Of course today is Independence Day, but here are other historic events which took place on July 4th.

1802: The U.S. The U.S. Military Academy at West Point officially opened. In the early days the school didn’t have a strict curriculum and the students ranged in age from 10 to 37 years old.

1803: Thomas Jefferson announced the Louisiana Purchase. The treaty was signed on April 30, but it wasn’t announced publicly to the American people until July 4. For $15 million, the U.S. gained roughly 827,000 square miles of land west of the Mississippi River.

1817: Construction began on the Erie Canal. The waterway, which ultimately would extend 363 miles from the Great Lakes to the Hudson River. The canal transformed the nation’s economy when it was completed in 1825. According to the History Channel, by 1853 it carried 62% of all U.S. trade.

1826: Thomas Jefferson and John Adams died. The 2nd and 3rd presidents of the U.S. died on the same day, July 4, 1826.