July 3

July 3 is the 185th day of the year, and the American record for it runs from 1775 to 1938 — a span of 163 years. The entry that anchors it: Confederate forces were defeated by the Union Army on the last day of the Battle of Gettysburg, 1863.

The colonial record reaches this date first. In 1775, American Revolutionary War — George Washington takes command of the Continental Army at Cambridge, Massachusetts.

In the years around independence, the date turns political. In 1778, American Revolutionary War — Loyalists and Iroquois killed over 300 Patriots at the Battle of Wyoming in Pennsylvania. The same year, American Revolutionary War — the Iroquois, allied with Britain, massacre 360 Patriot soldiers during the Battle of Wyoming.

By the middle of the nineteenth century the date carries heavier freight. In 1852, Congress establishes the United States' 2nd mint in San Francisco. Then, in 1863, Confederate forces were defeated by the Union Army on the last day of the Battle of Gettysburg, a turning point in the American Civil War. The same year, American Civil War — the final day of the Battle of Gettysburg culminates with Pickett's Charge.

In the first half of the twentieth century the date turns technological. In 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. Then, in 1938, on the 75th anniversary of the end of the Battle of Gettysburg, U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt dedicated the Eternal Light Peace Memorial.

The date is also a birthday. Among the Americans born on July 3: John Singleton Copley (1738), American painter; Charlotte Perkins Gilman (1860), American sociologist and author; Ralph Barton Perry (1876), American philosopher and academic; George M. Cohan (1878), American songwriter, actor, singer, and dancer; and Alfred Korzybski (1879), Polish-American mathematician, linguist, and philosopher.

July 3 is also a date of endings. Among the Americans who died on it: George Hull Ward (1863), American general; Little Crow (1863), American tribal leader; Clay Allison (1887), American rancher; and Joel Chandler Harris (1908), American journalist and author.

The date carries formal observance as well — Emancipation Day (United States Virgin Islands). 8 entries, 163 years, one square on the calendar. July 3 is a reminder that history is experienced as an ordinary day before it is remembered as a date.