July 3rd in History
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The last two confirmed breeding pair of the Great Auk (Pinguinus impennis) are killed on July 3, 1844, although unconfirmed reports of individuals continue until 1852. The painting of a Great Auk surrounded by its true relatives is by Archibald Thorburn, date uncertain but prior to 1935.
Today in History
- American Revolutionary War: George Washington takes command of the Continental Army (1775)
- The last pair of great auks are killed (1844)
- American Civil War: On the last day of the Battle of Gettysburg, Pickett’s Charge takes place (1863)
- The first Dow Jones Average is published (1884)
- The USS Vincennes shoots down Iran Air 655 over the Persian Gulf, killing 290 (1988)
- The Stone of Scone is returned to Scotland (1996)
- The Egyptian military overthrows the regime of President Mohamed Morsi (2013)
Birthdays
- Li Shizhen (李時珍), polymath (1518)
- Albert Gottschalk, painter (1866)
- George M. Cohan, entertainer (1898)
- Alfred Korzybski, linguist (1879)
- Franz Kafka, author (1883)
- Raymond Spruance, admiral (1886)
- Mississippi John Hurt, blues musician (1893)
- George Sanders, actor (1906)
- Dorothy Kilgallen, game show regular (1913)
- Ken Russell, director (1927)
- Pete Fountain, clarinet player (1930)
- Richard Mellon Scaife, businessman (1932)
- Harrison Schmitt, astronaut (1935)
- Tom Stoppard, playwright (1937)
- Dave Barry, humorist (1947)
- Jean-Claude Duvalier, Haitian president (1951)
- Montel Williams, talk show host (1956)
- Laura Branigan, singer-songwriter (1952)
- Tom Cruise, actor (1962)
- Yeardley Smith, actress and voice artist (1964)
- Olivia Munn, actress (1980)
Deaths
- Anna Maria Mozart, composer spouse (1778)
- Joel Chandler Harris, folklorist (1908)
- Hetty Green, financier known as the “Witch of Wall Street” (1916)
- André Citroën, car maker (1935)
- Jacob Schick, inventor of the electric razor (1937)
- Trigger, horse (1965)
- Brian Jones, member of the Rolling Stones (1969)
- Jim Morrison, singer-songwriter (1971)
- Ross Martin, actor (1981)
- Rudy Vallée, singer and actor (1986)
- Jim Backus, actor and voice artist (1989)
- Joe DeRita, actor, member of the Three Stooges (1993)
- Don Drysdale, baseball player (1983)
- Pancho Gonzales, tennis player (1995)
- Boots Randolph, saxophonist (2007)
- Larry Harmon, creator of Bozo the Clown (2008)
- Andy Griffith, actor and singer (2012)
Holidays and Celebrations
- Disobedience Day (informal)
- Emancipation Day (US Virgin Islands)
- Independence Day (Belarus)
- Women’s Day (Myanmar)
July 3 is the 184th day of the year (185th in leap years). There are 181 days remaining until the end of the year.