Video: 'Thomas Jefferson - Mini Biography'

(Tuesday, July 4, 1826, 12:30 p.m. local time) — Thomas Jefferson, the third President of the United States (1801–1809), an American Founding Father who was the principal author of the Declaration of Independence, died today at his plantation estate Monticello near Charlottesville, Virginia, of diarrhea, toxemia from a kidney infection, uremia from kidney damage and pneumonia.

Jefferson died at age 83 on the fiftieth anniversary of the Declaration of Independence and about six hours before the death of his longtime friend and rival, former President John Adams.

Video: 'Fourth of July 1826: Jefferson and Adams both die—The Hand of Providence?'