On this day in history

July 4

27 births · 20 deaths · 5 events

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Anniversary highlights

Event anniversary

250

US Declaration of Independence

250 years ago

Born this day

1872

Calvin Coolidge

Died aged 60

Photo (modified): Harris & Ewing · Public domain

Oldest record

690th

Elizabeth of Aragon

death anniversary

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Famous births27

1546 · 480 yrs

Murad III

Murad III (Ottoman Turkish: مراد ثالث, romanized: Murād-i sālis; Turkish: III. Murad; 4 July 1546 – 16 January 1595) was the sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1574 until his death in 1595. His rule saw battles with the Habsburgs and exhausting wars with the Safavids.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

Notable PeopleDied aged 48

View profile Photo (modified): 16th century artist · Public domain

1790 · 236 yrs

George Everest

Sir George Everest (EEV-rist; 4 July 1790 – 1 December 1866) was a British surveyor and geographer who served as Surveyor General of India from 1830 to 1843. After a military education, Everest joined the East India Company and arrived in India at the age of 16.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

ExplorationDied aged 76

View profile Photo (modified): Maull & Polyblank · Public domain

1799 · 227 yrs

Oscar I of Sweden

Oscar I (born Joseph François Oscar Bernadotte; 4 July 1799 – 8 July 1859) was King of Sweden and Norway from 8 March 1844 until his death. He was the second monarch of the House of Bernadotte.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

RoyaltyDied aged 60

View profile Photo (modified): Erik Wahlbergson · Public domain

1804 · 222 yrs

Nathaniel Hawthorne

Nathaniel Hawthorne (né Hathorne; July 4, 1804 – May 19, 1864) was an American novelist and short story writer. His works often focus on history, morality, and religion.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

LiteratureDied aged 59

View profile Photo (modified): Mathew Benjamin Brady · Public domain

1807 · 219 yrs

Giuseppe Garibaldi

Giuseppe Maria Garibaldi (Italian:; 4 July 1807 – 2 June 1882) was an Italian general, revolutionary and republican. He contributed to the Unification of Italy (Risorgimento) and the creation of the Kingdom of Italy.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

MilitaryDied aged 74

View profile Photo (modified): In album: Cartes-de-visite portraits of U.S. Army officers, children, and others, p. 15, right. · Public domain

1868 · 158 yrs

Henrietta Swan Leavitt

Henrietta Swan Leavitt (July 4, 1868 – December 12, 1921) was an American astronomer. Her discovery of how to effectively measure vast astronomical distances led to a shift in the understanding of the scale and nature of the universe.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

ScienceDied aged 53

View profile Photo (modified): Unknown author · Public domain

1872 · 154 yrs

Calvin Coolidge

Calvin Coolidge (born John Calvin Coolidge Jr.; KOOL-ij; July 4, 1872 – January 5, 1933) was the 30th president of the United States, serving from 1923 to 1929. A Republican lawyer from Massachusetts, he served from 1921 to 1923 as the 29th vice president, under President Warren G.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

PoliticsDied aged 60

View profile Photo (modified): Harris & Ewing · Public domain

1898 · 128 yrs

Gulzarilal Nanda

Gulzarilal Nanda (4 July 1898 – 15 January 1998) was an Indian politician and economist who specialised in labour issues. He served as the acting Prime Minister of India for two 13-day tenures following the deaths of Jawaharlal Nehru in 1964 and Lal Bahadur Shastri in 1966 respectively.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

PoliticsWould be 128

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1910 · 116 yrs100 Club

Gloria Stuart

Gloria Frances Stuart (born Gloria Stewart; July 4, 1910 – September 26, 2010) was an American actress, visual artist and activist.

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FilmWould be 116

View profile Photo (modified): John Mathew Smith & www.celebrity-photos.com from Laurel Maryland, USA · CC BY-SA 2.0

1910 · 116 yrs

Robert K. Merton

Robert King Merton (born Meyer Robert Schkolnick; July 4, 1910 – February 23, 2003) was an American sociologist who is considered a founding father of modern sociology, and a major contributor to the subfield of criminology. He served as the 47th president of the American Sociological Association.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

Notable PeopleWould be 116

View profile Photo (modified): Eric Koch for Anefo · CC0

1921 · 105 yrs

Gérard Debreu

Gérard Debreu (French:; 4 July 1921 – 31 December 2004) was a French-born economist and mathematician. Best known as a professor of economics at the University of California, Berkeley, where he began work in 1962, he won the 1983 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

ScienceWould be 105

View profile Photo (modified): Konrad Jacobs, Erlangen, Copyright is with MFO · CC BY-SA 2.0 de

1924 · 102 yrs100 Club

Eva Marie Saint

Eva Marie Saint (born July 4, 1924) is an American retired actress. In a career spanning more than seven decades, she received an Academy Award and a Primetime Emmy Award, in additions to nominations for two BAFTA Awards and a Golden Globe Award.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

FilmWould be 102

View profile Photo (modified): 20th Century Fox. Photographer not credited · Public domain

Showing 12 of 27

Famous deaths20

1336 · 690 yrs

Elizabeth of Aragon

Elizabeth of Portugal, TOSF (Elisabet in Catalan, Isabel in Aragonese, Portuguese and Spanish; 4 January 1271 – 4 July 1336), also known as Elizabeth of Aragon, was Queen of Portugal from 1282 to 1325 as the wife of King Denis.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

RoyaltyDied aged 65

View profile Photo (modified): José Gil de Castro · Public domain

1761 · 265 yrs

Samuel Richardson

Samuel Richardson (baptised 19 August 1689 – 4 July 1761) was an English writer and printer known for three epistolary novels: Pamela; or, Virtue Rewarded (1740), Clarissa; or, The History of a Young Lady (1748) and The History of Sir Charles Grandison (1753).

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

LiteratureDied aged 73

View profile Photo (modified): Joseph Highmore · Public domain

1764 · 262 yrs

Ivan VI of Russia

Ivan VI Antonovich (Russian: Иван VI Антонович; 23 August 1740 – 16 July 1764), also known as Ioann Antonovich, was Emperor of Russia from October 1740 until he was overthrown by his cousin Elizabeth Petrovna in December 1741.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

RoyaltyDied aged 23

View profile Photo (modified): anonymous / Unidentified painter · Public domain

1826 · 200 yrs

Thomas Jefferson

Thomas Jefferson (April 13, 1743 – July 4, 1826) was a Founding Father and the third president of the United States, serving from 1801 to 1809. A prolific writer and philosopher, Jefferson was the primary author of the Declaration of Independence.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

PoliticsDied aged 83

View profile Photo (modified): Rembrandt Peale · Public domain

1826 · 200 yrs

John Adams

John Adams (October 30, 1735 – July 4, 1826) was a Founding Father and the second president of the United States from 1797 to 1801. Before his presidency, he was a leader of the American Revolution that achieved independence from Great Britain.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

PoliticsDied aged 90

View profile Photo (modified): Gilbert Stuart · Public domain

1831 · 195 yrs

James Monroe

James Monroe (April 28, 1758 – July 4, 1831) was a Founding Father and the fifth president of the United States, serving from 1817 to 1825. He was the last Founding Father to serve as president, as well as the last president of the Virginia dynasty.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

PoliticsDied aged 73

View profile Photo (modified): Gilbert Stuart · Public domain

1848 · 178 yrs

François-Auguste-René de Chateaubriand

François-René, vicomte de Chateaubriand (4 September 1768 – 4 July 1848) was a French writer, politician, diplomat and historian who influenced French literature of the 19th century. Descended from an old aristocratic family from Brittany, Chateaubriand was a royalist.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

LiteratureDied aged 79

View profile Photo (modified): Anne-Louis Girodet · Public domain

1888 · 138 yrs

Theodor Storm

Hans Theodor Woldsen Storm (German pronunciation:; 14 September 1817 – 4 July 1888), commonly known as Theodor Storm, was a German-Frisian writer and poet. He is considered to be one of the most important figures of German realism.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

LiteratureDied aged 70

View profile Photo (modified): Unknown author · Public domain

1891 · 135 yrs

Hannibal Hamlin

Hannibal Hamlin (August 27, 1809 – July 4, 1891) was an American politician and diplomat who was the 15th vice president of the United States, serving from 1861 to 1865, during President Abraham Lincoln's first term. He was the first Republican vice president.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

PoliticsDied aged 81

View profile Photo (modified): Brady National Photographic Art Gallery (Washington, D.C.), photographer. · Public domain

1902 · 124 yrs

Swami Vivekananda

Swami Vivekananda (12 January 1863 – 4 July 1902), born Narendranath Datta, was an Indian Hindu monk, philosopher, author, religious teacher, and the chief disciple of the Indian mystic Ramakrishna.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

PhilosophyDied aged 39

View profile Photo (modified): The original uploader was Dziewa at English Wikipedia . · Public domain

1905 · 121 yrs

Élisée Reclus

Jacques Élisée Reclus (French:; 15 March 1830 – 4 July 1905) was a French geographer, writer, anarchist, and a vegetarian. He produced his 19-volume masterwork, La Nouvelle Géographie universelle, la terre et les hommes (Universal Geography), over a period of nearly 20 years (1875–1894).

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

LiteratureDied aged 75

View profile Photo (modified): Nadar · Public domain

1910 · 116 yrs

Giovanni Schiaparelli

Giovanni Virginio Schiaparelli (14 March 1835 – 4 July 1910) was an Italian astronomer and science historian.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

ScienceDied aged 75

View profile Photo (modified): Webb, William Larkin · Public domain

Showing 12 of 20

Events5

1456 · 570 yrs

Siege of Belgrade

The siege of Belgrade, or the siege of Nándorfehérvár (Hungarian: Nándorfehérvár ostroma or nándorfehérvári diadal, lit.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

War

1776 · 250 yrs

US Declaration of Independence

The Second Continental Congress adopts the Declaration of Independence.

Politics

1964 · 62 yrs

Rhodesian Bush War

The Rhodesian Bush War, also known as the Rhodesian Civil War, the Second Chimurenga or the Zimbabwe War of Independence, was a civil conflict from July 1964 to December 1979 in the unrecognised state of Rhodesia (later the temporary British colony of Zimbabwe-Rhodesia, and now the independent Zimbabwe).

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

War

1976 · 50 yrs

Entebbe raid

The Entebbe raid, also known as Operation Entebbe and officially codenamed Operation Thunderbolt (subsequently Operation Yonatan), was a 3 July 1976 Israeli counter-terrorist mission in Uganda.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

Tragedy

2024 · 2 yrs

2024 United Kingdom general election

A general election was held in the United Kingdom on 4 July 2024 to elect all 650 members of the House of Commons. The opposition Labour Party, led by Keir Starmer, won a landslide victory over the governing Conservative Party under Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, ending 14 years of Conservative-led government.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

Politics

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