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On July 4, 1776, the Continental Congress of the Thirteen Colonies adopted the Declaration of Independence drafted by Thomas Jefferson, proclaiming that all men are created equal and have unalienable rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Thus was born the United States of America, the first modern nation founded on Enlightenment principles.

On July 4, 1997, NASA's Mars Pathfinder probe landed on Mars and deployed the small rover Sojourner, which became the first motorised vehicle to explore the Martian surface. The mission transmitted more than 16,500 photographs and demonstrated the viability of low-cost missions to Mars, opening a new era of planetary exploration.

On July 4, 1946, the United States recognised the independence of the Philippines, ending 48 years of American sovereignty over the archipelago. The Philippines had been ceded by Spain to the US after the 1898 war. Independence was the result of the Tydings-McDuffie Act of 1934, which established a ten-year transition period before full sovereignty.