Through the years...
July 4th has been an explosive date packed with a number of memorable events throughout the years starting with the gaining of our independence in 1776. We would celebrate that independence 200 years later. July 4th also saw a military academy open, a future president and boss were born, a baseball hero retired and our 49th and 50th states were added...But there was more, much more. See "July 4th Memories". Also check out some July 4th stats that might surprise you in my commentary...
June 30 Memories...
1962) Dodger great, Sandy Koufax no-hits the Mets...
1966) The Supremes record "You Keep Me Hangin' On"...
1971) Voting age lowered to 18...
1974) "Rock the Boat"-Hues Corporation is #1...
1974) Mikhail Baryshnikov defects...
1975) Cher marries Gregg Allman 4 days after divorcing Sonny Bono...
1982) New Jersey fans vote for "Devils" for the name of their new NHL team...
1986) Patti LaBelle & Michael McDonald top the charts with "On My Own"...
1994) Tonya Harding is banned for life...
Happy Birthday to...
1917) Lena Horne...
1951) Bass player Stanley Clarke...
1955) Comedian David Alan Grier...
1959) "Law and Order:Criminal Intent" star, Vincent D'Onofrio...
1966) Mike Tyson...
July 1 Memories...
1956) Elvis Presley sings "Hound Dog" to a basset hound on "The Steve Allen Show"...
1963) The Zone Improvement Plan (zip code) is born...
1966) Medicare goes into effect...
1972) "Hair" closes on Broadway...
1973) "Jesus Christ Superstar" closes, too...
1980) "O Canada" proclaimed the national anthem of our friends to the north...
1982) Cal Ripken starts record breaking streak by playing in his first game...
1987) WFAN, the first all-sports station is born as country music goes to WYNY...
1995) Disc jockey Wolfman Jack howls for last time at 57...
1997) UK returns Hong Kong to China...
2000) Walter Matthau takes his final bow at 79...
Happy Birthday to...
1916) Olivia de Havilland...
1925) Farley Granger...
1931) Leslie Caron...
1934) Jamie Farr...
1936) Wally ("Famous") Amos...
1941) Hockey Hall of Famer, Rod Gilbert...
1941) Twyla Tharp...
1942) Karen Black...
1945) Deborah Harry...
1952) Dan Aykroyd...
1961) Carl Lewis...
1967) Pamela Anderson...
1977) Liv Tyler...
July 2 Memories...
1961) Author Ernest Hemingway writes his final chapter...
1964) LBJ signs into law, a new, sweeping civil rights bill...
1997) Jimmy Stewart plays his final scene at 89...
Happy Birthday to...
1929) Imelda Marcos...
1930) Jazz great, Ahmad Jamal...
1946) Actor Ron Silver...
1947) Luci Baines Johnson...
1956) Jerry Hall...
1986) Lindsay Lohan...
July 3 Memories...
1947) Cleveland purchases Larry Doby, 1st black player in American League...
1971) Jim Morrison of The Doors sings last note at 27...
1976) After 12 years, Brian Wilson performs with the Beach Boys...
1978) Supreme Court rules that FCC has a right to reprimand WBAI for George Carlin's "filthy words"...
1986) President Reagan relights the renovated Statue of Liberty...
Happy Birthday to...
1940) Fontella ("Rescue Me") Bass...
1947) Humor writer, Dave Barry...
1956) Montel Williams...
1962) Tom Cruise...
July 4 Memories...
1776) The Continental Congress adopts the Declaration of Independence...
1802) The U.S. Military Academy opens at West Point...
1872) Future President Calvin Coolidge is born...
1939) Lou Gehrig, afflicted with a fatal illness, gives his tearful "Today, I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of the earth" speech at Yankee Stadium...
1959) Alaska becomes our 49th state...
1960) Hawaii becomes our 50th state...
1960) Connie Francis is #1 with "Everybody's Somebody's Fool"...
1969) 140,000 attend Atlanta Pop Festival featuring Led Zeppelin and Janis Joplin...
1970) Casey Kasem's "American Top 40" debuts...
1976) Bicentennial celebrated...
1983) Yankee Dave Righetti no-hits the Red Sox...
1993) Pizza Hut delivers their blimp to a rooftop in Manhattan...
1996) Hot Mail service begins...
Happy Birthday to...
1911) Mitch Miller...
1924) Eva Marie Saint...
1927) Neil Simon...
1930) George Steinbrenner...
1938) Bill Withers...
1943) Geraldo Rivera...
July 5 Memories...
1946) The bikini makes its debut in Paris...
1956) Elvis Presley makes his recording debut at Sun Records with "That's All Right"...
1965) The Four Seasons perform at the White House...
1968) Future NBA Hall of Famer, Wilt Chamberlain is traded from Philadelphia to Los Angeles...
2002) Ted Williams takes his final swing at 83...
Happy Birthday to...
1936) Shirley Knight...
1943) Robbie (The Band) Robertson...
1948) Julie Nixon Eisenhower...
1950) Huey Lewis...
1963) Carmela from the Soprano's, Edie Falco...
Commentary...
We hear the "dire" July 4th statistics every year but to set the record straight, crunch these numbers:
According to the Consumer Product Safety Commission, approximately 6 in 10 Americans will see some sort of fireworks display...
About 1 in 10 to 1 in 20 will ignite their own fireworks...but how dangerous is it ? Only about 1 in 40,000 are injured yearly...
Now to the "dire" driving statistics:
According to the National Highway Safety Board, the greatest chance of an auto accident occurs in July but only 1 in 10 do and most take place in California, this is also a yearly statistic...
But do heed this statistic, more than 5,000 lives are saved yearly by the use of seat belts...
Have a safe and happy July 4th...
