General events on July 3rd

In 1806, Michael Keens exhibits the first cultivated strawberry.
In 1819, the first savings bank in the U.S. (Bank of Savings in NYC) opened its doors.
In 1854, Streetcars began running in Brooklyn, New York
In 1871, The Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad Company introduced the first narrow gauge locomotive this day. It was called the "Montezuma".
In 1884, Dow Jones publishes its first average of U.S. stocks in the Customer's Afternoon Letter, forerunner of The Wall Street Journal.
In 1934, The first payment ever made by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) was made to Lydia Losiger of East Peoria, IL. Today, the FDIC insures bank depositors up to $100,000.
In 1945, the first Fords roll off the assembly line since the shut-down for war production on Feb. 10, 1942.
In 1947, 252,288 people (record) pass through Grand Central Station, NYC.
In 1972, 30 years ago, nothing that I know of happened on this date.
In 1973, The Prime Interest Rate went to 8 percent
In 1981, NYC transit fare rises from 60 cents to 75 cents, new brass Y-cut-out token.
In 1991, former corporate enemies Apple Computer and IBM publicly joined forces in a broad pact to swap technologies and develop new machines.
In 1997, 5 years ago, Lockheed Martin Corporation, the nation's biggest defense contractor, announced it was buying Northrop Grumman Corporation for $7.9 billion. (However, the merger has been stalled over antitrust concerns.)
In 1998, The 12th World AIDS Conference ends in Geneva.
In 1998, The 12th World AIDS Conference ended in Geneva.

Government and Politics on July 3rd

In 1608, the city of Quebec was founded by French explorer Samuel de Champlain.
In 1852, 150 years ago, Congress authorizes US's second mint (San Francisco, Calif).
In 1890, Idaho was admitted to the Union as the 43rd state.
In 1912, President Hoover announced that due to a combination of hot weather and sore fingers, he would wait until September to resume shaking hands.
In 1962, 40 years ago, Algeria became independent after 132 years of French rule as the Algerian Revolution against French ends (Algeria gains ind on 7/5). French President Charles de Gaulle proclaims Algeria's independence.
In 1967, COVER OF "NEWSWEEK" President JOHNSON & Soviet Premier KOSYGIN ["The Glassboro Summitt"]
In 1984, the Supreme Court rules Jaycees may be forced to admit women as members.
In 1985, The United States and the Soviet Union announced that President Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev would hold their first summit in late November, in Geneva.
In 1986, President Reagan re-lit the Statue of Liberty's torch in New York Harbor after a $66 million restoration of the statue was completed during the 100th anniversary year of its dedication. Ships of 14 nations descended on New York harbor to pay tribute.
In 1989, the Supreme Court puts restraints on a woman's right to a abortion by giving the states the right to restrict abortions.
In 1990, In Moscow, Kremlin hard-liner Yegor K. Ligachev received an enthusiastic reception at a Communist Party congress as he criticized reforms by President Mikhail S. Gorbachev, saying perestroika had been marred by "limitless radicalism."
In 1992, 10 years ago, Mass Senator Ted Kennedy marries Victoria Reggie (38).
In 1992, 10 years ago, The president of Czechoslovakia, Vaclav Havel, was voted out of office as lawmakers from Slovakia blocked his re-election in parliament.
In 1996, Russians went to the polls to re-elect Boris Yeltsin president over his Communist challenger, Gennady Zyuganov, in a runoff.
In 1996, British Prime Minister John Major announced that the historic Stone of Scone, the ancient symbol of Scottish kings, was to be removed from London's Westminster Abbey after 700 years and returned to Scotland.
In 1997, 5 years ago, in his first formal response to charges by Paula Jones of sexual harassment, President Clinton denied all allegations in her lawsuit, and asked a judge to dismiss the case.
In 1998, Bob Dole appearred on "Late Show with David Letterman."
In 1998, President Clinton concluded his Far East tour in Hong Kong, where he challenged leaders to set the pace for rescuing Asia from the region's financial crisis.
In 1999, President Clinton, acting to head off potential problems with the safety of imported food, said in his weekly radio address he was ordering inspectors at American ports to brand all unsafe and rejected food products, "Refused US."
In 2000, 2 years ago, President Clinton made a congratulatory telephone call to Mexican President-elect Vicente Fox, a day after Fox's election.

War, Crime and Disaster events on July 3rd

In 1187, Saladin defeated the Crusaders in the Battle of Tiberias
In 1754, George Washington surrenders Fort Necessity to the French, the first battle of the French and Indian War.
In 1775, General George Washington took command of the Continental Army at Cambridge, Massachusetts.
In 1776, the Continental Congress provides a wartime incentive to promote warship construction on Lake Champlain ($37 2/3 a month and a half pint of rum a day).
In 1814, Americans capture Fort Erie, Canada.
In 1815, the Treaty with Algiers is signed and American prisoners are returned.
In 1861, Colonel Jackson receives his commission as brigadier general.
In 1863, the eighth Ohio Volunteer Infantry Regiment, comprised of many Clevelanders, causes the first faltering of Pickett's Charge. The undermanned regiment inflicts a complete rout of two rebel brigades (outnumber 8 to 1) on the left flank of the advancing force.
In 1863, the three-day Civil War Battle of Gettysburg in Pennsylvania, ended in a major victory for the North as Confederate troops retreated.
In 1864, Battle of Chattahoochie River, GA [until Jul 9].
In 1864, Harpers Ferry, WV - Federals evacuate in face of Early's advance.
In 1871, Jesse James robs bank in Corydon, Iowa ($45,000).
In 1898, during the Spanish-American War, a fleet of Spanish ships in Cuba's Santiago Harbor attempted to run a blockade of US naval forces; practically all of the Spanish ships were destroyed in the four-hour battle that followed.
In 1898, the US Navy defeated a Spanish fleet in the harbor at Santiago, Cuba, during the Spanish-American War.
In 1915, US military forces occupy Haiti, remain until 1934.
In 1916, first of 3 fatal shark attacks occurred near NJ shore (4 die).
In 1920, Royal Air Force holds an air display at Hendon, England.
In 1930, the U.S. Veterans Administration was created by Congress.
In 1940, British Royal Navy sinks French fleet in North Africa.
In 1941, Stalin calls for scorched earth policy.
In 1942, 60 years ago, Germany troop march into Sebastopol.
In 1943, Liberator bombers sinks U-628.
In 1944, during World War II, Soviet forces recaptured Minsk in 'Battle of the Hedgerows' in Normandy
In 1950, American and North Korean forces clashed for the first time in the Korean War.
In 1956, President Eisenhower authorizes the CIA's first U-2 flight over Russia (the first is flown the next day).
In 1968, General William Westmoreland was named Army Chief of Staff two days after leaving command of US forces in Vietnam.
In 1968, the lowest temperature ever experienced in Cleveland in the month of July is recorded, 41 degrees.
In 1976, Israel launched its daring mission to rescue about a hundred passengers and Air France crew members being held at Entebbe Airport in Uganda by pro-Palestinian hijackers.
In 1979, Dan White, convicted of voluntary manslaughter in the shooting deaths of San Francisco Mayor George Moscone (mahs-koh'-nee) and Supervisor Harvey Milk, was sentenced to seven years and eight months in prison. (He ended up serving five years.)
In 1988, studies report hate crimes against gays and lesbians are on the rise, predominantly do to the nation's fear of AIDS.
In 1988, the U.S.S. Vincennes in Strait of Hormoez shot down an Iran Airbus A300 jetliner over the Persian Gulf, killing all 290 passengers and crew, after the crew of the Vincennes erroneously identified the plane as an Iranian F-14 fighter.
In 1988, Iran Air Flight 655 was destroyed by two surface-to-air missiles fired from the USS Vincennes in the Persian Gulf. All 290 people aboard the jetliner were killed. The battleship boasted the world's most sophisticated radar detection equipment, but the official explanation was that the crew of the Vincennes mistook the jetliner for a hostile F-14 fighter.
In 1992, 10 years ago, the first U.S. Air Force C-130 from Operation Provide Promise arrived in the besieged Bosnian capital of Sarajevo.
In 1994, thirty-one people died in three separate crashes on Texas highways.
In 1994, tropical storm Alberto stalled over Georgia, bringing heavy rains and flooding to parts of the South.
In 1995, 25-year-old Eric Alkinson leaps from the Golden Gate Bridge, becoming the 1,000th known suicide. (The first, H.B. Wobbler, 47, jumped three months after the it opened in 1937.).
In 1996, A blaze destroyed a fireworks store in Scottown, Ohio, filled with Fourth of July shoppers, killing nine people and injuring eleven.
In 2000, 2 years ago, A ferry loaded with Christians fleeing fighting with Muslims sinks in a storm; more than 400 drown.
In 2000, 2 years ago, A 1970's steel observation tower that preservationists said had desecrated the battlefield of Gettysburg in Pennsylvania was demolished.

Royalty and Religious events on July 3rd

In 683, A.D., St Leo II ends his reign as Catholic Pope.
In 987, A.D., Hugo Capet crowned king of France.
In 1850, The great Kohinoor Diamond was presented to Queen Victoria
In 1978, COVER OF PEOPLE PRINCESS CAROLINE of MONACO and her then-husband PHILIPPE JUNOT

Human Achievement and Science events on July 3rd

In 1841, John Couch Adams decided to determine the position of an unknown planet by the irregularities it causes in the motion of Uranus.
In 1853, Commodore Matthew Perry reaches Japan.
In 1861, the Pony Express arrived in San Francisco with overland letters from New York.
In 1886, Karl Benz drove the first automobile in the world in Mannheim, Germany, reaching a top speed of 10 mph; a traffic cop stopped him and cited him with a speeding ticket. (RIMSHOT).
In 1898, Joshua Slocum became the first person to complete a solo circumnavigation of the earth.
In 1929, foam rubber is developed at the Dunlop Latex Development Laboratories.
In 1939, Ernst Heinkel demonstrates 800-kph rocket plane to Hitler.
In 1987, 15 years ago, two men became the first hot-air balloon travelers to cross the Atlantic. British millionaire Richard Branson and Swedish-born Per Lindstrand, the balloon's designer, were forced to jump into the sea as their craft went down off the coast of Scotland.

Arts and Prose events on July 3rd

In 1886, first NY Tribune printing using first commercial linotype machine.
In 1895, Start of Sherlock Holmes "The Adventure of Black Peter" (BG).
In 1989, gay character Andy Lippencott, of Gary Trudeau's comic strip "Doonesbury," enters the hospital, as the social satire takes on the topic of AIDS.