Discover what happened on July 2 in history, featuring pivotal moments in American independence, major business milestones, technological innovation, aviation history, and unforgettable pop culture events.
What Happened on July 2 in History?
Important events on this day include Congress voting for American independence from Great Britain, the opening of the very first Walmart store, the mysterious Roswell crash in New Mexico, and President Lyndon Johnson signing the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
JULY 2 – TODAY IN HISTORY:
1698 – Thomas Savery patented the first steam engine.
1850 – Benjamin Lane patented a gas mask with a breathing apparatus.
1776 – The Continental Congress adopted a resolution that severed ties with the Kingdom of Great Britain. The wording of the formal Declaration of Independence was not published until July 4th.
1857 – New York, NY’s first elevated railroad officially opened for business.
1881 – Charles J. Guiteau fatally wounded President James A. Garfield in Washington, DC. Garfield eventually died from an infection on September 19th.
1890 – Congress passed the Sherman Antitrust Act.
1900 – Lord Zeppelin demonstrated the first blimp-like airship
1901 – The real-life Butch Cassidy and Sundance Kid robbed a train of $40,000 near Wagner, MT.
1926 – Congress established the Army Air Corps.
1937 – American aviation pioneer Amelia Earhart and navigator Fred Noonan disappeared in the Central Pacific during an attempt to fly around the world at the equator.
1939 – At Mount Rushmore in South Dakota, Theodore Roosevelt’s face was dedicated.
1947 – An object crashed near Roswell, NM. The U.S. Army Air Force insisted it was a weather balloon, but eyewitness accounts led to speculation that it might have been an alien spacecraft.
1955 – ABC Television premiered “The Lawrence Welk Show.”
1959 – The movie “Plan 9 From Outer Space”, by director Ed Wood, premiered.
1962 – Wal-Mart Discount City opened in Rogers, AR. It was the first Walmart store.
1964 – President Lyndon Johnson signed the “Civil Rights Act of 1964” into law. The act made it illegal in the U.S. to discriminate against others because of their race.
1972 – The Michigan State Lottery was established.
1972 – After 3,242 performances on Broadway, “Fiddler on the Roof” closed.
1976 – The Supreme Court ruled the death penalty was not inherently cruel or unusual punishment.
1979 – The U.S. Mint officially released the Susan B. Anthony coin in Rochester, NY. It was the first U.S. coin to honor a woman.
1980 – President Jimmy Carter reinstated draft registration for males 18 years of age.
1980 – The movie spoof “Airplane!” opened in theaters.
1982 – In San Pedro, CA, Larry Walters (“Lawnchair Larry”) took flight in his homemade airship that consisted of a lawnchair with 42 helium-filled weather balloons attached to it. He reached an altitude of 16,000 feet and stayed in flight for about an hour.
1985 – General Motors announced that it was installing electronic road maps as an option in some of its higher-priced cars. The system used a dashboard computer and maps stored on cassette tapes. Very few were interested in the product.
1991 – Axl Rose (Guns ‘n’ Roses) sparked a riot during a concert, outside of St. Louis, MO, when he jumped off the stage and attacked a fan who was videotaping the concert. 60 people were hurt.
1995 – “Forbes” magazine reported that Microsoft’s chairman, Bill Gates, was the worth $12.9 billion, making him the world’s richest man.
1996 – The movie “Independence Day”, starring Will Smith, debuted in theaters.
1997 – Tornadoes and funnel clouds appeared in Michigan from Grand Rapids to Lansing and metro Detroit. It was the deadliest storm to hit Michigan since 1965.
1997 – The movie “Men in Black”, starry Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones, opened in theaters.
2001 – The AbioCor self-contained artificial heart was first implanted.
2002 – Steve Fossett became the first person to fly solo around the world non-stop in a balloon.
2005 – The Live 8 concerts took place in London, Rome, Berlin, Tokyo, Philadelphia and Barrie, Canada. The largest global concert event in history attracted approximately two million people who saw performances by Mariah Carey, Kanye West, Green Day, U2, Coldplay, The Killers, Linkin Park, Destiny’s Child and many more. More than 1,000 musicians performed and were broadcast on 182 television networks and 2,000 radio networks.
2013 – The International Astronomical Union named Pluto’s fourth and fifth moons, Kerberos and Styx.
2014 – In Grand Rapids, MI, Mötley Crüe began their final tour.
2015 – BP agreed to compensate the U.S. government and gulf states $18.7 billion for the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill.
2018 – British divers discovered 12 boys and their coach still alive in a cave in Thailand. They had been trapped for nine days by monsoon flooding.
CELEBRITY BIRTHDAYS ON JULY 2:
Gilbert Kalish – 91 years old (1935) – Pianist and educator
Richard Petty – 89 years old (1937) – Race car driver and sportscaster
John H. Sununu – 87 years old (1939) – Engineer and politician, 14th White House Chief of Staff
Richard Axel – 80 years old (1946) – Neuroscientist and biologist, Nobel Prize laureate
Larry David – 79 years old (1947) – Actor, comedian, producer, and screenwriter
Greg Brown – 77 years old (1949) – Musician
Roy Bittan – 77 years old (1949) – Rock piano and accordion player (E Street Band)
Wendy Schaal – 72 years old (1954) – Actress
Jerry Hall – 70 years old (1956) – Model and actress
Purvis Short – 69 years old (1957) – Basketball player
Clark Kellogg – 65 years old (1961) – Basketball player and sportscaster
Jose Canseco – 62 years old (1964) – Cuban-American baseball player and mixed martial artist
Ozzie Canseco – 62 years old (1964) – Cuban-American baseball player, coach, and manager
Joe Magrane – 62 years old (1964) – Baseball player and sportscaster
Derrick Adkins – 56 years old (1970) – Hurdler
Troy Brown – 55 years old (1971) – Football player and actor
Sean Casey – 52 years old (1974) – Baseball player and sportscaster
Elizabeth Reaser – 51 years old (1975) – Actress
Tomáš Vokoun – 50 years old (1976) – Czech-American ice hockey player
Walter Davis – 47 years old (1979) – Triple jumper
Sam Hornish Jr. – 47 years old (1979) – Race car driver
Nyjer Morgan – 46 years old (1980) – Baseball player
Carlos Rogers – 45 years old (1981) – Football player
Michelle Branch – 43 years old (1983) – Singer-songwriter and guitarist
Elise Stefanik – 42 years old (1984) – Politician
Johnny Weir – 42 years old (1984) – Figure skater
Chad Henne – 41 years old (1985) – Football player
Ashley Tisdale – 41 years old (1985) – Actress, singer, and producer
Brett Cecil – 40 years old (1986) – Baseball player
Lindsay Lohan – 40 years old (1986) – Actress and singer
Alex Morgan – 37 years old (1989) – Soccer player
Kayla Harrison – 36 years old (1990) – Judoka
Merritt Mathias – 36 years old (1990) – Soccer player
Madison Chock – 34 years old (1992) – Ice dancer
Vince Staples – 33 years old (1993) – Rapper and actor
Saweetie – 33 years old (1993) – Rapper
Derrick White – 32 years old (1994) – Basketball player
Ryan Murphy – 31 years old (1995) – Swimmer
DAYS OF THE YEAR FOR JULY 2:
No events found for this date.
For additional information check out websites like: www.on-this-day.com, www.born-today.com, www.famousbirthdays.com, www.daysoftheyear.com, and www.nationaldaycalendar.com.
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