Happy fourth of July, Daily Line readers! It's going to be a scorcher.

11:34 p.m. ET: We hope you had a Happy Fourth of July! Please join us for Nightline with Bill Weir where we'll take a look at home foreclosures, the Tough Mudder and ABC's new show Duets.

10:39 p.m. ET: Festive fireworks lighting the night sky is the only light some residents in the nation's capital region have as a widespread blackout continues this Independence Day.

Courtesy of AP/Alex Brandon

According to the AP, utility companies are slowly restoring service knocked out by a freak storm Friday from the Midwest to the Mid-Atlantic. Read the full story

8:30p.m. ET: "The caffeine made me do it!" That's the bizarre defense a bus driver is using to explain why he groped five females during and after a volleyball game.

Read the full ABC News story HERE

7:59 p.m. ET: As you wait for those 4th of July fireworks with record heat gripping most of the country, you might be in need of some cold refreshment!

Check out these tips from Yahoo! News on how to get your drinks cold…fast (and it's not the way that you think).

2:39 p.m. ET: Senior citizens are now officially cool.

Los Angeles-based clothing company American Apparel is featuring a grey-haired woman named Jacky, exact age unknown, as the model in a brand-new ad.

Credit: American Apparel

Yes, that's the company whose CEO Dov Charney was accused of sexualizing young female models and making them look even younger. "Nightline" anchor Terry Moran sat down with Charney to ask him about those accusations. Here's what happened:

1:40 p.m. ET: Nothing says Fourth of July like the Nathan's Famous hot dog eating contest, and there were no surprises in the winner circle this year.

Joey "Jaws" Chestnut chowed down like a champion to win his sixth straight Coney Island hot dog eating contest today. Sonya "The Black Widow" Thomas, from Alexandria, Va., defended her title in the women's competition, eating 45 hot dogs, five more than she did last year.

Sonya "The Black Widow" Thomas is carried through the crowds after breaking her world record, July 4, 2012. Credit: John Minchillo/AP Photo

11:43 a.m. ET: Truly an inspirational story…

South African world champion sprinter Oscar Pistorius, nicknamed the "Blade Runner" for the carbon fiber blades on which he runs, will be the first amputee track athlete to participate in the Olympics after he was selected to compete in this year's London games.

Credit: Chris McGrath/Getty Images

Read the full story HERE

10:38 a.m. ET: Missing millionaire Guma Aguiar's wife has filed a motion for permission to sell the couple's mansion and yacht, which are valued at $7.1 million , ABC News has learned.

Follow the updates to this story HERE.

Last night, ABC News' Matt Gutman brought us the details of the bitter court battle between Aguiar's wife and his mother over his estate. Watch Matt's "Nightline" report HERE:

9:10 a.m. ET: "We have a discovery [that is] consistent with a Higgs boson," Rolf Heuer, director of CERN, the European research center, said Wednesday.

Perhaps "God (Particle)" does exist?

The head of the European Center for Nuclear Research says its teams have discovered a new particle that is consistent with the Higgs boson - a subatomic particle considered so significant to the understanding of the universe that it has been called the God particle.

Read the full story HERE.

Credit: Getty Images

8: 30 a.m. ET: Let's start out with something fun to kick off America's birthday celebration.

ABC News' Amy Bingham writes about the nine (yes, nine) things you probably didn't know about the Fourth of July. For example, did you know it took Congress nearly 100 years to declare July 4th an official holiday?

Read the full story here and you'll have plenty to impress your friends with at today's barbeque.

And from our friend Sam Champion at "Good Morning America," here is your fireworks forecast:

Credit: @SamChampion/Twitter