July 4 in Pop Culture History

1054 – A supernova was seen for several months in Asia, near the star Zeta Tauri – its remnants form the Crab Nebula.

1776 – The United States Declaration of Independence is adopted by the Second Continental Congress.

1803 – The Louisiana Purchase was announced.

1826 – John Adams, second president of the United States, died the same day as Thomas Jefferson, third president of the United States, on the fiftieth anniversary of adopting the United States Declaration of Independence. The two founding fathers did not get along during their careers.

1827 – Slavery was abolished in New York State.

1855 – The first edition of Walt Whitman’s book of poems, Leaves of Grass, was published.

1862 – Lewis Carroll told 10-year-old Alice Liddell a story that was the basis for Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, published in 1865.

1910 – African-American boxer Jack Johnson knocked out white boxer Jim Jeffries in a heavyweight boxing match.

1911 – A heat wave occurred the northeastern United States, killing 380 people in eleven days

1939 – Lou Gehrig gave his famous “The luckiest man on the face of the earth” speech and announced his retirement from major league baseball.

1946 – The Philippines gained full independence from the United States.

1950 – Radio Free Europe was first broadcast.

1951 – William Shockley announces the invention of the junction transistor.

1961 – Soviet Submarine k-19 Nuclear Underwater Disaster

#1 Hit July 4, 1964 – July 17, 1964: The Beach Boys – I Get Around

1966 – US President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Freedom of Information Act into United States law, effective in 1967.

1976 – The Clash performed publicly for the first time at The Black Swan in Sheffield, England.

1986 – About Last Night…, Psycho III, Big Trouble in Little China, Under The Cherry Moon, and The Great Mouse Detective debuted in theaters.

1987 – Former Gestapo chief Klaus “Butcher of Lyon” Barbie was convicted of crimes against humanity and sentenced to life imprisonment.

#1 Hit July 4, 1992 – August 7, 1992: Sir Mix-A-Lot – Baby Got Back

1997 – Out to Sea was released in theaters.

1997 – NASA’s Pathfinder space probe landed on the surface of Mars.

2001 – Cats and Dogs and Scary Movie 2 debuted in theaters.

2004 – The cornerstone of the Freedom Tower was laid on the World Trade Center site in New York City.

2005 – The Deep Impact collider struck the comet Tempel 1.

2009 – The Statue of Liberty’s crown reopened to the public after eight years of closure due to security concerns following the September 11 attacks.

2012 – The discovery of particles consistent with the “God particle” – Higgs boson at the Large Hadron Collider were announced at CERN.

2016 – The Juno probe arrived at Jupiter.

2032 – (fictional) John Connor was killed by a T-850 in Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines, film.

#1 Hit July 4, 2020 – August 7, 2020: Rockstar – DaBaby featuring Roddy Ricch