July 4
July 4 is the 185th day of the year (186th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 180 days remaining until the end of the year. Aphelion, the point during its orbit, when the Earth is furthest from the Sun, occurs around this date.
Events
Up to 1900
- 673 - Ecgberht of Kent
- 907 - Luitpold, Margrave of Bavaria
- 965 - Pope Benedict V
- 1541 - Pedro de Alvarado, Spanish explorer (b. 1495)
- 1546 - Hayreddin Barbarossa, Greek-Turkish admiral (b. 1478)
- 1641 - Pedro Teixeira, Portuguese explorer
- 1742 - Luigi Guido Grandi, Italian monk, mathematician and engineer (b. 1671)
- 1780 - Prince Charles Alexander of Lorraine (b. 1712)
- 1787 - Charles, Prince of Soubise (b. 1715)
- 1808 - Fisher Ames, American politician (b. 1758)
- 1826 – John Adams, 2nd President of the United States (b. 1735)
- 1826 – Thomas Jefferson, 3rd President of the United States (b. 1743)
- 1831 – James Monroe, 5th President of the United States (b. 1758)
- 1848 – Francois-René de Chateaubriand, French writer (b. 1768)
- 1857 - William L. Marcy, 21st United States Secretary of State (b. 1786)
- 1881 – Johan Vilhelm Snellman, Finnish statesman (b. 1806)
- 1882 - Joseph Brackett, American composer (b. 1797)
- 1888 – Theodor Storm, German writer (b. 1817)
- 1891 – Hannibal Hamlin, Vice President of the United States and Governor of Maine (b. 1809)
1901 – 2000
- 1901 - Johannes Schmidt, American composer (b. 1843)
- 1902 - Swami Vivekananda, Indian spiritual leader (b. 1863)
- 1910 – Melvin Weston Fuller, Chief Justice of the United States (b. 1833)
- 1910 – Giovanni Schiaparelli, Italian astronomer (b. 1835)
- 1916 - Alan Seeger, American poet (b. 1888)
- 1921 – Antoni Grabowski, early proponent of Esperanto (b. 1857)
- 1922 - Lothar von Richthofen, German pilot (b. 1894)
- 1925 - George W. Atkinson, American politician, 10th Governor of West Virginia (b. 1865)
- 1926 - Pier Giorgio Frassati, Italian activist and saint (b. 1901)
- 1931 - Prince Emanuele Filiberto, Duke of Aosta, Italian nobleman (b. 1869)
- 1934 – Marie Curie, Polish-French chemist and physicist (b. 1867)
- 1934 - Hayim Nahman Bialik, Ukrainian-Israeli writer and poet (b. 1873)
- 1938 – Otto Bauer, Austrian politician (b. 1881)
- 1938 – Suzanne Lenglen, French tennis player (b. 1899)
- 1941 - Antoni Lomnicki, Polish mathematician (b. 1881)
- 1943 - Wladyslaw Sikorski, Polish military leader (b. 1881)
- 1963 - Bernard Freyberg, 1st Baron Freyberg, 7th Governor-General of New Zealand (b. 1889)
- 1963 - Pingali Venkayya, Indian activist (b. 1876)
- 1964 - Gaby Morlay, French actress and singer (b. 1893)
- 1969 - Henri Decoin, French director and screenwriter (b. 1890)
- 1975 – Georgette Heyer, British writer (b. 1902)
- 1976 – Yonatan Netanyahu, Israeli soldier (in raid on Entebbe Airport) (b. 1946)
- 1976 - Antoni Slonimski, Polish poet and playwright (b. 1895)
- 1986 - Flor Peeters, Belgian organist, composer and educator (b. 1903)
- 1991 - Victor Chang, Chinese-Australian surgeon (b. 1936)
- 1991 - Art Sansom, American cartoonist (b. 1920)
- 1992 - Astor Piazzolla, Argentine bandoneon player and composer (b. 1921)
- 1995 – Eva Gabor, Hungarian actress (b. 1919)
- 1995 - Bob Ross, American painter (b. 1942)
From 2001
- 2003 – Barry White, American singer (b. 1944)
- 2004 - Jean-Marie Auberson, Swiss violinist and conductor (b. 1921)
- 2008 – Jesse Helms, American politician (b. 1921)
- 2008 - Thomas M. Disch, American writer (b. 1940)
- 2009 – Allen Klein, American record label executive (b. 1931)
- 2010 – Muhammad Hussein Fadlallah, Lebanese spiritual leader (b. 1935)
- 2011 – Otto von Habsburg, Austrian nobleman, aristocrat and politician (b. 1912)
- 2012 - Eric Sykes, English actor, director and screenwriter (b. 1923)
- 2013 - Bernie Nolan, Irish singer and actress (b. 1960)
- 2014 - Giorgio Faletti, Italian writer, actor and comedian (b. 1950)
- 2014 - Alan Alan, English escapologist and magician (b. 1926)
- 2014 - C. J. Henderson, American writer (b. 1939)
- 2014 - Archibald Wilson, Australian fighter pilot (b. 1921)
- 2015 - Nedelcho Beronov, Bulgarian politician (b. 1928)
- 2015 - Scot Breithaupt, American motorcycle racer (b. 1957)
- 2015 - Carlo de Gavardo, Chilean rally driver and motorcycle racer (b. 1969)
- 2015 - Alan Walton, British biochemist (b. 1936)
- 2016 - Romesh Chandra, Indian activist and journalist (b. 1919)
- 2016 - William Hawkins, Canadian songwriter and poet (b. 1940)
- 2016 - Abbas Kiarostami, Iranian filmmaker (b. 1940)
- 2016 - Abner J. Mikva, American politician and judge (b. 1926)
- 2017 - Bryan Avery, English architect (b. 1944)
- 2017 - Gene Conley, American baseball and basketball player (b. 1930)
- 2017 - Daniil Granin, Russian writer (b. 1919)
- 2017 - Carol Lee Scott, English actress and singer (b. 1942)
- 2017 - David Yewdall, American sound editor (b. 1950)
- 2018 - Carmen Campagne, Canadian singer (b. 1959)
- 2018 - Georges-Emmanuel Clancier, French poet, journalist and novelist (b. 1914)
- 2018 - Henri Dirickx, Belgian footballer (b. 1927)
- 2018 - Ernst W. Hamburger, German-born Brazilian physicist (b. 1933)
- 2018 - Robby Müller, Dutch cinematographer (b. 1940)
Births
1901 – 1950
- 1902 - Meyer Lansky, American Mafia boss (d. 1983)
- 1903 - Corrado Bafile, Italian cardinal (d. 2005)
- 1903 - Flor Peeters, Belgian organist, composer and educator (d. 1986)
- 1905 - Irving Johnson, American sailor and writer (d. 1991)
- 1908 - Aurelio Peccei, Italian industrialist and co-founder of the Club of Rome (d. 1984)
- 1910 - Robert K. Merton, American sailor (d. 2003)
- 1910 – Gloria Stuart, American actress (d. 2010)
- 1911 – Mitch Miller, American entertainer and musician (d. 2010)
- 1911 - Franco Ferrara, Italian composer and conductor (d. 1985)
- 1911 - Said Akl, Lebanese poet, writer and playwright (d. 2014)
- 1916 – Iva Toguri D'Aquino, World War II figure, alleged Tokyo Rose (d. 2006)
- 1917 – Manolete, Spanish bullfighter (d. 1947)
- 1918 – Taufa'ahau Tupou IV, King of Tonga (d. 2006)
- 1918 – Pauline Phillips, American columnist (d. 2013)
- 1918 – Eppie Lederer, American writer and columnist (d. 2002)
- 1918 - Johnnie Parsons, American racing driver (d. 1984)
- 1920 - Norm Drucker, American basketball referee (d. 2015)
- 1921 – Gérard Debreu, French economist (d. 2004)
- 1921 - Tibor Varga, Hungarian violinist and conductor (d. 2003)
- 1923 - Rudolf Friedrich, Swiss politician (d. 2013)
- 1924 - Björn Beinteinsson, Icelandic Neopagan religious leader
- 1924 – Eva Marie Saint, American actress
- 1925 - Ciril Zlobec, Slovenian poet, writer and politician (d. 2018)
- 1926 – Alfredo Di Stéfano, Argentine-born footballer (d. 2014)
- 1927 – Neil Simon, American playwright (d. 2018)
- 1927 - Gina Lollobrigida, Italian actress
- 1928 – Giampiero Boniperti, Italian footballer
- 1930 - Frunzik Mkrtchyan, Soviet-Armenian actor (d. 1993)
- 1930 – George Steinbrenner, American businessman (d. 2010)
- 1931 - Stephen Boyd, Northern Irish-American actor (d. 1977)
- 1935 - Paul Scoon, 2nd Governor-General of Grenada (d. 2013)
- 1937 – Sonja Haraldsen, Queen of Norway
- 1937 – Thomas Nagel, American philosopher
- 1938 - Bill Withers, American singer-songwriter and producer (d. 2020)
- 1940 - Dave Rowberry, English pianist and songwriter (d. 2003)
- 1941 - Sam Farr, American politician
- 1941 - Sergio Oliva, Cuban-American bodybuilder (d. 2012)
- 1941 - Tomaz Salamun, Slovenian poet (d. 2014)
- 1942 - Stefan Meller, Polish politician (d. 2008)
- 1942 - Hal Lanier, American baseball player, coach and manager
- 1942 - Prince Michael of Kent, British nobleman
- 1943 – Alan "Blind Owl" Wilson, American musician (d. 1970)
- 1943 – Heide Simonis, German politician
- 1943 – Adam Hart-Davis, British historian
- 1945 - Andre Spitzer, Romanian-Israeli fencer and coach (d. 1972)
- 1946 - Ron Kovic, American activist
- 1948 - Jeremy Spencer, English guitarist (Fleetwood Mac)
- 1949 – Horst Seehofer, German politician, Interior Minister and former Minister-President of Bavaria
1951 – 1975
- 1951 - Vincent Marzello, American voice actor (d. 2020)
- 1951 – Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, 6th Lieutenant Governor of Maryland
- 1952 – Alvaro Uribe, former President of Colombia
- 1953 - Francis Maude, English politician
- 1954 - Morganna, American model and dancer
- 1954 - Jim Beattie, American baseball player and coach
- 1957 - Jenny Seagrove, English actress
- 1957 – Princess Chulabhorn of Thailand
- 1959 - Victoria Abril, Spanish singer and actress
- 1959 – Eirikur Hauksson, Icelandic singer
- 1960 – Roland Ratzenberger, Austrian racing driver (d. 1994)
- 1960 - Mark Steel, English comedian, columnist and writer
- 1961 - Valentin Ivanov, Russian football referee
- 1962 - Neil Morrissey, English actor
- 1962 – Pam Shriver, American tennis player
- 1963 – Ute Lemper, German singer
- 1963 - Henri Leconte, French tennis player
- 1963 - William Ramallo, Bolivian footballer and coach
- 1963 - Michael Sweet, American singer-songwriter, guitarist and producer
- 1964 - Cle Kooiman, American soccer player and manager
- 1964 - Edi Rama, Prime Minister of Albania
- 1965 - Harvey Grant, American basketball player and coach
- 1965 – Giancarlo Marocchi, Italian footballer
- 1965 – Jo Whiley, English radio presenter
- 1966 - Anton Nossik, Israeli-Russian journalist and social media activist (d. 2017)
- 1968 - Ronni Ancona, Scottish actress
- 1970 - Doddie Weir, Scottish rugby player
- 1970 – Tony Vidmar, Australian footballer
- 1971 – Koko, famous sign language Gorilla (d. 2018)
- 1973 – Tony Popovic, Australian footballer
From 1976
- 1976 - Daijiro Kato, Japanese motorcycle racer (d. 2003)
- 1976 - Yevgeniya Medvedeva, Russian skier
- 1977 - Orri Pall Dyrason, Icelandic drummer (Sigur Ros)
- 1978 – Emile Mpenza, Belgian footballer
- 1978 – Becki Newton, American actress
- 1983 - Miguel Pinto, Chilean footballer
- 1984 - Jin Akanishi, Japanese singer-songwriter and actor
- 1985 - Wason Renteria, Colombian footballer
- 1986 – Takahisa Masuda, Japanese singer
- 1986 - Fanny Valette, French actress
- 1987 - Wude Ayalew, Ethiopian long-distance runner
- 1988 - Angelique Boyer, French-Mexican actress, model and singer
- 1989 - Yoon Doo-joon, South Korean singer, dancer and actor
- 1990 - Naoki Yamada, Japanese footballer
- 1992 - Basim, Danish singer-songwriter
- 1998 – Malia Obama, daughter of US President Barack Obama
- 1999 - Moa Kikuchi, Japanese singer and model
Deaths
Holidays
- Christian feast day:
- Independence Day (United States)
- Filipino-American Friendship Day
- Liberation Day (Rwanda)