July 3

July 3 in recent years

2024 (Wednesday)

2023 (Monday)

2022 (Sunday)

2021 (Saturday)

2020 (Friday)

2019 (Wednesday)

2018 (Tuesday)

2017 (Monday)

2016 (Sunday)

2015 (Friday)

July 3 is the 184th day of the year (185th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar; 181 days remain until the end of the year.

Events

• 324 – Battle of Adrianople Constantine I defeats Licinius, who flees to Byzantium.
• 987 – Hugh Capet is crowned King of France, the first of the Capetian dynasty that would rule France till the French Revolution in 1792.
• 1608 – Québec City is founded by Samuel de Champlain.
• 1754 – French and Indian War: George Washington surrenders Fort Necessity to French forces.
• 1767 – Pitcairn Island is discovered by Midshipman Robert Pitcairn on an expeditionary voyage commanded by Philip Carteret.
• 1767 – Norway's oldest newspaper still in print, Adresseavisen, is founded and the first edition is published.
• 1775 – American Revolutionary War: George Washington takes command of the Continental Army at Cambridge, Massachusetts.
• 1778 – American Revolutionary War: British forces kill 360 people in the Wyoming Valley massacre.
• 1819 – The Bank of Savings in New York City, the first savings bank in the United States, opens.
• 1839 – The first state normal school in the United States, the forerunner to today's Framingham State College, opens in Lexington, Massachusetts with 3 students.
• 1844 – The last pair of Great Auks is killed.
• 1848 – Slaves are freed in the Danish West Indies (now U.S. Virgin Islands) by Peter von Scholten in the culmination of a year-long plot by enslaved Africans.
• 1849 – The French enter Rome in order to restore Pope Pius IX to power. This would prove a major obstacle to Italian unification.
• 1852 – Congress establishes the United States' 2nd mint in San Francisco, California.
• 1863 – American Civil War: The final day of the Battle of Gettysburg culminates with Pickett's Charge.
• 1866 – Austro-Prussian War is decided at the Battle of Königgratz, resulting in Prussia taking over as the prominent German nation from Austria.
• 1884 – Dow Jones and Company publishes its first stock average.
• 1886 – Karl Benz officially unveils the Benz Patent Motorwagen – the first purpose-built automobile.
• 1886 – The New York Tribune becomes the first newspaper to use a linotype machine, eliminating typesetting by hand.
• 1890 – Idaho is admitted as the 43rd U.S. state.
• 1898 – Spanish-American War: The Spanish fleet, led by Pascual Cervera y Topete, is destroyed by the U.S. Navy in Santiago, Cuba.
• 1913 – Confederate veterans at the Great Reunion of 1913 reenact Pickett's Charge; upon reaching the high-water mark of the Confederacy they are met by the outstretched hands of friendship from Union survivors.
• 1938 – World speed record for a steam railway locomotive is set in England, by the Mallard, which reaches a speed of 126 miles per hour (203 km/h).
• 1938 – President Franklin D. Roosevelt dedicates the Eternal Light Peace Memorial and lights the eternal flame at Gettysburg Battlefield.
• 1940 – World War II: the French fleet of the Atlantic based at Mers el Kébir, is bombarded by the British fleet, coming from Gibraltar, causing the loss of three battleships: Dunkerque, Provence and Bretagne. One thousand two hundred sailors perish.
• 1944 – World War II: Minsk is liberated from Nazi control by Soviet troops during Operation Bagration.
• 1952 – The Constitution of Puerto Rico is approved by the Congress of the United States.
• 1952 – The SS United States sets sail on her maiden voyage to Southampton. During the voyage, the ship takes the Blue Riband away from the RMS Queen Mary.
• 1962 – The Algerian War of Independence against the French ends.
• 1969 – The biggest explosion in the history of rocketry occurs when the Soviet N-1 rocket explodes and subsequently destroys its launchpad.
• 1970 – The Troubles: the "Falls Curfew" begins in Belfast, Northern Ireland.
• 1970 – A British Dan-Air De Havilland Comet chartered jetliner crashes into mountains north of Barcelona, Spain killing 113 people.
• 1979 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter signs the first directive for secret aid to the opponents of the pro-Soviet regime in Kabul.
• 1988 – United States Navy warship USS Vincennes shoots down Iran Air Flight 655 over the Persian Gulf, killing all 290 people aboard.
• 1988 – The Fatih Sultan Mehmet Bridge in Istanbul, Turkey is completed, providing the second connection between the continents of Europe and Asia over the Bosporus.
• 1994 – The deadliest day in Texas traffic history, according to the Texas Department of Public Safety. Forty-six people are killed in crashes.
• 1996 – Stone of Scone is returned to Scotland.
• 2001 – A Vladivostok Avia Tupolev Tu-154 jetliner crashes on approach to landing at Irkutsk, Russia killing 145 people.
• 2005 – Same-sex marriage in Spain becomes legal.
• 2006 – Valencia metro accident leaves 43 dead in Valencia, Spain.

Births

• 1423 – King Louis XI of France (d. 1483)
• 1442 – Emperor Go-Tsuchimikado of Japan (d. 1500)
• 1518 – Li Shizhen, Chinese physician (d. 1593)
• 1530 – Claude Fauchet, French historian (d. 1601)
• 1676 – Leopold I, Prince of Anhalt-Dessau, Prussian field marshal (d. 1747)
• 1683 – Edward Young, English poet (d. 1765)
• 1685 – Sir Robert Rich, 4th Baronet, British cavalry officer (d. 1768)
• 1728 – Robert Adam, Scottish architect (d. 1792)
• 1738 – John Singleton Copley, American painter (d. 1815)
• 1743 – Sophia Magdalena of Denmark, queen consort of Sweden (d. 1813)
• 1851 – Charles Bannerman, Australian cricketer (d. 1930)
• 1854 – Leoš Janáček, Czech composer (d. 1928)
• 1866 – Albert Gottschalk, Danish painter (d. 1907)
• 1870 – Richard Bedford Bennett, 11th Prime Minister of Canada (d. 1947)
• 1875 – Ferdinand Sauerbruch, German surgeon (d. 1951)
• 1876 – Ralph Barton Perry, American philosopher (d. 1957)
• 1878 – George M. Cohan, American actor, director, singer and dancer (d. 1942)
• 1879 – Alfred Korzybski, Polish linguist (d. 1950)
• 1880 – Carl Schuricht, Polish-born German conductor (d. 1967)
• 1883 – Franz Kafka, Czech-German writer (d. 1924)
• 1886 – Raymond A. Spruance, American Navy admiral (d. 1969)
• 1888 – Ramón Gómez de la Serna, Spanish writer (d. 1963)
• 1893 – Mississippi John Hurt, country blues singer and guitarist (d. 1966) (some confusion about date of birth)
• 1900 – Alessandro Blasetti, Italian film director (d. 1987)
• 1903 – Ace Bailey, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 1992)
• 1906 – Jack Earle, American actor and sideshow performer (d. 1952)
• 1906 – George Sanders, British actor (d. 1972)
• 1908 – M. F. K. Fisher, American writer (d. 1992)
• 1908 – Robert B. Meyner, American politician (d. 1990)
• 1910 – Fritz Kasparek, Austrian mountaineer (d. 1954)
• 1913 – Dorothy Kilgallen, American columnist (d. 1965)
• 1916 – John Kundla, American college and professional basketball coach
• 1917 – João Saldanha, Brazilian journalist and football manager (d. 1990)
• 1918 – S. V. Ranga Rao, South Indian actor (Telugu Cinema Actor) (d. 1974)
• 1920 – Paul O'Dea, American baseball player (d. 1978)
• 1921 – Susan Peters, American actress (d. 1952)
• 1922 – Guillaume Cornelis van Beverloo, Belgian painter, called Corneille (d. 2010)
• 1924 – S. R. Nathan, 6th president of Singapore
• 1926 – Johnny Coles, American jazz trumpeter (d. 1997)
• 1927 – Ken Russell, British director
• 1928 – Roger Horchow, American entrepreneur and Broadway producer
• 1930 – Pete Fountain, American clarinetist
• 1930 – Carlos Kleiber, Austrian conductor (d. 2004)
• 1930 – Tommy Tedesco, American musician (d. 1997)
• 1931 – Frits Helmuth, Danish actor (d. 2004)
• 1932 – Richard Mellon Scaife, American newspaper publisher
• 1933 – Edward Brandt, American doctor and public health official (d. 2007)
• 1935 – Harrison Schmitt, American astronaut and politician
• 1936 – Baard Owe, Norwegian-born Danish actor
• 1937 – Tom Stoppard, Czech-born, British playwright
• 1938 – Bolo Yeung, Hong Kong actor
• 1939 – Brigitte Fassbaender, German mezzo-soprano
• 1939 – László Kovács, Hungarian politician and diplomat
• 1940 – Lamar Alexander, American politician
• 1940 – Fontella Bass, American soul singer
• 1940 – Jerzy Buzek, Prime Minister of Poland
• 1940 – César Tovar, Venezuelan baseball player (d. 1994)
• 1941 – Gloria Allred, American Attorney
• 1942 – Eddy Mitchell, French singer and actor
• 1942 – Paco Stanley, Mexican TV personality (d. 1999)
• 1943 – Judith Durham, Australian singer-songwriter
• 1943 – Kurtwood Smith, American actor
• 1944 – Michel Polnareff, French singer and songwriter
• 1945 – Michael Cole, American TV actor
• 1945 – Saharon Shelah, Israeli mathematician
• 1946 – Johnny Lee, American country-and-western singer
• 1946 – Leszek Miller, Prime Minister of Poland
• 1947 – Dave Barry, American humorist and author
• 1947 – Betty Buckley, American actress
• 1947 – Anthony "Top" Topham, English musician
• 1948 – Tarmo Koivisto, Finnish comics artist
• 1948 – Paul Barrere, American guitarist & songwriter (Little Feat)
• 1949 – Jan Smithers, American actress
• 1949 – Johnnie Wilder, Jr., American singer (Heatwave) (d. 2006)
• 1950 – James Hahn, American politician
• 1950 – Ewen Chatfield, New Zealand cricketer
• 1951 – Richard Hadlee, New Zealand cricketer
• 1951 – Jean-Claude Duvalier, Haitian politician
• 1952 – Amit Kumar, Indian singer
• 1952 – Andy Fraser, English songwriter and bass guitarist
• 1955 – Sanma Akashiya, Japanese television performer
• 1956 – Montel Williams, American talk show host
• 1956 – Don Vito, American Viva La Bam castmember
• 1957 – Laura Branigan, American singer (d. 2004)
• 1957 – Ken Ober, American game show host (d. 2009)
• 1958 – Matthew Fraser, Canadian-British journalist
• 1958 – Charlie Higson, English author and actor
• 1958 – Siân Lloyd, Welsh weather presenter
• 1958 – Didier Mouron, Swiss artist
• 1958 – Aaron Tippin, American singer
• 1959 – Julie Burchill, British journalist and author
• 1959 – Stephen Pearcy, American singer (Ratt)
• 1959 – David Shore, Canadian-born writer
• 1960 – Vince Clarke, British songwriter (Depeche Mode, Yazoo, and Erasure)
• 1961 – Pedro Romeiras, Portuguese dancer
• 1961 – Tim Smith, English musician (Cardiacs)
• 1962 – Tom Cruise, American actor
• 1962 – Hunter Tylo, American actress
• 1962 – Thomas Gibson, American actor
• 1962 – Hugh Page, former South African cricketer
• 1964 – Joanne Harris, British author
• 1964 – Yeardley Smith, French-born American actress
• 1965 – Shinya Hashimoto, Japanese wrestler (d. 2005)
• 1965 – Connie Nielsen, Danish actress
• 1966 – Moisés Alou, Dominican baseball player
• 1966 – Robin Burgener, Canadian programmer, inventor of 20Q
• 1967 – Brian Cashman, American major league baseball executive
• 1967 – Spiros Marangos, Greek footballer
• 1968 – Aku Louhimies, Finnish film director and screenwriter
• 1969 – Kevin Hearn, Canadian musician (Barenaked Ladies)
• 1970 – Teemu Selänne, Finnish ice hockey player
• 1970 – Shawnee Smith, American actress
• 1970 – Serhiy Honchar, Ukrainian cyclist
• 1971 – Julian Assange, Australian journalist, publisher and Internet activist
• 1972 – Warren Furman, British television personality
• 1972 – Tim Rose, Australian Artist
• 1973 – Johnny Terris, Canadian actor and director
• 1973 – Patrick Wilson, American actor
• 1973 – Emma Cunniffe, British actress
• 1973 – Ólafur Stefánsson, Icelandic handball player
• 1976 – Andrea Barber, American actress
• 1976 – Wade Belak, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 2011)
• 1976 – Henry Olonga, Zimbabwean cricketer
• 1976 – Shane Lynch, Boyzone singer
• 1976 – Wanderlei Silva, Brazilian mixed martial artist
• 1976 – Bobby Skinstad, Springbok rugby player
• 1977 – David Bowens, American football player
• 1978 – Mizuki Noguchi, Japanese long-distance runner
• 1979 – Ludivine Sagnier, French actress
• 1980 – Olivia Munn, American television hostess
• 1980 – Bostjan Nachbar, Slovenian basketball player
• 1980 – Roland Mark Schoeman, South African swimmer
• 1980 – Harbhajan Singh, Indian cricketer
• 1980 – Georgios Theodoridis, Greek footballer
• 1980 – Melisa Young, American Rapper ("Kid Sister")
• 1981 – Justin Torkildsen, American actor
• 1982 – Kanika, Indian actress
• 1983 – Steph Jones, American singer and model
• 1983 – Edinson Volquez, Dominican baseball player
• 1984 – Manny Lawson, American football player
• 1984 – Syed Rasel, Bangladeshi cricketer
• 1984 – Nicolas Roche, Irish cyclist
• 1984 – Corey Sevier, Canadian actor
• 1985 – Minami Keisuke, Japanese singer and actor
• 1986 – Greg Paulus, American basketball and football player
• 1987 – Sebastian Vettel, German racing driver
• 1987 – Smellington, Overall badass
• 1988 – Winston Reid, New Zealand-Danish footballer
• 1990 – Bobby Hopkinson, English footballer
• 1992 – Nathalia Ramos, Spanish actress and singer

Deaths

• 1570 – Aonio Paleario, Italian humanist
• 1672 – Francis Willughby, English biologist (b. 1635)
• 1749 – William Jones, Welsh mathematician (b. 1675)
• 1778 – Anna Maria Pertl Mozart, mother of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (b. 1720)
• 1790 – Jean-Baptiste L. Romé de l'Isle, French chemist (b. 1736)
• 1795 – Louis-Georges de Bréquigny, French historian (b. 1714)
• 1795 – Antonio de Ulloa, Spanish general and governor of Louisiana (b. 1716)
• 1809 – Joseph Quesnel, French-Canadian composer and playwright (b. 1746)
• 1858 – Alexander Andreyevich Ivanov, Russian painter (b. 1806)
• 1863 – George Hull Ward, American general (b. 1826)
• 1904 – Theodor Herzl, Austrian Zionist (b. 1860)
• 1904 – Edouard Beaupré, Canadian giant and strongman (b. 1881)
• 1908 – Joel Chandler Harris, American writer (b. 1845)
• 1916 – Hetty Green, American businesswoman (b. 1834)
• 1918 – Sultan Mehmed V of the Ottoman Empire (b. 1844)
• 1933 – Hipólito Yrigoyen, President of Argentina (b. 1852)
• 1935 – André Citroën, French automobile pioneer (b. 1878)
• 1937 – Jacob Schick, American-Canadian electric razor inventor (b. 1877)
• 1942 – Louis Franchet d'Espèrey, French general (b. 1856)
• 1954 – Siegfried Handloser, German physician (b. 1895)
• 1957 – Dolf Luque, baseball player (b. 1890)
• 1965 – Trigger, Roy Rogers' horse (b. 1932)
• 1969 – Brian Jones, English musician (The Rolling Stones) (b. 1942)
• 1971 – Jim Morrison, American singer (The Doors) (b. 1943)
• 1977 – Alexander M. Volkov, Russian novelist and mathematician (b. 1891)
• 1978 – James Daly, American actor (b. 1918)
• 1979 – Louis Durey, French composer (b. 1888)
• 1981 – Ross Martin, Polish-American actor (b. 1920)
• 1985 – Frank Selke, Canadian ice hockey manager (b. 1893)
• 1986 – Rudy Vallee, American singer (b. 1901)
• 1989 – Jim Backus, American actor (b. 1913)
• 1991 – Lê Văn Thiêm, Vietnamese mathematician (b. 1918)
• 1993 – Curly Joe DeRita, American actor and comedian (b. 1909)
• 1993 – Don Drysdale, American baseball player (b. 1936)
• 1994 – Lew Hoad, Australian tennis player (b. 1934)
• 1995 – Pancho Gonzales, American tennis player (b. 1928)
• 1995 – Eddie Mazur, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1929)
• 1998 – Danielle Bunten Berry, American software developer (b. 1949)
• 1999 – Mark Sandman, American musician (b. 1952)
• 2000 – Kemal Sunal, Turkish actor (b. 1944)
• 2001 – Mordecai Richler, Canadian author (b. 1931)
• 2001 – Johnny Russell, American country singer and songwriter (b. 1940)
• 2003 – Gaetano Alibrandi, Papal diplomat (b. 1914)
• 2004 – Andrian Nikolayev, Soviet cosmonaut (b. 1929)
• 2005 – Alberto Lattuada, Italian film director (b. 1914)
• 2005 – Gaylord Nelson, American politician (b. 1916)
• 2006 – Joseph Goguen, American computer scientist (b. 1941)
• 2006 – Benjamin Hendrickson, American actor (b. 1950)
• 2007 – Alice Timander, Swedish dentist (b. 1915)
• 2007 – Boots Randolph, American saxophonist (b. 1927)
• 2008 – Ernie Cooksey, English footballer (b. 1980)
• 2008 – Larry Harmon, American entertainer and TV producer (b. 1925)
• 2008 – Clive Hornby, English soap actor ("Emmerdale") (b. 1944)
• 2008 – Oliver Schroer, Canadian fiddler and composer (b. 1956)
• 2009 – John A. Keel, American fortean, television scriptwriter, author of The Mothman Prophecies (b. 1930)

Holidays and observances

• Christian Feast Day:
  • Heliodorus of Altino
  • Mucian
  • Patriarch Anatolius of Constantinople
  • Pope Leo II
  • Translation of Saint Thomas, one of four days in the year on which Quarter Sessions sat.
  • July 3 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)

• Emancipation Day (United States Virgin Islands)
• Independence Day, celebrates the liberation of Minsk from Nazi occupation by Soviet troops in 1944. (Belarus)
• The start of the Dog Days according to The Old Farmer's Almanac but not according to established meaning in most European cultures.
• Women's Day (Myanmar)
• Lady Gaga Day (Taiwan)

External links

• BBC: On This Day
• The New York Times: On This Day
• On This Day in Canada

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