Welcome to Today In History for Saturday, July 4, 2009. On this day in history .. 1054 - Brightest known super-nova (Crab Nebula) starts shining (23 days) 1187 - Battle of Hittin (Tiberias): Saladin defeats Reinoud of Chƒtillon 1301 - Battle at Breukelen: Holland vs Lichtenberg 1415 - Angelo Correr becomes Pope Gregory XII 1453 - 41 Jewish martyrs burned at stake at Breslau 1610 - Battle at Klushino: King Sigismund II beats Russian & Sweden 1636 - City of Providence, Rhode Island form 1652 - Prince of Cond‚ starts blood bath in Paris 1653 - British Barebones Parliament goes into session 1672 - States of Holland declares "Eternal Edict" void 1693 - Battle at Boussu-lez-Walcourt: French-English vs Dutch army 1708 - Swedish King Karel XII beats Russians 1754 - George Washington gives Ft Necessity to France 1776 - Declaration of Independence-US gains independence from Britain 1779 - French fleet occupies Grenada 1789 - 1st US tariff act 1796 - 1st Independence Day celebration is held 1802 - US Military Academy officially opens (West Point, NY) 1810 - French troops occupy Amsterdam 1817 - Construction on Erie Canal begins 1819 - William Herschel makes last telescopic observation of 1819 comet 1827 - Slavery abolished in NY 1828 - Construction begins on B & O (Baltimore-Ohio) 1st US passenger RR 1829 - Cornerstone laid for 1st US mint (Chestnut & Juniper St, Phila) 1831 - "America (My Country 'Tis of Thee)" is 1st sung in Boston 1832 - "America" 1st sung publicly 1836 - Wisconsin Territory forms 1845 - Henry David Thoreau moves into his shack on Walden Pond 1845 - Texas Congress votes for annexation to US 1861 - In a special session of 27th Congress Lincoln requests 400,000 troops 1861 - Skirmish at Harper's Ferry, WV 1862 - Battle at Green River Ky (Morgan's Ohio Raid) 1862 - Lewis Carroll creates Alice in Wonderland for Alice P Liddell 1862 - Battle of Port Royal, SC (Port Royal Ferry) 1862 - R Morgan's: Tomkinsville, KY to Somerset, KY [->JUL 28] 1863 - Boise, Idaho founded (now capital of Idaho) 1863 - Failed Confederate assault on Helena Arkansas (640 casualties) 1863 - General Lee's army withdraws from Gettysburg 1863 - Skirmish at Smithburg, TN 1863 - Vicksburg, Mississippi surrenders to Union forces 1864 - -9] Battle at Chattahoochee River, Georgia 1865 - 1st edition of "Alice in Wonderland" is published 1866 - Firecracker thrown in wood starts fire destroying « of Portland, Me 1868 - Battle at Ueno: last Tokugawa armies defeated 1873 - Aquarium opens in Woodward Gardens 1874 - Social Democratic Workmen's Party of North America formed 1875 - White Democrats kill several blacks in terrorist attacks in Vicksburg 1876 - 1st public exhibition of electric light in SF 1876 - Batholdi visits Bedloe Island, future home of his Statue of Liberty 1879 - Africaner Union forms by Rev SJ du Toit at Cape colony 1879 - Battle at Rorkes Drift: Britain ends attack on Zulus 1881 - Booker T Washington establishes Tuskegee Institute (Alabama) 1882 - Telegraph Hill Observatory opens in SF 1883 - Buffalo Bill Cody presents 1st wild west show, North Platte, Nebr 1884 - 1st US bullfight held (Dodge City Ks) 1884 - Statue of Liberty presented to US in Paris 1886 - 1st scheduled transcontinental passenger train reaches Pt Moody, BC 1888 - 1st organized rodeo competition held, Prescott, Ariz 1889 - Washington state constitutional convention holds 1st meeting 1892 - James Keir Hardie chosen 1st socialist in British Lower house 1894 - Elwood Haynes successfully tests one of 1st US autos at 6 MPH 1894 - Republic of Hawaii proclaimed, Sanford B Dole as president 1895 - Katherine Lee Bates publishes "America the Beautiful" 1898 - French liner "La Bourgogne" collides with bark Cromartyshire, 560 die 1898 - US flag hoisted over Wake Island (Spanish-American War) 1903 - Pacific Cable (SF, Hawaii, Guam, Phil) opens, Pres TR sends message 1905 - Phila A's beat Boston Red Sox 4-2 in 20 inning game 1906 - Gr Brit, France & Italy grant Independence to Ethiopia 1907 - Tommy Burns KOs Bill Squires in 1 for heavyweight boxing title 1908 - NY Giant George "Hooks" Witse no-hits Phila Phillies, 1-0 in 10 inn 1910 - Jack Johnson KOs James J Jeffries in 15 for heavyweight boxing title 1911 - 105øF (41øC) at Vernon, Vermont (state record) 1911 - 106øF (41øC) at Nashua, New Hampshire (state record) 1911 - Ty Cobb goes 0 for 4 & ends a 40 game hit streak 1911 - White Sox Ed Walsh stops Ty Cobb's 40-game hitting streak 1912 - Detroit Tiger George Mullen no-hits St Louis Browns, 7-0 1912 - Jack Johnson TKOs Jim Flynn in 9 for heavyweight boxing title 1913 - 37th Wimbledon Mens Tennis: A F Wilding beats McLoughlin (86 63 10-8) 1914 - 1st US motorcycle race (300 miles, Dodge City Ks) 1918 - Altar dedicated at full-scale replica of Stonehenge at Maryhill, Wa 1919 - ADGB (Allgemeine Deutsche Gewerkschaftsbund) party forms 1919 - Cincinnati Reds are 10« games back in NL, & win World Series 1919 - Jack Dempsey KOs Jess Willard in Cuba for heavyweight championship 1923 - Jack Dempsey beats Tommy Gibbon in 15 for heavyweight boxing title 1925 - 44 die when Dreyfus Hotel in Boston collapses 1925 - 45th Wimbledon Mens Tennis: Rene Lacoste beats J Borotra (63 63 46 86) 1925 - Yanks Lefty Grove beats A's Herb Pennock 1-0 in 15 innings 1926 - Baronie soccer team forms in Breda Neth 1926 - NSDAP-party forms in Weimar 1927 - Ir Sukarno forms PNI (Perserikatan Nasional Indonesia) in Batavia 1929 - AM radio station WOWO, Indiana's transmitter burns down 1930 - 43rd Wimbledon Womens Tennis: Helen Moody beats Elizabeth Ryan (62 62) 1931 - 1st fireworks are held at Cleveland Stadium 1931 - 1st trailside museum opens in Cleveland Metroparks 1932 - Bradman scores 260, a North American record, v Western Ontario 1933 - Work begins on Oakland Bay Bridge 1934 - Jordanians revolt in Amsterdam after reduction in employment 1936 - 49th Wimbledon Womens Tennis: Hull Jacobs beats H Sperling (62 46 75) 1936 - League of Nations starts sanctions against Italy 1938 - 1st game at Shribe Park, Phila; Braves beat Phillies 10-5 1938 - France-Turkish friendship treaty 1939 - Red Sox Jim Tabor hits 2 grand slams in 1 game 1939 - Yankees retire 1st uniform (Lou Gehrig #4), 1st Old Timers Day 1940 - British destroys French battle fleet at Oran, Algeria, 1267 die 1940 - German occupiers forbids anti-nazis speeches 1941 - Latvia partisans shoot 416 Jews dead 1941 - Politburo of Yugoslav communist party reorganizes 1941 - Howard Florey & Norman Heatley meet for 1st time, 11 days later they successfully recreate penicillin 1942 - 1st American bombing mission over enemy-occupied Europe (WW II) 1942 - US air offensive against nazi-Germany begins 1944 - 1,100 US guns fire 4th of July salute at German lines in Normandy 1944 - 1st Japanese kamikaze attack, US fleet near Iwo Jima 1944 - Allied assault on Carpiquet airport at Caen 1944 - Gestapo arrests German Social Democrat Julius Leber 1946 - Anti Jewish riots in Kielce Poland, 42 die 1946 - Philippines gains independence from US 1947 - 61st Wimbledon Mens Tennis: Jack Kramer beats Tom P Brown (61 63 62) 1950 - Braves Sid Gordon ties season grand slam record with 4 1950 - Truman signs public law 600 (Puerto Ricans write own constitution) 1952 - 66th Wimbledon Mens Tennis: Frank Sedgman beats J Drobny (46 62 63 62) 1952 - Canadain Currency, Mint & Exchange Fund Act allows gold coins of $5, $10, and $20 to be minted 1953 - 60th Wimbledon Womens Tennis: Maureen Connolly beats D Hart (86 75) 1953 - Imre Nagy succeeds Matyas R kosi as premier of Hungary 1954 - WMSL (WYUR, now WAFF) TV channel 48 in Huntsville, AL (ABC) begins 1954 - West Germany beats Hungary 3-2 for soccer's 5th World Cup in Bern 1956 - Independence National Historical Park forms in Philadelphia 1956 - US most intense rain fall (1.23" in 1 minute) at Unionville Maryland 1957 - Dutch 2nd Chamber accepts temporary tax increase 1958 - 72nd Wimbledon Mens Tennis: A Cooper beats N Fraser (36 63 64 13-11) 1959 - 66th Wimbledon Womens Tennis: Maria Fraser beats Darlene Hard (64 63) 1959 - America's new 49-star flag honoring Alaska statehood unfurled 1959 - Cayman Islands separated from Jamaica, made a crown colony 1960 - 6th LPGA Championship won by Mickey Wright 1960 - America's new 50-star flag honoring Hawaiian statehood unfurled 1960 - Mickey Mantle is 18th to hit 300 HRs 1962 - Island Records begins 1962 - KIKU (now KHNL) TV channel 13 in Honolulu, HI (IND) 1st broadcast 1964 - 71st Wimbledon Womens Tennis: Maria Fraser beats M Court (64 79 63) 1964 - Beachboy's "I Get Around" reaches #1 1965 - 20th US Women's Open Golf Championship won by Carol Mann 1966 - Beatles attacked in Philippines after insulting Imelda Marcos 1966 - LBJ signs Freedom of Information Act 1967 - Opening ceremony of Tassajara Zen Mountain Center 1967 - Phillies Clay Dairymple ties NL record of 6 walks in doubleheader 1968 - Arthur Kopit's "Indians," premieres in London 1968 - Radio astronomy satellite Explorer 38 launched (í 450 m) 1969 - "Give Peace a Chance" by Plastic Ono Band is released in UK 1969 - 140,000 attend Atlanta Pop Festival featuring Led Zep & Janis Joplin 1969 - 76th Wimbledon Womens Tennis: Ann Jones beats Billie J King (36 63 62) 1969 - Italian Rumor govt resigns 1969 - USSR performs nuclear test at Eastern Kazakh/Semipalitinsk USSR 1970 - 100 injured in race rioting in Asbury Park NJ 1970 - 84th Wimbledon Mens Tennis: Newcombe beats K Rosewall (57 63 62 36 61) 1970 - Casey Kasem's "American Top 40" debuts on LA radio 1970 - Chartered Dan-Air Comet crashes into mountains north of Barcelona, Spain killing 112 vacationing Britons 1971 - France performs nuclear test at Muruora Island 1973 - Alan Ayckbourne's "Absurd Person Singular," premieres in London 1973 - CARICOM - Caribbean Community & Common Market, forms 1973 - In audience with Italian cyclists, Pope Paul VI praises athletes who "offer the magnificent show of a healthy, strong, generous youth" 1974 - Mike Marshall goes 9-0 with 3 saves in 20 appearances in 30 days 1975 - 82nd Wimbledon Womens Tennis: Billie Jean King beats Goolagong (60 61) 1975 - Bundy victim (?) Nancy Baird disappears from Layton, Utah 1975 - Fictional wedding date of Coneheads 1976 - Opening ceremony of the Dai Bosatsu monastery Catskill Mt NY 1976 - Raid on Entebbe-Israel rescues 229 Air France passengers 1976 - Sandra Palmer wins LPGA Bloomington Golf Classic Bicentennial 1977 - Cubs use fielder Larry Bittner as a pitcher 1977 - Nigel Harrison replaces Gary Valentine as bassist of Blondie 1977 - Red Sox wallop a major league-record 8 HRs beating Toronto 9-6 1978 - Memphis fire fighters halt 3-day strike under a court order 1979 - Algerian ex-president Ben Bella freed 1980 - Nolan Ryan is 4th to strikeout 3,000 1981 - 95th Wimbledon Mens Tennis: John McEnroe beats B B”rg (46 76 76 64) 1981 - Clive Rice 105* out of 143 all out, Notts v Hants at Bournemouth 1982 - 10th du Maurier Golf Classic (Peter Jackson Classic): Sandra Haynie 1982 - 4th Space Shuttle Mission-Columbia 4 lands at Edwards AFB 1982 - 96th Wimbledon Mens Tennis: J Connors beats J McEnroe (36 63 67 76 64) 1982 - Miguel de la Madrid Hurtado elected president of Mexico 1982 - USSR performs nuclear test at Eastern Kazakh/Semipalitinsk USSR 1982 - Yankees bat out of order against Indians in 1st inning 1983 - NY Yankee Dave Righetti no-hits the Red Sox 1984 - Funeral for S Nakagawa & burial half his ashes next to N Senzaki 1984 - Kallicharran gets 206 & 6-32 in a NatWest Trophy game 1984 - NY Yankee Phil Niekro is 9th to strikeout 3,000 1984 - Yuri Sedykh of USSR throws hammer a record 86.33 m 1985 - Tinker Bell's nightly flight begins 1987 - 94th Wimbledon Womens Tennis: M Navratilova beats Steffi Graf (75 63) 1987 - Discovery moves to Launch Pad 39B for STS-26 mission 1987 - Imran Khan takes 300th Test Cricket wicket, only Pakistani to do so 1987 - Nazi Klaus Barbie, "Butcher of Lyon" sentenced to life in France 1988 - 102nd Wimbledon Mens Tennis: Stefan Edberg beats Becker (46 76 64 62) 1988 - KC releases pitcher Dan Quisenberry, whose 238 saves are the 4th most 1988 - US navy shoots down Iranian civilian jetliner over Gulf, kills 290 1989 - 14 year old actress Drew Barrymore, attempts suicide 1989 - Unmanned Russian Mig-23 crashes in Bellegem-Kooigem, Belgium (1 dies) 1989 - Red's Tom Browning is 3 outs away from his 2nd career perfect game when Phillie Dickie Thon doubles 1990 - 400 New Kids on the Block fans treated for heat exhaustion in Minn 1990 - France performs nuclear test at Muruora Island 1990 - Wrestler Brutus Beefcake injured during para-sailing 1990 - 2 Live Crew release "Banned in the USA" the lyrics quote Star Spangled Banner & Gettysburg Address 1992 - 99th Wimbledon Womens Tennis: Steffi Graf beats Monica Seles (62 61) 1992 - John Phillips, rocker (Mamas & Papas), undergoes a liver transplant 1992 - US actress Bobbie Eakes marries author David Stone 1993 - 107th Wimbledon Mens Tennis: Pete Sampras beats Courier (76 76 36 63) 1993 - Brandie Burton wins LPGA Jamie Farr Toledo Golf Classic 1993 - Dave Winfield hits 442nd HR to move into 19th place 1993 - Pilar Fort, crowned 25th Miss Black America 1993 - Pizza Hut blimp deflates & lands safely on W 56th street in NYC 1994 - Russian manned space craft TM-18, lands 1994 - Rwandese Patriot Front occupies Kigali 1994 - US loses to Brazil 1-0 in 1994 World Cup quarter finals 1995 - Birmingham Barracudas play 1st CFL game (vs Winnipeg) 1996 - Hot Mail, a free internet E-mail service begins 1997 - US space probe Pathfinder lands on Ares Vallis Mars