July 4 in History

Between 1776 and 1783, thirteen British colonies on the North Atlantic coast of North America declared their independence, won a war to secure it, and gained recognition as a new nation, the United States. The episode mattered far beyond America. It showed that a colonial population could break from a European empire, and it put into practice ideas about representative government and popular sovereignty that would echo through later revolutions.

In July 1954, West Germany defeated the heavily favored Hungarian national team 3-2 in the World Cup final at the Wankdorf Stadium in Bern, Switzerland. The upset, known in Germany as the "Miracle of Bern," ended Hungary's long unbeaten run and gave a country still living in the shadow of Nazism and wartime destruction its first moment of widely shared, uncomplicated pride.