July 3 is the 184th day of the year (185th in leap years ) in the Gregorian calendar . There are 181 days remaining until the end of the year. This date is slightly more likely to fall on a Tuesday, Friday or Sunday (58 in 400 years each) than on Wednesday or Thursday (57), and slightly less likely to occur on a Monday or Saturday (56).
324 – Battle of Adrianople : Constantine I defeats Licinius , who flees to Byzantium .
987 – Hugh Capet is crowned King of France, the first of the Capetian dynasty that would rule France until the French Revolution in 1792 .
1035 – William the Conqueror becomes the Duke of Normandy , reigns until 1087.
1608 – Québec City is founded by Samuel de Champlain .
1754 – French and Indian War : George Washington surrenders Fort Necessity to French forces .
1767 – Pitcairn Island is discovered by Midshipman Robert Pitcairn on an expeditionary voyage commanded by Philip Carteret .
1767 – Norway's oldest newspaper still in print, Adresseavisen , is founded and the first edition is published.
1775 – American Revolutionary War : George Washington takes command of the Continental Army at Cambridge, Massachusetts .
1778 – American Revolutionary War: British forces kill 360 people in the Wyoming Valley massacre .
1819 – The Bank of Savings in New York City, the first savings bank in the United States, opens.
1839 – The first state normal school in the United States, the forerunner to today's Framingham State University , opens in Lexington, Massachusetts with three students.
1844 – The last pair of great auks is killed.
1848 – Slaves are freed in the Danish West Indies (now U.S. Virgin Islands ).
1849 – The French enter Rome in order to restore Pope Pius IX to power. This would prove a major obstacle to Italian unification .
1852 – Congress establishes the United States' 2nd mint in San Francisco .
1863 – American Civil War : The final day of the Battle of Gettysburg culminates with Pickett's Charge .
1866 – Austro-Prussian War is decided at the Battle of Königgrätz , resulting in Prussia taking over as the prominent German nation from Austria.
1884 – Dow Jones & Company publishes its first stock average.
1886 – Karl Benz officially unveils the Benz Patent-Motorwagen , the first purpose-built automobile.
1886 – The New-York Tribune becomes the first newspaper to use a linotype machine , eliminating typesetting by hand.
1890 – Idaho is admitted as the 43rd U.S. state .
1898 – A Spanish squadron, led by Pascual Cervera y Topete , is defeated by an American squadron under William T. Sampson in the Battle of Santiago de Cuba .
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.
1938 – World speed record for a steam locomotive is set in England, by the Mallard , which reaches a speed of 125.88 miles per hour (202.58 km/h).
1938 – United States President Franklin D. Roosevelt dedicates the Eternal Light Peace Memorial and lights the eternal flame at Gettysburg Battlefield .
1940 – World War II: To stop ships from falling into German hands 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 French battleship Bretagne . One thousand two hundred sailors perish.
1944 – World War II: Minsk is liberated from Nazi control by Soviet troops during Operation Bagration .
1952 – The Constitution of Puerto Rico is approved by the United States Congress .
1952 – The SS United States sets sail on her maiden voyage to Southampton . During the voyage, the ship takes the Blue Riband away from the RMS Queen Mary .
1967 – The Aden Emergency : The Battle of the Crater in which the British Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders retake the Crater district following the Arab Police mutiny .
1969 – Space Race : The biggest explosion in the history of rocketry occurs when the Soviet N-1 rocket explodes and subsequently destroys its launchpad.
1970 – The Troubles : The "Falls Curfew " begins in Belfast , Northern Ireland .
1979 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter signs the first directive for secret aid to the opponents of the pro-Soviet regime in Kabul.
1988 – United States Navy warship USS Vincennes shoots down Iran Air Flight 655 over the Persian Gulf , killing all 290 people aboard.
1988 – The Fatih Sultan Mehmet Bridge in Istanbul, Turkey is completed, providing the second connection between the continents of Europe and Asia over the Bosphorus .
1995 – Saint Kitts and Nevis Labour Party wins the general elections and is restored to power after being in opposition for 15 years.
1996 – Stone of Scone is returned to Scotland.
2013 – Egyptian coup d'état : President of Egypt Mohamed Morsi is overthrown by the military after four days of protests all over the country calling for Morsi's resignation, to which he didn't respond. President of the Supreme Constitutional Court of Egypt Adly Mansour is declared acting president.
321 – Valentinian I , Roman emperor (d. 375)
1423 – Louis XI of France (d. 1483)
1442 – Emperor Go-Tsuchimikado of Japan (d. 1500)
1518 – Li Shizhen , Chinese physician and mineralogist (d. 1593)
1530 – Claude Fauchet , French historian and author (d. 1601)
1550 – Jacobus Gallus , Slovenian composer (d. 1591)
1590 – Lucrezia Orsina Vizzana , Italian singer, organist, and composer (d. 1662)
1683 – Edward Young , English poet (d. 1765)
1676 – Leopold I, Prince of Anhalt-Dessau (d. 1747)
1685 – Sir Robert Rich, 4th Baronet , English field marshal and politician (d. 1768)
1728 – Robert Adam , Scottish-English architect, designed Culzean Castle (d. 1792)
1738 – John Singleton Copley , American painter (d. 1815)
1743 – Sophia Magdalena of Denmark (d. 1813)
1778 – Carl Ludvig Engel , German architect (d. 1840)
1789 – Johann Friedrich Overbeck , German-Italian painter and engraver (d. 1869)
1814 – Ferdinand Didrichsen , Danish botanist and physicist (d. 1887)
1823 – Ahmed Vefik Pasha , Greek-Ottoman statesman, diplomat, playwright, and translator (d. 1891)
1846 – Achilles Alferaki , Russian composer and politician, Governor of Taganrog (d. 1919)
1851 – Charles Bannerman , English-Australian cricketer and umpire (d. 1930)
1854 – Leoš Janáček , Czech composer and theorist (d. 1928)
1860 – Charlotte Perkins Gilman , American sociologist and author (d. 1935)
1866 – Albert Gottschalk , Danish painter (d. 1906)
1869 – Svend Kornbeck , Danish actor (d. 1933)
1870 – R. B. Bennett , Canadian lawyer and politician, 11th Prime Minister of Canada (d. 1947)
1874 – Jean Collas , French rugby player and tug of war competitor (d. 1928)
1875 – Ferdinand Sauerbruch , German surgeon and academic (d. 1951)
1876 – Ralph Barton Perry , American philosopher and academic (d. 1957)
1878 – George M. Cohan , American songwriter, actor, singer, and dancer (d. 1942)
1879 – Alfred Korzybski , Polish-American mathematician, linguist, and philosopher (d. 1950)
1880 – Carl Schuricht , Polish-German conductor (d. 1967)
1883 – Franz Kafka , Czech-Austrian author (d. 1924)
1886 – Raymond A. Spruance , American admiral and diplomat, United States Ambassador to the Philippines (d. 1969)
1888 – Ramón Gómez de la Serna , Spanish author and playwright (d. 1963)
1889 – Richard Cramer , American actor (d. 1960)
1893 – Sándor Bortnyik , Hungarian painter and graphic designer (d. 1976)
1893 – Mississippi John Hurt , American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1966)
1896 – Doris Lloyd , English-American actress (d. 1968)
1897 – Jesse Douglas , American mathematician and academic (d. 1965)
1898 – Stefanos Stefanopoulos , Greek politician, Prime Minister of Greece (d. 1982)
1900 – Alessandro Blasetti , Italian director and screenwriter (d. 1987)
1901 – Ruth Crawford Seeger , American composer (d. 1953)
1903 – Ace Bailey , Canadian ice hockey player and coach (d. 1992)
1905 – Johnny Gibson , American hurdler and coach (d. 2006)
1906 – George Sanders , Russian-born British actor (d. 1972)
1908 – M. F. K. Fisher , American author (d. 1992)
1908 – Robert B. Meyner , American lawyer and politician, 44th Governor of New Jersey (d. 1990)
1909 – Stavros Niarchos , Greek shipping magnate (d.1996)
1910 – Fritz Kasparek , Austrian mountaineer (d. 1954)
1913 – Dorothy Kilgallen , American journalist, actress, and author (d. 1965)
1916 – John Kundla , American basketball player and coach
1917 – João Saldanha , Brazilian footballer, manager, and journalist (d. 1990)
1918 – S. V. Ranga Rao , Indian actor, director, and producer (d. 1974)
1919 – Cecil FitzMaurice, 8th Earl of Orkney (d. 1998)
1919 – Gerald W. Thomas , American soldier and academic (d. 2013)
1920 – Eddy Paape , Belgian illustrator (d. 2012)
1920 – Paul O'Dea , American baseball player and manager (d. 1978)
1921 – Susan Peters , American actress (d. 1952)
1921 – François Reichenbach , French director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 1993)
1922 – Guillaume Cornelis van Beverloo , Belgian painter and sculptor (d. 2010)
1924 – Amalia Aguilar , Cuban-Mexican film actress and dancer
1924 – Arjun Naidu , Indian first-class cricketer
1924 – S. R. Nathan , 6th President of Singapore (d. 2016)
1925 – Terry Moriarty , Australian rules footballer (d. 2011 )
1925 – Danny Nardico , American professional boxer (d. 2010 )
1926 – Johnny Coles , American trumpet player (d. 1997)
1926 – Rae Allen , American actress and director of stage, film and television, and singer
1926 – Laurence Street , Australian jurist and former Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of New South Wales
1927 – Ken Russell , English actor, director, and producer (d. 2011)
1928 – Evelyn Anthony , English author
1929 – Clément Perron , Canadian director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 1999)
1930 – Pete Fountain , American clarinet player (d. 2016)
1930 – Carlos Kleiber , German-Austrian conductor (d. 2004)
1930 – Tommy Tedesco , American guitarist (d. 1997)
1932 – Richard Mellon Scaife , American businessman (d. 2014)
1933 – Edward Brandt, Jr. , American physician and mathematician (d. 2007)
1935 – Cheo Feliciano , Puerto Rican-American singer-songwriter (d. 2014)
1935 – Harrison Schmitt , American geologist, astronaut, and politician
1936 – Anthony Lester, Baron Lester of Herne Hill , English lawyer and politician
1936 – Baard Owe , Norwegian-Danish actor
1937 – Nicholas Maxwell , English philosopher and academic
1937 – Tom Stoppard , Czech-English playwright and screenwriter
1938 – Jean Aitchison , English linguist and academic
1939 – Brigitte Fassbaender , German soprano and director
1939 – László Kovács , Hungarian politician and diplomat, Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs
1939 – Coco Laboy , Puerto Rican baseball player
1940 – Lamar Alexander , American lawyer and politician, 5th United States Secretary of Education
1940 – Fontella Bass , American singer-songwriter (d. 2012)
1940 – Jerzy Buzek , Polish engineer and politician, 9th Prime Minister of Poland
1940 – César Tovar , Venezuelan baseball player (d. 1994)
1941 – Gloria Allred , American lawyer and activist
1941 – Liamine Zéroual , Algerian politician, 4th President of Algeria
1942 – Eddy Mitchell , French singer-songwriter
1943 – Kurtwood Smith , American actor
1943 – Norman E. Thagard , American astronaut
1944 – Michel Polnareff , French singer-songwriter
1945 – Michael Cole , American actor
1945 – Michael Martin, Baron Martin of Springburn , Scottish politician, Speaker of the House of Commons
1946 – Johnny Lee , American singer and guitarist
1946 – Leszek Miller , Polish political scientist and politician, 10th Prime Minister of Poland
1946 – Michael Shea , American author (d. 2014)
1947 – Dave Barry , American journalist and author
1947 – Betty Buckley , American actress and singer
1948 – Paul Barrere , American singer-songwriter and guitarist
1948 – Tarmo Koivisto , Finnish author and illustrator
1949 – John Verity , English guitarist
1949 – Johnnie Wilder, Jr. , American singer (d. 2006)
1949 – Bo Xilai , Chinese politician, Chinese Minister of Commerce
1950 – Ewen Chatfield , New Zealand cricketer
1950 – James Hahn , American judge and politician, 40th Mayor of Los Angeles
1951 – Jean-Claude Duvalier , Haitian politician, 41st President of Haiti (d. 2014)
1951 – Richard Hadlee , New Zealand cricketer and footballer
1952 – Andy Fraser , English singer-songwriter and bass player (d. 2015)
1952 – Rohinton Mistry , Indian-Canadian author
1952 – Carla Olson , American singer-songwriter and music producer
1955 – Claude Rajotte , Canadian radio and television host
1956 – Montel Williams , American talk show host and television personality
1957 – Laura Branigan , American singer-songwriter (d. 2004)
1957 – Poly Styrene , British musician (d. 2011)
1958 – Matthew Fraser , Canadian-English journalist and academic
1958 – Charlie Higson , English actor, singer, and author
1958 – Siân Lloyd , Welsh meteorologist and journalist
1958 – Didier Mouron , Swiss-Canadian painter
1958 – Aaron Tippin , American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
1959 – Julie Burchill , English journalist and author
1959 – Ian Maxtone-Graham , American screenwriter and producer
1959 – Stephen Pearcy , American singer-songwriter, and guitarist
1959 – David Shore , Canadian screenwriter and producer
1960 – Vince Clarke , English singer-songwriter, keyboard player, and producer
1962 – Tom Cruise , American actor and producer
1962 – Thomas Gibson , American actor
1963 – Tracey Emin , English painter and photographer
1964 – Joanne Harris , English author and academic
1964 – Yeardley Smith , American actress and voice artist
1965 – Shinya Hashimoto , Japanese wrestler (d. 2005)
1965 – Connie Nielsen , Danish-American actress
1965 – Komsan Pohkong , Thai lawyer and academic
1965 – Christophe Ruer , French pentathlete (d. 2007)
1966 – Moisés Alou , American baseball player
1967 – Brian Cashman , American businessman
1967 – Katy Clark , Scottish lawyer and politician
1968 – Ramush Haradinaj , Kosovo-Albanian soldier and politician, 4th Prime Minister of Kosovo
1968 – Aku Louhimies , Finnish director and screenwriter
1969 – Kevin Hearn , Canadian singer and keyboard player
1969 – Shawnee Smith , American actress and musician
1970 – Serhiy Honchar , Ukrainian cyclist
1970 – Audra McDonald , American actress and singer
1970 – Teemu Selänne , Finnish-American ice hockey player
1971 – Julian Assange , Australian journalist, publisher, and activist, founded WikiLeaks
1973 – Paul Rauhihi , New Zealand rugby player
1973 – Ólafur Stefánsson , Icelandic handball player
1973 – Fyodor Tuvin , Russian footballer (d. 2013)
1973 – Patrick Wilson , American actor and singer
1976 – Wade Belak , Canadian ice hockey player (d. 2011)
1976 – Henry Olonga , Zimbabwean cricketer and sportscaster
1976 – Wanderlei Silva , Brazilian-American mixed martial artist
1976 – Bobby Skinstad , Zimbabwean-South African rugby player
1977 – David Bowens , American football player
1978 – Mizuki Noguchi , Japanese runner
1979 – Jamie Grove , English cricketer
1980 – Mazharul Haque , Bangladeshi cricketer (d. 2013)
1980 – Roland Schoeman , South African swimmer
1980 – Harbhajan Singh , Indian cricketer
1980 – Giorgos Theodoridis , Greek footballer
1981 – Aoi Tada , Japanese singer-songwriter and actress
1983 – Edinson Vólquez , Dominican baseball player
1983 – Dorota Masłowska , Polish journalist and author
1983 – Steph Jones , American singer-songwriter
1983 – Matt Papa , American singer-songwriter
1984 – Manny Lawson , American football player
1984 – Churandy Martina , Dutch sprinter
1984 – Corey Sevier , Canadian actor and producer
1986 – Marco Antônio de Mattos Filho , Brazilian footballer
1986 – Kisenosato Yutaka , Japanese sumo wrestler
1987 – Sebastian Vettel , German race car driver
1988 – Winston Reid , New Zealand-Danish footballer
1988 – Vladislav Sesganov , Russian figure skater
1988 – James Troisi , Australian footballer
1989 – Mitchell Dodds , Australian rugby player
1990 – Nathan Gardner , Australian rugby player
1990 – Bobby Hopkinson , English footballer
1990 – Lucas Mendes , Brazilian footballer
1991 – Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova , Russian tennis player
1992 – Molly Sandén , Swedish singer
1993 – Roy Kim , South Korean singer-songwriter
458 – Anatolius of Constantinople , Byzantine patriarch and saint (b. 449)
710 – Emperor Zhongzong of Tang (b. 656)
896 – Dong Chang , Chinese warlord
1090 – Egbert II, Margrave of Meissen (b. c. 1060)
1288 – Stephen de Fulbourn , English-born Irish cleric and politician
1503 – Pierre d'Aubusson , Grand Master of the Knights of Rhodes (b. 1423)
1570 – Aonio Paleario , Italian academic and reformer (b. 1500)
1672 – Francis Willughby , English ornithologist and ichthyologist (b. 1635)
1749 – William Jones , Welsh-English mathematician and academic (b. 1675)
1790 – Jean-Baptiste L. Romé de l'Isle , French geologist and mineralogist (b. 1736)
1795 – Louis-Georges de Bréquigny , French scholar and author (b. 1714)
1795 – Antonio de Ulloa , Spanish general, astronomer, and politician, 1st Colonial Governor of Louisiana (b. 1716)
1809 – Joseph Quesnel , French-Canadian composer and playwright (b. 1746)
1863 – George Hull Ward , American general (b. 1826)
1863 – Little Crow , American tribal leader (b. 1810)
1881 – Hasan Tahsini , Albanian astronomer, mathematician, and philosopher (b. 1811)
1888 – Nguyễn Đình Chiểu , Vietnamese poet and author (b. 1822)
1904 – Édouard Beaupré , Canadian giant and strongman (b. 1881)
1904 – Theodor Herzl , Austrian journalist and playwright (b. 1860)
1908 – Joel Chandler Harris , American journalist and author (b. 1845)
1916 – Hetty Green , American businesswoman and financier (b. 1834)
1918 – Mehmed V , Ottoman sultan (b. 1844)
1921 – James Mitchel , Irish-American weight thrower (b. 1864)
1927 – Gérard de Courcelles , French racing driver
1933 – Hipólito Yrigoyen , Argentinian educator and politician, 19th President of Argentina (b. 1852)
1935 – André Citroën , French engineer and businessman, founded the Citroën Company (b. 1878)
1937 – Jacob Schick , American-Canadian captain and businessman, invented the electric razor (b. 1877)
1940 – Nicolae Bivol , Moldovan businessman and politician, Mayor of Chișinău (b. 1882)
1941 – Friedrich Akel , Estonian physician and politician, Head of State of Estonia (b. 1871)
1954 – Siegfried Handloser , German physician and general (b. 1895)
1954 – Reginald Marsh , French-American painter, illustrator, and academic (b. 1898)
1957 – Dolf Luque , Cuban baseball player and manager (b. 1890)
1957 – Richard Mohaupt , German composer and Kapellmeister (b. 1904)
1958 – Charles Bathurst, 1st Viscount Bledisloe , English politician, 4th Governor-General of New Zealand (b. 1867)
1969 – Brian Jones , English guitarist, songwriter, and producer (b. 1942)
1971 – Jim Morrison , American singer-songwriter (b. 1943)
1974 – John Crowe Ransom , American poet and critic (b. 1888)
1977 – Alexander Volkov , Russian mathematician and author (b. 1891)
1978 – James Daly , American actor (b. 1918)
1979 – Louis Durey , French pianist and composer (b. 1888)
1981 – Ross Martin , Polish-American actor and director (b. 1920)
1985 – Frank J. Selke , Canadian ice hockey player and manager (b. 1893)
1986 – Rudy Vallée , American singer, saxophonist, and actor (b. 1901)
1989 – Jim Backus , American actor and voice artist (b. 1913)
1993 – Don Drysdale , American baseball player and sportscaster (b. 1936)
1994 – Lew Hoad , Australian tennis player and coach (b. 1934)
1995 – Pancho Gonzales , American tennis player (b. 1928)
1995 – Eddie Mazur , Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1929)
1998 – Danielle Bunten Berry , American game designer and programmer (b. 1949)
1999 – Mark Sandman , American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer (b. 1952)
2001 – Mordecai Richler , Canadian author and screenwriter (b. 1931)
2001 – Johnny Russell , American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1940)
2004 – Andriyan Nikolayev , Russian general, pilot, and astronaut (b. 1929)
2005 – Alberto Lattuada , Italian actor, director, and screenwriter (b. 1914)
2005 – Gaylord Nelson , American lawyer and politician, 35th Governor of Wisconsin (b. 1916)
2006 – Joseph Goguen , American computer scientist, developed the OBJ programming language (b. 1941)
2007 – Boots Randolph , American saxophonist (b. 1927)
2008 – Ernie Cooksey , English footballer (b. 1980)
2008 – Larry Harmon , American clown, actor, and producer (b. 1925)
2008 – Clive Hornby , English actor and drummer (b. 1944)
2008 – Oliver Schroer , Canadian fiddler, composer, and producer (b. 1956)
2009 – Alauddin Al-Azad , Bangladeshi author and poet (b.1932)
2009 – John Keel , American journalist and author (b. 1930)
2010 – Abu Daoud , Palestinian terrorist, planned the Munich massacre (b. 1937)
2011 – Ali Bahar , Bahraini singer and guitarist (b. 1960)
2012 – Nguyễn Hữu Có , Vietnamese general and politician (b. 1925)
2012 – Andy Griffith , American actor, singer, and producer (b. 1926)
2012 – Yvonne B. Miller , American educator and politician (b. 1934)
2012 – Sergio Pininfarina , Italian engineer and politician (b. 1926)
2012 – Richard Alvin Tonry , American lawyer and politician (b. 1935)
2013 – Roman Bengez , Slovenian footballer and manager (b. 1964)
2013 – Francis Ray , American author (b. 1944)
2013 – PJ Torokvei , Canadian actress and screenwriter (b. 1951)
2013 – Radu Vasile , Romanian historian and politician, 57th Prime Minister of Romania (b. 1942)
2013 – Bernard Vitet , French trumpet player and composer (b. 1934)
2013 – Snoo Wilson , English playwright and screenwriter (b. 1948)
2014 – Jini Dellaccio , American photographer (b. 1917)
2014 – Tim Flood , Irish hurler and coach (b. 1927)
2014 – Volkmar Groß , German footballer (b. 1948)
2014 – Ira Ruskin , American politician (b. 1943)
2014 – Zalman Schachter-Shalomi , Ukrainian-American rabbi and author (b. 1924)
2015 – Diana Douglas , British-American actress (b. 1923)
2015 – Boyd K. Packer , American religious leader and educator (b. 1924)
2015 – Wayne Townsend , American farmer and politician (b. 1926)
2015 – Phil Walsh , Australian footballer and coach (b. 1960)
2016 – Noel Neill , American actress (b. 1920)
Holidays and observances [ edit ]
External links [ edit ]
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