Art and Leisure

1802

The United States Military Academy opened its doors at West Point, New York, welcoming the first 10 cadets.

1819

The Territory of Arkansas was created.

1826

Two of the nation's founding fathers -- John Adams and Thomas Jefferson -- died on this day, 50 years after adoption of the Declaration of Independence.

Adams, the nation's second president, died in Quincy, Massachusetts, at age 90.

Jefferson, the third president, died at the age of 83 and was buried near Charlottesville, Virginia. Jefferson died at about 1 p.m; Adams a few hours later.

Because news traveled over weeks' time then, both men -- at their deaths -- believed the other to be still living.

Adams' reported last words: "Thomas Jefferson still survives."

1831

James Monroe, the fifth President of the United States, died in New York City at age 73 -- the third ex-President to die on Independence Day.

1832

The song "My Country, 'Tis of Thee -- America" was sung publicly for the first time at a Fourth of July celebration by a group of children at Park Street Church in Boston. The words were written on a scrap of paper in half an hour by Dr. Samuel Francis Smith, a Baptist minister, and were set to the music of "God Save the King."

1836

The territorial government of Wisconsin was established.

1840

"Britannia", the pride of the Cunard Line, took just over 14 days to make its first Atlantic crossing, having embarked from Liverpool.

1845

One of America's most articulate philosophers and a most passionate lover of nature, Henry D. Thoreau, chose this day to move to a spartan home amid the stillness of a small pond just outside Concord, Massachusetts.

He would live there -- "On Walden Pond" -- until September 6, 1947.

1847

In yet another fascinatingly ironic happenstance, The Communist Manifesto, as edited by Friedrich Engels and Karl Marx, was first put to press.

1848

The cornerstone of the Washington Monument in the District of Columbia was laid by then-President Polk. The completed structure, a white Neo-Egyptian marble obelisk, is 555 feet tall and 55 feet square at the base. In 1884 it was first unveiled. The public was admitted to the monument on October 9, 1888.

1855

One of America's greatest poets -- Walt Whitman -- published the first edition of his famous "Leaves of Grass" [please hold the Lewinsky jokes!].

Whitman published the edition himself and had about 1,000 copies printed. He later recalled about the publication, "I don't think one copy was sold, not a copy."

1862

Charles Dodgson, an Oxford mathematician, first told little Alice Liddell the fairy tale he had dreamed up for her called "Alice's Adventures Underground."

Some years later, writing under the name Lewis Carroll, it became "Alice in Wonderland."

1863

General U.S. Grant's Union army captured Vicksburg after a long siege during the Civil War.

1881

Tuskegee Institute enrolled 30 students. Booker T. Washington served as the first principal.

1884

The Statue of Liberty was presented to the United States in ceremonies at Paris, France. The 225-ton, 152-foot statue was a gift from France in commemoration of 100 years of American independence. Created by the French sculptor Frederic Auguste Bartholdi, the statue was installed on Bedloe Island (now Liberty Island) in New York harbor in 1885. It was dedicated on October 28, 1886.

1883

Buffalo Bill (William F. Cody), organized and performed in one of the first Wild West shows, just outside North Platte, Nebraska.

1888

Dateline -- Prescott, Arizona: the first organized rodeo in America held in 1888 on this day. Less-formal competitions had long been held between ranchhands from a single ranch or from contiguous spreads, but they weren't full-scale rodeos.

1894

The Republic of Hawaii was established.

1895

The words to "America the Beautiful" appeared for the first time in a Boston magazine; it was penned by Katherine Lee Bates -- then a Wellesley professor. It has often been suggested that this song be adopted as the national anthem of the United States -- the register in which it is written is easier for voices to reach comfortably than those of the "The Star Spangled Banner".

1919

Jack Dempsey, the "Manassa Mauler", defeated Jess Willard by a knockout in Toledo, Ohio, after three rounds to become the World's Heavyweight Boxing Champion.

1939

The beloved New York Yankee, Lou Gherig, a true baseball great, bid a fond farewell to thousands of tearful fans at Yankee Stadium. He had been diagnosed with ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis), a neurodegenerative disorder that destroys the body's neuromuscular system. Many now call it Lou Gehrig's disease. He did less than two years later at the age of 37.

1946

The Philippine Islands were given independence by the U.S.

1951

The "Capital Times" in Madison, Wisconsin, reported that one of its reporters was turned down by 99 out of 100 people he asked to sign a petition made up of quotations from the Declaration of Independence and the Bill of Rights. Many said the petition was subversive.

1959

A 49-star flag was flown for the first time over the nation's Capitol Rotunda, in honor of Alaska, the 49th state. It had been admitted to the Union on July 7 of the preceding year.

1960

A 50th star was added to the flag, in honor of Hawaii, which had joined the Union on August 21 of the preceding year.

1967

The Freedom of Information Act became law, making government documents, results of FBI investigations, and other federal information available to the citizenry. While broad exemptions from disclosure exist, vast quantities of de-classified data may be obtained by simple written request.

1976

In what was, at the time, an endlessly pandering series of fetes, the nation (and far too many commercial enterprises) celebrated the 200th anniversary of this nation -- affirming the soundly-grounded power of the "grand experiment" -- an entirely new form of government, independent of any monarch or an oligarchy -- a nation ruled by all, by us -- "We, the people".

1997

Through this time LAST year, Kenneth Starr -- under the independent counsel statute -- had spent TAXPAYERS' funds of more than $35 million on a Spanish Inquisition-style witch hunt motivated by partisan disapproval of a sitting United States President and his spouse.

The year-ago total includes:

Salaries: $8,847,163

Travel: $4,323,597

Rent, phone utilities: $2,242,749

Contractual services: $2,215,161

Supplies & materials: $468,763

Furniture & equipment: $837,324

FBI expenses: $14,429,739

IRS expenses: $1,424,453

Total through 1997: $35,662,877

NOTE: these figures DO NOT include the $6.5 million spent investigating the Monica Lewinsky allegations -- through March of 1998. And, the waste continues. If a marked police car followed your car night and day for four years straight, wouldn't you think the officer should either write a ticket or move on to some REAL wrong-doing? I sure would.

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Happy Fourth, all!

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