The Erie Canal by W. H. Bartlett, 1839

Today in History

• Light from the Crab Nebula supernova reached Earth (1054)
• Col. George Washington surrenders to the French (1754)
• The Continental Congress approves the Declaration of Independence (1776)
• Construction begins on the Erie Canal (1825)
• Lewis Carroll tells a story to Alice Liddell that becomes Alice in Wonderland (1862)
• Robert E. Lee retreats from Gettysburg (1863)
• The Tuskegee Institute opens (1881)
• Western Samoa moves across the International Date Line and has two Fourths of July (1892)
• The Republic of Hawaii is proclaimed (1894)
• African-American boxer Jack Johnson becomes heavyweight champion; whites riot (1910)
• Lou Gehrig retires (1939)
• Israeli commandos raid Entebbe (1976)
• Pathfinder lands on Mars (1997)
• The Higgs Boson is discovered (2012)

Birthdays

• The Situation, reality star (1981)
• Koko, gorilla (1971)
• Richard Garriott, game designer (1961)
• Morganna, kissing bandit (1947)
• Michael Milken, convicted financier (1946)
• Geraldo Rivera, vault opener (1943)
• Floyd Little, football player (1942)
• Bill Withers, musician (1938)
• George Steinbrenner, owner (1930)
• Neil Simon, playwright (1927)
• Gina Lollobrigida, actress (1927)
• Eva Marie Saint, actress (1924)
• Leona Helmsley, queen of mean (1920)
• Ann Landers, advice columnist (1918)
• Abigail Van Buren, advice columnist (1918)
• Manolete, bullfighter (1917)
• Mitch Miller, sing-along leader (1911)
• Meyer Lansky, gangster (1902)
• Rube Goldberg, cartoonist (1883)
• Calvin Coolidge, silent president (1872)
• James Bailey, circus ringmaster (1847)
• Stephen Foster, camptown racer (1826)
• Hiram Walker, distiller (1816)
• Giuseppe Garibaldi, soldier (1807)
• Nathaniel Hawthorne, scarlet letterer (1804)

Deaths

• Jesse Helm, “Senator No” (2008)
• Barry White, singer (2003)
• Charles Kuralt, on the road journalist (1997)
• Benjamin O. Davis, Jr., first African-American four-star general (1995)
• Eva Gabor, actress (1995)
• Bob Ross, joyous painter (1995)
• Georgette Heyer, novelist (1974)
• Suzanne Lenglen, tennis player (1938)
• Marie Curie, scientist (1934)
• Lothar von Richthofen, ace (1922)
• Giovanni Schiaparelli, astronomer (1910)
• August Derleth, horror writer (1909)
• Swami Vivekananda, Hindu guru (1902)
• James Monroe, US President (1831)
• John Adams, US President (1826)
• Thomas Jefferson, US President (1826)

Holidays and Celebrations