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From Wikipedia's newest articles:

• ... that the modern coat of arms of Russia (pictured) was designed by a former political prisoner, Yevgeny Ukhnalyov?
• ... that San Francisco indie rock band LoveLikeFire formed as a result of a Craigslist classified advertisement?
• ... that a revolution in burrowing marks the base of the Cambrian period, and is followed by the Cambrian explosion of animal diversity?
• ... that Arthur Barret, the twenty-second mayor of St. Louis, Missouri, died after serving only eleven days in office?
• ... that Karl Wahl, in 1954, was the first former Nazi Gauleiter to publish his autobiography after having received permission from the denazification authorities to do so?
• ... that Dibeen Forest Reserve, established in 2004, is the newest nature reserve in Jordan?
• ... that at the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow, basketballer Danny Morseu was the first Torres Strait Islander to represent Australia at the Olympic games?
  

• Íngrid Betancourt, held captive by the FARC guerillas for six years, is rescued along with 14 other hostages by the Colombian government.
• A Palestinian man drives a front-end loader into several vehicles in Jerusalem, killing three before being shot dead.
• A four-day state of emergency is declared in Mongolia after violent protests follow the legislative elections.
• Thousands of Chinese riot in Guizhou, targeting local government buildings and officials over an alleged police cover-up of the death of a teenage girl.
• Robert Mugabe (pictured) is sworn in for his sixth term as President of Zimbabwe after a controversial run-off presidential election in which opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai withdrew his candidacy due to election-related violence.

July 3: Independence Day in Belarus

• 987 – Hugh Capet was crowned King of France, becoming the first monarch of the Capetian dynasty, which ruled France continuously until overthrown during the French Revolution in 1792.
• 1778 – American Revolutionary War: Loyalists and Iroquois killed or tortured over 300 Patriots at the Battle of Wyoming in Pennsylvania.
• 1844 – The last known pair of Great Auks (illustration by John Gerrard Keulemans shown), the only species in the genus Pinguinus, were killed in Eldey off the coast of Iceland.
• 1863 – Pickett's Charge, a disastrous Confederate infantry assault against Union Army positions, occurred during the final and bloodiest day of fighting in the Battle of Gettysburg, marking a turning point in the American Civil War.
• 1938 – The LNER Mallard broke the world speed record for a steam railway locomotive, reaching a speed of 126 miles per hour (203 km/h).

More events: July 2 – July 3 – July 4