The History of July 4th

I would like to wish you all a Happy 4th of July with some knowledge. Below you will find some very important events I have found throughout history, that have occurred on this most famous day.

We must ask ourselves, “Are all of these July 4th events below just a coincidence or a time honored tradition?”

* 362 BC – Battle of Mantinea: The Thebans, led by Epaminondas, defeated the Spartans.

* 13 B.C. – Is when the “Cult of the Divinity of Peace,” under the rule of Augustus Caesar via Pax Augusta (Peace of Augustus) was established

* 414 – Emperor Theodosius II, age 13, yielded power to his older sister Aelia Pulcheria, who reigned as regent and proclaimed herself empress (Augusta) of the Eastern Roman Empire

* 836 – Pactum Sicardi, peace between the Principality of Benevento and the Duchy of Naples

* 1534 – Christian III is elected King of Denmark and Norway in the town of Rye.

* 1634 – The city of Trois-Rivières was founded in New France (Quebec, Canada)

* 1636 – Providence, Rhode Island was founded.

* 1708 –   Swedish King Karel XII beats Russians

* 1754  –   George Washington gives Ft. Necessity to France

* 1776 – Declaration of Independence. American independence from Great Britain.

* 1789    – First U.S. tariff act

* 1796  –  The first Independence Day celebration is held

* 1803 – The Louisiana Purchase was announced to the American people.

* 1817  –   Construction on Erie Canal begins

* 1829 – Cornerstone laid for 1st U.S. mint (Chestnut and Juniper St, Philadelphia)

* 1832 – “America” 1st sung publicly in Boston

* 1845 – Texas Congress votes for annexation to US

* 1874 – Social Democratic Workmen’s Party of North America formed

* 1886 – The people of France offered the Statue of Liberty to the people of the United States.

* 1918 – Ottoman sultan Mehmed VI ascended to the throne.

* 1918 – Altar dedicated at full-scale replica of Stonehenge at Maryhill, Washington

* 1918 – Bolsheviks killed Tsar Nicholas II of Russia and his family (Julian calendar date).

* 1927 – Ir Sukarno forms PNI (Perserikatan Nasional Indonesia) in Batavia

* 1931 – First fireworks are held at Cleveland Stadium

* 1941 – Nazi troops massacred Polish scientists and writers in the captured Ukrainian city of Lviv.

* 1946 – The Philippines became independent.

* 1966 – President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Freedom of Information Act into United States law. The act went into effect the next year.

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

* 2010 – Gen. David Petraeus formally assumed command of the 130,000-strong international force in Afghanistan.

* 2012 – God particle discovered. The discovery of particles consistent with the Higgs boson at the Large Hadron Collider was announced at CERN.