■ On July 4, 1776, the Declaration of Independence was adopted by delegates to the Second Continental Congress in Philadelphia.
■ In 1802, the United States Military Academy officially opened at West Point, N.Y.
■ In 1831, the fifth president of the United States, James Monroe, died in New York at age 73.
■ In 1862, English mathematician and clergyman Charles L. Dodgson (“Lewis Carroll”) began devising the story of Alice in Wonderland for his young friend Alice Pleasance Liddell and her sisters during a boating trip.
■ In 1872, the 30th president of the United States, Calvin Coolidge, was born in Plymouth, Vt.
■ In 1912, the 48-star American flag, recognizing New Mexico’s statehood, was adopted.
■ In 1939, Lou Gehrig of the New York Yankees delivered his famous farewell speech in which he called himself “the luckiest man on the face of the earth.”
■ In 1959, America’s 49-star flag, recognizing Alaskan statehood, was officially unfurled.
■ In 1960, America’s 50-star flag, recognizing Hawaiian statehood, was officially unfurled.
■ In 1976, Israeli commandos raided Entebbe airport in Uganda, rescuing almost all of the passengers and crew of an Air France jetliner seized by pro-Palestinian hijackers.
■ In 1982, the space shuttle Columbia concluded its fourth and final test flight with a smooth landing at Edwards Air Force Base in California.
■ In 1987, Klaus Barbie, the former Gestapo chief known as the “Butcher of Lyon,” was convicted of crimes against humanity and sentenced to life in prison.
Today’s Birthdays: Advice columnist Pauline Phillips (the original “Dear Abby”) is 94. Playwright Neil Simon is 85. Broadcast journalist Geraldo Rivera is 69. Presidential daughter Malia Obama is 14.