01010704 This Day In History, July 4

414: Emperor Theodosius II, at age 13, yielded power to his older sister, Aelia Pulcheria, who then reigned as regent and proclaimed herself Empress ("Augusta") of the Eastern Roman Empire (see The Politics Of Rome, A History Of Jerusalem: Pompey And The Caesars and Pax Romana: The Birth Of The Roman Empire).

1064: Chinese and Arabian astronomers recorded what they called a bright new "guest star" in the constellation of Taurus. The results of that supernova ("a star that explodes and becomes extremely luminous in the process") can be seen today as the Crab Nebula.

1187: Saladin's Muslim forces defeated Church of Rome "Crusader" forces (see A History Of Jerusalem: Constantine and Muhammad and Constantine's Crusades In History And Prophecy) at Battle of the Horns of Hattin, overlooking the Sea of Galilee near Tiberias (see The Cities Of Lake Galilee). The victory led to Saladin's capture of Jerusalem from the self-proclaimed "King of Jerusalem," Guy of Lusignan, of France.

1190: Richard I of England and Philip II of France started on the Third Crusade.

1609: French explorer Samuel de Champlain discovered (for Europeans; the native people already knew that the lake was there) what was later named Lake Champlain in New York.

1634: The city of Trois-Rivières was founded in "New France" (Quebec, Canada).

1653: "The Barebones Parliament" began; a hand-picked legislative group of 140 men convened by Oliver Cromwell following the Puritan victory in the English Civil War. The name was derived as a mockery of one of its members, "Praise-God" Barbon.

1776: The Declaration of Independence was signed in Philadelphia by representatives of the 13 English colonies that had been created in the barren wilderness of "New England," beginning nearly two centuries earlier with the English settlement of Jamestown in 1607 (named after King James I; the King James Version of the Holy Bible was also named after him). Despite the popularized myths and propaganda, only about 1/3 of the colonists actually rebelled (the most militant ones); the other 2/3 were conservatives (hard-working, successful, business people, farmers, teachers and loyal military officers) who either accepted the new regime out of fear, or fled as persecuted refugees - returning to England, or resettling in Canada where they became known as the United Empire Loyalists.

1831: Samuel Francis Smith wrote the lyrics for America (also known as "My Country 'Tis Of Thee"). Many historians find it very strange that the music that he used for his patriotic hymn was the very same as that already long-used for England's national anthem God Save the King - hence the reason that, to this day, God Save the King/Queen and America cannot be distinguished merely from the music.

1885: The Statue of Liberty arrived in New York City from Europe. While most are aware that it was a gift from the Roman-Catholic people and government of France, very few realize that the Statue of Liberty was a deliberate, as stated by its builders, reproduction of the ancient Roman goddess Libertas, idol-worshipping Rome's "goddess of freedom." A 2,000 year-old Roman coin from 42 BC, from the era of the birth of the Roman Empire, as shown in the photograph, shows Libertas (including the idol's name, the Latin Libertas, in English meaning "Lady Liberty" right on the coin); the face and the crown are identical to the Statue of Liberty.

1904: Construction of the Panama Canal began.

1918: Ottoman sultan Mehmed VI ascended to the throne (see A History Of Jerusalem: The British Mandate).

1918: Bolshevik rebel forces in Russia seized and murdered Tsar Nicholas II ("Tsar" is the Russian form of Caesar, as is the German Kaiser) and his family. The revolution began 70 years of communism in Russia.

1946: After nearly 4 centuries of foreign rule by one colonial nation after another, the Philippines achieved full independence from the U.S.

1947: The British Parliament introduced the "Indian Independence Bill" to divide British India into two sovereign countries - India and Pakistan.

1987: In France, Hitler-era Gestapo (in German, "Gestapo" was an abbreviation for "State Police") chief Klaus Barbie (known as the "Butcher of Lyon") was convicted of crimes against humanity and was sentenced to life imprisonment (see also Presidential Quotes On War, Terrorism, Religion).

1995: A Canadian Navy submarine recovered the bell of the iron ore carrier Edmund Fitzgerald, that sank on November 10 1975 in Lake Superior with the loss of 29 men. The sinking was made famous by Gordon Lightfoot's The Wreck Of The Edmund Fitzgerald.