July 4 (UPI) — Most Americans are all familiar with the reason we celebrate July Fourth as Independence Day.
This was the day in 1776 that the Second Continental Congress adopted the Declaration of Independence explaining why the Founding Fathers wanted to separate from Britain.
Though the American Revolutionary War formally began a year earlier with the Battles of Lexington and Concord and ended several years later, July 4, 1776, would forever come to mark the founding of the United States of America.
But in the years since, there have been other important events to take place on July 4th, marking great achievements and solemn moments in American history.
1802 — West Point opens
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Less than two decades after the conclusion of the American Revolution, the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y., opened on July 4, 1802. Two people graduated that first year; in 2025, that number had risen to 1,002.
1817 — Construction on Erie Canal begins
File Photo by Stephen Drew/National Park Service
The United States’ first man-made waterway, the Erie Canal was formally started on July 4, 1817. It was completed less than a decade later, in 1825. One of the most important trade routes of the 19th century, it connected the Great Lakes in the Midwest to the Atlantic Ocean via the Hudson River.
President George W. Bush named the canal the nation’s 23rd heritage corridor in 2000.
1826 — Two presidents die
Both Thomas Jefferson, a statue of whom is pictured, and John Adams contributed to the writing of the Declaration of Independence. File Photo by Pat Benic/UPI
In one of history’s most notable coincidences, John Adams (the second U.S. president) and Thomas Jefferson (the third) both died on July 4, 1826. Both of these Founding Fathers signed the Declaration of Independence 50 years earlier. The one-time rivals maintained correspondence with each other in their years after leaving Washington, D.C.
1863 — Confederates surrender at Vicksburg
The Siege of Vicksburg, Miss., was seen as a major victor for Union Gen. Ulysses S. Grant, who later went on to become president. File Photo by John Angelillo/UPI
On July 4, 1863, the yearlong Siege of Vicksburg came to an end amid the American Civil War. Confederate troops surrendered to the Union in Vicksburg, Miss., one day after defeat in the Battle of Gettysburg in Pennsylvania. These two events marked a turning point in the war in favor of the North.
1884 — Statue of Liberty
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In a gesture not commonly seen at this size anymore, France gifted the United States the 305-foot Statue of Liberty on this day in 1884 to mark 100 years of independence. The government presented the copper statue to the U.S. ambassador in a ceremony in Paris. The statue would come to be one of the single most recognizable symbols of American freedom and identity.
The monument sustained damage in 2012 from Superstorm Sandy, but reopened to the public in 2013 after extensive repairs.
1895 — “America the Beautiful”
Katharine Lee Bates published her poem “America” on July 4, 1895. She said she was inspired to write the poem — initially called “Pikes Peak” and then simply “America” — during an 1893 trip to Pike’s Peak in Colorado. A church organist later added music to the poem and it became the famed song “America the Beautiful.”
1939 — The luckiest man on the face of the Earth
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On July 4, 1939, fans of America’s favorite pastime were rocked when one of the sports’s most beloved figures — Lou Gehrig — announced his retirement. Even worse, he revealed his diagnosis of a disease that would come to be known by his name, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, a debilitating motor neuron disease.
Gehrig gave the emotional and memorable speech during Lou Gehrig Appreciation Day at Yankee Stadium in New York. He said:
“For the past two weeks you have been reading about a bad break. Yet today I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of the Earth.”
1963 — Presidential Medal of Freedom
Opera singer Marion Anderson, pictured in 1987, was among the first 31 honorees of the Presidential Medal of Freedom. UPI File Photo
Nine months before his assassination, President John F. Kennedy signed an order establishing the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Each July 4th, the president would bestow the medals to people who have made exceptional contributions to the interests or national security of the United States.
On July 4, 1963, Kennedy announced the first 31 honorees, including opera singer Marian Anderson, ambassador Ellsworth Bunker, architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, writer E.B. White, and artist Andrew Wyeth.
Kennedy died before a ceremony could be held to honor the winners, so it was held instead by President Lyndon B. Johnson in December 1963.
1965 — Annual Reminder
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Taking part in one of the most American of traditions, LGBTQ demonstrators organized outside Philadelphia’s Independence Hall on July 4, 1965. Held each year through 1969, the demonstrators gathered at the site of the Second Continental Congress — where the Declaration was signed — to remind fellow Americans that LGBTQ people did not enjoy the same constitutional rights as the rest of the country. It was one of the earliest public events of the modern gay rights movement.
1997 — Pathfinder finds Mars
File Photo courtesy of NASA
On July 4, 1997, NASA landed its Pathfinder roving probe on Mars, the first U.S. spacecraft to land there in more than two decades. The mission ended a year later, but during that time it demonstrated a new way of landing on the Red Planet using airbags, analyzed the composition of rocks and soil, and used three cameras to take countless photos and document experiments.
Happy birthday!
File Photo by John Angelillo/UPI
And finally, don’t forget these famous Americans born on the nation’s birthday: writer Nathaniel Hawthorne in 1804; songwriter Stephen Foster in 1826; circus operator James Bailey in 1847; astronomer Henrietta Swan Leavitt in 1868; Calvin Coolidge, 30th president of the United States, in 1872; cartoonist Rube Goldberg in 1883; Louis B. Mayer, film mogul /co-founder of MGM, in 1885; actor Gloria Stuart in 1910; advice columnists Ann Landers and Abigail Van Buren, twin sisters, in 1918; actor Eva Marie Saint in 1924 (age 101); playwright Neil Simon in 1927; New York Yankees owner George Steinbrenner in 1930; musician Bill Withers in 1938; TV reporter Geraldo Rivera in 1943 (age 82); musician Annette Beard (Martha and the Vandellas) in 1943 (age 82); activist Ron Kovic in 1946 (age 79); musician Ralph Johnson (Earth, Wind & Fire) in 1951 (age 74); chef Andrew Zimmern in 1961 (age 64); tennis player Pam Shriver in 1962 (age 63); musician Matt Malley (Counting Crows) in 1963 (age 62); actor/playwright Tracy Letts in 1965 (age 60); actor Becki Newton in 1978 (age 47); musician Post Malone in 1995 (age 30); Malia Obama, daughter of former President Barack Obama, in 1998 (age 27); actor Alex Hibbert in 2004 (age 21).
