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Dear friends,

Dear friends,

According to Wikipedia (one of my best unreal friends) July 4 is the 185th day of the year (186th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 180 days remaining until the end of the year. The Aphelion, the point in the year when the Earth is farthest from the Sun, occurs around this date.

I know it is not the 4th of July but I was out of ideas for today, tell you the truth, and I was looking at the older pictures from this year and I figured out I did not share with you these shots I really liked - they were supposed to get in the blog in July but I am not sure how I missed them...

I do not celebrate 4th of July but 4th of July this year was a lovely summer day and it was one of the few days I wore my special "little black dress" with high heel shoes (yes! those are high for me! any comments?!...I actually do not need high heels as I am tall enough ;p).



Plus, if we were to celebrate the 4th of July I think we have more than just one reason to do that. Look here:

• 362 BC – Battle of Mantinea: The Thebans, led by Epaminondas, defeated the Spartans.
• 1054 – A supernova was seen by Chinese, Arab and possibly Amerindian observers near the star Zeta Tauri. For several months it remained bright enough to be seen during the day. Its remnants form the Crab Nebula.
• 1187 – The Crusades: Battle of Hattin – Saladin defeated Guy of Lusignan, King of Jerusalem.
• 1569 – The King of Poland and the Grand Duke of Lithuania, Sigismund II Augustus, signed the document of union between Poland and Lithuania, creating a new state called the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. (check this one out! We should celebrate THAT!)
  
• 1610 – The Battle of Klushino was fought between forces of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth and Russia during the Polish-Muscovite War.
• 1776 – American Revolution: The United States Declaration of Independence was adopted by the Second Continental Congress.
  The United States declared its independence in 1776. 
   
  Of course, everybody knows and celebrates that ;)
   
   
  
  
• 1826 – Thomas Jefferson, third president of the United States, died the same day as John Adams, second president of the United States, on the fiftieth anniversary of the adoption of the United States Declaration of Independence.
• 1827 – Slavery was abolished in New York State.
• 1837 – Grand Junction Railway, the worlds first long-distance railway, opened between Birmingham and Liverpool.
• 1862 – Lewis Carroll told Alice Liddell a story that would grow into Alices Adventures in Wonderland and its sequels. (Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay! Who would not be happy for THAT?!)
• 1863 – American Civil War: Siege of Vicksburg – Vicksburg, Mississippi surrendered to Ulysses S. Grant after 47 days of siege. 150 miles up the Mississippi River, a Confederate Army was repulsed at the Battle of Helena, Arkansas.
• 1863 – American Civil War: The Army of Northern Virginia withdrew from the battlefield after losing the Battle of Gettysburg, signalling an end to the Southern invasion of the North.
• 1865 – Alices Adventures in Wonderland was published. (YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY!!!)
• 1886 – The people of France offered the Statue of Liberty to the people of the United States. (that is just FYI in case you did not know that ;) )
• 1903 – Dorothy Levitt was reported as the first woman in the world to compete in a motor race. (you go girl! make us proud!)

• 1911 – A massive heat wave struck the northeastern United States, killing 380 people in eleven days and breaking temperature records in several cities. (well I would not celebrate that but I must admit I was quite in a shock when I read that... no AC back then, huh?!)
• 1914 – The funeral of Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife Sophie took place in Vienna, six days after their assassinations in Sarajevo.
• 1918 – Bolsheviks killed Tsar Nicholas II of Russia and his family (Julian calendar date).(do NOT get me started on that subject - I consider that a slaughter!)
  
• 1934 – Leo Szilard patented the chain-reaction design for the atomic bomb.
• 1941 – Nazi troops massacred Polish scientists and writers in the captured Ukrainian city of Lviv. (do NOT get me started on the topic of Second World War either... remember I am pro Poland!)
• 1943 – World War II: The Battle of Kursk, the largest full-scale battle in history and the worlds largest tank battle, began in Prokhorovka village.
• 1946 – After 381 years of near-continuous colonial rule by various powers, the Philippines attained full independence from the United States.
• 1950 – Radio Free Europe first broadcast.
• 1997 – NASAs Pathfinder space probe landed on the surface of Mars.
• 1998 – Japan launched the Nozomi probe to Mars, joining the United States and Russia as a space exploring nation.
• 2004 – The cornerstone of the Freedom Tower was laid on the site of the World Trade Center in New York City.
• 2009 – The Statue of Libertys crown reopened to the public after eight years of closure due to security concerns following the September 11 attacks.
• 2012 – The discovery of particles consistent with the Higgs boson at the Large Hadron Collider was announced at CERN.

Well... these are only few of the things that happened on the 4th of July and I think we should celebrate each of them as by one way or another these facts/dates/happenings changed our life.

Yours truly,
The Historic Fan LadyBug :)

1970 AMC Gremlin 
1974 Ford Mustang