So you want to have a drink but you aren't sure why? Here are some GREAT reasons to call your friends over and have a party.

July 3rd
- Christian Feast Day

- Emancipation Day (United States Virgin Islands)

- Independence Day, celebrates the liberation of Minsk from Nazi occupation by Soviet troops in 1944. (Belarus)

- The start of the Dog Days according to The Old Farmer's Almanac but not according to established meaning in most European cultures.


July 3rd
- 2006 - Valencia metro accident leaves 43 dead in Valencia, Spain.

- 2006 - Asteroid 2004 XP14 flies within 432,308 kilometres (268,624 mi) of Earth.

- 2001 - A Vladivostok Avia Tupolev Tu-154 jetliner crashes on approach to landing at Irkutsk, Russia killing 145 people.

- 1996 - Stone of Scone is returned to Scotland.

- 1994 - The deadliest day in Texas traffic history, according to the Texas Department of Public Safety. Forty-six people are killed in crashes.

- 1988 - United States Navy warship USS Vincennes shoots down Iran Air Flight 655 over the Persian Gulf, killing all 290 people aboard.

- 1988 - The Fatih Sultan Mehmet Bridge in Istanbul, Turkey is completed, providing the second connection between the continents of Europe and Asia over the Bosporus.

- 1986 - U.S. President Ronald Reagan presides over the relighting of the renovated Statue of Liberty.

- 1981 - First mention in the New York Times of a disease that would later be called AIDS

- 1979 - U.S. President Jimmy Carter signs the first directive for secret aid to the opponents of the pro-Soviet regime in Kabul.

- 1977 - The Senegalese Republican Movement is founded.

- 1970 - A British Dan-Air De Havilland Comet chartered jetliner crashes into mountains north of Barcelona, Spain killing 113 people.

- 1970 - The Troubles: the "Falls Curfew" begins in Belfast, Northern Ireland.

- 1969 - The biggest explosion in the history of rocketry occurs when the Soviet N-1 rocket explodes and subsequently destroys its launchpad.

- 1962 - The Algerian War of Independence against the French ends.

- 1952 - The Constitution of Puerto Rico is approved by the Congress of the United States.

- 1952 - The SS United States sets sail on her maiden voyage to Southampton. During the voyage, the ship takes the Blue Riband away from the RMS Queen Mary.

- 1944 - World War II: Minsk is liberated from Nazi control by Soviet troops during Operation Bagration.

- 1940 - World War II: the French fleet of the Atlantic based at Mers el Kébir, is bombarded by the British fleet, coming from Gibraltar, causing the loss of three battleships: Dunkerque, Provence and Bretagne. One thousand two hundred sailors perish.

- 1938 - World speed record for a steam railway locomotive is set in England, by the Mallard, which reaches a speed of 126 miles per hour (203 km/h).

- 1938 - President Franklin D. Roosevelt dedicates the Eternal Light Peace Memorial and lights the eternal flame at Gettysburg Battlefield.

- 1913 - Confederate veterans at the Great Reunion of 1913 reenact Pickett's Charge; upon reaching the high-water mark of the Confederacy they are met by the outstretched hands of friendship from Union survivors.

- 1898 - Spanish-American War: The Spanish fleet, led by Pascual Cervera y Topete, is destroyed by the U.S. Navy in Santiago, Cuba.

- 1890 - Idaho is admitted as the 43rd U.S. state.

- 1886 - Karl Benz officially unveils the Benz Patent Motorwagen – the first purpose-built automobile.

- 1886 - The New York Tribune becomes the first newspaper to use a linotype machine, eliminating typesetting by hand.

- 1884 - Dow Jones and Company publishes its first stock average.

- 1866 - Austro-Prussian War is decided at the Battle of Königgratz, resulting in Prussia taking over as the prominent German nation from Austria.

- 1863 - American Civil War: The final day of the Battle of Gettysburg culminates with Pickett's Charge.

- 1852 - Congress establishes the United States' 2nd mint in San Francisco, California.

- 1849 - The French enter Rome in order to restore Pope Pius IX to power. This would prove a major obstacle to Italian unification.

- 1848 - Slaves are freed in the Danish West Indies (now U.S. Virgin Islands) by Peter von Scholten in the culmination of a year-long plot by enslaved Africans.

- 1844 - The last pair of Great Auks is killed.

- 1839 - The first state normal school in the United States, the forerunner to today's Framingham State College, opens in Lexington, Massachusetts with 3 students.

- 1819 - The Bank of Savings in New York City, the first savings bank in the United States, opens.

- 1778 - American Revolutionary War: British forces kill 360 people in the Wyoming Valley massacre.

- 1775 - American Revolutionary War: George Washington takes command of the Continental Army at Cambridge, Massachusetts.

- 1767 - Pitcairn Island is discovered by Midshipman Robert Pitcairn on an expeditionary voyage commanded by Philip Carteret.

- 1767 - Norway's oldest newspaper still in print, Adresseavisen, is founded and the first edition is published.

- 1754 - French and Indian War: George Washington surrenders Fort Necessity to French forces.

- 1608 - Québec City is founded by Samuel de Champlain.

- 987 - Hugh Capet is crowned King of France, the first of the Capetian dynasty that would rule France till the French Revolution in .

- 324 - Battle of Adrianople Constantine I defeats Licinius, who flees to Byzantium.


July 3rd
- 1988 - Winston Reid, New Zealand - Danish Football Player

- 1987 - Sebastian Vettel, German racing driver

- 1986 - Greg Paulus, American basketball and football player

- 1985 - Minami Keisuke, Japanese singer and actor.

- 1984 - Syed Rasel, Bangladeshi cricketer

- 1984 - Corey Sevier, Canadian actor

- 1984 - Manny Lawson, American Football player

- 1984 - Nicolas Roche, Irish cyclist

- 1983 - Steph Jones, American singer and model

- 1982 - Kanika, Indian actress

- 1981 - Justin Torkildsen, American actor

- 1980 - Roland Mark Schoeman, South African swimmer

- 1980 - Kevin Boyle, American basketballer

- 1980 - Trae, American rapper from Houston, Texas

- 1980 - Bostjan Nachbar, Slovenian basketball player

- 1980 - Harbhajan Singh, Indian cricketer

- 1980 - Olivia Munn, American television hostess

- 1980 - Melisa Young, American Rapper ("Kid Sister")

- 1979 - Ludivine Sagnier, French actress

- 1979 - David Bacani, American baseball player

- 1978 - Mizuki Noguchi, Japanese long-distance runner

- 1977 - David Bowens, American football player

- 1976 - Andrea Barber, American actress

- 1976 - Wade Belak, Canadian ice hockey player

- 1976 - Henry Olonga, Zimbabwean cricketer

- 1976 - Wanderlei Silva, Brazilian mixed martial artist

- 1976 - Bobby Skinstad, Springbok Rugby player

- 1973 - Johnny Terris, Canadian actor and director

- 1973 - Patrick Wilson, American actor

- 1973 - Emma Cunniffe, British actress

- 1973 - Ólafur Stefánsson, Icelandic handball player

- 1972 - Warren Furman, British television personality

- 1970 - Teemu Selänne, Finnish ice hockey player

- 1970 - Shawnee Smith, American actress

- 1970 - Serhiy Honchar, Ukrainian cyclist

- 1969 - Kevin Hearn, Canadian musician (Barenaked Ladies)

- 1968 - Aku Louhimies, Finnish film director and screenwriter

- 1967 - Brian Cashman, American major league baseball executive

- 1967 - Spiros Marangos, Greek footballer

- 1966 - Robin Burgener, Canadian programmer, inventor of 20Q

- 1966 - Moisés Alou, Dominican baseball player

- 1965 - Shinya Hashimoto, Japanese wrestler (d. 2005)

- 1965 - Connie Nielsen, Danish actress

- 1964 - Joanne Harris, British author

- 1964 - Yeardley Smith, French-born American actress

- 1962 - Tom Cruise, American actor

- 1962 - Hunter Tylo, American actress

- 1962 - Thomas Gibson, American actor

- 1962 - Hugh Page, former South African cricketer

- 1961 - Pedro Romeiras, Portuguese dancer

- 1961 - Tim Smith, English musician (Cardiacs)

- 1960 - Vince Clarke, British songwriter (Depeche Mode, Yazoo, and Erasure)

- 1959 - Julie Burchill, British journalist and author

- 1959 - David Shore, Canadian-born writer

- 1959 - Stephen Pearcy, American singer (Ratt)

- 1958 - Matthew Fraser, Canadian-British journalist

- 1958 - Siân Lloyd, Welsh weather presenter

- 1958 - Aaron Tippin, American singer

- 1958 - Charlie Higson, English author and actor

- 1957 - Laura Branigan, American singer (d. 2004)

- 1957 - Ken Ober, American game show host (d. 2009)

- 1956 - Montel Williams, American talk show host

- 1956 - Don Vito, American Viva La Bam castmember

- 1955 - Sanma Akashiya, Japanese television performer

- 1952 - Amit Kumar, Indian singer

- 1951 - Richard Hadlee, New Zealand cricketer

- 1951 - Jean-Claude Duvalier, Haitian politician

- 1950 - James Hahn, American politician

- 1950 - Ewen Chatfield, New Zealand cricketer

- 1949 - Jan Smithers, American actress

- 1949 - Johnnie Wilder, Jr., American singer (Heatwave) (d. 2006)

- 1948 - Tarmo Koivisto, Finnish comics artist

- 1947 - Dave Barry, American humorist and author

- 1947 - Betty Buckley, American actress

- 1947 - Anthony "Top" Topham, English musician

- 1946 - Johnny Lee, American country-and-western singer

- 1946 - Leszek Miller, Prime Minister of Poland

- 1945 - Michael Cole, American TV actor

- 1944 - Michel Polnareff, French singer and songwriter

- 1943 - Kurtwood Smith, American actor

- 1943 - Judith Durham, Australian singer and songwriter

- 1942 - Eddy Mitchell, French singer and actor

- 1942 - Paco Stanley, Mexican TV personality (d. 1999)

- 1940 - César Tovar, Venezuelan baseball player (d. 1994)

- 1940 - Lamar Alexander, American politician

- 1940 - Jerzy Buzek, Prime Minister of Poland

- 1940 - Fontella Bass, American soul singer

- 1939 - László Kovács, Hungarian politician and diplomat

- 1939 - Brigitte Fassbaender, German mezzo-soprano

- 1938 - Bolo Yeung, Hong Kong actor

- 1937 - Tom Stoppard, Czech-born, British playwright

- 1936 - Baard Owe, Norwegian-born Danish actor

- 1935 - Harrison Schmitt, American astronaut and politician

- 1933 - Edward Brandt, American doctor and public health official (d. 2007)

- 1932 - Richard Mellon Scaife, American newspaper publisher

- 1931 - Frits Helmuth, Danish actor (d. 2004)

- 1930 - Carlos Kleiber, Austrian conductor (d. 2004)

- 1930 - Tommy Tedesco, American musician (d. 1997)

- 1930 - Pete Fountain, American clarinetist

- 1927 - Ken Russell, British director

- 1924 - S. R. Nathan, 6th president of Singapore

- 1922 - Guillaume Cornelis van Beverloo, Belgian painter, called Corneille (d. 2010)

- 1921 - Susan Peters, American actress (d. 1952)

- 1920 - Paul O'Dea, American baseball player (d. 1978)

- 1918 - S. V. Ranga Rao, South Indian actor (Telugu Cinema Actor) (d. 1974)

- 1917 - Joăo Saldanha, Brazilian journalist and football manager (d. 1990)

- 1916 - John Kundla, American college and professional basketball coach

- 1913 - Dorothy Kilgallen, American columnist (d. 1965)

- 1910 - Fritz Kasparek, Austrian mountaineer (d. 1954)

- 1908 - M. F. K. Fisher, American writer (d. 1992)

- 1908 - Robert B. Meyner, American politician (d. 1990)

- 1906 - George Sanders, British actor (d. 1972)

- 1906 - Jack Earle, American actor and sideshow performer (d. 1952)

- 1903 - Ace Bailey, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 1992)

- 1900 - Alessandro Blasetti, Italian film director (d. 1987)

- 1888 - Ramón Gómez de la Serna, Spanish writer (d. 1963)

- 1886 - Raymond A. Spruance, American Navy admiral (d. 1969)

- 1883 - Franz Kafka, Czech-German writer (d. 1924)

- 1880 - Carl Schuricht, Polish-born German conductor (d. 1967)

- 1879 - Alfred Korzybski, Polish linguist (d. 1950)

- 1878 - George M. Cohan, American actor, director, singer and dancer (d. 1942)

- 1875 - Ferdinand Sauerbruch, German surgeon (d. 1951)

- 1870 - Richard Bedford Bennett, 11th Prime Minister of Canada (d. 1947)

- 1866 - Albert Gottschalk, Danish painter (d. 1907)

- 1854 - Leoš Janá?ek, Czech composer (d. 1928)

- 1851 - Charles Bannerman, Australian cricketer (d. 1930)

- 1743 - Sophia Magdalena of Denmark, queen consort of Sweden (d. 1813)

- 1738 - John Singleton Copley, American painter (d. 1815)

- 1728 - Robert Adam, Scottish architect (d. 1792)

- 1685 - Sir Robert Rich, 4th Baronet, British cavalry officer (d. 1768)

- 1683 - Edward Young, English poet (d. 1765)

- 1676 - Leopold I, Prince of Anhalt-Dessau, Prussian field marshal (d. 1747)

- 1530 - Claude Fauchet, French historian (d. 1601)

- 1442 - Emperor Go-Tsuchimikado of Japan (d. 1500)

- 1423 - King Louis XI of France (d. 1483)

