Died On This Date

July 4

Jefferson, Thomas
b. April 13, 1743 d. July 4, 1826
American Founding Father. Third President of the United States. He was a philosopher, statesman, scholar, attorney, planter, architect, violinist, writer, and natural scientist who wished to be remembered as the author of the Declaration of Independence and of the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom, and as the founder of the University of Virginia. Born of a moderately well-off planter family, Jefferson was early imbued by his father Peter with a love both of nature, and of books.

Adams, John
b. October 30, 1735 d. July 4, 1826
2nd United States President, first United States Vice President, Signer of the Declaration of Independence from Massachusetts, one of the Founding Fathers of the United States, and Revolutionary War Patriot. Born the first of two sons to John and Susanna Boylston Adams, he was born in Braintree, Massachusetts (now part of Quincy, MA), where his father was a Puritan farmer, a lieutenant in the militia, a town selectman (town councilman), and a descendant of the first settlers who had arrived in New England.

Curie (Sklodowska), Marie
b. November 7, 1867 d. July 4, 1934
Scientist. She had degrees in mathematics and physics and was the first woman in Europe to receive her doctorate of science. In 1903, she became the first woman to win a Nobel Prize for Physics for the co-discovery (jointly awarded to Curie, her husband Pierre, and Henri Becquerel) of radioactivity. In 1906, she became the first female lecturer, professor and head of Laboratory at the Sorbonne University in Paris. In 1911, she won an unprecedented second Nobel Prize for Chemistry.

White, Barry
b. September 12, 1944 d. July 4, 2003
Soul/Disco Singer. Barry White was born on September, 12, 1944, in Galveston, Texas, and he recorded his first album at the age of 16. White is best known for his soulful, smooth, mellow singing voice, which he used to sing love songs from the 1970s up through the 2000s. White had 106 gold albums, 41 platinum singles, 20 gold platinum singles, and ten platinum singles, which sold over 100 million. Cause of death: Kidney failure.

Monroe, James
b. April 28, 1758 d. July 4, 1831
5th United States President. James Monroe was born in Westmoreland County Virginia to parents not only wealthy but rich in legacy with kinship to the Royal Family. Tutored until eleven then educated at the finest school in Virginia, Campbelton Academy with the future Chief Justice John Marshall a classmate. He attended the College of William and Mary then studied law under Thomas Jefferson. He fought in the American Revolution. Elected to the Virginia legislature, then a member of Congress.