraska, and was organized
by Buffalo Bill (William F. Cody), who took the show on the road the
following year.
(IB, 12/7/98)
1884 Jul 4, 1st US bullfight was
held in Dodge City, Ka.
(Maggio, 98)
1884 Jul 4, The Statue of Liberty
was presented to the United States in ceremonies at Paris, France. The
225-ton, 152-foot statue was a gift from France in commemoration of 100
years of American independence. Created by the French sculptor Frederic
Auguste Bartholdi, the statue was installed on Bedloe Island (now
Liberty Island) in New York harbor in 1885. It was dedicated on October
28, 1886.
(IB, 12/7/98)
1886 Jul 4, The 1st scheduled
Canadian transcontinental passenger train (CPR) reached Pt. Moody, BC.
It had left Montreal on June 28.
(ON, 11/07, p.12)
1888 Jul 4, Many believe that the
first rodeo in America was held in Prescott, Arizona, on this day.
Before this, informal competitions were frequently held among ranch
hands from a single ranch or from neighboring spreads, but they were
not full-scale rodeos. The Prescott event went on to become an annual
contest.
(IB, 12/7/98)
1889 Jul 4, Washington state
constitutional convention held 1st meeting.
(Maggio, 98)
1892 Jul 4, The Omaha Platform was
adopted at the formative convention of the Populist (or People's) Party
held in Omaha, Nebraska. The People's party, more commonly known as the
Populist party, was organized in St. Louis to represent the common
folk, especially farmers, against the entrenched interests of
railroads, bankers, processors, corporations, and the politicians in
league with such interests. At its first national convention in Omaha
in July 1892, the party nominated James K. Weaver for president and
ratified the so-called Omaha Platform, drafted by Ignatius Donnelly of
Minnesota.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Omaha_Platform)
1892 Jul 4, James Keir Hardie was
1st socialist chosen in British Lower house.
(Maggio, 98)
1893 Jul 4, A. Borrelly discovered
asteroid #369 Aeria.
(Maggio, 98)
1894 Jul 4, The Provisional
Government under Judge Stanford B. Dole declared Hawaii a republic.
(HN, 7/4/98)(ON, 11/02, p.7)
1894 Jul 4, Elwood Haynes
successfully tested one of 1st US autos at 6 MPH.
(Maggio, 98)
1895 Jul 4, The words to "America
the Beautiful" appeared for the first time in "The Congregationalist",
a Boston magazine; the author was Katherine Lee Bates (1819-1910), a
Wellesley professor, who penned it in 1893. It has often been suggested
that this song be adopted as the national anthem of the US since it is
easier to sing than the "The Star Spangled Banner." In 1904 Clarence
Barbour adapted it to the melody of Samuel Ward’s “Materna” (1890).
Bates’ final version was completed in 1911. In 2001 Lynn Sherr authored
"America the Beautiful."
(WSJ, 9/28/01, p.W13)(SSFC, 10/21/01, Par p.8)(AH,
10/04, p.26)
1898 Jul 4, Gertrude Lawrence,
English actress, was born.
(HN, 7/4/01)
1898 Jul 4, A US flag was hoisted
over Wake Island during the Spanish-American War.
(Maggio, 98)
1898 Jul 4, The French liner "La
Bourgogne" collided with bark Cromartyshire, and 560 people died.
(Maggio, 98)
1901 Jul 4, William H. Taft, later
the 27th president of the United States, became the American
territorial governor of the Philippines. Taft soon appointed Prof.
Bernard Moses secretary of public instruction for the Philippines.
Taft, who had been solicitor general of the U.S. under President
Benjamin Harrison, was a federal circuit court judge when President
William McKinley appointed him to serve as president of the U.S.
Philippines Commission in 1900-01. Later in 1901, President Theodore
Roosevelt named Taft the first civil governor of the Philippines
Islands, a post he held for four years. Roosevelt named Taft secretary
of war in 1904. A Republican, Taft was president from 1909 to 1913 and
Supreme Court Chief Justice from 1921 to 1930. He was born in 1857 and
died on March 8, 1930, shortly after his resignation from the court.
(HN, 7/4/98)(SFEM, 1/30/00, p.13)(HNQ, 2/18/00)
1902 Jul 4, Meyer Lansky (d.1983),
mobster (Started numbers), was born.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meyer_Lansky)
1902 Jul 4, Pres. Roosevelt
officially ended the Philippine-American War. Estimates for the
civilian people killed ranged from 250,000 to 1 million. Creighton
Miller in 1982 published "Benevolent Assimilation," a comprehensive
account of the conflict.
(SFEC, 1/31/99, Z1 p.1,4)(WSJ, 11/19/97, p.A6)(PC,
1992, p.642)
1903 Jul 4, Pacific Cable (SF,
Hawaii, Guam, Philippines) opened. Pres. Theodore Roosevelt opened the
first Pacific communications cable by sending a message around the
world. Roosevelt sent a message around the world, and the message came
back to him in 12 minutes. [see Jul 3]
(Maggio, 98)(HNQ, 7/6/01)
1905 Jul 4, Lionel Trilling
(d.1975), literary critic and educator, was born. His work included
"The Liberal Imagination" and "Sincerity and Authenticity." He wrote
the 1947 novel "Middle of the Journey."
(WSJ, 6/4/99, p.W15)(HN, 7/4/01)
1906 Jul 4, Great Britain, France
& Italy granted independence to Ethiopia.
(Maggio, 98)
1910 Jul 4, African-American Jack
Johnson knocked out Jim Jeffries in the 15th round of a heavyweight
boxing match in Reno, Nevada. As Johnson entered the ring a band played
“All Coons Look Alike to Me.” Johnson’s victory prompted race riots in
major cities across the United States leaving as many as 26 people
dead. Jack London covered the match and coined the phrase "The great
white hope" in his story.
(SFEC, 10/3/99, p.B10)(Econ, 6/21/08, p.104)(ON,
4/09, p.7)
1910 Jul 4, Melville W. Fuller
(b.1833), US Supreme Court Chief Justice (1888-1910), died after
serving over 21 years. He favored limited government, economic liberty,
private property rights, free trade and contractual freedom.
(SFC, 9/6/05,
p.A4)(www.oyez.org/oyez/resource/legal_entity/50/)
1911 Jul 4, 105øF
(41øC) at Vernon, Vermont (state record).
(Maggio, 98)
1911 Jul 4, 106øF
(41øC) at Nashua, New Hampshire (state record).
(Maggio, 98)
1911 Jul 4, Ty Cobb went 0 for 4
& ended a 40 game hit streak. White Sox Ed Walsh stopped Ty Cobb's
40-game hitting streak.
(Maggio, 98)
1912 Jul 4, Detroit Tiger George
Mullen no-hits St Louis Browns, 7-0.
(Maggio, 98)
1912 Jul 4, Jack Johnson TKOd Jim
Flynn in 9 for heavyweight boxing title.
(Maggio, 98)
1914 Jul 4, 1st US motorcycle race
(300 miles, Dodge City Ks).
(Maggio, 98)
1916 Jul 4, Tokyo Rose, (Iva
Toguri D'Aquino), was born in Los Angeles. She did propaganda
broadcasts against the U.S. from Japan during World War II.; imprisoned
after the war, then received presidential pardon in 1977.
(IB, 12/7/98)
1916 Jul 4, Nathan’s Famous Hot
Dogs opened a stand at Brooklyn’s Coney Island and held an eating
contest as a publicity stunt that became an annual event.
(SFC, 7/5/97, p.A3)
1916 Jul 4, Poet Alan Seeger died
in action at Befloy-en-Santerre. He had enlisted into the French
Foreign Legion at the outset of WW I. He wrote the lines: I have a
rendezvous with death / At some disputed barricade..."
(SFEC, 3/16/97, z1 p.2)
1917 Jul 4, During a ceremony in
Paris honoring the French hero of the American Revolution, US Lt. Col.
Charles E. Stanton declared, "Lafayette, we are here!"
(AP, 7/4/97)
1918 Jul 4, Ann Landers and
Abigail Van Buren, twin sisters who became famous columnists, were born
in Sioux City, Iowa, as Esther P. (Landers) and Pauline E. (Abbie)
Friedman. Their "advice" columns are syndicated in more than 1,000
newspapers. Esther Friedman died in 2002 at age 83.
(IB, 12/7/98)(SSFC, 6/23/02, p.A10)
1918 Jul 4, Altar dedicated at
full-scale replica of Stonehenge at Maryhill, Wa.
(Maggio, 98)
1918 Jul 4, A record 17 war
vessels were launched the Bay Area. The steamer "Defiance" was
sponsored by Mrs. Charles Schwab.
(SFEC, 12/26/99, p.W5)
1918 Jul 4, Taufa’ahau Tupou IV,
king of Tonga (1965-2006), was born.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taufa'ahau_Tupou_IV)(WSJ, 9/11/06, p.A1)
1919 Jul 4, Jack Dempsey, the
"Manassa Mauler", defeated Jess Willard by a knockout in Toledo, Ohio,
after three rounds to become the World's Heavyweight Boxing Champion.
(IB, 12/7/98)
1919 Jul 4, Max Wolf discovered
asteroid #914 Palisana.
(Maggio, 98)
1919 Jul 4, The ADGB (Allgemeine
Deutsche Gewerkschaftsbund) party was formed.
(Maggio, 98)
1920 Jul 4, Leona Helmsley, (wife
of Harry), real estate billionaire, tax cheat, was born.
(MC, 7/4/02)
1923 Jul 4, Jack Dempsey beat
Tommy Gibbon in 15 for the heavyweight boxing title.
(Maggio, 98)
1924 Jul 4, The first San Mateo
County park opened as San Mateo County Memorial Park in a 450-acre
Redwood grove 6 miles east of Pescadero. It was dedicated to the memory
of 52 area soldier who had died in WW I.
(DRC, 6/5/99, p.1)
1925 Jul 4, 44 died when Dreyfus
Hotel in Boston collapsed.
(Maggio, 98)
1926 Jul 4, The NSDAP (Nazi) party
formed in Weimar.
(Maggio, 98)
1927 Jul 4, Neil Simon, (Marvin
Neil Simon) American playwright, was born in New York City. His many
hit plays include "Barefoot in the Park", "The Odd Couple", "Sweet
Charity", "The Sunshine Boys", "Prisoner of Second Avenue", "Biloxi
Blues" and "Lost in Yonkers" for which he was awarded a Pulitzer Prize
in 1991.
(HN, 7/4/98)(IB, 12/7/98)
1927 Jul 4, Ir Sukarno formed PNI
(Perserikatan Nasional Indonesia) in Batavia.
(Maggio, 98)
1928 Jul 4, Cathy Berberian, US
singer, was born in Armenia.
(MC, 7/4/02)
1928 Jul 4, Stephen Boyd, [William
Millar], actor (Fantastic Voyage, Ben-Hur), was born in Ireland.
(MC, 7/4/02)
1928 Jul 4, Jean Lussier became
the first person to go over the Niagara Falls in a rubber ball. He went
over Horseshoe Falls in the padded ball, which he had built complete
with oxygen tanks and which weighed 750 pounds.
(IB, 12/7/98)
1929 Jul 4, Al Davis, NFL team
owner (LA & Oakland Raiders), was born in Brocton, Mass.
(SFC, 1/22/03, p.A10)(MC, 7/4/02)
1930 Jul 4, George Steinbrenner,
(George Michael Steinbrenner, III) businessman and baseball executive,
was born in Rocky River, Ohio. He became the principal owner of the New
York Yankees baseball team (1973-90); ordered by the Commissioner of
Baseball to give up active management of the Yankee franchise for
alleged association with gamblers; he is now back in control; known for
firing one Yankee manager after another.
(IB, 12/7/98)
1931 Jul 4, 1st fireworks were
held at Cleveland Stadium.
(Maggio, 98)
1931 Jul 4, 1st trailside museum
opened in Cleveland Metroparks.
(Maggio, 98)
1931 Jul 4, Novelist James Joyce
(22) married Nora Barnacle (20) in London. They legalized their 26-year
common-law marriage at the Kensington Registry Office in London.
(SFEM, 1/25/98, p.69)
1933 Jul 4, Work began on Oakland
Bay Bridge, Ca.
(Maggio, 98)
1934 Jul
4, Boxer Joe Louis won his first professional fight, knocking out Jack
Kracken in the first round in Chicago. He won 12 fights that year, all
in Chicago, 10 by knockout.
(HN,
7/4/98)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Louis#Early_life_and_career)
1934 Jul 4, Jordanians revolted in
Amsterdam after reduction in employment.
(Maggio, 98)
1934 Jul 4, "Madame" Marie
Curie-Sklodovska, Polish-born French chemist and Nobel Prize winner,
died in Paris of leukemia caused by her long exposure to radiation. In
1937 Eve Curie authored "Madame Curie, a Biography." In 2004 Barbara
Goldsmith authored “Obsessive Genius: The Inner World of Marie Curie.”
(ON, 3/00,
p.2)(http://myhero.com/myhero/hero.asp?hero=madameCurie)(SSFC, 12/5/04,
p.E2)
1936 Jul 4, The League Council
voted to end economic sanctions against Italy with the collapse of
Ethiopia. The cancellation of economic sanctions against an aggressor
state marked the failure of collective security under the League and
was a harbinger of conflict in the upcoming years.
(http://www.indiana.edu/~league/1936.htm)
1938 Jul 4, 1st game at Shribe
Park, Phil; Braves beat Phillies 10-5.
(Maggio, 98)
1938 Jul 4, France-Turkish
friendship treaty.
(Maggio, 98)
1939 Jul 4, Baseball's "Iron
Horse," Lou Gehrig (1904-1941), said farewell to 61,808 fans honoring
him with a special day at New York City's Yankee Stadium. He was
suffering from A.L.S. (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis), a
neurodegenerative disorder that destroys the body's neuromuscular
system. Many now call it Lou Gehrig's disease. He did less than two
years later at the age of 37.
(SFEC, 3/30/97, Par. p.2)(AP, 7/4/97)(IB, 12/7/98)
1940 Jul 4, British destroyed
French battle fleet at Oran, Algeria, 1267 died.
(Maggio, 98)
1941 Jul 4, Howard Florey &
Norman Heatley meet for 1st time, 11 days later they successfully
recreated penicillin.
(MC, 7/4/02)
1941 Jul 4, Latvia partisans shot
416 Jews dead.
(Maggio, 98)
1941 Jul 4, Politburo of Yugoslav
communist party reorganized.
(Maggio, 98)
1942 Jul 4, Irving Berlin’s
musical review "This Is the Army" opened at the Broadway Theater in New
York.
(AP, 7/4/00)
1942 Jul 4, Allied convoy PQ-17
scattered when its escort ships were withdrawn, leaving the convoy to
face German U-boats alone.
(HN, 7/4/98)
1942 Jul 4, 1st American bombing
mission over enemy-occupied Europe (WW II). US air offensive against
Nazi-Germany began.
(Maggio, 98)
1943 Jul 4, Geraldo Rivera, TV
talkshow host, was born in New York City. He became known for his
non-conformity in the subjects he approached.
(IB, 12/7/98)
1943 Jul 4, A Liberator II
aircraft carrying Gen. Wladyslaw Sikorski, Poland’s prime minister and
chief army commander, crashed into the sea just 16 seconds after taking
off from Gibraltar. In 2008 Poland began an investigation into the
crash.
(AP, 9/3/08)
1944 Jul 4, Stanley Hiller Jr.
(1925-2006) flew his XH-44 helicopter free from its tether for the 1st
time in the stadium of UC Berkeley. A public demonstration took place
in SF on Aug. 30, 1944.
(SSFC, 4/23/06,
p.B7)(www.helis.com/timeline/hiller.php)
1944 Jul 4, 1,100 US guns fired
4th of July salute at German lines in Normandy.
(Maggio, 98)
1944 Jul 4, Allied assault on
Carpiquet airport at Caen.
(Maggio, 98)
1944 Jul 4, Gestapo arrested
German Social Democrat Julius Leber.
(Maggio, 98)
1944 Jul 4, The Japanese made
their first kamikaze (god wind) attack on a US fleet near Iwo Jima.
There is little evidence that these hits were more than accidental
collisions or last-minute decisions by pilots in doomed aircraft, of
the kind likely to happen in intense sea-air battles [see Oct 21].
(Maggio)(WSJ, 9/10/02,
p.D8)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kamikaze)
1946 Jul 4, Ron Kovic, disabled
Vietnam veteran, author (Born on 4th of July), was born.
(MC, 7/4/02)
1946 Jul 4, Michael Milken,
partner (Intl Capital Access Group), was born in LA, Calif.
(MC, 7/4/02)
1946 Jul 4, The Philippines became
independent of U.S. sovereignty. The Philippines, which officially
became a territory of the United States in 1902, gained its
independence. In 1932 a movement to implement Philippine independence
began to grow. The Tydings-McDuffie Act of 1934, providing for
independence after 12 years, was unanimously accepted and a Philippine
constitution approved by President Roosevelt in February 1935. Manuel
Quezon was elected the first president of the Philippines on September
17, 1935. In 1937 a Joint Preparatory Commission on Philippine Affairs
was established by Roosevelt to recommend a program for economic
adjustment. The Republic of the Philippines was inaugurated.
(SFC, 3/31/97, p.A14)(AP, 7/4/97)(HNQ, 11/9/99)
1946 July 4, A postwar pogrom in
Kielce, Poland, left 42 people, mostly Jews, dead and 50 wounded. Army
and security officers took part in the attack that was sparked by the
false story of Walenty Blaszcyk that his son had been kidnapped by
Jews. The event is considered as Europe’s last pogrom. In 2001 Jan
Tomascz Gross authored “Neighbors,” the story of the Kielce Jews, who
were herded into a barn that was set alight.
(WSJ, 3/20/96, p.A-14)(SFC,10/17/97, p.D3)(Econ,
2/2/08, p.59)
1947 Jul 4, "Wino Willie" Forkner
(d.1997) led his South Central LA Boozefighters motorcyclists to
Hollister for a weekend of beer-drenched fun. They were all veterans of
WW II. He was said to have been the model for Marlon Brando in the film
"The Wild One." 3,000 motorcyclists spilled over into Hollister from a
nearby racetrack. [see Jul 7]
(SFC, 6/26/97, p.A17)(SFEC, 6/29/97, p.A1)
1949 Jul 4, Joyce Brothers,
psychologist, author, columnist, was born.
(MC, 7/4/02)
1951 Jul 4, The "Capital Times" in
Madison, Wisconsin, reported that one of its reporters was turned down
by 99 out of 100 people he asked to sign a petition made up of
quotations from the Declaration of Independence and the Bill of Rights.
Many said the petition was subversive.
(IB, 12/7/98)
1953 Jul 4, Today the song "I’m
Walking Behind You" by Eddie Fisher topped the charts and stayed there
for 7 weeks.
(DataDragon)
1953 Jul 4, Imre Nagy succeeded
Matyas Rkosi as premier of Hungary.
(Maggio, 98)
1954 Jul 4, WMSL (WYUR, now WAFF)
TV channel 48 in Huntsville, AL (ABC) began.
(Maggio, 98)
1954 Jul 4, West Germany beat
Hungary 3-2 to win the 5th World Cup soccer match in Bern, Switz.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1954_World_Cup)
1954 Jul 4, Marilyn Sheppard (31
and pregnant) was killed at her home near Cleveland and her husband,
Dr. Sam Sheppard (d.1970), was later accused, tried and jailed for the
murder. Sam was released from jail in 1964. His story inspired the TV
series "The Fugitive" and a film in 1993. DNA evidence in 1997
indicated a third person was involved. Cleveland’s chief prosecutor
ruled in 1998 that the DNA samples were too old. A civil trial in
Cleveland in 2000 rejected the claim of Sam Reese Sheppard that his
father was innocent.
(SFC, 2/5/97, p.A6)(SFC, 3/5/98, p.A3)(SFC, 3/6/98,
p.A3)(SFC, 4/13/00, p.A2)
1956 Jul 4, Independence National
Historical Park formed in Philadelphia.
(Maggio, 98)
1956 Jul 4, US most intense rain
fall (1.23" in 1 minute) at Unionville Maryland.
(Maggio, 98)
1957 Jul 4, Dutch 2nd Chamber
accepted temporary tax increase.
(Maggio, 98)
1959 Jul 4, A 49-star flag was
raised for the first time at the Capitol in Washington, D.C., in honor
of Alaska which had become the 49th state in the Union on July 7, 1958.
(IB, 12/7/98)
1959 Jul 4, Cayman Islands
separated from Jamaica, made a crown colony.
(Maggio, 98)
1960 Jul 4, The 50-star flag made
its debut in Philadelphia. A 50th star was added to the American flag
in honor of Hawaii's admission into the Union on August 21, 1959.
(HN, 7/4/98)(IB, 12/7/98)
1962 Jul 4, Island Records began.
(Maggio, 98)
1962 Jul 4, KIKU (now KHNL) TV
channel 13 in Honolulu, HI (IND) 1st broadcast.
(Maggio, 98)
1963 Jul 4, Naturalization
ceremonies began to be held annually at Monticello, Virginia.
(SFC, 7/5/97, p.A3)
1964 Jul 4, The song
"I Get Around" by the Beach Boys topped the charts and stayed there for
2 weeks. Sales went on to exceed a million records.
(DataDragon)(Maggio, 98)(SFEC, 2/8/98, p.D8)
1966 Jul 4, President Johnson
signed the Freedom of Information Act, which went into effect the
following year.
(AP, 7/4/97)
1966 Jul 4, Beatles were attacked
in Philippines after insulting Imelda Marcos.
(Maggio, 98)
1967 Jul 4, The Freedom of
Information Act became official, making government information more
readily available. To withhold information, the government must prove
its need to be classified.
(IB, 12/7/98)
1968 Jul 4, Arthur Kopit's
"Indians," premiered in London.
(www.enotes.com/indians)
1968 Jul 4, The radio astronomy
satellite Explorer 38 launched.
(www.n2yo.com/satellite/?s=28608)
1969 Jul 4, "Give Peace a Chance"
by Plastic Ono Band was released in UK.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Give_Peace_a_Chance)
1969 Jul 4, Some 140,000 attended
the Atlanta Pop Festival featuring Led Zeppelin & Janis Joplin.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atlanta_International_Pop_Festival_(1969))
1969 Jul 4, In San Francisco Jim
(d.2007) and Artie Mitchell (d.1991) opened the Mitchell Brothers
O’Farrell Theater at O’Farrell and Polk.
(SFC, 10/3/97, p.A15)(SFC, 7/14/07, p.A7)
1969 Jul 4, The California Zodiac
killer shot and killed a waitress in Vallejo.
(SFEC, 3/1/98, p.W20)
1969 Jul 4, The Italian coalition
government under Mariano Rumor (1915-1990) fell apart.
(www.speedylook.com/Mariano_Rumor.html)
1969 Jul 4, The USSR performed
nuclear test at Eastern Kazakh/Semipalitinsk USSR.
{Russia, USSR, Nuclear, Kazakhstan}
(www.ldeo.columbia.edu/res/pi/Monitoring/Arch/sts-table/sts-table.html)
1970 Jul 4, Some 100 people were
injured in race rioting in Asbury Park, NJ. In 2005 Daniel Wolff
authored “Fourth of July, Asbury Park: A History of the Promised Land.”
(SSFC, 7/3/05, p.E1)
1970 Jul 4, Casey Kasem (b.1932)
debuted his "American Top 40" on LA radio.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Casey_Kasem)
1970 Jul 4, Barnett Newman
(b.1905), American artist of the abstract expressionist movement, died.
His "zips" consisted of fields of flat color punctuated by vertical
stripes.
(SFC,11/22/97, p.D5)(SFC, 3/30/02, p.D1)(NW,
4/22/02, p.66)
1971 Jul 4, Koko, a female lowland
gorilla who learned American sign language, was born.
(AP, 8/9/04)(www.koko.org)
1971 Jul 4, A July 4th concert on
the West Lawn of the White House was held and began an annual tradition.
(SSFC, 6/30/02, Par p.30)
1971 Jul 4, France performed a
nuclear test at Muruora Island.
(www.atomicforum.org/france/1971.html)
1973 Jul 4, Alan Ayckbourne's
"Absurd Person Singular," premiered in London.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Absurd_Person_Singular)
1973 Jul 4, Eleanor F. Helin,
American astronomer, discovered asteroid #5496.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_asteroids/5401%E2%80%935500)
1973 Jul 4, The Treaty of
Chaguaramas was signed in Trinidad and established the Caribbean
Community CARICOM - Caribbean Community & Common Market.
(www.axses.com/encyc/caricom/nt/faqs.cfm)
1973 Jul 4, Leonid Stein (b.1934),
Soviet Grandmaster chess player from the Ukraine, died of a heart
attack.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonid_Stein)
1975 Jul 4, Nancy Baird (23), a
Bundy victim, disappeared from a convenience store where she worked in
Layton, Utah.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ted_Bundy)
1976 Jul 4, The nation held a
200th anniversary party across the land in celebration of America's 200
years of independence. President Ford made stops in Valley Forge,
Pennsylvania, Independence Hall in Philadelphia, and New York, where
more than 200 ships paraded up the Hudson River in Operation Sail.
(TMC, 1994, p.1976)(IB, 12/7/98)(AP, 7/4/01)
1976 Jul 4, The National Museum of
American Jewish History opened in Philadelphia. It was established to
tell the story of the American Jewish experience.
(SFC, 7/3/08,
p.E15)(www.ushistory.org/tour/tour_jewish.htm)
1976 Jul 4, A government program
was begun in 1937 to provide American flags, certified to have flown
over the capital, to the public. Each flag was provided a certificate
with the date it was flown and the name of the person for whom it was
flown. By 1998 the program average 250-300 flags per day with a peak of
10,471 flown on July 4, 1976, and a record of 154,224 flown in 1991.
(SFC, 7/4/98, p.C2)
1976 Jul 4, The Ramones, a US punk
rock group managed by Danny Fields and Linda Stein (1945-2007), held a
concert in England that sparked the young British punk scene.
(SFC, 11/2/07, p.E2)
1976 Jul 4, Jonathan Netanyahu,
brother of Benjamin, led and was killed in an Israeli raid called
Operation Thunderball that rescued the [105] hostages held at Entebbe
Airport in Uganda. The raid was by Sayeret Matkal, Israel’s elite
counter-terrorist unit led by Muki Betser, and it freed all but 3 of
the 104 Israeli and Jewish hostages and crew of an Air France jetliner
seized by pro-Palestinian hijackers. A total of 45 Ugandan soldiers
were killed during the raid. The events are described by Muki Betser
and Robert Rosenberg in "Secret Soldier, The True Life of Israel’s
Greatest Commando." The hijacking was linked to Carlos the Jackal, aka
Ilich Ramirez Sanchez.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Entebbe)(AP,
7/4/97)(SFC,12/11/97, p.C2)
1978
Jul 4, Memphis fire fighters halted 3-day strike
under a court order. At least 350 fires were reported during the
strike. The city police director charged that the strikers set almost
all of the fires, which broke out mostly in abandoned buildings.
(http://tinyurl.com/34xkkk)
1978 Jul 4, L.I. Chernykh
(b.1935), Russian astronomer, discovered asteroids #3332, #6110 &
#7730.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lyudmila_Chernykh)
1979 Jul 4, Algerian ex-president
Ben Bella (b.1918) was freed after 14 years of detention, but remained
under house arrest. He had served as prime minister from 1962-63, and
as president from 1963-65. Bella was freed on Oct 20, 1980.
(http://www.rulers.org/indexb2.html)(www.cnn.com/almanac/9807/04/)
1982 Jul 4, The space shuttle
Columbia 4 concluded its fourth and final test flight with a landing at
Edwards AFB.
(http://science.ksc.nasa.gov/shuttle/missions/sts-4/mission-sts-4.html)(AP,
7/4/02)
1982 Jul 4, Antonio Guzman
(b.1911), president of the Dominican Rep., committed suicide by a
gunshot wound to his head while still in office.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antonio_Guzm%C3%A1n_Fern%C3%A1ndez)
1982 Jul 4, Four Iranians, charge
d'affaires Mohsen Musavi, diplomat Ahmad Motovasselian, photographer
Kazem Akhavan and driver Mohammad Taqi Rastgar Moghaddam, were seized
at a Lebanese Forces checkpoint north of Beirut. In 2006 Samir Geagea,
former head of the disbanded Lebanese Forces, said that they were
killed by Christian militiamen.
(AP, 5/19/06)
1982 Jul 4, Miguel de la Madrid
Hurtado (b.1934) was elected president of Mexico. Madrid was chosen by
Pres. Portillo as his successor. De la Madrid took office in a year
when inflation had surpassed 100 percent and Mexico had a foreign debt
of $87 billion, much of it short-term.
(SFC, 11/28/98,
p.C2)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miguel_de_la_Madrid)(AP, 3/9/04)
1982 Jul 4, USSR performed nuclear
test at Eastern Kazakh/Semipalitinsk USSR.
(www.iss.niiit.ru/ksenia/catal_nt/3_9.htm)
1984 Jul 4, The NY Yankee Phil
Niekro became the 9th pitcher to strikeout 3,000 batters.
(www.thebaseballpage.com/players/niekrph01.php)
1986 Jul 4, Liberty Weekend was
capped with a spectacular fireworks display that lighted up New York
Harbor.
(AP, 7/4/06)
1986 Jul 4, E F Helin discovered
asteroid #3855 Pasasymphonia.
(http://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sbdb.cgi?sstr=3855)
1987 Jul 4, Bill Graham took
Santana, the Doobie Brothers and Bonny Rait to Moscow for an
American-Soviet peace concert.
(SFC,12/13/97, p.A15)
1987 Jul 4, Martina Navratilova
won her eighth Wimbledon singles title as she defeated Steffi Graf.
(AP, 7/4/97)
1987 Jul 4, Klaus Barbie, the
former Gestapo chief known as the "Butcher of Lyon," was convicted by a
French court of crimes against humanity and sentenced to life in
prison; he died in September 1991.
(AP, 7/4/97)
1989 Jul 4, Drew Barrymore
(b.1975), actress, attempted suicide.
(www.worldofquotes.com/history/7_4/9/index.html)
1989 Jul 4, Unmanned Russian
Mig-23 crashed in Bellegem-Kooigem, Belgium, and 1 person died. The
pilot had ejected over Poland.
(http://tinyurl.com/ftljd)
1989 Jul 4, Soviet President
Mikhail S. Gorbachev arrived in France for a three-day visit that
included an address to the Council of Europe in Strasbourg.
(AP, 7/4/99)
1990 Jul 4, Rioting that left
three people dead erupted in 30 English towns following England’s loss
to West Germany in World Cup soccer.
(AP, 7/4/00)
1990 Jul 4, France performed
nuclear test at Muruora Island.
(www.seismo.ethz.ch/bsv/nuclear_explosions/undergr/france.html)
1991 Jul 4, Americans celebrated
Independence Day, with the Persian Gulf War adding to emotions.
President Bush and his wife, Barbara, attended festivities in
Marshfield, Missouri, and Grand Rapids, Michigan, before returning to
Washington DC for the annual fireworks display.
(AP, 7/4/01)
1992 Jul 4, The song "Baby Got
Back" by Sir Mix-A-Lot topped the charts and stayed there for 5 weeks.
(DataDragon)
1992 Jul 4, Steffi Graf won her
fourth Wimbledon title, defeating Monica Seles in a 5 1/2-hour match
interrupted three times by rain.
(AP, 7/4/97)
1993 Jul 4, Pilar Fort was crowned
25th Miss Black America.
(Maggio, 98)
1993 Jul 4, Pete Sampras won the
men's title at Wimbledon, defeating fellow American Jim Courier.
(AP, 7/4/03)
1993 Jul 4, South African leaders
F.W. de Klerk and Nelson Mandela received the Liberty Medal in a
ceremony outside Philadelphia's Independence Hall.
(AP, 7/4/03)
1993 Jul 4, Pizza Hut blimp
deflated & landed safely on W 56th street in NYC.
(Maggio, 98)
1994 Jul 4, The United States
opened its embassy in Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina, with a Fourth of
July party.
(AP, 7/4/99)
1994 Jul 4, E F Helin discovered
asteroid #6875.
(Maggio, 98)
1994 Jul 4, Russian manned space
craft TM-18, landed.
(Maggio, 98)
1994 Jul 4, Rwandan Tutsi rebels
seized control of most of their country's capital, Kigali, and
continued advancing on areas held by the Hutu-led government.
(AP, 7/4/99)(Maggio, 98)
1995 Jul 4, The space shuttle
"Atlantis" and the Russian space station "Mir" parted after spending
five days in orbit docked together.
(AP, 7/4/00)
1995 Jul
4, Actress Eva Gabor (b.1919), Hungarian-born actress, died in Los
Angeles, Ca., of respiratory failure due to complications of food
poisoning.
(http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001247/)
1995 Jul 4, British Prime Minister
John Major won re-election as Conservative Party leader.
(AP, 7/4/00)
1995 Jul 4, President Boris
Yeltsin announced that Russian troops would be permanently stationed in
Chechnya.
(AP, 7/4/00)
1996 Jul 4, President Clinton
extolled the joys of democracy and asked the nation to honor America's
independence by praising continued free rule in Russia as he spoke
during a jamboree honoring the 200th anniversary of Youngstown, Ohio.
(AP, 7/4/97)
1996 Jul 4, Koko, the first
gorilla to use sign language, turned 25 and asked for a box of scary,
rubber snakes and lizards. Koko was the offspring of Jackie, who was
donated to the SF Zoo by benefactor Carroll Soo-Hoo (d.1998 at 84).
(SFC, 7/4/96, p.A24)(SFC, 7/3/98, p.D6)
1996 Jul 4, The film "Independence
Day," produced and co-written by David Devlin, was released. It passed
$100 mil in revenue in six days beating the Jurassic Park record of 9
days.
(SFC, 7/8/96, p.E4) (SFC, 7/10/96, p.E2)
1996 Jul 4, Hot Mail, a free
internet E-mail service began.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hotmail)
1996 Jul 4, In Burundi
unidentified gunmen killed 80 people in an attack on a tea factory 15
miles northeast of Bujumbura.
(WSJ, 7/5/96, p.A1)
1996 Jul 4, Floods and landslides
in China killed at least 121 people and forced 450,000 from their homes
from Zhejiang on the east coast to Guizhou in the southwest.
(WSJ, 7/5/96, p.A1)
1996 Jul 4, In Panama police
arrested Jaime Revello, a top Columbian drug lord, and seized 4.5 tons
of cocaine.
(SFC, 7/5/96, p.A13)
1996 Jul 4, In Sri Lanka a suicide
bomber killed an army commander and 20 others when she leaped in front
of a motorcade in Jaffna.
(WSJ, 7/5/96, p.A1)
1996 Jul 4, In Switzerland the
defense ministry hoped to save $476,000 a year by pensioning off 7,000
carrier pigeons.
(SFC, 7/4/96, p.C1)
1997 Jul 4, In San Francisco at
the Howard and Karen Rheinstein 6th annual July 4th party, a baby
spilled a glass of red wine on the white wool carpet, just moments
after their carpet-cleaning friend departed. Guests rushed for mineral
water and white soda to scrub out the red droplets.
(EW, 7/4/97)
1997 Jul 4, Bikers returned to
Hollister, Ca., for a 50-year anniversary and began an annual
tradition. [see Jul 4, 1947]
(SFC, 7/4/02, p.A18)
1997 Jul 4, The Mars Pathfinder
landed at 10:07 AM PST on Ares Vallis Mars and began to broadcast
pictures of the red rocky landscape.
(SFC, 7/5/97, p.A1)(Maggio, 98)
1997 Jul 4, TV journalist Charles
Kuralt (b.1934) died at 62 from lupus.
(SFC, 7/5/97, p.A5)
1997 Jul 4, It was reported that
Australia had sold 167 tons of gold over the last 6 months in order to
put the money into more productive assets.
(SFC, 7/4/97, p.C1)
1997 Jul 4, In Cambodia troops of
Prince Ranariddh laid down their arms and some 140 were taken prisoner
by troops of 2nd Prime Minister Hun Sen. Ranariddh was on a trip to
France and Hun Sen claimed that illegal negotiations were taking place
with Khmer Rouge guerrillas.
(SFC, 7/5/97, p.A10)
1997 Jul 4, In Guatemala Pres.
Alvaro Arzu fired 2 top military officials, after they had helped
negotiate a peace treaty. They were known as moderates and the
hard-liner Gen’l. Hector Barrios took over as the new defense chief.
(SFC, 7/5/97, p.A10)
1997 Jul 4, The Hong Kong
Philharmonic premiered the "Symphony 1997 (Heaven Earth Mankind)" by
the composer Tan Dun. The piece was commissioned by China to mark the
reunification of Hong Kong and China.
(WSJ, 6/25/97, p.A20)
1997 Jul 4, In Mexico it was
reported that Amado Carillo Fuentes (41), Mexico’s reputed top drug
trafficker, died following extensive plastic surgery. His operations
were centered in Juarez, across the border from El Paso. He was called
"Lord of the Skies" for using passenger jets to bring in cocaine from
Columbia. It was later reported that his death was an inside job
arranged because a massive manhunt for him had become a liability to
his cartel’s business.
(SFEC, 7/6/97, p.B4)(SFC, 7/7/97, p.A10)(SFC,
2/14/98, p.A9)
1997 Jul 4, In Russia the
parliament passed a law to reassert state control over weapons exports.
(SFC, 7/5/97, p.C2)
1998 Jul 4, In San Francisco at
the home of Howard and Karen Rheinstein, Howard managed to recover in
time from his broken leg, due to a February ski accident, to host his
7th annual July 4th party. He sold his 486-equipped wheel chair, ivory
crutches, and a gold plated cane to cover the expenses.
(EW, 7/4/98)
1998 Jul 4, Jana Novotna of the
Czech Republic won the women's title at Wimbledon, defeating France's
Nathalie Tauziat 6-4, 7-6 (7-2).
(AP, 7/4/99)
1998 Jul 4, In Finland in the
annual Wife Carrying World Championships, 2 Estonian couples won top
honors in the 278 yard course in Sonkajarvi.
(SFEC, 7/5/98, p.A2)
1998 Jul 4, Japan launched its
Planet-B probe to Mars the Planet-B on its M-5 rocket, which is to
begin beaming back photographs and data from the Red Planet in October
1999.
(SFC, 7/4/98, p.A10)(AP, 7/4/99)
1998 Jul 4, In Kosovo fresh
fighting erupted outside Suva Reka, a region with 60,000 residents.
(SFEC, 7/5/98, p.A17)
1998 Jul 4, In Pakistan Zuhair
Akram Nadeem, a former provincial and federal legislator, was shot a
killed by 2 men on motorcycle.
(SFEC, 7/5/98, p.A18)
1998 Jul 4, Aftershocks hit
southern Turkey and some 1000 people were reportedly injured.
(SFEC, 7/5/98, p.A14)
1999 Jul 4, In San Francisco at
the home of Howard and Karen Rheinstein, Brian Weiss (4) learned about
gravity. Shortly thereafter his teacher gave everybody a public
demonstration by spilling red wine over the white carpet. A special
cleaner was quickly fetched to clean the spill.
(EW, 7/4/99)
1999 Jul 4, Pete Sampras and
Lindsay Davenport won the singles titles at Wimbledon, defeating Andre
Agassi and Steffi Graf.
(AP, 7/4/00)
1999 Jul 4, In Bloomington, Ind.,
Benjamin Nathaniel Smith killed Won Joon Moon (26), a Korean-born
Indiana Univ. student. Later the same day he shot himself dead during a
police chase in Salem, Ill. Authorities believe Smith was also
responsible for killing former college basketball coach Ricky Byrdsong
during a three-day rampage targeting minorities.
(SFC, 7/5/99, p.A1,5)(AP, 7/4/00)
1999 Jul 4, A 2,000 pound
tombstone for "Unknown Civilians Killed in Wars" departed from
Sherborn, Mass., on a 450-mile trek to Arlington National Cemetery. It
was impounded by police on August 6 for safekeeping pending approval by
Congress. In the 20th century 62 million civilians died in wars as
compared to 43 million military people.
(SFC, 8/7/99, p.A2)(SFEC, 8/8/99, Z1 p.8)
1999 Jul 4, In Congo Abdulaiye
Yerodia, the foreign minister, objected to the inclusion of foreign
rebels in a joint military commission to verify terms of a cease-fire.
Meanwhile The Congolese Liberation Movement, led by Jena-Pierre Bemba,
took Gbadolite, 750 miles northeast of Kinshasa.
(SFC, 7/5/99, p.A12)
1999 Jul 4, In East Timor
anti-independence fighters fired for the first time on a convoy of
foreign workers and wounded as many as 3.
(SFC, 7/5/99, p.A12)
1999 Jul 4, Pakistani PM Nawaz
Sharif met with Pres. Clinton and announced that it would abandon its
seized positions in Kashmir. Meanwhile India claimed a victory at Tiger
Hill. In 2002 it was revealed that Clinton confronted Sharif with
intelligence reports that the Pakistani military was preparing missiles
with nuclear warheads.
(SFC, 7/5/99, p.A8)(SFC, 5/15/02, p.A11)
1999 Jul 4, In Mexico City
elections for governor were scheduled. Arturo Montiel (55), a PRI
former congressman, faced Jose Luis Duran (38), a PAN mayor of
Naucalpan. PRI candidate Arturo Montiel defeated Jose Luis Duran of the
National Action Party. In Nayarit Antonuio Echeverria, a coalition
candidate, led a victory over the PRI.
(SFC, 7/3/99, p.A12)(SFC, 7/5/99, p.A8)
1999 Jul 4, In Puerto Rico anti US
Navy protests drew some 50,000 people.
(SFC, 7/26/99, p.A3)
1999 Jul 4, In Russia troops were
forced to delay their departure for Kosovo after NATO blocked air
corridors on their route.
(SFC, 7/5/99, p.A1)
1999 Jul 4, In Turkey PKK
guerrillas planted a bomb in an Istanbul park that killed one person
and injured 25.
(SFC, 7/6/99, p.A8)
2000 Jul 4, Pres. Clinton presided
over the largest naval parade in history in Ney York harbor. Tall ships
sailed through New York Harbor during OpSail 2000, celebrating
Independence Day.
(WSJ, 7/5/00, p.A1)(AP, 7/4/01)
2000 Jul 4, In Fiji Laisenia
Qarase was sworn in as prime minister along with a 19-member all-Fijian
temporary government.
(SFC, 7/4/00, p.A9)
2000 Jul 4, In India the Cabinet
rejected a demand for political autonomy by the Kashmir state
legislature.
(SFC, 7/5/00, p.A12)
2000 Jul 4, In Indonesia 10 people
were killed over 2 days of clashes between Christians and Muslims in
the Malukus.
(SFC, 7/5/00, p.A10)
2000 Jul 4, In Northern Ireland
protestors clashed with police in Belfast for a 2nd night due to
restrictions on traditional parades in Catholic areas.
(SFC, 7/5/00, p.A10)
2000 Jul 4, In Mexico
president-elect Vincente Fox promised to fight corruption, to restart
talks with the Zapatista rebels, and to strip the Interior Ministry of
all functions but those involving political relations between the
federal and state governments.
(SFC, 7/5/00, p.A4)
2000 Jul 4, In Sri Lanka the
government reimposed censorship on local media and foreign journalists
reporting on the civil war.
(SFC, 7/5/00, p.A4)
2001 Jul 4, The US
counter-terrorism group run by Richard Clarke sent a memorandum to
Condoleeza Rice, national security advisor, that described a series of
steps that the White House had taken to put the nation on heightened
terrorist alert. It noted that all 56 FBI field offices were tasked in
late June to go to increased surveillance and contact informants
related to known or suspected terrorists.
(SFC, 4/10/04, p.A1)
2001 Jul 4, Australia’s interim
cabinet approved East Timor’s demands for 90% of the revenues from oil
and gas reserves in the Timor Sea.
(SFC, 7/5/01, p.A8)
2001 Jul 4, A Russian airliner
crashed in Siberia, killing all 145 people aboard.
(AP, 7/4/02)
2001 Jul 4, In Turkey Mahmut
Gokhan Ozocak (41) became the 27th person to die from a hunger strike
protesting prisoner transfers.
(SFC, 7/6/01, p.D6)
2002 Jul 4, Hesham Mohamed Hadayet
(41), an Egyptian-born 10-year resident of Irvine, opened fire at
Israel’s El Al airline ticket counter in Los Angeles' airport. Victoria
Hen and Yaakov Aminov were killed before Hadayet, born July 4, 1961,
was shot to death by a guard.
(AP, 7/5/02)(Reuters, 7/5/02)(SFC, 7/5/02,
p.A1)(SFC, 7/6/02, p.A12)
2002 Jul 4, In central Texas
70,000 cubic feet of water gushed down a spillway from Canyon Lake
toward the Guadalupe River for three days, scraping off vegetation and
topsoil and leaving only limestone walls. The mile-and-a-half-long
Canyon Lake Gorge, up to 80 feet deep, was dug out from what had been a
nondescript valley covered in mesquite and oak trees.
(AP, 10/5/07)
2002 Jul 4, A Cessna 310 plane
crashed at Frank G. Bonelli Regional County Park at San Dimas and 3
people were killed.
(SFC, 7/5/02, p.A24)
2002 Jul 4, Benjamin O. Davis Jr.
(89), leader of the all-black Tuskegee Airmen during World War II and
the first black general in the Air Force, died in Washington.
(AP, 7/4/03)
2002 Jul 4, Winnifred Quick Van
Tongerloo (98), one of the four known survivors of the Titanic sinking,
died in East Lansing, Mich.
(AP, 7/4/03)
2002 Jul 4, In Australia Steve
Fossett launched Independence Day celebrations early when his Spirit of
Freedom balloon ended its record-breaking flight around the world.
(AP, 7/4/02)
2002 Jul 4, In Bangui, CAR, a
Boeing 707 cargo plane crashed in a sparsely populated residential area
in this central African capital, killing at least 20 people.
(AP, 7/4/02)(SFC, 7/5/02, p.A14)
2002 Jul 4, In Chile Augusto
Pinochet resigned as senator-for-life.
(SFC, 7/5/02, p.A14)
2002 Jul 4, In China a blast in
the Fuqiang mine in Songshu trapped 39 miners. There was little hope
for survivors.
(SFC, 7/6/02, p.A14)
2002 Jul 4, American warplanes
bombed an Iraqi air defense system after coming under attack from Iraqi
anti-aircraft artillery.
(AP, 7/4/02)
2002 Jul 4, Italian photographer
Angelo Frontoni (76), known for his work with stars such as Sophia
Loren, Brigitte Bardot and Ava Gardner, died in Rome.
(AP, 7/4/02)
2002 Jul 4, A British ship left
Takahama, Japan, with 550 pounds of defective, near weapons-grade
plutonium, for return to its British supplier.
(SFC, 7/5/02, p.A12)
2002 Jul 4, The Palestinian police
chief Ghazi Jabali decided to resign and run for president following a
controversy over whether Yasser Arafat had tried to oust both him and
security commander Jibril Rajoub.
(Reuters, 7/4/02)(SFC, 7/5/02, p.A7)
2002 Jul 4, An explosion shattered
a white Mercedes, killing two people including Jihad Amerin (38), a
Gaza leader of the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades. Palestinian police said
their initial suspicions were Israeli agents had planted a bomb.
(AP, 7/4/02)(SFC, 7/5/02, p.A7)
2002 Jul 4, In Spain AIDS experts
announced a $4.8 billion prevention plan.
(SFC, 7/5/02, p.A1)
2003 Jul 4, President Bush visited
Dayton, Ohio, to praise the work of U.S. troops and celebrate the 100th
anniversary of flight in the hometown of the Wright brothers.
(AP, 7/4/04)
2003 Jul 4, Los Angeles Lakers
guard Kobe Bryant was arrested on suspicion of sexual assault after a
woman accused him of sexual misconduct at a hotel near Vail, Colo.
(AP, 7/4/04)
2003 Jul 4, US forces raided a
Turkish special forces office in northern Iraq and detained 11 soldiers
on reports that Turks were plotting to kill the governor of the
oil-rich city of Kirkuk.
(AP, 7/5/03)
2003 Jul 4, Manuel Gehring (44)
shot and killed his 2 children, Philip (11) and Sarah (14), following a
dispute with his wife in Concord, NH. He was later arrested in Gilroy,
Ca. He confessed to police that he shot and killed his 2 children in
New Hampshire and buried them in the Midwest. In 2005 authorities found
the bodies of the 2 children buried off I-80 in Ohio. Gehring committed
suicide in his jail cell on February 19, 2004 at the Merrimack County
Jail in Boscawen, New Hampshire.
(SFC, 8/1/03, p.A3)(SSFC, 12/4/05,
p.A22)(http://tinyurl.com/62dfka)
2003 Jul 4, Barry White (58), a
singer and songwriter whose rich bass crooning stirred romance in the
hearts of a generation of fans, died in Los Angeles. His songs included
"Can't Get Enough of Your Love, Babe" (1974).
(SFC, 7/5/03, p.A20)
2003 Jul 4, In Algeria suspected
Islamic militants killed Lawmaker Rabah Radja and three other people at
a roadblock east of the capital.
(AP, 7/5/03)
2003 Jul 4, Landslides in central
China caused by torrential rains killed 21 people as river waters ran
at their highest level in more than a decade,
(AP, 7/6/03)
2003 Jul 4, A coal mine explosion
in northeastern China killed 22 people and injured 6 others.
(AP, 7/6/03)
2003 Jul 4, Tung Chee-hwa, Hong
Kong's leader, withdrew parts of an anti-subversion bill that triggered
massive street protests.
(AP, 7/5/03)
2003 Jul 4, A voice purported to
be Saddam Hussein's, aired on the Arab television station Al-Jazeera,
said he is in Iraq directing attacks on American forces and called on
Iraqis to help the resistance against the US-led occupation.
(AP, 7/4/03)(SFC, 7/5/03, p.A1)
2003 Jul 4, Ivory Coast's
government and rebel officials declared an official end to the civil
war, 9 months after fighting erupted following a failed attempt to oust
Pres. Laurent Gbagbo.
(AP, 7/4/03)
2003 Jul 4, In Indian-controlled
Kashmir suspected Islamic guerrillas tossed a grenade and opened fire
at a meeting between a minister and health officials, killing 2 people
and wounding 28.
(AP, 7/5/03)
2003 Jul 4, Liberia's President
Charles Taylor, under US pressure to quit, said he had agreed to step
down. A senior Nigerian official said Taylor had accepted an offer of
asylum.
(AP, 7/4/03)
2003 Jul 4, In Mexico gunmen in
Las Choapas, Veracruz, killed a man believed to be a migrant trafficker
and then fatally shot four bystanders, including a 12-year-old boy,
apparently to avoid leaving witnesses.
(AP, 7/5/03)
2003 Jul 4, In Quetta, Pakistan, 3
assassins attacked a Shiite Muslim mosque and killed 44 worshippers
during prayers. Angry Shiites rioted in the streets burning cars and
tires.
(SFC, 7/5/03, p.A1)(AP, 7/6/03)(SSFC, 7/6/03, p.A6)
2003 Jul 4, The 180-nation world
Radio Communication Conference in Geneva planned to approve an
expansion of the band for wireless local area networks (Wi-Fi) by 455
megahertz.
(WSJ, 7/3/03, p.B4)
2004 Jul 4, Defending the war in
Iraq, President Bush told a cheering crowd outside the West Virginia
state capitol that America was safer because Saddam Hussein was in a
prison cell.
(AP, 7/4/05)
2004 Jul 4, In NYC a 20-ton slab
of granite, inscribed to honor "the enduring spirit of freedom," was
laid at the World Trade Center site as the cornerstone of the
skyscraper that will replace the destroyed towers.
(AP, 7/4/04)
2004 Jul 4, In NYC Takeru "The
Tsunami" Kobayashi chewed up the competition at the Nathan's Famous hot
dog eating competition, breaking his own previous world record.
Kobayashi, of Nagano, Japan, gulped down 53 1/2 wieners in 12 minutes
and shattered his own world record by three dogs. 105-pound Sonya "The
Black Widow" Thomas, 36, of Alexandria, Va., ate more hot dogs (32)
than any other woman and any other American in the contest's history.
(AP, 7/4/04)
2004 Jul 4, The Army's 1st Armored
Division stowed its flags and prepared to head home after the longest
tour in Iraq of any American combat command — 15 months.
(AP, 7/4/04)
2004 Jul 4, Afghan President Hamid
Karzai issued a decree ordering death penalty for criminals who remove
body parts from kidnapped children.
(Reuters, 7/4/04)
2004 Jul 4, Australia and Thailand
signed a free-trade agreement that officials believe will boost the
economies of both countries by billions of dollars over the next two
decades.
(AP, 7/5/04)
2004 Jul 4, It was reported that
Libya's state-owned Tam Oil Co has bought the Niger unit of US oil
major ExxonMobil Corp, in the first such deal following an end to US
sanctions on Tripoli.
(AP, 7/4/04)
2005 Jul 4, President Bush, during
an Independence Day visit to Morgantown, W.Va., urged resolve in the
war in Iraq and said that "the proper response is not retreat. It is
courage."
(AP, 7/4/06)
2005 Jul 4, A senior US defense
official confirmed the deaths of two Navy SEALS that were missing in
action in Afghanistan's northeast.
(AP, 7/4/05)
2005 Jul 4, Meeting in Georgia the
General Synod of the United Church of Christ, the rule-making body for
1.3 million members, endorsed same-sex marriage with a resolution that
called for equal marriage rights for all.
(SFC, 7/5/05, p.A3)
2005 Jul 4, Iowa’s Gov. Tom
Vilsack gave all Iowa’s ex-prisoners the right to vote.
(Econ, 7/25/05, p.23)
2005 Jul 4, In NYC Takeru
Kobayashi (27) captured the Nathan's Famous hot dog eating contest for
the 5th straight year, gobbling a nauseating 49 dogs in 12 minutes, but
missing his own world record of 53 1/2, set at last year's July Fourth
competition.
(AP, 7/5/05)
2005 Jul 4, Idaho authorities said
they found the remains of Dylan Groene (9) in western Montana. [see
July 2] In 2008 a jury recommended the death sentence for Joseph Edward
Duncan III in the 2005 kidnapping, torture and murder of the 9-year-old
boy.
(SFC, 7/5/05, p.A3)(AP, 8/28/08)
2005 Jul 4, Hank Stram (82), Hall
of Fame football coach, died in Covington, La.
(AP, 7/4/06)
2005 Jul 4, June Haver (79), movie
musical actress died.
(AP, 7/4/06)
2005 Jul 4, In Afghanistan a
provincial governor said a 2nd member of a missing elite US military
team has been located in the rugged mountains near the Pakistan border.
(AP, 7/4/05)
2005 Jul 4, Al-Jazeera announced
plans to launch an international, a satellite channel by march, 2006,
that will beam English-language news to the US, and much of the rest of
the world, from its base in tiny Qatar.
(AP, 7/4/05)
2005 Jul 4, In Austria IAEA
representatives of more than 100 countries gathered at the UN nuclear
agency's Vienna headquarters to consider strengthening international
laws meant to safeguard nuclear materials from theft and prevent
terrorist attacks on atomic power plants.
(AP, 7/4/05)
2005 Jul 4, A British court upheld
the government's ban on adoptions of Cambodian children. Six couples
had gone to court to challenge the ban, which was imposed in June of
last year.
(AP, 7/4/05)
2005 Jul 4, Burundi's main Hutu
ex-rebel group, the Forces for the Defence of Democracy (FDD), won a
comfortable victory in legislative elections, taking 58.23% of the vote.
(AP, 7/5/05)
2005 Jul 4, In China protests
began at the Jinxing Pharmaceutical plant in Xinchang, a town about 125
miles south of Shanghai, by local farmers angry over pollution.
(AP, 7/19/05)
2005 Jul 4, Egypt replaced the
editors of all the top state-owned publications in the biggest
reshuffle the media houses have seen in nearly 20 years.
(AP, 7/4/05)
2005 Jul 4, A UN official said
boat carrying dozens of migrants fleeing Haiti sank off the island's
coast, killing two people and leaving 11 others feared dead.
(AP, 7/4/05)
2005 Jul 4, In an illegal
overflight an American Shadow-200 aircraft crashed about 38 miles
inside Iranian territory in the province of Ilam. On Nov 7 Iran
circulated letters at the UN protesting the violation of its territory
and airspace.
(AP, 11/8/05)
2005 Jul 4, US and Iraqi forces
raided suspected insurgent safe houses near Baghdad International
Airport, arresting at least 100 suspected militants, including foreign
fighters.
(AP, 7/4/05)
2005 Jul 4, A Japanese
parliamentary committee approved bills that would create the world's
largest bank by privatizing the state-run postal system, which handles
trillions of dollars in savings and insurance deposits.
(AP, 7/5/05)
2005 Jul 4, In Libya Moammar
Gadhafi called on African nations to stop "begging" during the opening
of an African summit attended by more than 50 leaders from this
crisis-wracked continent. African Union (AU) chairman Olusegun Obasanjo
called on rich nations to provide "massive" financial help rather than
sympathy in its fight against poverty at their summit in Scotland this
week. UN Sec-Gen. Kofi Annan announced the creation of a fund to
promote democratic institutions and practices around the world, an idea
first proposed by the Pres. Bush in Sep 2004.
(AP, 7/4/05)(AP, 7/5/05)
2005 Jul 4, In Kuala Lumpur,
Malaysia, UN agencies met for a 3-day conference on bird flu virus and
said the disease remains as dangerous as ever and nations must do more
to prepare for a pandemic among humans.
(AP, 7/4/05)
2005 Jul 4, Mauritius' opposition
Social Alliance claimed victory as counting from the Indian Ocean
island's weekend election neared an end.
(AP, 7/4/05)
2005 Jul 4, A Moroccan court
convicted and sentenced Taoufik Hanouichi and Mohcine Bouarfa to death.
They were among those arrested in a sweep to dismantle militant Islamic
networks following suicide bombings in Casablanca. Dozens of others
were jailed. The two men were unlikely to be executed, as Morocco has
had a de facto moratorium on the death penalty since 1993.
(AP, 7/5/05)
2005 Jul 4, In Edinburgh,
Scotland, police scuffled with black-clad anarchists and
antiglobalization protesters, and 450 demonstrators sat down in the
road blocking an entrance to a naval base for nuclear submarines.
(AP, 7/4/05)
2005 Jul 4, The UN’s World Food
Program (WFP) said it has suspended aid shipments to lawless Somalia
after gunmen hijacked a vessel it chartered and demanded a $500,000
ransom.
(AP, 7/4/05)
2005 Jul 4, In Zimbabwe armed
paramilitary police swept through a Harare township, pulling down more
100 prefabricated wooden cabins, including one with screaming children
inside.
(AP, 7/5/05)
2006 Jul 4, The US space shuttle
Discovery took off at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral,
Florida, with 7 astronauts. Up to six pieces of debris that could be
foam insulation fell off Discovery's troublesome external fuel tank
minutes after liftoff. News arrived that North Korea had launched test
missiles [see July 5].
(AFP, 7/5/06)(SFC, 7/5/06, p.A3)
2006 Jul 4, In Gustine, Ca.,
Trevor Branscum (38) killed his 4 young children with a hunting rifle
and then turned the weapon on himself.
(SFC, 7/5/06, p.B3)
2006 Jul 4, A bomb exploded in
downtown Kabul, wounding at least 10 people. In eastern Afghanistan 5
laborers were ambushed and fatally shot on their way to a US military
base. US-led coalition forces killed 35 suspected militants during a
raid late in the village of Gujdar in Helmand province.
(AP, 7/4/06)(AP, 7/5/06)
2006 Jul 4, Two former currency
dealers for Australia's biggest bank were jailed for their part in a
260 million US dollar rogue trading scandal. Vince Ficarra (27) and
David Bullen (34) made a raft of fictitious trades for the National
Australia Bank (NAB) between September 2003 and January 2004 to mask
massive losses. Bullen was sentenced to 44 months in prison and Ficarra
to 28 months.
(AFP, 7/4/06)
2006 Jul 4, A bomb exploded in
downtown Kabul, wounding at least 10 people. In eastern Afghanistan 5
laborers were ambushed and fatally shot on their way to a US military
base.
(AP, 7/4/06)
2006 Jul 4, Gunmen attacked a
Russian military convoy in the Chechnya region, killing at least five
troops and wounding as many as 25 others, officials said. Pro-rebel Web
sites claimed more than 20 Russian soldiers were killed.
(AP, 7/4/06)
2006 Jul 4, A French court
convicted respected wine exporter Georges Duboeuf Wines of fraud after
one of its wineries mixed a variety of grapes in its Beaujolais.
(AP, 7/4/06)
2006 Jul 4, Iraq’s justice
minister demanded that the UN Security Council ensure that a group of
US troops are punished in the March 11 rape and murder of a young Iraqi
and the killing of her family. In eastern Baghdad gunmen in camouflaged
uniforms kidnapped Iraq's deputy electricity minister along with 11 of
his bodyguards. The minister was released after several hours.
(AP, 7/4/06)
2006 Jul 4, PM Ehud Olmert ignored
a deadline to begin releasing Palestinian prisoners and instead issued
a veiled threat against Syria, vowing to strike "those who sponsor" the
militants in the Gaza Strip who seized a young Israeli soldier.
(AP, 7/4/06)
2006 Jul 4, Japan initiated new
rules that tightened 89 existing laws covering the financial industry.
It doubled the maximum jail sentence for fraud to 10 years and gave
extra power and broader authority to the Financial Services Agency
(FSA).
(Econ, 7/8/06, p.67)
2006 Jul 4, The parties of
Kazakhstan's leader and his eldest daughter announced a merger, a move
that tightens President Nursultan Nazarbayev's grip on power.
(AP, 7/4/06)
2006 Jul 4, Lopez Obrador,
Mexico’s leftist presidential candidate, called for a recount of
election results that showed him trailing his conservative rival by 1
percentage point.
(AP, 7/4/06)
2006 Jul 4, Lars Korvald (90), the
first Christian Democrat to serve as prime minister of Norway
(1972-1973), died.
(AP, 7/4/06)
2006 Jul 4, Palestinian militants
hit an Israeli city with a rocket from Gaza for the first time, causing
no casualties but drawing a pledge of harsh retaliation from Israel
while it was already in the midst of a military offensive.
(AP, 7/4/06)
2006 Jul 4, Radical Islamic
militia fighters in Somalia shot and killed two people who were
watching a World Cup soccer broadcast. The Islamic group that controls
Somalia's capital soon arrested two of its own militiamen for killing
two people who were watching the soccer match.
(AP, 7/5/06)(AP, 7/6/06)
2006 Jul 4, President Hugo Chavez
marked Venezuela's entry into the South American trade bloc Mercosur
with a six-nation summit, an alliance that he says should be a common
front against US free trade deals.
(AP, 7/4/06)
2007 Jul 4, In NYC Joey Chestnut
emerged as the world's hot dog eating champion, knocking off six-time
winner Takeru Kobayashi in a record-setting yet repulsive triumph.
Chestnut ate 66 hot dogs in 12 minutes.
(AP, 7/5/07)
2007 Jul 4, In SF some 300
skateboarders rolled down the Embarcadero in a 3-mile, police-escorted
rally promoted by Emerica, an Orange County shoe and skateboard apparel
company.
(SFC, 7/5/07, p.B1)
2007 Jul 4, In California the Zaca
wildfire began in Santa Barbara County. By the end of the month it had
consumed 32,000 acres and was 70% contained.
(SFC, 7/30/07, p.A4)
2007 Jul 4, In Bridgeport, Conn.,
a mother and 3 children drowned after their van rolled into a park pond.
(SFC, 7/6/07, p.A7)
2007 Jul 4, Johnny Frigo (90),
jazz violinist and bassist, died in Chicago.
(SFC, 7/6/07, p.B8)
2007 Jul 4, Bill Pinkney (81), the
last survivor of the original members of the musical group The
Drifters, died.
(AP, 7/5/07)
2007 Jul 4, In southern
Afghanistan a roadside bomb hit a NATO vehicle, killing six Canadian
soldiers and their Afghan interpreter.
(Reuters, 7/5/07)
2007 Jul 4, On the historic
occasion of their first summit, the EU and Brazil decided to establish
a comprehensive strategic partnership, based on their close historical,
cultural and economic ties. Brazil and EU leaders met in Lisbon,
Portugal.
(www.eu2007.pt/UE/vEN/Noticias_Documentos/20070704BRSUM.htm)(Econ,
7/7/07, p.40)
2007 Jul 4, In Chile Osvaldo Romo
(70), a security agent who became a symbol of torture and repression
under Gen. Augusto Pinochet's former military dictatorship, died in
prison.
(AP, 7/4/07)
2007 Jul 4, In northeast China a
blast ripped through a karaoke parlor and bath house, killing 25 people
and injuring 33 others. It was later reported that a coal mine owner,
who ran the karaoke parlor, stored more than a ton of explosives in the
basement.
(AP, 7/5/07)(AP, 7/6/07)
2007 Jul 4, Human Rights Watch
accused the Ethiopian army of burning homes and displacing thousands of
civilians in a crackdown on rebels in the volatile east.
(AP, 7/4/07)
2007 Jul 4, In Ghana a drive
towards forging a United States of Africa ran out of steam as leaders
filed away from a summit without agreeing on a timeline for creating a
new government for the continent.
(AFP, 7/5/07)
2007 Jul 4, In India 13 passengers
aboard the Karnataka Express from Bangalore to Delhi were found
unconscious in their compartment. They had eaten cookies laced with
sedatives offered by thieves and lost all their possessions.
(SSFC, 7/15/07, p.G2)
2007 Jul 4, Khaled Abdul-Fattah
Dawoud Mahmoud al-Mashhadani (aka Abu Shahid), believed to be the most
senior Iraqi in the al-Qaida in Iraq network, was captured in Mosul.
(AP, 7/18/07)
2007 Jul 4, The foreign ministers
of Israel and Morocco held their first publicly disclosed talks in
years, with the Israeli-Palestinian conflict at the heart of the
discussion.
(AP, 7/4/07)
2007 Jul 4, In Mexico heavy rains
triggered the landslide on a remote winding road near the town of
Eloxochitlan in the state of Puebla. As many as 60 passengers were
thought to be buried in a bus on the rural road. 32 bodies were
recovered.
(AP, 7/5/07)(AP, 7/6/07)
2007 Jul 4, Mexico’s financial
website Sentido Comun reported that telecom tycoon Carlos Slim Helu
(67) has overtaken Microsoft founder Bill Gates as the richest person
on the planet.
(AFP, 7/4/07)
2007 Jul 4, Mozambique's President
Armando Guebuza sought to expand trade ties with Tanzania to boost
development in the two impoverished African nations.
(AFP, 7/4/07)
2007 Jul 4, In southern Nigeria
armed men kidnapped five foreigners, the same day the country's most
prominent militant group announced it would end a truce with the
government.
(AP, 7/5/07)
2007 Jul 4, In Pakistan Maulana
Abdul Aziz, one of the leaders of the radical-held Red Mosque, was
arrested while fleeing his government-besieged mosque in a woman's
burqa and high heels. He said that the nearly 1,000 followers
still inside should flee or surrender. At least 16 people, including
eight militants, have been killed and scores injured in the standoff.
(AP, 7/5/07)(Econ, 7/26/08, p.50)
2007 Jul 4, Palestinian gunmen
released Alan Johnston, a British journalist, who had been kidnapped
March 12.
(AP, 7/5/07)
2007 Jul 4, A top Panamanian
prosecutor said tests show at least 94 people have died from taking
medicine contaminated with diethylene glycol since July 2006 and that
293 more deaths are under investigation. Total deaths reached 116 from
contaminated medications.
(AP, 7/4/07)(AP, 5/10/08)
2007 Jul 4, Russia’s parliament
authorized an exemption to Gazprom and OAO Transneft from limits on
wielding arms. They would now be able to employ their own armed
operatives.
(WSJ, 1/5/07, p.A4)
2007 Jul 4, Taiwan's vice
president kicked off a Latin American tour in the Dominican Republic,
an ally rapidly increasing its economic and political ties with the
island's diplomatic rival, China.
(AP, 7/4/07)
2007 Jul 4, UN food agencies
called for global backing for a "Green Revolution" in Africa to help
the continent build stable agricultural systems and rescue tens of
millions of people from poverty.
(Reuters, 7/4/07)
2008 Jul 4, In California 27 major
fires were considered active. These included the Basin Complex Fire in
Los Padres National Forest where over 68,700 acres were scorched and
the Indians Fire in Monterey County with 81,300 acres consumed.
(SFC, 7/4/08, p.A1)
2008 Jul 4, In Milwaukee,
Wisconsin, early morning gunfire killed 2 men and 2 women on the city’s
north side.
(SFC, 7/4/08, p.A4)
2008 Jul 4, Jesse Helms (b.1921),
former 5-term US Senator from North Carolina, died in Raleigh, NC.
Helms had switched to the Republican Party in 1970 and was elected to
the Senate in 1972, the first Republican from North Carolina in the
20th century. The conservative senator earned the title “Senator No” as
a leading crusader against communism, liberalism, tax increases,
abortion, homosexuality, affirmative action and court-ordered busing to
desegregate schools.
(SFC, 7/4/08, p.A2)
2008 Jul 4, Evelyn Keyes (b.1916),
American film star, died in Montecito, Ca. Her 3 former husbands
included director John Huston, director Charles Vidor and jazz musician
Artie Shaw. Her nearly 50 films included a role as the younger sister
of Scarlett O’Hara in “Gone With the Wind” (1939). Her memoir “Scarlett
O’Hara’s Younger Sister” was published in 1977.
(SFC, 7/12/08, p.B5)(WSJ, 2/21/09, p.W8)
2008 Jul 4, In southern
Afghanistan gunmen assassinated parliament member and former military
commander Habibullah Jan. In Helmand province a roadside bomb militants
were planting detonated prematurely, killing 10 Taliban. 22 civilians
were killed in air strikes in the Waygal district, including a woman
and a child. A spokesman for the US-led coalition said the airstrikes
in Nuristan province hit militants who earlier attacked a US military
base with mortars. Several militants were killed during an operation in
Ghazni province. More than 20 militants were killed and wounded during
a battle with NATO-backed Afghan forces in Kunar province.
(AP, 7/5/08)(AP, 7/6/08)
2008 Jul 4, In Austria 9 people,
including a prominent executive who fled to France in an attempt to
elude justice, were convicted of criminal charges in a major Austrian
bank fraud case linked to the 2005 collapse of New York-based
commodities brokerage Refco Inc. Vienna Federal Court Judge Claudia
Bandion-Ortner found the defendants responsible for euro1.4 billion
(US$1.9 billion) in losses at BAWAG, Austria's No. 4 bank.
(AP, 7/4/08)
2008 Jul 4, In Belarus about 50
people were wounded by a home-made bomb that sprayed nuts and bolts
into a crowd at an open-air concert in Minsk attended by long-time
ruler President Alexander Lukashenko.
(Reuters, 7/4/08)
2008 Jul 4, China and Taiwan
launched regular direct flights for the first time in nearly six
decades, ushering in what Beijing called a "new start" in their tense
and testy relations.
(AP, 7/4/08)
2008 Jul 4, Colombia's military
found more than a ton of explosives in a house in a rural area outside
the capital.
(AP, 7/6/08)
2008 Jul 4, Ecuador's
constitutional assembly pardoned hundreds of jailed convicts, low-level
drug couriers known as "mules." An estimated 1,200 prisoners may be
eligible for pardon.
(AP, 7/7/08)
2008 Jul 4, India's coalition
government underwent a major shake-up with the dominant Congress party
pushing on with a controversial nuclear deal with the US and ditching
left-wing allies. In eastern India at least six people were killed and
20 injured in a stampede at a popular Hindu religious festival in
Orissa state’s Puri district. Truck drivers called off their strike
after the government agreed to roll back rising road tolls.
(AFP, 7/4/08)(WSJ, 7/5/08, p.A5)
2008 Jul 4, State television said
Iran delivered its response to an international offer of incentives for
it to suspend uranium enrichment, a central part of its nuclear
program. It did not say what the response was.
(AP, 7/4/08)
2008 Jul 4, In Basra, Iraq, gunmen
on a motorcycle assassinated Sheik Salim al-Dirraji, an official of
Iraq's biggest Shiite party.
(AP, 7/5/08)
2008 Jul 4, Japan announced it
will provide $50 million in new emergency food aid to help developing
countries cope with the impact of soaring food prices.
(AP, 7/4/08)
2008 Jul 4, Fierce fighting raged
in India's portion of Kashmir, killing five army soldiers and a
suspected Muslim rebel near the de facto border with Pakistan.
(AP, 7/4/08)
2008 Jul 4, In New Zealand morning
rush-hour traffic slowed to a crawl in most cities as truckers snarled
highways and streets with thousands of vehicles to protest higher road
taxes.
(AP, 7/4/08)
2008 Jul 4, In Nigeria hundreds of
soldiers, who served as UN peacekeepers in Liberia, went on the rampage
in southwestern Akure in protest against the military authorities'
refusal to pay their allowance. In 2009 a Nigerian court-martial
sentenced 27 former UN peacekeepers to life in prison after they were
convicted of mutiny following their protests.
(AP, 7/5/08)(AP, 4/28/09)
2008 Jul 4, North Korea said it
will not take further steps to dismantle its nuclear program until the
US and its other negotiating partners award fuel oil and political
benefits promised under an aid-for-disarmament deal.
(AP, 7/4/08)
2008 Jul 4, In Pakistan a bomb
exploded on a busy street in the southwestern city of Quetta, killing a
4-year old girl and wounding 11 other people.
(AP, 7/4/08)
2008 Jul 4, Poland rejected a US
offer to boost its air defenses in return for basing a "missile shield"
on Polish soil but PM Donald Tusk said Poland remains open for further
talks with Washington.
(Reuters, 7/4/08)
2008 Jul 4, In Sri Lanka soldiers
took control of Michael Base in the rebel stronghold of Mullaitivu
district after three days of fighting. Other battles in Vavuniya killed
18 rebels and wounded three soldiers. Fighting in Mannar, Jaffna and
Welioya left 15 rebels dead and one soldier wounded.
(AP, 7/4/08)(AP, 7/5/08)
2008 Jul 4, Robert Mugabe ruled
out the prospect of talks with his opponents on ending Zimbabwe's
political crisis unless they acknowledge his victory in the one-man
presidential election. Botswana's government urged its neighbors not to
recognize Mugabe's re-election as it reiterated calls for Zimbabwe to
be suspended from a regional bloc.
(AFP, 7/4/08)
2009 Jul 4, In southeast
Afghanistan two US soldiers were killed when their base came under
attack. The attack included an attempted suicide truck bombing of the
base in the Zirok district of southeastern Paktika province. As many as
30 Taliban insurgents might have been killed when troops called in air
strikes.
(Reuters, 7/4/09)
2009 Jul 4, Albania's opposition
Socialists charged that the ruling Democrats were improperly trying to
influence the country's lengthy vote count by declaring victory before
all ballots from last week's national election were tallied.
(AP, 7/4/09)
2009 Jul 4, In Myanmar UN chief
Ban Ki-moon gave a rare public speech outlining his vision for a
democratic Myanmar, just hours after the ruling junta refused to let
him meet opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
(AFP, 7/4/09)
2009 Jul 4, Nigeria's rebel group
MEND threatened to thwart a 10-billion-dollar trans-Saharan gas
pipeline linking vast reserves in Nigeria to Europe. The army vowed to
protect the project.
(AFP, 7/4/09)
2009 Jul 4, North Korea fired
seven ballistic missiles off its eastern coast, in a violation of UN
resolutions and an apparent message of defiance to the US on its
Independence Day.
(AP, 7/4/09)
2009 Jul 4, Pakistani warplanes
and helicopter gunships pounded Taliban positions in the country's
volatile northwest, killing at least 12 suspected insurgents. Clashes
between tribesmen and Taliban fighters left 16 people dead in the
remote Mohmand region. Army helicopters attacked a militant position in
the area the previous day’s helicopter crash and struck a militant
bunker on a peak. 10 bodies were reported found lying there.
(AP, 7/4/09)(Reuters, 7/4/09)
2008 Jul 4, In California 27 major
fires were considered active. These included the Basin Complex Fire in
Los Padres National Forest where over 68,700 acres were scorched and
the Indians Fire in Monterey County with 81,300 acres consumed.
(SFC, 7/4/08, p.A1)
2008 Jul 4, In Milwaukee,
Wisconsin, early morning gunfire killed 2 men and 2 women on the city’s
north side.
(SFC, 7/4/08, p.A4)
2008 Jul 4, Jesse Helms (b.1921),
former 5-term US Senator from North Carolina, died in Raleigh, NC.
Helms had switched to the Republican Party in 1970 and was elected to
the Senate in 1972, the first Republican from North Carolina in the
20th century. The conservative senator earned the title “Senator No” as
a leading crusader against communism, liberalism, tax increases,
abortion, homosexuality, affirmative action and court-ordered busing to
desegregate schools.
(SFC, 7/4/08, p.A2)
2008 Jul 4, Evelyn Keyes (b.1916),
American film star, died in Montecito, Ca. Her 3 former husbands
included director John Huston, director Charles Vidor and jazz musician
Artie Shaw. Her nearly 50 films included a role as the younger sister
of Scarlett O’Hara in “Gone With the Wind” (1939). Her memoir “Scarlett
O’Hara’s Younger Sister” was published in 1977.
(SFC, 7/12/08, p.B5)(WSJ, 2/21/09, p.W8)
2008 Jul 4, In southern
Afghanistan gunmen assassinated parliament member and former military
commander Habibullah Jan. In Helmand province a roadside bomb militants
were planting detonated prematurely, killing 10 Taliban. 22 civilians
were killed in air strikes in the Waygal district, including a woman
and a child. A spokesman for the US-led coalition said the airstrikes
in Nuristan province hit militants who earlier attacked a US military
base with mortars. Several militants were killed during an operation in
Ghazni province. More than 20 militants were killed and wounded during
a battle with NATO-backed Afghan forces in Kunar province.
(AP, 7/5/08)(AP, 7/6/08)
2008 Jul 4, In Austria 9 people,
including a prominent executive who fled to France in an attempt to
elude justice, were convicted of criminal charges in a major Austrian
bank fraud case linked to the 2005 collapse of New York-based
commodities brokerage Refco Inc. Vienna Federal Court Judge Claudia
Bandion-Ortner found the defendants responsible for euro1.4 billion
(US$1.9 billion) in losses at BAWAG, Austria's No. 4 bank.
(AP, 7/4/08)
2008 Jul 4, In Belarus about 50
people were wounded by a home-made bomb that sprayed nuts and bolts
into a crowd at an open-air concert in Minsk attended by long-time
ruler President Alexander Lukashenko.
(Reuters, 7/4/08)
2008 Jul 4, China and Taiwan
launched regular direct flights for the first time in nearly six
decades, ushering in what Beijing called a "new start" in their tense
and testy relations.
(AP, 7/4/08)
2008 Jul 4, Colombia's military
found more than a ton of explosives in a house in a rural area outside
the capital.
(AP, 7/6/08)
2008 Jul 4, Ecuador's
constitutional assembly pardoned hundreds of jailed convicts, low-level
drug couriers known as "mules." An estimated 1,200 prisoners may be
eligible for pardon.
(AP, 7/7/08)
2008 Jul 4, India's coalition
government underwent a major shake-up with the dominant Congress party
pushing on with a controversial nuclear deal with the US and ditching
left-wing allies. In eastern India at least six people were killed and
20 injured in a stampede at a popular Hindu religious festival in
Orissa state’s Puri district. Truck drivers called off their strike
after the government agreed to roll back rising road tolls.
(AFP, 7/4/08)(WSJ, 7/5/08, p.A5)
2008 Jul 4, State television said
Iran delivered its response to an international offer of incentives for
it to suspend uranium enrichment, a central part of its nuclear
program. It did not say what the response was.
(AP, 7/4/08)
2008 Jul 4, In Basra, Iraq, gunmen
on a motorcycle assassinated Sheik Salim al-Dirraji, an official of
Iraq's biggest Shiite party.
(AP, 7/5/08)
2008 Jul 4, Japan announced it
will provide $50 million in new emergency food aid to help developing
countries cope with the impact of soaring food prices.
(AP, 7/4/08)
2008 Jul 4, Fierce fighting raged
in India's portion of Kashmir, killing five army soldiers and a
suspected Muslim rebel near the de facto border with Pakistan.
(AP, 7/4/08)
2008 Jul 4, In New Zealand morning
rush-hour traffic slowed to a crawl in most cities as truckers snarled
highways and streets with thousands of vehicles to protest higher road
taxes.
(AP, 7/4/08)
2008 Jul 4, In Nigeria hundreds of
soldiers, who served as UN peacekeepers in Liberia, went on the rampage
in southwestern Akure in protest against the military authorities'
refusal to pay their allowance. On April 27, 2009, a Nigerian
court-martial sentenced 27 former UN peacekeepers to life in prison
after they were convicted of mutiny following their protests. On Aug 29
the army commuted the life sentences to 7 years.
(AP, 7/5/08)(AP, 4/28/09)(AFP, 8/29/09)
2008 Jul 4, North Korea said it
will not take further steps to dismantle its nuclear program until the
US and its other negotiating partners award fuel oil and political
benefits promised under an aid-for-disarmament deal.
(AP, 7/4/08)
2008 Jul 4, In Pakistan a bomb
exploded on a busy street in the southwestern city of Quetta, killing a
4-year old girl and wounding 11 other people.
(AP, 7/4/08)
2008 Jul 4, Poland rejected a US
offer to boost its air defenses in return for basing a "missile shield"
on Polish soil but PM Donald Tusk said Poland remains open for further
talks with Washington.
(Reuters, 7/4/08)
2008 Jul 4, In Sri Lanka soldiers
took control of Michael Base in the rebel stronghold of Mullaitivu
district after three days of fighting. Other battles in Vavuniya killed
18 rebels and wounded three soldiers. Fighting in Mannar, Jaffna and
Welioya left 15 rebels dead and one soldier wounded.
(AP, 7/4/08)(AP, 7/5/08)
2008 Jul 4, Robert Mugabe ruled
out the prospect of talks with his opponents on ending Zimbabwe's
political crisis unless they acknowledge his victory in the one-man
presidential election. Botswana's government urged its neighbors not to
recognize Mugabe's re-election as it reiterated calls for Zimbabwe to
be suspended from a regional bloc.
(AFP, 7/4/08)
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