Birthdays

David Brinkley - July 10, 1920
David Brinkley was one of the most recognized American broadcast journalists. Some will remember his nightly news show with co-anchor Chet Huntley - "Good night, David. Good night, Chet". That was back in the day when there were only three networks, and there were no 24-hour news channels. Others will remember his many years as host of "This Week with David Brinkley" - a Sunday morning political interview show. Brinkley's news career spanned more than 50 years. He passed away in June of 2003.

John Quincy Adams - July 11, 1767
John Quincy Adams was only nine years old when his father, John Adams, signed the Declaration of Independence, and 30 years old when his father became the second President of the United States. John Quincy would hold several political and diplomatic offices, and would later follow in his father's footsteps, becoming the 6th President of the United States on March 4th of 1825.

Henry David Thoreau - July 12, 1817
Thoreau was an American author, poet, naturalist, tax resister, development critic, surveyor, historian, philosopher, and leading transcendentalist. He is best known for his book Walden, a reflection upon simple living in natural surroundings, and his essay, Civil Disobedience, an argument for individual resistance to civil government in moral opposition to an unjust state. Thoreau embarked on a two-year experiment in simple living on July 4, 1845, when he moved to a small, self-built house on land around the shores of Walden Pond just outside of Concord, Massachusetts. Describing this venture, he said: "I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived."


Events

July 11 - Aaron Burr and Alexander Hamilton - A Duel
On this day on 1804, Vice-President Aaron Burr and Treasury Secretary Alexander Hamilton would face each other with pistols in a duel at Weehawken, New Jersey. One of the most famous conflicts in American history, the Burr-Hamilton duel arose from a long-standing political and personal rivalry that had developed between both men over a course of several years. Tensions reached a breaking point when Hamilton insulted Burr's character during the 1804 New York governor's race in which Burr was a candidate. Hamilton was mortally wounded, and would die the next day. Fought at a time when the practice of dueling was being outlawed in the northern United States, the duel had immense political ramifications. Burr was indicted for murder in both New York and New Jersey (though these charges were either later dismissed or resulted in acquittal), and the harsh criticism and animosity directed toward him would bring about an end to his political career and force him into a self-imposed exile.

Day of the Five Billion - July 11, 1987
This day is commemorated by the United Nations as the day that the world's population reached 5 billion people. And who was the lucky individual that clicked the counter up a notch from 4,999,999,999? Matej Gaspar, a bouncing baby boy born at 1:35 a.m. in Zagreb, Yugoslavia.