Holidays Calendar for July 4, 2012
Independence Day in the USA
Independence Day is an important federal holiday in the United States that commemorates the adoption of the Declaration of Independence. The declaration was adopted on July 4, 1776 therefore the holiday is commonly referred to as the Fourth of July or July Fourth.
Liberation Day is a Rwandan public holiday that commemorates the defeat of the genocide regime by the Rwandan Patriotic Front in 1994. It is celebrated on July 4.
In the Kingdom of Tonga, the sovereign's birthday is a public holiday. The birthday of King Tupou VI is officially celebrated on July 4, although the king's real birthday falls on July 12.
The Northern Mariana Islands is an incorporated territory of the United States, so it recognizes all U.S. federal holidays, including Independence Day (the Fourth of July). However, it also celebrates its own holiday on the same day, called the Northern Mariana Islands Liberation Day (CNMI Liberation Day).
Vassa, also referred to as Buddhist Lent or Rains Retreat, is the three-month annual retreat observed by the practitioners of Theravada Buddhism. The first day of Vassa is a public holiday in Laos, Myanmar and Thailand.
Alice in Wonderland Day is observed annually to celebrate one of the most beloved and imaginative children’s books in the world. Its date is July 4 because on this day in 1862, Lewis Carroll began to tell the story of Alice to Henry Liddell’s three daughters.
World Sarcopenia Day is observed annually on July 4. It was created to educate the general public about a type of a muscle loss that results from aging and/or immobility, raise awareness of its prevalence, and provide advice on its management.
Forensic Expert Day is a Ukrainian professional holiday celebrated on July 4 each year. It was established in 2009 by President Viktor Yushchenko.
National Police Day in Ukraine is celebrated on July 4 every year. This professional holiday commemorates the official creation of the National Police of Ukraine in the summer of 2015.
Millions of trees are annually planted across India during the National Festival of Trees Planting (Van Mahotsav) in India. The festival lasts for one week and it corresponds to the well-known tradition of Arbor Day in other countries.
Filipino-American Friendship Day, previously known as Philippine Republic Day, is a holiday in the Philippines observed on July 4. It used to be celebrated as the country's Independence Day, but now it is a working holiday not linked to the independence of the Philippines.
National Tom Sawyer Days is an annual event held in the city of Hannibal, Missouri. Hannibal is the hometown of Mark Twain. It served as inspiration for the fictional town of St. Petersburg, where Twain's stories about Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn are set.
July 4 is Day of Remembrance of Jewish Genocide in Latvia. It marks the anniversary of the burning of the Great Choral Synagogue in Riga in 1941.
Birthdays of the members of the Royal House are official flag flying days in Norway. The birthday of Queen Sonja is one of them. It is celebrated on July 4.
Lanao del Norte Day (Araw ng Lanao del Norte) is a special non-working holiday and cultural festival in the Philippine province of Lanao del Norte that commemorates its founding anniversary. It is celebrated on July 4, coinciding with Philippine-American Friendship Day, also known as Philippine Republic Day.
July 4 is a great day for a barbecue. And today is National Barbecued Spareribs Day, that all Americans across country celebrate.
National Caesar Salad Day celebrates one of the most popular salads in the United States and arguably in the world. It coincides with Independence Day in the US because, according to the most popular account of the invention of Caesar salad, it was first served during the Fourth of July weekend.
Jackfruit Day is celebrated annually on July 4. It was created to raise awareness of an amazing fruit native to South and Southeast Asia and promote it as a tasty and nutritious alternative to meat.
Independence from Meat Day is celebrated annually on July 4, coinciding with the United States Independence Day. It was created to encourage people to try a vegan, vegetarian, or at least flexitarian lifestyle.
National Hillbilly Day is observed annually on July 4. The holiday was created to dispel the negative stereotypes associated with hillbillies and celebrate the traditions and lifestyle of people dwelling in rural areas of the Appalachian region.
Festivals on July 4, 2012
- International Festival of Ancient Greek Drama in Paphos, Cyprus
- Ottawa Bluesfest in Ottawa, Canada
- Winnipeg Folk Festival in Winnipeg, Canada
- Kongsberg Jazz Festival in Kongsberg, Norway
- Open’er Festival in Gdynia, Poland
- Sochi Jazz Festival in Sochi, Russia
- Paraty International Literary Festival (FLIP) in Paraty, Brazil
- Toronto Fringe Festival in Toronto, Canada
- Moscow Flower Show in Moscow, Russia
- Teatralny Koufar International Student Theatre Festival in Minsk, Belarus
- PhotoIreland Festival in Dublin, Ireland
- Festival of Pacific Arts and Culture in Honiara, Solomon Islands
- Peterborough Musicfest in Peterborough (ON), Canada
- Crop Over in Bridgetown, Barbados
- Door County Fantasy Renaissance Faire in Egg Harbor, USA
This Day in History
- 2012 The discovery of particles consistent with the Higgs boson at the Large Hadron Collider was announced at CERN.
- 2003 Died: Barry White, American singer-songwriter, pianist, and producer. He is best remembered for his distinctive bass-baritone voice and romantic image.
- 1998 Japan launched the Nozomi probe to Mars, thus becoming the third country to explore space, joining the United States and Russia.
- 1995 Born: Post Malone (stage name of Austin Richard Post), American rapper, singer, songwriter, and record producer. He is among the best-selling music artists, with over 80 million records sold.
- 1990 Born: Melissa Barrera, Mexican actress. She is best known for her roles as Vanessa in In the Heights and as Sam Carpenter in Scream and Scream VI.
- 1988 Born: Luke Thompson, English actor best known for his role as Benedict, the second Bridgerton child, in the Netflix historical romance television series Bridgerton.
- 1976 Israeli commandos held Operation Entebbe, rescuing the passengers and the crew of the Air France jetliner hijacked by Palestinian terrorists. All but four passengers and crew of the plane were saved.
- 1970 Died: Barnett Newman, American artist, widely regarded as one of the major figures of abstract expressionism, and one of the foremost color field painters.
- 1965 Born: Tracy Letts, American actor, playwright, and screenwriter. He made his Broadway debut as a playwright for August: Osage County, for which he received the Pulitzer Prize for Drama and the Tony Award for Best Play.
- 1964 Born: Elie Saab, Lebanese fashion designer. He became an overnight success when he dressed Oscar winner Halle Berry in 2002. Since then his dresses has been seen on catwalks around the world.
- 1951 American journalist William N. Oatis was sentenced by the court of Czechoslovakia for ten years of imprisonment on charges of espionage.
- 1943 The Battle of Kursk began between the Nazi Germany and the USSR. It was the largest full-scale battle in history and the world's largest tank battle.
- 1941 300 Jews locked in the basement of the Great Choral Synagogue in Riga were burned alive after Germans occupied the city.
- 1934 Died: Marie Curie, Polish and naturalized-French physicist and chemist. She was the first woman to win a Nobel Prize, the first person to win a Nobel Prize twice, and the only person to win a Nobel Prize in two scientific fields.
- 1927 Born: Neil Simon, American playwright and screenwriter. He wrote about 30 movie screenplays, mostly adapted from his own plays. He received more combined Oscar and Tony nominations than any other writer.
- 1927 Born: Gina Lollobrigida, Italian actress and photographer, one of the highest profile actresses in Europe in the 1950s and the early 1960s.
- 1921 Born: Gérard Debreu, French economist and mathematician, Nobel Prize laureate for the incorporation of new analytical methods into economic theory and his rigorous reformation of general equilibrium theory.
- 1886 The Statue of Liberty was presented by French to the people of the Unites States.
- 1882 Died: Joseph Brackett, American composer. He became popular with his song "Simple Gifts", which remains widely performed and adapted today.
- 1872 Born: Calvin Coolidge, American lawyer and politician, the 30th President of the United States. During his presidency he gained a fame as a man who said very little.
- 1865 Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll was published for the first time.
- 1855 The first edition of Walt Whitman's book of poems Leaves of Grass was published in Brooklyn, New York City.
- 1850 Died: William Kirby, English entomologist and author who is considered to be the founder of modern entomology.
- 1848 Died: François-René de Chateaubriand, French historian and politician, known as the founder of Romanticism in French literature
- 1837 The world's first long-distance railway was opened. It was running between Birmingham and Liverpool.
- 1831 Died: James Monroe, American soldier, lawyer, and politician, the 5th President of the United States. He was the last Founding Father to serve as president of the United States.
- 1826 Died: Thomas Jefferson, American lawyer, architect, and politician, the 3rd President of the United States. He is primarily known as the principal author of the Declaration of Independence.
- 1826 Died: John Adams, American politician, the 2nd President of the United States. Adams is known as one of the leading advocates of American independence.
- 1826 Born: Stephen Foster, American songwriter, known as the father of American music. His best known songs are "My Old Kentucky Home", "Oh! Susanna", "Old Black Joe", "Beautiful Dreamer", etc.
- 1807 Born: Giuseppe Garibaldi, Italian general and politician, a key figure in the history of Italy. Together with Camillo Cavour, Victor Emmanuel II and Giuseppe Mazzini he is considered one of Italy's fathers of the fatherland.
- 1804 Born: Nathaniel Hawthorne, American novelist and short story writer whose works often focus on history, morality, and religion. His novel The Scarlet Letter was one of the first mass-produced books in the US.
- 1790 Born: George Everest, Welsh surveyor and geographer, largely responsible for the Great Trigonometric Survey of India. Mount Everest was named after him, although its was surveyed by his successor, Andrew Scott Waugh.
- 1761 Died: Samuel Richardson, English author and painter, best known for his three epistolary novels: Pamela: Or, Virtue Rewarded, Clarissa: Or the History of a Young Lady, and The History of Sir Charles Grandison.