July 2
is the 183rd day of the year (184th in
leap years) in the
Gregorian Calendar, with 182 days remaining.
It is the middle day of a non-
leap year, because there are 182 days before and 182 days after. It falls on the same day of the week as
New Year's Day (on non-leap years).
*
1298 - The
Battle of Göllheim is fought between
Albert I of Habsburg and
Adolf of Nassau-Weilburg.
*
1561 -
Menas,
Emperor of Ethiopia defeats a revolt in Emfraz.
*
1578 -
Martin Frobisher sights
Baffin Island.
*
1613 - First
English expedition from
Massachusetts against
Acadia - led by
Samuel Argall.
*
1644 -
English Civil War:
Battle of Marston Moor.
*
1679 - Europeans first visit
Minnesota and see headwaters of
Mississippi - led by
Daniel Greysolon de Du Luth.
*
1776 - The
Continental Congress adopts a resolution severing ties with
Great Britain, though a formal
Declaration of Independence is not adopted until
July 4.
*
1777 -
Vermont becomes the first state to abolish
slavery.
*
1808 -
Simon Fraser reaches
Pacific near
New Westminster.
*
1839 - Twenty miles off the coast of
Cuba, 53 rebelling
African slaves led by
Joseph Cinque take over the slave ship
Amistad.
*
1850 - The self-contained
gas mask is patented by
Benjamin J. Lane.
*
1853 - The
Russian Army invades
Turkey, beginning the
Crimean War.
*
1863 -
American Civil War: Second day of the
Battle of Gettysburg.
*
1878 - The Brighton Beach Line (now the
BMT Brighton Line) opens in the then-city of
Brooklyn.
*
1881 -
Charles J. Guiteau shoots and fatally wounds U.S. President
James Garfield, who eventually dies from infection on
September 19.
*
1890 - The
U.S. Congress passes the
Sherman Anti-Trust Act.
*
1900 - First
zeppelin flight on
Lake Constance near
Friedrichshafen,
Germany.
*
1917 - Forty-eight die in rioting in
East St. Louis,
Illinois, as lower-paid black laborers clash with whites.
*
1937 -
Amelia Earhart and navigator
Fred Noonan disappear over the
Pacific Ocean while attempting to make the first round-the-world flight at the equator.
*
1940 -
Indian independence leader
Subhas Chandra Bose arrested and detained in
Calcutta.
*
1947 - An object speculated to be a
UFO crashes near
Roswell, New Mexico, though the
United States Air Force claims it is a
weather balloon.
*
1950 -
Henri Queuille becomes
Prime Minister of France.
*
1962 - The first
Wal-Mart store opens for business in
Rogers,
Arkansas.
*
1964 -
President Lyndon B. Johnson signs the
Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits segregation in public places.
*
1966 - The French military explode their nuclear test bomb codenamed Aldébaran in
Mururoa, their first nuclear test in the Pacific.
*
1969 - The
Jimi Hendrix Experience break up.
*
1973 -
Match Game begins its
1970s run.
*
1976 -
North and
South Vietnam, divided since
1954, reunite to form the Socialist Republic of
Vietnam.
*
1979 - The first
U.S. coin to honor a woman, the
Susan B. Anthony dollar, is introduced.
*
1982 -
Larry Walters uses 45
helium balloons and a lawnchair to propel himself to 16,000 feet.
*
1983 -
The Police release their final album,
"Synchronicity", which would eventually spend 17 weeks at #1 on the U.S. album chart
*
1985 -
Andrei Gromyko is appointed the chairman of the
Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the
Soviet Union.
*
1990 - A stampede inside a pedestrian tunnel leads to the deaths of 1,426 pilgrims in
Mecca during
hajj.
*
2000 -
Vicente Fox Quesada is elected the first
President of México from an opposition party, the
Partido Acción Nacional (PAN) after more than 70 years of continuous rule by the
Partido Revolucionario Institucional (PRI).
*
2002 -
Steve Fossett becomes the first person to fly solo around the world nonstop in a balloon.
*
2003 -
International Olympic Committee selects
Vancouver, British Columbia,
Canada to host the
2010 Winter Olympics.
*
2004 -
ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) accepted
Pakistan as the 24th member.
*
2005 - Ten
Live 8 concerts are held around the world in an attempt to force
G8 countries to address
poverty.
*
419 -
Valentinian III,
Roman Emperor (d.
455)
*
1029 - Caliph
Al-Mustansir of Cairo (d.
1094)
*
1262 -
Arthur II, Duke of Brittany (d.
1312)
*
1489 -
Thomas Cranmer,
Archbishop of Canterbury (d.
1556)
*
1647 -
Daniel Finch, 2nd Earl of Nottingham, English privy councilor (d.
1730)
*
1665 -
Samuel Penhallow, English-born American colonist and historian (d.
1726)
*
1714 -
Christoph Willibald von Gluck, German composer (d.
1787)
*
1724 -
Friedrich Gottlieb Klopstock, German poet (d.
1803)
*
1821 -
Charles Tupper, sixth
Prime Minister of Canada (d.
1915)
*
1856 -
Bal Gangadhar Tilak, Indian nationalist leader (d.
1920)
*
1862 -
William Henry Bragg, English physicist,
Nobel Prize laureate (d.
1942)
*
1865 -
Lily Braun, German writer (d.
1916)
*
1876 -
Wilhelm Cuno,
Chancellor of Germany (d.
1933)
*
1877 -
Hermann Hesse, German-born writer,
Nobel Prize laureate (d.
1962)
*
1884 -
Alfons Maria Jakob, German neurologist (d.
1931)
*
1900 -
Tyrone Guthrie, English actor (d.
1971)
*
1903 -
Alec Douglas-Home,
Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (d.
1995)
* 1903 - King
Olav V of Norway (d.
1991)
*
1906 -
Hans Bethe, German-born nuclear physicist,
Nobel Prize laureate (d.
2005)
*
1908 -
Thurgood Marshall, U. S. Supreme Court Justice (d.
1993)
*
1914 -
Frederick Fennell, American conductor (d.
2004)
* 1914 -
Mário Schenberg, Brazilian physicist (d.
1990)
*
1916 -
Ken Curtis, American actor and singer (d.
1991)
* 1916 -
Hans-Ulrich Rudel, German pilot (d.
1982)
*
1918 -
Wibo, Dutch cartoonist (d.
2005)
*
1923 -
Wisława Szymborska, Polish writer,
Nobel Prize laureate
*
1925 -
Medgar Evers, American civil rights activist (d.
1963)
* 1925 -
Patrice Lumumba, Prime Minister of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (d.
1961)
*
1927 -
Brock Peters, American actor (d.
2005)
*
1929 -
Imelda Marcos, First Lady of the Philippines
*
1930 -
Carlos Menem,
President of Argentina *
1932 -
Dave Thomas, American fast food entrepreneur (d.
2002)
*
1933 -
Kenny Wharram, Canadian hockey player
*
1937 -
Polly Holliday, American actress
*1937 -
Richard Petty, American race car driver
*
1939 -
John H. Sununu,
White House Chief of Staff under
George HW Bush*1939 -
Alexandros Panagoulis, Greek politician and poet
*
1940 -
Kenneth Harry Clarke, British politician
*
1942 -
Vicente Fox,
President of Mexico*
1943 -
Walter Godefroot, Belgian cyclist
*
1946 -
Richard Axel, American scientist, recipient of the
Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine*1946 -
Ron Silver, American actor
*
1947 -
Larry David, American television producer
*
1949 -
Roy Bittan, American keyboardist (
E Street Band)
*
1954 -
Pete Briquette, English bassist (
Boomtown Rats)
*
1955 -
Andrew Divoff, Venezuelan actor
* 1955 -
Kevin Michael Grace, Canadian journalist and blogger
*
1956 -
Jerry Hall, American actress and model
*
1957 -
Bret "Hitman" Hart, Canadian professional wrestler
*
1958 -
Thomas Bickerton, American Methodist bishop
*
1959 -
Mike Hallett, English snooker player
*
1960 -
Terry Rossio, American screenwriter
*
1964 -
Jose Canseco, baseball player
* 1964 -
Ozzie Canseco, baseball player
* 1964 -
Joe Magrane, baseball player
* 1964 -
Charles Robinson, American professional wrestling referee
*
1970 -
Yancy Butler, American actress
*1970 -
Steve Morrow, Irish footballer
*1970 -
Scott Garland, American professional wrestler
*1970 -
Monie Love, English rapper and disc jockey
*
1971 -
Evelyn Lau, Canadian author
*
1973 -
Peter Kay , British comedian
*
1974 -
Sean Casey, baseball player
*1974 -
Matthew Reilly, Australian author
*
1975 -
Erik Ohlsson, Swedish guitarist (
Millencolin)
*
1976 -
Tomáš Vokoun, Czech hockey player
*
1978 -
Jüri Ratas, Estonian politician
*
1979 -
Sam Hornish, Jr., American race car driver
*1979 -
Joe Thornton, Canadian hockey player
*
1981 -
Alex Koroknay-Palicz, American youth rights activist
*1981 -
Angel Pagán, Professional baseball player
*
1983 -
Michelle Branch, American musician
*
1985 -
Ashley Tisdale, American actress
*
1986 -
Lindsay Lohan, American actress and musician
*
862 -
St. Swithun, Bishop of Winchester
*
1298 -
Adolf of Nassau-Weilburg, King of the Romans
*
1504 -
Ştefan cel Mare, Prince of Moldova (b.
1434)
*
1566 -
Nostradamus, French astrologer (b.
1503)
*
1582 -
Akechi Mitsuhide, Japanese samurai (b.
1528)
*
1591 -
Vincenzo Galilei, Italian composer (b.
1520)
*
1621 -
Thomas Harriot, English astronomer and mathematician
*
1656 -
François-Marie, comte de Broglie, Italian-born French commander (b.
1611)
*
1674 -
Eberhard III, Duke of Württemberg (b.
1614)
*
1684 -
John Rogers, American President of Harvard University (b.
1630)
*
1743 -
Spencer Compton, 1st Earl of Wilmington, English statesman
*
1746 -
Thomas Baker, English antiquarian (b.
1656)
*
1778 -
Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Swiss philosopher (b.
1712)
* 1778 -
Bathsheba Ruggles, American murderer (executed)
*
1833 -
Gervasio Antonio de Posadas, Argentine politician (b.
1757)
*
1843 -
Samuel Hahnemann, German physician (b.
1755)
*
1850 -
Sir Robert Peel,
Prime Minister of Great Britain (b.
1788)
*
1912 -
Tom Richardson, English cricket player (b.
1870)
*
1915 -
Porfirio Díaz,
President of Mexico (b.
1830)
*
1920 -
William Louis Marshall, American general and engineer (b.
1846)
*
1926 -
Émile Coué, French psychologist (b.
1857)
*
1932 - King
Manuel II of Portugal (b.
1889)
*
1934 -
Ernst Röhm, Nazi official (b.
1887)
*
1937 -
Amelia Earhart, American aviator (disappeared) (b.
1897)
*
1961 -
Ernest Hemingway, American writer,
Nobel Prize laureate (suicide) (b.
1899)
*
1964 -
Glenn "Fireball" Roberts, American race car driver (b.
1929)
*
1966 -
Jan Brzechwa, Polish poet (b.
1900)
*
1969 -
Michael DiBiase, wrestler (b.
1923)
*
1972 -
Joseph Fielding Smith, president of
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (b.
1876)
*
1973 -
Betty Grable, American actress (b.
1916)
* 1973 -
Chick Hafey, baseball player (b.
1903)
* 1973 -
George McBride, baseball player (b.
1880)
*
1977 -
Vladimir Nabokov, Russian-born writer (b.
1899)
*
1986 -
Peanuts Lowrey, baseball player (b.
1917)
*
1989 -
Andrei Gromyko, Soviet foreign minister (b.
1909)
*
1991 -
Lee Remick, American actress (b.
1935)
*
1994 -
Andrés Escobar, Colombian footballer (murdered) (b.
1967)
*
1997 -
James Stewart, American actor (b.
1908)
*
1999 -
Mario Puzo, American author (b.
1920)
*
2000 -
Joey Dunlop, Irish motorcycle racer (b.
1952)
*
2004 -
Sophia de Mello Breyner Andresen, Portuguese writer and poet (b.
1919)
* 2004 -
John Cullen Murphy, American comic strip artist (b.
1919)
*
2005 -
Ernest Lehman, American screenwriter (b.
1915)
*
2006 -
Jan Murray, American comedian (b.
1916)
*
Palio di Provenzano in
Siena,
Italy*
Canada Day. Under the Holidays Act, Canada Day is always observed on July 1 unless that date falls on a Sunday, in which case it is observed on July 2.
Liturgical feasts
*Originally, in the
Roman Catholic Church, the
Feast of the Visitation was celebrated on this day, although it has since been transferred to
May 31*
Saint Bernardinus Realino (died 1616)
*
Saint John Regis*
Saint Lidan*
Saint Martial *
Saint Otto,
bishop of Bamberg (died 1139)
*
Saint Oudoceus,
bishop of Landaff *
Saints Processus and Martinianus, martyrs
*
Saint Swithun,
bishop of Winchester, confessor [England, Norway]
*
Saint Monegundes, matron, recluse [ Tours]
*
BBC: On This Day*
The New York Times: On This Day*
On This Day in CanadaJuly 1 -
July 3 -
June 2 -
August 2 --
listing of all days
