WEDNESDAY, JULY 2, 2008

Today is Wednesday, July 2, the 184th day of 2008. There are 182 days left in the year.

1776 _ Continental Congress resolves ``these United Colonies are and of right ought to be Free and Independent States"

1777 _ Vermont becomes first American colony to abolish slavery

1787 _ De Sade shouts from Bastille that prisoners are being slaughtered

1843 _ An alligator falls from the sky during a Charleston, S.C., thunderstorm

1858 _ Partial emancipation of Russian serfs

1900 _ Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin first airship LZ-1, flies

1956 _ Elvis Presley records ``Hound Dog" and ``Don't Be Cruel"

1976 _ Formal reunification of North and South Vietnam

1976 _ Supreme Court ruled death penalty not inherently cruel or unusual

1990 _ Imelda Marcos and Adnan Khashoggi found not guilty of racketeering