This Day in History for Friday, July 3, 2009
Information provided by Reference.com
Events
Events: 321: Sunday was designated a day of rest by Roman Emperor Constantine I.
Events: 1775: General George Washington took command of the Continental Army at Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Events: 1863: The three-day Civil War Battle of Gettysburg, ended in a major victory for the North as Confederate troops retreated.
Events: 1890: Idaho became the 43rd state of the Union.
Events: 1922: amp;quot;Fruit Garden and Home" magazine went on sale; two years later it was renamed "Better Homes and Gardens".
Events: 1930: Congress created the U.S. Veterans Administration.
Events: 1954: Nearly nine years after the end of the World War II, food rationing in Britain finally ended.
Events: 1962: Algeria became independent after 132 years of French rule.
Holidays
-- Feast day of St. Thomas the Apostle, St. Anatolius of Constantinople, Saints Irenaeus and Mustiola, St. Leo II, pope, St. Anatolius of Laodicea, St. Rumold or Rombaut, St. Bernardino Realino, and St. Helidorus of Altino.
-- Belarus: Independent Day.
Births
-- George M. Cohan, American playwright, songwriter, producer for Broadway.
-- M.F.K. Fisher, American food writer.
-- Tom Stoppard (Straussler), Czech-born British playwright.
-- Dave Barry, American author and Pulitzer Prize-winning humorist.
-- Tom Cruise (born Thomas Cruise Mapother IV), American actor.
-- Yeardley Smith, French-born American actress.
-- Kevin Hearn, Canadian musician.
Deaths
-- Brian Jones, English rock guitarist and founding member of the Rolling Stones.
-- Jim Morrison, American singer and founding member of the rock band The Doors.
-- Rudy Vallee (Hubert Prior Vallée), American singer.
-- Jim Backus (born James Gilmore Backus), American radio, television, film actor, character actor, and voice actor.
-- Don Drysdale, major league baseball player.