July 4th

The European Organization for Nuclear Research, also known as CERN, announced the discovery of a new particle with properties consistent with the Higgs boson.

The U.S. Pathfinder probe landed on Mars.

The United States celebrated its bicentennial.

Freedom of Information Act in the US is signed into law. The 36th President of the United States, Lyndon B. Johnson signed the law, which allows for the disclosure of government information to the public. It came into effect a year later in 1967.

Philippines gains independence from the United States. The South East Asian country had been ruled for almost 381 years by various colonial powers, starting with the Spanish in the early 16th century.

Lou Gehrig, stricken with ALS, made his farewell at Yankee Stadium.

Hungarian physicist Leo Szilard patents the chain-reaction design for the atomic bomb.

Katharine Lee Bates published America the Beautiful.

The Statue of Liberty was presented to the United States in Paris.

Alice in Wonderland is published for the first time. The classic fantasy novel was written by author Lewis Carroll, whose real name was Charles Lutwidge Dodgson. The book recounted the adventures of a curious girl, Alice, who falls into a rabbit hole and meets human-like animals and creatures.

Lewis Carroll first told the story of Alice's Adventures Underground to the Liddell sisters.

Henry David Thoreau moved into his shack on Walden Pond.

Huskar Colliery Mining Disaster in Silkstone England: mining pit floods drown 26 children, leads to 1842 'Mines and Collieries Act' bans women and children working underground.

Former president James Monroe died.

Former presidents John Adams and Thomas Jefferson both died.

The Louisiana Purchase is announced to the American people.

James Hutton, geologist, publicly reads an abstract of his theory of uniformitarianism for the first time at the meeting of the Royal Society of Edinburgh.

US Congress proclaims the Declaration of Independence and independence from Britain.