Happy Independence Day!

July 4

Independence Day (aka The Fourth of July), USA

ROYAL BIRTHDAYS

Queen Sonja of Norway   {1937} (wife of King Harald V of Norway)

Prince Michael of Kent   {1942} (1st cousin of Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom of Great Britain + Northern Ireland)

Princess Chulabhorn of Thailand   {1957} (daughter of King Bhumibol Adulyadej "Rama IX" of Thailand)

Princess Rayet bint Al Hashim of Jordan   {2008} [daughter of Prince Hashim bin Al Hussein of Jordan (half-brother of King Abdullah II of Jordan)]


HISTORICAL ROYAL EVENTS

1120   Jordan II of Capua is anointed as prince after his infant nephew's death.

1187   The Crusades:  Battle of Hattin - Saladin (Sultan of Egypt + Syria, etc) defeats Guy of Lusignan, King of Jerusalem.

1253   Battle of West-Capelle:  John I of Avesnes, Count of Hainaut defeats Guy of Dampierre, Count of Flanders.

1534   Christian III is elected King of Denmark + Norway in the town of Rye.

1918   Ottoman Sultan Mehmed VI ascends to the throne.

1918   [July 4 - Julian calendar date] Bolsheviks kill Tsar Nicholas II of Russia and his wife and children.


HISTORICAL ROYAL BIRTHS

1546   Murat III, Ottoman Sultan (d.1595)

1799   King Oscar I of Sweden + Norway (d.1859)

1918   King Taufa'ahau Tupou IV of Tonga (d.2006)

DEATHS

907   Luitpold, Margrave of Bavaria
943   Emperor Taejo of the Goryeo Dynasty (Korea)

965   Pope Benedict V
1780   Prince Charles Alexander of Lorraine

1931   Prince Emanuele Filiberto of Savoy-Aosta, 2nd Duke of Aosta

2011   Archduke Otto of Austria, Crown Prince of Austria, Hungary, Croatia + Bohemia, Prince Imperial of Austria, Prince Royal of Hungary, Croatia + Bohemia, etc.