Ten other things that happened on July 4:
- Birth of Paul Scoon, Governor General of Grenada (1935)
- Saint Ulrich of Augsburg canonized (993)
- Birth of French actress Viviane Romance (1912)
- Death of Flemish composer Philippe de Monte (1603)
- Grand Junction Railway, the world's first long-distance railway, opens between Birmingham and Liverpool (1837)
- Death of Finnish statesman Johan Vilhelm Snellman (1881)
- Birth of American baseball player Chuck Tanner (1929)
- Lt. Col. George Washington surrenders Fort Necessity to French Capt. Louis Coulon de Villiers (1754)
- Sumitomo Chemical's resin plant in Nihama explodes, killing one and injuring three workers (1993)
- Death of English artist Richard Cosway (1821)
If you're anything like me, no. 8 reminds you of that Simpsons episode where Bart crams for an American history test to avoid having to repeat the fourth grade. But it doesn't take a lot to remind me of The Simpsons.