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Adv04 For release Friday, July 4

 
Published July 3, 2014

1802, the United States Military Academy officially opened at West Point, New York.

1863, the Civil War Siege of Vicksburg, Mississippi, ended as a Confederate garrison surrendered to Union forces.

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."

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.

2004: A 20-ton slab of granite, inscribed to honor "the enduring spirit of freedom," was laid at the World Trade Center site as the cornerstone of the Freedom Tower skyscraper that replaced the destroyed twin towers.

2009: North Korea launched seven ballistic missiles into waters off its east coast.



TODAY IN HISTORY

1863: The Civil War Siege of Vicksburg, Miss. ended as a Confederate garrison surrendered to Union forces.

2009: North Korea test fired seven ballistic missiles.