Today in News History

On July 4, several notable moments in the history of News stand out. In 1774, Orangetown Resolutions are adopted in the Province of New York, one of many protests against the British Parliament's Coercive Acts. In 1804, Nathaniel Hawthorne, American novelist and short story writer (died 1864) was born. In 1832, John Neal delivers the first public lecture in the US to advocate the rights of women. In 1911, A massive heat wave strikes the northeastern United States, killing 380 people in eleven days and breaking temperature records in several cities. In 1941, Nazi crimes against the Polish nation: Nazi troops massacre Polish scientists and writers in the captured Ukrainian city of Lviv. In 1950, Cold War: Radio Free Europe first broadcasts. In 1966, U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson signs the Freedom of Information Act into United States law. The act went into effect the next year. In 1977, The George Jackson Brigade plants a bomb at the main power substation for the Washington state capitol in Olympia, in solidarity with a prison strike at the Walla Walla State Penitentiary Intensive Security Unit. In 2008, A bomb explodes at a concert in Minsk's Independence Square, injuring 50 people. In 2014, Richard Mellon Scaife, American businessman (born 1932) passed away. Together, these milestones provide historical context for today's news news and ongoing narratives.