Today is July 3. On this date in:
1775
George Washington officially took command of the Continental Army.
1842
Cincinnati’s oldest church, Old St. Mary’s Church in Over-the-Rhine, was dedicated.
1863
The three-day Civil War Battle of Gettysburg in Pennsylvania ended in a major victory for the North as Confederate troops failed to breach Union positions during an assault known as Pickett’s Charge.
1950
The first carrier strikes of the Korean War took place as USS Valley Forge and HMS Triumph sent fighter planes against North Korean targets.
1971
Singer Jim Morrison of The Doors died in Paris at age 27.
1976
Israel launched its daring mission to rescue 106 passengers and Air France crew members being held at Entebbe Airport in Uganda by pro-Palestinian hijackers; the commandos succeeded in rescuing all but four of the hostages.
1979
Dan White, convicted of voluntary manslaughter in the shooting deaths of San Francisco Mayor George Moscone and Supervisor Harvey Milk, was sentenced to seven years and eight months in prison. (He ended up serving five years.)
1985
The film “Back to the Future,” directed by Robert Zemeckis and starring Michael J. Fox, premiered.
1986
Ceremonies began for re-opening the Statue of Liberty after a major renovation.
1987
British millionaire Richard Branson and Per Lindstrand became the first hot-air balloon travelers to cross the Atlantic, parachuting into the sea as their craft went down off the Scottish coast.
1988
The USS Vincennes shot down an Iran Air jetliner over the Persian Gulf, killing all 290 aboard.
2013
Egypt’s first democratically elected president, Mohammed Morsi, was overthrown by the military after just one year by the same kind of Arab Spring uprising that had brought the Islamist leader to power.
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