Today is Wednesday, July 4, the 186th day of 2012. There are 180 days left in the year. This is Independence Day.
Today’s Highlight:
On July 4, 1776, the Declaration of Independence was adopted by delegates to the Second Continental Congress in Philadelphia.
On this date:
In 1802, the United States Military Academy officially opened at West Point, N.Y.
In 1831, the fifth president of the United States, James Monroe, died in New York City at age 73.
In 1862, English mathematician and clergyman Charles Dodgson (“Lewis Carroll”) began devising the story of Alice in Wonderland for his young friend Alice Pleasance Liddell and her sisters during a boating trip.
In 1872, the 30th president of the United States, Calvin Coolidge, was born in Plymouth, Vt.
In 1912, the 48-star American flag, recognizing New Mexico statehood, was adopted. A train wreck near Corning, N.Y., claimed 39 lives.
In 1939, Lou Gehrig of the New York Yankees delivered his famous farewell speech in which he called himself “the luckiest man on the face of the earth.”
In 1942, Irving Berlin’s musical review “This Is the Army” opened at the Broadway Theater in New York.
In 1959, America’s 49-star flag, recognizing Alaskan statehood, was officially unfurled.
In 1960, America’s 50-star flag, recognizing Hawaiian statehood, was officially unfurled.
Associated Press
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