Today is Thursday, July 3, the 184th day of 2014. There are 181 days left in the year.
Today’s Highlight in History: On July 3, 1863, the three-day Civil War Battle of Gettysburg in
Pennsylvania ended in a major victory for the North as Confederate troops failed to breach Union
positions during an assault known as Pickett’s Charge.
On this date:
In 1608, the city of Quebec was founded by Samuel de Champlain.
In 1775, Gen. George Washington took command of the Continental Army at Cambridge, Massachusetts.
In 1938, President Franklin D. Roosevelt marked the 75th anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg by
dedicating the Eternal Light Peace Memorial.
In 1944, during World War II, Soviet forces recaptured Minsk from the Germans.
In 1950, the first carrier strikes of the Korean War took place as the USS Valley Forge and the HMS
Triumph sent fighter planes against North Korean targets.
In 1971, singer Jim Morrison of The Doors died in Paris at age 27.
In 1988, the USS Vincennes shot down an Iran Air jetliner over the Persian Gulf, killing all 290 people
aboard.
One year ago: Egypt’s first democratically elected president, Mohammed Morsi, was overthrown by the
military after just one year by the same kind of Arab Spring uprising that had brought the Islamist
leader to power.
Friday, July 4, is the 185th day of 2014. There are 180 days left in the year. This is Independence Day.

Highlight in History: On July 4, 1776, the Declaration of Independence was adopted by delegates to the
Second Continental Congress in Philadelphia.
On this date:
In 1802, the United States Military Academy officially opened at West Point, New York.
In 1863, the Civil War Siege of Vicksburg, Mississippi, ended as a Confederate garrison surrendered to
Union forces.
In 1912, the 48-star American flag, recognizing New Mexico statehood, was adopted.
In 1939, Lou Gehrig of the New York Yankees delivered his famous farewell speech in which he called
himself "the luckiest man on the face of the earth."
In 1976, Israeli commandos raided Entebbe airport in Uganda rescuing almost all of the passengers and
crew of an Air France jetliner seized by pro-Palestinian hijackers.
In 1982, the space shuttle Columbia concluded its fourth and final test flight with a smooth landing at
Edwards Air Force Base in California. Heavy metal rocker
In 1999, white supremacist Benjamin Nathaniel Smith shot himself to death as police closed in on him in
southern Illinois, hours after he’d apparently shot and killed a Korean man outside a church in
Bloomington, Indiana; authorities believe Smith was also responsible for killing former college
basketball coach Ricky Byrdsong during a three-day rampage targeting minorities.
Five years ago: Former Tennessee Titans quarterback Steve McNair was fatally shot in a Nashville condo by
his mistress, Sahel Kazemi who then killed herself.