June 30th 1886 – The first transcontinental train trip across Canada departs from Montreal. It arrives in Port Moody, British Columbia on July 4.

June 30th 1905 – Albert Einstein publishes the article "On the Electrodynamics of Moving Bodies", in which he introduces special relativity.

June 30th 1906 – The United States Congress passes the Meat Inspection Act and Pure Food and Drug Act.

June 30th 1908 – The Tunguska event occurs in remote Siberia.

June 30th 1912 – The Regina Cyclone hits Regina, Saskatchewan, killing 28. It remains Canada's deadliest tornado event.

June 30th 1921 – U.S. President Warren G. Harding appoints former President William Howard Taft Chief Justice of the United States.

June 30th 1934 – The Night of the Long Knives, Adolf Hitler's violent purge of his political rivals in Germany, takes place.

June 30th 1935 – The Senegalese Socialist Party holds its first congress.

June 30th 1936 – Emperor Haile Selassie of Abyssinia  appeals for aid to the League of Nations against Mussolini's invasion of his country.

June 30th 1941 – World War II: Operation Barbarossa – Germany captures Lviv, Ukraine.

June 30th 1944 – World War II: The Battle of Cherbourg ends with the fall of the strategically valuable port to American forces.

June 30th 1953 – The first Chevrolet Corvette rolls off the assembly line in Flint, Michigan.

June 30th 1956 – A TWA Super Constellation and a United Airlines DC-7 (Flight 718) collide above the Grand Canyon in Arizona, United States, killing all 128 on board the two planes.

June 30th 1959 – A United States Air Force F-100 Super Sabre from Kadena Air Base, Okinawa, crashes into a nearby elementary school, killing 11 students plus six residents from the local neighborhood.

June 30th 1960 – Congo gains independence from Belgium.

June 30th 1963 – Ciaculli massacre: a car bomb, intended for Mafia boss Salvatore Greco, kills seven between police officers and military  personnel near Palermo.

June 30th 1968 – Pope Paul VI issues the Credo of the People of God.

June 30th 1969 – Nigeria bans Red Cross aid to Biafra.

June 30th 1971 – The crew of the Soviet Soyuz 11 spacecraft are killed when their air supply escapes through a faulty valve.

June 30th 1971 – Ohio ratifies the 26th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, lowering the voting age to 18, thereby putting the amendment into effect.

June 30th 1972 – The first leap second is added to the UTC  time system.

June 30th 1985 – Thirty-nine American hostages from the hijacked TWA Flight 847 are freed in Beirut after being held for 17 days.

June 30th 1986 – The U.S. Supreme Court rules that states can outlaw homosexual acts between consenting adults.

June 30th 1987 – The Royal Canadian Mint introduces the $1 coin, known as the Loonie.

June 30th 1991 – 32 miners are killed when a coal mine fire in the Donbass region of Ukraine releases toxic gas.

June 30th 1992 – Former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher joins the House of Lords as Baroness Thatcher.

June 30th 1997 – The United Kingdom transfers sovereignty over Hong Kong to the People's Republic of China.

June 30th 2009 – Yemenia Flight 626 crashes off the coast of Moroni, Comoros killing 152 people and leaving 1 survivor

July 1st 69 – Tiberius Julius Alexander orders his Roman legions in Alexandria  to swear allegiance to Vespasian  as Emperor.

July 1st 1770 – Lexell's Comet passed closer to the Earth than any other comet in recorded history, approaching to a distance of 0.0146 a.u.

July 1st 1782 – American  privateers  attack Lunenburg, Nova Scotia.

July 1st 1837 – A system of the civil registration of births, marriages and deaths is established in England and Wales.

July 1st 1858 – Joint reading of Charles Darwin and Alfred Russel Wallace's papers on evolution  to the Linnean Society.

July 1st 1862 – American Civil War: the Battle of Malvern Hill takes place. It is the final battle in the Seven Days Campaign, part of the George B. McClellan's Peninsula Campaign.

July 1st 1863 – Keti Koti (Emancipation Day) in Suriname, marking the abolition of slavery by the Netherlands.

July 1st 1863 – American Civil War: the Battle of Gettysburg begins.

July 1st 1867 – The British North America Act of 1867 takes effect as the Constitution of Canada, creating the Canadian Confederation and the federal dominion  of Canada; Sir John A. Macdonald is sworn in as the first Prime Minister of Canada.

July 1st 1873 – Prince Edward Island joins the Canadian Confederation.

July 1st 1881 – The world's first international telephone call is made between St. Stephen, New Brunswick, Canada, and Calais, Maine, United States.

July 1st 1908 – SOS is adopted as the international distress signal.

July 1st 1916 – World War I: First day on the Somme – On the first day of the Battle of the Somme 19,000 soldiers of the British Army are killed and 40,000 wounded.

July 1st 1931 – United Airlines begins service (as Boeing Air Transport).

July 1st 1963 – ZIP Codes are introduced for United States mail.

July 1st 1979 – Sony introduces the Walkman.

July 1st 2007 – Smoking in England is banned in all public indoor spaces. With the ban already in force in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, this means it is illegal to smoke in indoor public places anywhere in the UK. The ban is also put into effect in Australia.

July 1st 1979 – Sony introduces the Walkman.


Wow,those were the days when buses were quiet as a mouse now you have Ipods and blackberries that play VERY loud music.  ::)

July 2nd 626 – In fear of assassination, Li Shimin ambushes and kills his rival brothers Li Yuanji and Li Jiancheng in the Incident at Xuanwu Gate. On September 4, Shimin's father abdicates  in his favour and Shimin becomes Emperor Taizong of Tang, Emperor of China.

July 2nd 706 – In China, Emperor Zhongzong of Tang has the remains of Emperor Gaozong of Tang, his wife and recently-deceased ruling Empress Wu Zetian, her son Li Xian, her grandson Li Chongrun, and granddaughter Li Xianhui all interred in a new tomb complex outside Chang'an known as the Qianling Mausoleum, located on Mount Liang.

July 2nd 963 – The imperial army proclaims Nicephorus Phocas Emperor of the Romans on the plains outside Cappadocian Caesarea.

July 2nd 1298 – The Battle of Göllheim is fought between Albert I of Habsburg and Adolf of Nassau-Weilburg.

July 2nd 1494 – The Treaty of Tordesillas is ratified by Spain.

July 2nd 1555 – The Ottoman Admiral Turgut Reis sacks the Italian city of Paola.

July 2nd 1561 – Menas, Emperor of Ethiopia, defeats a revolt in Emfraz.

July 2nd 1561 – Menas, Emperor of Ethiopia, defeats a revolt in Emfraz.

July 2nd 1298 – The Battle of Göllheim is fought between Albert I of Habsburg and Adolf of Nassau-Weilburg.

July 2nd 1494 – The Treaty of Tordesillas is ratified by Spain.

July 2nd 1555 – The Ottoman Admiral Turgut Reis sacks the Italian city of Paola.

July 2nd 1561 – Menas, Emperor of Ethiopia, defeats a revolt in Emfraz.

July 2nd 1582 – Battle of Yamazaki: Toyotomi Hideyoshi defeats Akechi Mitsuhide.

July 2nd 1613 – The first English  expedition from Massachusetts against Acadia led by Samuel Argall takes place.

July 2nd 1644 – English Civil War: Battle of Marston Moor.

July 2nd 1679 – Europeans first visit Minnesota and see headwaters of Mississippi in an expedition led by Daniel Greysolon de Du Luth.

July 2nd 1698 – Thomas Savery patents the first steam engine.

July 2nd 1776 – The Continental Congress adopts a resolution severing ties with Great Britain although the wording of the formal Declaration of Independence is not approved until July 4.

July 2nd 1777 – Vermont  becomes the first American territory to abolish slavery.

July 2nd 1823 – Bahia Independence Day: the end of Portuguese rule in Brazil, with the final defeat of the Portuguese crown loyalists in the province of Bahia.

July 2nd 1839 – Twenty miles off the coast of Cuba, 53 rebelling African slaves led by Joseph Cinqué take over the slave ship Amistad.

July 2nd 1853 – The Russian Army crossed the Pruth river into the Danubian Principalities, Moldavia and Wallachia--providing the spark that set off the Crimean War.

July 2nd 1871 – Victor Emmanuel II of Italy enters Rome after having conquered it from the Papal States.

July 2nd 1881 – Charles J. Guiteau shoots and fatally wounds U.S. President James Garfield, who eventually dies from an infection on September 19.

July 2nd 1890 – The U.S. Congress passes the Sherman Anti-Trust Act.

July 2nd 1897 – Italian scientist Guglielmo Marconi obtains a patent for radio in London.

July 2nd 1900 – The first Zeppelin flight takes place on Lake Constance near Friedrichshafen, Germany.

July 2nd  1917 – The East St. Louis Riots end.

July 2nd 1934 – The Night of the Long Knives ends with the death of Ernst Röhm.

July 2nd 1937 – Amelia Earhart and navigator Fred Noonan are last heard from over the Pacific Ocean while attempting to make the first equatorial round-the-world flight.

July 2nd 1940 – Indian independence leader Subhas Chandra Bose is arrested and detained in Calcutta.

July 2nd 1950 – The Golden Pavilion at Kinkaku-ji in Kyoto, Japan burns down.

July 2nd 1962 – The first Wal-Mart store opens for business in Rogers, Arkansas.

July 2nd 1964 – U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson signs the Civil Rights Act of 1964 meant to prohibit segregation in public places.

July 2nd 1966 – The French military explodes a nuclear test bomb codenamed Aldébaran in Mururoa, their first nuclear test in the Pacific.

July 2nd 1976 – Fall of the Republic of Veitnam; Communist North Vietnam declares their union to form the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.

July 2nd 1985 – Andrei Gromyko is appointed the chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union.

July 2nd 1987 – Nilde Iotti is named as the first female President of the Italian Chamber of Deputies.

July 2nd 1993 – 37 participants in an Alevi cultural and literary festival were killed when a mob of demonstrators set fire to their hotel in Sivas during a violent protest.

July 2nd 2000 – Vicente Fox Quesada is elected the first President of México from an opposition party, the Partido Acción Nacional, after more than 70 years of continuous rule by the Partido Revolucionario Institucional.

July 2nd 2001 – The AbioCor self contained artificial heart is first implanted.

July 2nd 2002 – Steve Fossett becomes the first person to fly solo around the world nonstop in a balloon.

July 2nd 2003 – Silvio Berlusconi, Prime Minister of Italy, insults German MP Martin Schulz by calling him a "kapo" during a session of the European Parliament.

July 2nd 2004 – ASEAN Regional Forum accepts Pakistan as its 24th member.¨

July 2nd 2008 – Ingrid Betancourt, and 14 other hostages held by FARC guerrillas, are rescued by the Colombian armed forces.

July 3rd 324 – Battle of Adrianople Constantine I defeats Licinius, who flees to Byzantium.

1608 City of Quebec founded by Samuel de Champlain

1848 Slaves freed in Danish West Indies (now US Virgin Islands)

1863 Battle of Gettysburg Pa, Picketts Charge, ends, major victory for North

July 3rd 987 – Hugh Capet is crowned King of France, the first of the Capetian dynasty that would rule France till the French Revolution in 1792.

1962 Algerian Revolution against French ends (Algeria gains ind on 7/5)

July 3rd 1754 – French and Indian War: George Washington surrenders Fort Necessity to French forces.

July 3rd 1767 – Pitcairn Island is discovered by Midshipman  Robert Pitcairn on an expeditionary voyage commanded by Philip Carteret.

July 3rd 1767 – Norway's  oldest newspaper still in print, Adresseavisen, is founded and the first edition is published.

July 3rd 1775 – American Revolutionary War: George Washington takes command of the Continental Army at Cambridge, Massachusetts.

July 3rd 1775 – American Revolutionary War: George Washington takes command of the Continental Army at Cambridge, Massachusetts.

July 3rd 1778 – American Revolutionary War: British forces massacre 360 people in the Wyoming Valley massacre.

July 3rd 1819 – The Bank of Savings in New York City, the first savings bank in the United States, opens.

July 3rd 1839 – The first state normal school in the United States, the forerunner to today's Framingham State College, opens in Lexington, Massachusetts with 3 students.

July 3rd 1844 – The last pair of Great Auks is killed.

July 3rd 1844 – The last pair of Great Auks is killed.
Who by?

July 3rd 1849 – The French enter Rome  in order to restore Pope Pius IX to power. This would prove a major obstacle to Italian unification.

July 3rd 1852 – Congress establishes the United States' 2nd mint in San Francisco, California.

July 3rd 1866 – Austro-Prussian War is decided at the Battle of Königgratz, resulting in Prussia taking over as the prominent German nation from Austria.

July 3rd 1884 – Dow Jones and Company publishes its first stock average.

July 3rd 1886 – Karl Benz officially unveils the Benz Patent Motorwagen – the first purpose-built automobile.

July 3rd 1886 – The New York Tribune becomes the first newspaper  to use a linotype machine, eliminating typesetting  by hand.

July 3rd 1890 – Idaho is admitted as the 43rd U.S. state.

July 3rd 1898 – Spanish-American War: The Spanish fleet, led by Pascual Cervera y Topete, is destroyed by the U.S. Navy in Santiago, Cuba.

July 3rd 1913 – Confederate veterans at the Great Reunion of 1913 reenact Pickett's Charge; upon reaching the high-water mark of the Confederacy they are met by the outstretched hands of friendship from Union survivors.

July 3rd 1938 – World speed record for a steam  railway locomotive  is set in England, by the Mallard, which reaches a speed of 126 miles per hour (203 km/h).

July 3rd 1938 – President Franklin D. Roosevelt dedicates the Eternal Light Peace Memorial and lights the eternal flame at Gettysburg Battlefield.

July 3rd 1940 – World War II: the French fleet of the Atlantic based at Mers el Kébir, is bombarded by the British fleet, coming from Gibraltar, causing the loss of three battleships: Dunkerque, Provence and Bretagne. One thousand two hundred sailors perish.

July 3rd 1944 – World War II: Minsk is liberated from Nazi control by Soviet troops during Operation Bagration.

July 3rd 1952 – Puerto Rico's Constitution is approved by the Congress of the United States.

July 3rd 1952 – The SS United States sets sail on her maiden voyage to Southampton. During this voyage, the SS United States takes the Blue Riband away from the RMS Queen Mary

July 3rd 1969 – The biggest explosion in the history of rocketry occurs when the Soviet N1 rocket explodes and subsequently destroys its launchpad.

July 3rd 1970 – The Troubles: the "Falls Curfew" begins in Belfast, Northern Ireland.

July 3rd 1970 – A British Dan-Air De Havilland Comet chartered jetliner crashes into mountains north of Barcelona, Spain killing 113 people.

July 3rd 1977 – The Senegalese Republican Movement  is founded.

July 3rd 1979 – US President Jimmy Carter signs the first directive for secret aid to the opponents of the pro-Soviet regime in Kabul.

July 3rd 1981 – First mention in the New York Times of a disease that would later be called AIDS

July 3rd 1986 – US President Ronald Reagan presides over the relighting of the renovated Statue of Liberty.

July 3rd 1988 – United States Navy warship USS Vincennes shoots down Iran Air Flight 655 over the Persian Gulf, killing all 290 people aboard.

July 3rd 1988 – The Fatih Sultan Mehmet Bridge in Istanbul, Turkey is completed, providing the second connection between the continents of Europe and Asia over the Bosporus.

July 3rd 1994 – The deadliest day in Texas traffic history, according to the Texas Department of Public Safety. Forty six people are killed in crashes.

July 3rd 1996 – Stone of Scone is returned to Scotland.

July 3rd 2001 – A Vladivostok Avia Tupolev TU-154 jetliner crashes on approach to landing at Irkutsk, Russia killing 145 people.

July 3rd 2006 – Valencia metro accident leaves 43 dead in Valencia, Spain.

July 3rd 2006 – Asteroid 2004 XP14 flies within 432,308 kilometres (268,624 mi) of Earth.

July 3rd 2009 – Mark II.5 Skytrain cars enter service in Metro Vancouver.

July 3rd 2009 – Sarah Palin, former candidate for US vice-president, announces her intention to resign the governorship of Alaska.

July 2nd 1777 – Vermont  becomes the first American territory to abolish slavery.




YAY Vermont.  ;D ;D ;D ;D



July 3rd 1776, John Adams wrote to his wife Abagail. I know it is long but well worth the read. I did the bold.

Morning

To Abigail:

Your favor of June 17, dated Plymouth, was handed me yesterday by the post. I was much pleased to find that you had taken a journey to Plymouth to see your friends, in the long absence of one whom you may wish to see. The excursion will be an amusement, and will serve your health. How happy would it have made me to have taken this journey with you!

I was informed, day or two before the receipt of your letter, that you were gone to Plymouth, by Miss P., who was obliging enough to inform me, in your absence, of the particulars of the expedition to the Lower Harbor, against the men of war. – Her narration is executed with a precision and perspicuity which would have become the pen of an accomplished historian.

I am very glad you had so good an opportunity of seeing one of our little American men of war. Many ideas, new to you, must have presented themselves in such a scene; and you will in future better understand the relations of a sea engagement.

I rejoice extremely in Dr. Bulfinch’s petition for leave to open an Hospital. But I hope the business will be done upon a larger scale. I hope that one Hospital will be licensed in every country, if not in every town. I am happy to find you resolved to be with the children in the first class. Mr. W. and Mrs. Q. are cleverly through inoculation in this city.

I have one favor to ask, and that is, that in your future letters you would acknowledge the receipt of all those you may receive from me, and mention their dates; by this means I shall know if any of mine miscarry.

The information you give me of our friend’s refusing his appointment, has given me much pain, grief, and anxiety, I believe I shall be obliged to follow his example. I have not fortune enough to support family, and, what is of more importance, to support the dignity of that exalted station. It is too high and lifted up for me, who delight in nothing so much as retreat, solitude, silence, and obscurity. In private life, no one has a right to censure me for following my own inclinations in retirement, in simplicity and frugality; but in public life every man has a right to remark as he pleases; at least he thinks so.

Yesterday the greatest question was decided, which ever was debated in America, and a greater, perhaps, never was or will be decided among Men. A resolution was passed without one dissenting colony "that these United Colonies are, and of right ought to be, free and independent states, and as such they have, and of right ought to have, full power to make war, conclude peace, establish commerce, and to do all the other acts and things which other states may rightfully do." You will see in a few days a declaration setting forth the causes which have impelled us to this mighty revolution and the reasons which will justify it in the sight of God and man. A plan of confederation will be taken up in a few days.

When I look back to the year of 1761 and recollect the argument concerning writs of assistance in the superior court, which I have hitherto considered as the commencement of the controversy between Great Britain and America, and run through the whole period from that time to this, and recollect the series of political events, the chain of causes and effects, I am surprised at the suddenness as well as greatness of this revolution. Britain has been fill’d with Folly and America with Wisdom, at least this is my Judgment. Time must determine. It is the will of Heaven that the two countries should be sundered forever. It may be the will of Heaven that America shall suffer calamities still more wasting and distressing yet more dreadful. If this is to be the case, it will have this good effect, at least: it will inspire us will many virtues, which we have not, and correct many errors, follies, and vices, which threaten to disturb, dishonor, and destroy us. The furnace of affliction produces refinement, in states as well as individuals. And the new governments we are assuming, in every part, will require a purification from our vices and an augmentation of our virtues or they will be no blessings. The people will have unbounded power. And the people are extremely addicted to corruption and venality, as well as the great. I am not without apprehensions from this quarter, but I must submit all my hopes and fears to an overruling Providence, in which, unfashionable as the faith may be, I firmly believe.

John Adams
---------------------------------------------------

Philadelphia

July 3, 1776

Evening

To Abigail:

Had a declaration of independence been made seven months ago, it would have been attended with many great and glorious effects. We might, before this hour, have formed alliance with foreign states. We should have mastered Quebec, and been in possession of Canada.

You will, perhaps, wonder how such a declaration would have influenced our affairs in Canada; but, if I could write with freedom, I could easily convince you that it would, and explain to you the manner how. Many gentlemen in high stations, and of great influence, have been duped, by the ministerial bubble of commissioners, to treat; and, in real, sincere expectation of this event, which they so fondly wished, they have been slow and languid in promoting measures for the reduction of that province. Others there are in the colonies, who really wished that our enterprise in Canada would be defeated; that the colonies might be brought into danger and distress between two fires, and be thus induced to submit. Others really wished to defeat the expedition to Canada, lest the conquest of it should elevate the minds of the people to much to hearken to those terms of reconciliation which they believed would be offered to us. These jarring views, wishes, and designs, occasioned an opposition to many salutary measures which were proposed for the support of that expedition, and caused obstructions embarrassments, and studied delays, which have finally lost us the province.

All causes, however, in conjunction, would not have disappointed us, if it had not been for a misfortune which could not have been foreseen, and perhaps could not have been prevented – I mean the prevalence of the smallpox among our troops. This fatal pestilence completed our destruction. It is a frown of Providence upon us, which we ought to lay to heart.

But, on the other hand, the delay of this declaration to this time has many great advantages attending it. The hopes of reconciliation which were fondly entertained by multitudes of honest an well meaning, though short-sighted and mistaken people, have been gradually, and at last totally, extinguished. Time has been given for the whole people maturely to consider the great question of independence, and to ripen their judgment, dissipate their fears, and allure their hopes, by discussing it in newspapers and pamphlets – by debating it in assemblies, conventions, committees of safety and inspection – in town and country meetings, as well as in private conversations; so that the whole people, in every colony, have now adopted it as their own act. This will cement the union, and avoid those heats, and perhaps convulsions, which might have been occasioned by such a declaration six months ago.

But the day is past. The second day of July, 1776, will be memorable epocha in the history of America. I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated by succeeding generations, as the great Anniversary Festival. It ought to be commemorated, as the day of deliverance by solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with pomp, shews, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires and illuminations, from one end of the continent to the other, from this time forward forever.

You will think me transported with enthusiasm; but I am not. I am well aware of the toil, and blood, and treasure, that it will cost us to maintain this declaration, and support and defend these states. Yet, through all the gloom, I can see the rays of light and glory; I can see that the end is more than worth all the means, and that posterity will triumph, although you and I may rue, which I hope we shall not.

John Adams



Cat

YAY Vermont.  ;D ;D ;D ;D



July 3rd 1776, John Adams wrote to his wife Abagail. I know it is long but well worth the read. I did the bold.

Morning

To Abigail:

Your favor of June 17, dated Plymouth, was handed me yesterday by the post. I was much pleased to find that you had taken a journey to Plymouth to see your friends, in the long absence of one whom you may wish to see. The excursion will be an amusement, and will serve your health. How happy would it have made me to have taken this journey with you!

I was informed, day or two before the receipt of your letter, that you were gone to Plymouth, by Miss P., who was obliging enough to inform me, in your absence, of the particulars of the expedition to the Lower Harbor, against the men of war. – Her narration is executed with a precision and perspicuity which would have become the pen of an accomplished historian.

I am very glad you had so good an opportunity of seeing one of our little American men of war. Many ideas, new to you, must have presented themselves in such a scene; and you will in future better understand the relations of a sea engagement.

I rejoice extremely in Dr. Bulfinch’s petition for leave to open an Hospital. But I hope the business will be done upon a larger scale. I hope that one Hospital will be licensed in every country, if not in every town. I am happy to find you resolved to be with the children in the first class. Mr. W. and Mrs. Q. are cleverly through inoculation in this city.

I have one favor to ask, and that is, that in your future letters you would acknowledge the receipt of all those you may receive from me, and mention their dates; by this means I shall know if any of mine miscarry.

The information you give me of our friend’s refusing his appointment, has given me much pain, grief, and anxiety, I believe I shall be obliged to follow his example. I have not fortune enough to support family, and, what is of more importance, to support the dignity of that exalted station. It is too high and lifted up for me, who delight in nothing so much as retreat, solitude, silence, and obscurity. In private life, no one has a right to censure me for following my own inclinations in retirement, in simplicity and frugality; but in public life every man has a right to remark as he pleases; at least he thinks so.

Yesterday the greatest question was decided, which ever was debated in America, and a greater, perhaps, never was or will be decided among Men. A resolution was passed without one dissenting colony "that these United Colonies are, and of right ought to be, free and independent states, and as such they have, and of right ought to have, full power to make war, conclude peace, establish commerce, and to do all the other acts and things which other states may rightfully do." You will see in a few days a declaration setting forth the causes which have impelled us to this mighty revolution and the reasons which will justify it in the sight of God and man. A plan of confederation will be taken up in a few days.

When I look back to the year of 1761 and recollect the argument concerning writs of assistance in the superior court, which I have hitherto considered as the commencement of the controversy between Great Britain and America, and run through the whole period from that time to this, and recollect the series of political events, the chain of causes and effects, I am surprised at the suddenness as well as greatness of this revolution. Britain has been fill’d with Folly and America with Wisdom, at least this is my Judgment. Time must determine. It is the will of Heaven that the two countries should be sundered forever. It may be the will of Heaven that America shall suffer calamities still more wasting and distressing yet more dreadful. If this is to be the case, it will have this good effect, at least: it will inspire us will many virtues, which we have not, and correct many errors, follies, and vices, which threaten to disturb, dishonor, and destroy us. The furnace of affliction produces refinement, in states as well as individuals. And the new governments we are assuming, in every part, will require a purification from our vices and an augmentation of our virtues or they will be no blessings. The people will have unbounded power. And the people are extremely addicted to corruption and venality, as well as the great. I am not without apprehensions from this quarter, but I must submit all my hopes and fears to an overruling Providence, in which, unfashionable as the faith may be, I firmly believe.

John Adams
---------------------------------------------------

Philadelphia

July 3, 1776

Evening

To Abigail:

Had a declaration of independence been made seven months ago, it would have been attended with many great and glorious effects. We might, before this hour, have formed alliance with foreign states. We should have mastered Quebec, and been in possession of Canada.

You will, perhaps, wonder how such a declaration would have influenced our affairs in Canada; but, if I could write with freedom, I could easily convince you that it would, and explain to you the manner how. Many gentlemen in high stations, and of great influence, have been duped, by the ministerial bubble of commissioners, to treat; and, in real, sincere expectation of this event, which they so fondly wished, they have been slow and languid in promoting measures for the reduction of that province. Others there are in the colonies, who really wished that our enterprise in Canada would be defeated; that the colonies might be brought into danger and distress between two fires, and be thus induced to submit. Others really wished to defeat the expedition to Canada, lest the conquest of it should elevate the minds of the people to much to hearken to those terms of reconciliation which they believed would be offered to us. These jarring views, wishes, and designs, occasioned an opposition to many salutary measures which were proposed for the support of that expedition, and caused obstructions embarrassments, and studied delays, which have finally lost us the province.

All causes, however, in conjunction, would not have disappointed us, if it had not been for a misfortune which could not have been foreseen, and perhaps could not have been prevented – I mean the prevalence of the smallpox among our troops. This fatal pestilence completed our destruction. It is a frown of Providence upon us, which we ought to lay to heart.

But, on the other hand, the delay of this declaration to this time has many great advantages attending it. The hopes of reconciliation which were fondly entertained by multitudes of honest an well meaning, though short-sighted and mistaken people, have been gradually, and at last totally, extinguished. Time has been given for the whole people maturely to consider the great question of independence, and to ripen their judgment, dissipate their fears, and allure their hopes, by discussing it in newspapers and pamphlets – by debating it in assemblies, conventions, committees of safety and inspection – in town and country meetings, as well as in private conversations; so that the whole people, in every colony, have now adopted it as their own act. This will cement the union, and avoid those heats, and perhaps convulsions, which might have been occasioned by such a declaration six months ago.

But the day is past. The second day of July, 1776, will be memorable epocha in the history of America. I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated by succeeding generations, as the great Anniversary Festival. It ought to be commemorated, as the day of deliverance by solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with pomp, shews, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires and illuminations, from one end of the continent to the other, from this time forward forever.

You will think me transported with enthusiasm; but I am not. I am well aware of the toil, and blood, and treasure, that it will cost us to maintain this declaration, and support and defend these states. Yet, through all the gloom, I can see the rays of light and glory; I can see that the end is more than worth all the means, and that posterity will triumph, although you and I may rue, which I hope we shall not.

John Adams



Cat

Text speak would make easier and shorter.

Text speak would make easier and shorter.



Text speak? Please forgive my ignorance but what is that?



Cat

Text speak? Please forgive my ignorance but what is that?



Cat
A newly developing dialect whereby the speaker can convey a lengthy or complicated thought by abbreviating phonetically or through the use of substitutive letters, numerals and characters. Most of the time this dialect is only used in a situation where there is limited space (such as in an anline video game, where you can only write one line at a time) or when using a cell phone to send messages because the alphanumeric entry process makes writing complete words/sentences impractical. Text speak also includes the use of short-word slang as well. These words are almost always either just a few letters long or occasionally can be longer if a modifying prefix is used to make a whole new word.

Oddly enough, this new dialect has only a written form, as any attempt to speak it out loud is both impractical and unusually difficult, despite the fact that all the specifics are words and phrases used in everyday speech.
The most difficult thing about learning textspeak is developing a sense of nuance. Since it is impossible to use body language, voice inflection, pitch or tone nor can you make eye contact, other compensatory measures have been taken to fill in these communicative gaps. Typing in all capitals is considered shouting and using quotes is giving emphasis to a particular word. Going through the effort to actually type an entire perfect sentence usually indicates that the writer considers the thought to be an important one and most people do pay better attention to these.
The basic rules of this dialect are simple, though. It is acceptable to misspell a word, so long as the phoentics are present, such as "tho" instead of "though". It is also acceptable to use a single character to represent several others, such as "U" instead of "You" or "4" in place of "For". Also, words can just be invented and passed around which consist of a series of unpronouncable letters and numbers that still have a written meaning, if not a verbal possibility. P10x = "Please help me" and Pwn = To completely dominate in some fashion
Some of these last can simply never be traced to origin, as they may be the result of a typo or subjective evolution from their original reference. Whole words are actually frowned upon in textspeak, unless used to define context. Typing "Why four?" or "What for?" is preferable to typing just a numeral 4 and a question mark in certain circumstances, because the latter may cause confusion, and one of the former will have to be typed anyway as well as the addition of a texted apology/embarrased laugh. The other exception is in the case where there is no established textspeak version of the word.
Soz, Srry, Sry can all be used to say "I'm Sorry." But there is no textspeak word for "Apologize" Using a longer word can also be used to reflect the importance of what one is trying to say.
Still other characters are used to express more complex thoughts via the literal interpretation of their appearance. <3 is actually representing heart, end thereby a great degree of affection. Most of these are often referred to as emoticons, but that word is coming to more and more refer specifically to small digitally created faces (also called "smiley's) depicting human emotions. The faces can be useful to someone who is new at textspeak, as they can be used to convey the emotion or emphasis of the writing.
"Heya, Bro. WUU2" - "What you up to"

A newly developing dialect whereby the speaker can convey a lengthy or complicated thought by abbreviating phonetically or through the use of substitutive letters, numerals and characters. Most of the time this dialect is only used in a situation where there is limited space (such as in an anline video game, where you can only write one line at a time) or when using a cell phone to send messages because the alphanumeric entry process makes writing complete words/sentences impractical. Text speak also includes the use of short-word slang as well. These words are almost always either just a few letters long or occasionally can be longer if a modifying prefix is used to make a whole new word.

Oddly enough, this new dialect has only a written form, as any attempt to speak it out loud is both impractical and unusually difficult, despite the fact that all the specifics are words and phrases used in everyday speech.
The most difficult thing about learning textspeak is developing a sense of nuance. Since it is impossible to use body language, voice inflection, pitch or tone nor can you make eye contact, other compensatory measures have been taken to fill in these communicative gaps. Typing in all capitals is considered shouting and using quotes is giving emphasis to a particular word. Going through the effort to actually type an entire perfect sentence usually indicates that the writer considers the thought to be an important one and most people do pay better attention to these.
The basic rules of this dialect are simple, though. It is acceptable to misspell a word, so long as the phoentics are present, such as "tho" instead of "though". It is also acceptable to use a single character to represent several others, such as "U" instead of "You" or "4" in place of "For". Also, words can just be invented and passed around which consist of a series of unpronouncable letters and numbers that still have a written meaning, if not a verbal possibility. P10x = "Please help me" and Pwn = To completely dominate in some fashion
Some of these last can simply never be traced to origin, as they may be the result of a typo or subjective evolution from their original reference. Whole words are actually frowned upon in textspeak, unless used to define context. Typing "Why four?" or "What for?" is preferable to typing just a numeral 4 and a question mark in certain circumstances, because the latter may cause confusion, and one of the former will have to be typed anyway as well as the addition of a texted apology/embarrased laugh. The other exception is in the case where there is no established textspeak version of the word.
Soz, Srry, Sry can all be used to say "I'm Sorry." But there is no textspeak word for "Apologize" Using a longer word can also be used to reflect the importance of what one is trying to say.
Still other characters are used to express more complex thoughts via the literal interpretation of their appearance. <3 is actually representing heart, end thereby a great degree of affection. Most of these are often referred to as emoticons, but that word is coming to more and more refer specifically to small digitally created faces (also called "smiley's) depicting human emotions. The faces can be useful to someone who is new at textspeak, as they can be used to convey the emotion or emphasis of the writing.
"Heya, Bro. WUU2" - "What you up to"
What rubbish this all is, it is ruining the Queen's English!

July 4th 1776 – American Revolution: the United States Declaration of Independence is adopted by the Second Continental Congress

July 4th 836 – Pactum Sicardi, peace between the Principality of Benevento and the Duchy of Naples

July 4th 993 – Saint Ulrich of Augsburg is canonized.July 4th 993 – Saint Ulrich of Augsburg is canonized.

July 4th 1054 – A supernova  is observed by the Chinese, the Arabs and possibly Amerindians  near the star  Tauri. For several months it remains bright enough to be seen during the day. Its remnants form the Crab Nebula.

July 4th 1120 – Jordan II of Capua is anointed as prince after his infant nephew's death.

July 4th 1187 – The Crusades: Battle of Hattin – Saladin defeats Guy of Lusignan, King of Jerusalem.

July 4th 1253 – Battle of West-Capelle: John I of Avesnes defeats Guy of Dampierre.

July 4th 1359 – Francesco II Ordelaffi of Forlì surrenders to the Papal commander Gil de Albornoz.

July 4th 1456 – The Siege of Nándorfehérvár (Belgrade) begins. (Part of the Ottoman wars in Europe)

July 4th 1534 – Christian III is elected King of Denmark and Norway in the town of Rye.

July 4th 1569 – The King of Poland and the Grand Duke of Lithuania, Sigismund II Augustus finally sign the document of union between Poland and Lithuania, creating new country known as Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth.

July 4th 1610 – The Battle of Klushino between forces of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and Russia during the Polish-Muscovite War.

July 4th 1634 – The city of Trois-Rivières is founded in New France (Quebec, Canada)

July 4th 1636 – City of Providence, Rhode Island forms.

July 4th 1744 – The Treaty of Lancaster, in which the Iriquois ceded lands between the Allegheny Mountains and the Ohio River to the British colonies, is signed in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.

July 4th 1754 – French and Indian War: George Washington surrenders Fort Necessity to French Capt. Louis Coulon de Villiers.

July 4th 1774 – Orangetown Resolutions adopted in the Province of New York, one of many protests against the British Parliament's Coercive Acts

July 4th 1778 – American Revolutionary War: Forces under George Clark capture Kaskaskia during the Illinois campaign.

July 4th 1802 – At West Point, New York the United States Military Academy opens.

July 4th 1803 – The Louisiana Purchase is announced to the American people.

July 4th 1810 – The French occupy Amsterdam.

July 4th 1817 – At Rome, New York, United States, construction on the Erie Canal begins.

July 4th 1827 – Slavery is abolished in New York State.

July 4th 1837 – Grand Junction Railway, the world's first long-distance railway, opens between Birmingham  and Liverpool.

July 4th 1838 – The Iowa Territory is organized.

July 4th 1840 – The Cunard Line's 700 ton wooden paddle steamer RMS Britannia departs from Liverpool bound for Halifax, Nova Scotia on the first transatlantic crossing with a scheduled end.

July 4th 1845 – Near Concord, Massachusetts, Henry David Thoreau embarks on a two-year experiment in simple living at Walden Pond.

July 4th 1855 – In Brooklyn, New York, the first edition of Walt Whitman's book of poems, titled Leaves of Grass, is published.

July 4th 1862 – Lewis Carroll tells Alice Liddell a story that would grow into Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and its sequels.

July 4th 1863 – American Civil War: Siege of Vicksburg – Vicksburg, Mississippi surrenders to Ulysses S. Grant after 47 days of siege. 150 miles up the Mississippi River, a Confederate Army is repulsed at the Battle of Helena, Arkansas.

July 4th 1865 – Alice's Adventures in Wonderland is published.

July 4th 1878 – Thoroughbred horses Ten Broeck and Mollie McCarty run a match race, immortalized in the song Molly and Tenbrooks.

July 4th 1879 – Anglo-Zulu War: the Zululand capital of Ulundi is captured by British troops and burnt to the ground, thus, ending the war and forcing King Cetshwayo to flee.

July 4th 1881 – In Alabama, the Tuskegee Institute opens.

July 4th 1886 – The people of France offer the Statue of Liberty to the people of the United States.

July 4th 1886 – The first scheduled Canadian transcontinental train arrives in Port Moody, British Columbia.

July 4th 1887 – The founder of Pakistan, Quaid-i-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah, joins Sindh-Madrasa-tul-Islam, Karachi.

July 4th 1892 – Western Samoa changes the International Date Line, so that year there were 367 days in this country, with two occurrences of Monday, July 4.
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July 4th 1894 – The short-lived Republic of Hawaii is proclaimed by Sanford B. Dole.

July 4th 1903 – Dorothy Levitt was reported as the first woman in the world to compete in a 'motor race'.

July 4th 1910 – African-American boxer Jack Johnson knocks out white boxer Jim Jeffries in a heavyweight boxing match sparking race riots across the United States

July 4th 1913 – President Woodrow Wilson addresses American Civil War veterans at the Great Reunion of 1913.

July 4th 1918 – Ottoman sultan Mehmed VI ascends to the throne.

July 4th 1918 – Bolsheviks kill Tsar Nicholas II of Russia and his family (Julian calendar date).

July 4th 1927 – First flight of the Lockheed Vega.

July 4th 1934 – Leo Szilard patents the chain-reaction design for the atomic bomb.

July 4th 1939 – Lou Gehrig, recently diagnosed with Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, tells a crowd at Yankee Stadium that he considers himself "The luckiest man on the face of the earth" as he announces his retirement from major league baseball.

July 4th 1941 – Nazi Germans massacre Polish scientists and writers in the captured Polish city of Lwów.

July 4th 1946 – After 381 years of near-continuous colonial rule by various powers, the Philippines attains full independence from the United States.

July 4th 1947 – The "Indian Independence Bill" is presented before British House of Commons, suggesting bifurcation of British India into two sovereign countries – India and Pakistan.

July 4th 1950 – The first broadcast by Radio Free Europe.

July 4th 1959 – With the admission of Alaska as the 49th U.S. state earlier in the year, the 49-star flag of the United States debuts in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

July 4th 1960 – Due to the post-Independence Day admission of Hawaii as the 50th U.S. state on August 21, 1959, the 50-star flag of the United States debuts in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania almost ten and a half months later.

July 4th 1960 – Due to the post-Independence Day admission of Hawaii as the 50th U.S. state on August 21, 1959, the 50-star flag of the United States debuts in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania almost ten and a half months later.
What happened here?

July 4th 1961 – Walt Disney is one of the two main speakers on the Independence Day in The Rebuild Hills at Skørping  in Denmark

July 4th 1965 – Homophile activists picket at Independence Hall in Philadelphia, the first in a series of Annual Reminders of the second-class status of LGBT people in the United States.

July 4th 1966 – President Lyndon B. Johnson signs the Freedom of Information Act into United States law. The act goes into effect the next year.

July 4th 1969 – Two teens (one male, one female) are attacked at Blue Rock Springs in California. They are the second (known) victims of the Zodiac Killer. The male survives.

July 4th 1969 – The Ohio Fireworks Derecho kills 18 Ohioans and destroys over 100 boats on Lake Erie.

July 4th 1976 – Israeli commandos raid Entebbe airport in Uganda, rescuing all but four of the passengers and crew of an Air France jetliner seized by Palestinian terrorists.

July 4th 1982 – Iranian diplomats kidnapping (1982): four Iranian diplomats are kidnapped by Lebanese militia in Lebanon.

July 4th 1987 – In France, former Gestapo chief Klaus Barbie (aka the "Butcher of Lyon") is convicted of crimes against humanity and is sentenced to life imprisonment.

July 4th 1993 – Sumitomo Chemical's resin plant in Nihama explodes killing one worker and injuring three others.

July 4th 1997 – NASA's Pathfinder space probe lands on the surface of Mars.

July 4th 2004 – The cornerstone of the Freedom Tower is laid on the site of the World Trade Center in New York City.

July 4th 2005 – The Deep Impact collider hits the comet Tempel 1.

July 4th 2006 – Space Shuttle program: STS-121 Mission – Space Shuttle Discovery launches at 18:37:55 UTC.

July 4th 2006 – North Korea tests four short-range missiles, one medium-range missile, and a long-range Taepodong-2. The long-range Taepodong-2 reportedly fails in mid-air over the Sea of Japan.

July 4th 2008 – Cross-strait charter direct flight between mainland China and Taiwan started.

July 4th 2009 – The Statue of Liberty's crown reopens to the public after 8 years, due to security reasons following the World Trade Center attacks.

July 4th 1776 – American Revolution: the United States Declaration of Independence is adopted by the Second Continental Congress
http://www.inthe00s.com/Smileys/4thJuly/smiley.gif

1863- in additon to the fall of Vicksburg the Confederates under Robert E. Lee began their retreat from Gettysburg. The last charge on Cemetery Ridge, under George Pickett,  has been come to be known as the "High Water mark of the Confederacy".  The tide receded from then on.

1863- in additon to the fall of Vicksburg the Confederates under Robert E. Lee began their retreat from Gettysburg. The last charge on Cemetery Ridge, under George Pickett,  has been come to be known as the "High Water mark of the Confederacy".  The tide receded from then on.


Time a quick history lesson for me.

1826 - John Adams and Thomas Jefferson, the principal drafters of the Declaration of Independence died on the same day, exactly 50 years after signing the Declaration.

1831 -James Madison, the last surviving signatory to the Declaration died on July 4, 1831

July 5th 1295 – Scotland  and France  form an alliance, the so-called "Auld Alliance", against England.

July 5th 1316 – Battle of Manolada between the Burgundian and Majorcan claimants of the Principality of Achaea.

July 5th 1610 – John Guy sets sail from Bristol with 39 other colonists for Newfoundland.

July 5th 1687 – Isaac Newton publishes Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica.

July 5th 1770 – The Battle of Chesma between the Russian Empire and the Ottoman Empire begins.

July 5th 1775 – The United States Congress adopts the Olive Branch Petition.

July 5th 1803 – The Convention of Artlenburg leads to the French  occupation of Hanover (which had been ruled by the British king).

July 5th 1809 – The Battle of Wagram, the largest of the Napoleonic Wars.

July 5th 1811 – Venezuela  declares independence from Spain.

July 5th 1813 – War of 1812: three weeks of British raids on Fort Schlosser, Black Rock and Plattsburgh, New York begin.

July 5th 1814 – War of 1812: Battle of Chippawa – American  Major General Jacob Brown defeats British General Phineas Riall at Chippawa, Ontario.

July 5th 1830 – France invades Algeria.

July 5th 1833 – Admiral Charles Napier defeats the navy of the Portuguese  usurper  Dom Miguel at the third Battle of Cape St. Vincent.

July 5th 1865 – The Salvation Army is founded in the East End of London, England.

July 5th 1878 – The coat of arms of the Baku governorate is established.

July 5th 1884 – Germany takes possession of Cameroon.

July 5th 1934 – "Bloody Thursday" – Police open fire on striking longshoremen in San Francisco.

July 5th 1935 – The National Labor Relations Act, which governs labor relations in the United States, is signed into law by President  Franklin D. Roosevelt.

July 5th 1937 – Spam, the luncheon meat, is introduced into the market by the Hormel Foods Corporation.

July 5th 1937 – Highest recorded temperature in Canada, at Yellow Grass, Saskatchewan: 45°C (113°F).

July 5th 1940 – World War II: the United Kingdom and the Vichy France government break off diplomatic relations.

July 5th 1941 – World War II: German troops reach the Dnieper River.

July 5th 1943 – Beginning of the Battle of Kursk, the largest full-scale battle in history and the world's largest tank battle at Prokhorovka  village.

July 5th 1943 – World War II: An Allied invasion fleet sails for Sicily (Operation Husky, July 10, 1943).

July 5th 1945 – World War II: liberation of the Philippines  declared.

July 5th 1946 – The bikini is re-introduced in Paris, France (it was a Roman invention).

July 5th 1947 – Larry Doby signs a contract with the Cleveland Indians baseball team, becoming the first black player in the American League. (Jackie Robinson had broken the color barrier with the Brooklyn Dodgers in the National League 11 weeks earlier.)

July 5th 1948 – National Health Service Acts created the national public health systems in the United Kingdom

July 5th 1950 – Korean War: Task Force Smith – First clash between American and North Korean forces in the Battle of Osan.

July 5th 1950 – Zionism: the Knesset  passes the Law of Return which grants all Jews  the right to immigrate to Israel.

July 5th 1951 – William Shockley invents the junction transistor.

July 5th 1954 – The BBC broadcasts its first television news bulletin.

July 5th 1954 – The Andhra Pradesh High Court is established.