On July 5, 1775—less than three months after the first shots of the American Revolution were fired at Lexington and Concord—the Second Continental Congress adopted what would become its final formal gesture of conciliation with King George III: the Olive Branch Petition. Drafted by…
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On July 4, 1863, while the Union celebrated Independence Day, General Ulysses S. Grant accepted the surrender of Confederate Lieutenant General John C. Pemberton at Vicksburg, Mississippi—concluding a grueling 47-day siege and securing one of the most decisive victories of the American Civil War.…
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On July 3, 1913, under the humid skies of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, a remarkable scene unfolded on the rolling hills of Cemetery Ridge. Fifty years to the day after the Confederate Army’s fateful charge across the open fields toward Union lines—a climax known as Pickett’s…
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In the minds of many Americans, July 4th is the nation’s birthday—the date celebrated with fireworks, patriotic speeches, and parades across the country. Yet it was on July 2, 1776, that the Continental Congress formally broke ties with Great Britain by adopting the Lee…
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At 7:30 a.m. on July 1, 1916, whistles blew across the British trenches in northern France, marking the start of what would become the single bloodiest day in British military history. The First Day of the Battle of the Somme—a major Allied offensive against…
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On June 30, 1688, seven English noblemen—two earls, a viscount, a bishop, and three barons—sent a covert letter to William of Orange, inviting him to intervene militarily in England and promising their support in overthrowing King James II. Known to history as the “Immortal…
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On a summer day in 1888, in a London church brimming with both acoustics and ambition, George Edward Gouraud—an American-born Civil War veteran turned English promoter—captured something no one before him had ever successfully preserved in such form: the grandeur of classical choral music,…
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In the feverish days leading up to American independence, when the fate of the colonies teetered between rebellion and subjugation, the Continental Army faced not only threats from British redcoats but from within its own ranks. On June 28, 1776, Thomas Hickey—a private in…
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On a summer night meant to settle a grudge and crown a champion, the world of boxing witnessed instead one of the most shocking meltdowns in sports history. In just three rounds inside the MGM Grand Garden Arena, Mike Tyson didn’t just lose a…
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On June 28, 1914, the world changed forever when Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria was murdered in Sarajevo. Ferdinand was the heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, and his assassination by a Bosnian Serb nationalist, Gavrilo Princip, set off a chain of events that led…
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