July 2: Today in History – Historical Events
Early Centuries – July 2 Historic Events – Before the 1700s
1. 2nd July 963: Nicephorus Phocas was proclaimed Emperor of the Romans by the Imperial army on the plains outside Cappadocian Caesarea today.
2. 2nd July 1140: Herbert became the bishop of Utrecht today.
3. 2nd July 1214: King John of England attempted to reclaim Normandy from France at the battle of La Roche-aux-Moines today.
4. 2nd July 1298: German Kings Adolf and Albrecht I fought the battle of Hasenbuhi (Gollheim).
5. 2nd July 1505: The founder of Protestantism Martin Luther declared that he would become a monk after encountering a thunderstorm today.
6. 2nd July 1561: A revolt in Emfraz was defeated by Menas, Emperor of Ethiopia today.
7. 2nd July 1621: Earl of Shaftesbury was today arrested for high treason.
8. 2nd July 1679: An expedition led by Daniel Greysolon de Du Luth led Europeans on a first visit to Minnesota and see the headwaters of Mississippi.
9. 2nd July 1687: The English parliament was today disbanded by King James II.
10. 2nd July 1698: The steam engine was patented by Thomas Savery.
18th Century – What Happened on July 2 – The 1700s
11. 2nd July 1776: All adults who could show a net worth of 50 pounds got voting rights in New Jersey today.
12. 2nd July 1776: Continental Congress passed the resolution “these United Colonies are & of right ought to be Free and Independent States”.
13. 2nd July 1776: John Dickinson, who is considered the founding father of the United States, abstained from voting for the Declaration of Independence at the Continental Congress.
14. 2nd July 1787: Philosopher and writer Marquis de Sade declared that prisoners were being slaughtered.
19th Century – July 2 This Day That Year – The 1800s
15. 2nd July 1808: Simon Fraser landed at Musqueam after completing his trip down the Fraser River in British Columbia today.
16. 2nd July 1823: In Brazil, Portuguese crown loyalists were finally defeated in the province of Bahia, and Bahia declared its independence today.
17. 2nd July 1839: While being transported from one Cuban port to another, slaves aboard the Spanish schooner La Amistad revolted to secure their freedom.
18. 2nd July 1847: For the first time an envelope was used with a 10-cent US postage stamp today.
19. 2nd July 1849: Italy’s unifier Giuseppe Garibaldi began his hunger strike today.
20. 2nd July 1850: A gas mask with breathing apparatus was patented by Benjamin Lane today.
21. 2nd July 1862: An Act for granting lands to agricultural colleges was signed today by Abraham Lincoln,
22. 2nd July 1864: Formation of Statutory Hall in the US Capitol.
23. 2nd July 1865: “The Salvation Army” (Army of the Salvation) was founded by a one-time Methodist Reform Church minister William Booth and his wife Catherine as the East London Christian Mission.
24. 2nd July 1867: The first elevated railroad service began operations in New York City today.
25. 2nd July 1870: Belgium today elected Jules Joseph d’Anethan as its tenth Prime Minister.
26. 2nd July 1890: The Sherman Anti-trust Act was today passed by the Congress.
27. 2nd July 1894: An injunction against striking Pullman workers was obtained by the government today.
20th Century – Important Events On This Day July 2nd – The 1900s
28. 2nd July 1900: Dirigible airship designed by Graf Ferdinand von Zeppelin took to the air for the first time today at Lake Constance near Friedrichshafen in Germany.
29. 2nd July 1901: Train robbed of $40,000 by outlaw Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid at Wagner in Montana.
30. 2nd July 1902: Tennis player Charlotte Cooper lost the Wimbledon women’s championship to compatriot Muriel Robb 5-7, 1-6.
31. 2nd July 1915: A German instructor at Cornell University, Eric Muenter exploded a bomb in the reception room of the US Senate today.
32. 2nd July 1916: Marxist revolutionary Vladimir Lenin said Capitalism causes Imperialism.
33. 2nd July 1916: Russia launched its offensive in Armenia today.
34. 2nd July 1921: War with Germany was brought to an official end by the signing of the joint congregational resolution to that effect by Warren G Harding.
35. 2nd July 1926: The US Army Air Corps was created today and the Distinguished Flying Cross to award “heroism or extraordinary achievement while participating in areal flight” was also authorized today.
36. 2nd July 1927: 500 people were killed in an earthquake in Palestine today.
37. 2nd July 1928: The British Parliament vides Representation of Peoples Act 1928, brought down the voting age for women to 21, the same as that for men.
38. 2nd July 1928: The first TV broadcasting station was established in the US with Jenkins Television Corporation going on air with W3XK.
39. 2nd July 1932: The first conventional nomination acceptance speech was delivered by Franklin D Roosevelt today.
40. 2nd July 1934: In Mexico, General Lazaro Cardenas was elected as its President today.
41. 2nd July 1935: In the first international Golden Glove boxing championship amateur boxing team from Great Britain beat the US today.
42. 2nd July 1940: The Floating Bridge on Lake Washington (Seattle) is dedicated today.
43. 2nd July 1940: In India, the independence leader Subhas Chandra Bose was arrested in Calcutta today.
44. 2nd July 1940: General Bernard Montgomery met British Prime Minister Winston Churchill today.
45. 2nd July 1941: In the Nazi mass murder 7000 were killed in Lvov/Lemburg.
46. 2nd July 1943: Lt Charles Hall an African American pilot shot down a Nazi plane today and became the first African American to do so.
47. 2nd July 1946: Harbor workers strike at Rotterdam and Amsterdam ends today.
48. 2nd July 1947: A military coup was unearthed in France.
49. 2nd July 1949: The state of Vietnam was recognized internationally with Emperor Bao Dai ruling the Southern half of Vietnam as Chief of State.
50. 2nd July 1950: The fourth French Republic elected Henri Queuille as the seventh Prime Minister.
51. 2nd July 1950: A Zen Buddhist temple in Japan, “Kinkaku-Ji” burns down.
52. 2nd July 1951: Radio wave signal out of the Milky Way System was discovered by Leidse astronomers.
53. 2nd July 1954: In a cricket test match against Pakistan, English batsman Denis Compton scored his career-best 278 runs in 287 minutes at Nottingham.
54. 2nd July 1956: The US today performed an atmospheric nuclear test at Enwetak today.
55. 2nd July 1957: A submarine designed to fire guided missiles, the first of its kind was launched today.
56. 2nd July 1962: Raul Castro, Foreign Minister of Cuba visited Moscow today.
57. 2nd July 1962: Cuban revolutionary and President Fidel Castro visits Moscow today.
58. 2nd July 1962: The first Walmart store was opened by its founder Sam Walton in Rogers, Arkansas.
59. 2nd July 1964: The Civil Rights Act and Voting Rights Act were signed into law by President Lyndon B Jonson.
60. 2nd July 1966: France conducted its first nuclear test at Mururoa Tattoo today.
61. 2nd July 1966: In a cricket test match played against England at Trent Bridge, West Indies batsman Basil Butcher scored his career-best 209 not out to help West Indies win the match by 135 runs.
62. 2nd July 1968: Three armed members of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine hijacked an El Al Israeli airliner and diverted it to Algeria.
63. 2nd July 1970: First landing of Boeing 747 in Brussels and Amsterdam today.
64. 2nd July 1970: Northern Ireland today introduces the Prevention of Incitement to Hatred Act which is seldom enforced owing to difficulty in securing conviction under its provision.
65. 2nd July 1971: Underground nuclear test conducted by USSR today.
66. 2nd July 1972: After 3242 performances at the Imperial Theater in New York City “Fiddler on the Roof” closes today.
67. 2nd July 1972: The Shimla Agreement peace accord was signed today by India and Pakistan.
68. 2nd July 1973: Radio operation of the National Black Network begins today.
69. 2nd July 1979: The US today issues a Susan B Antony dollar which was the first US coin to honor a woman.
70. 2nd July 1982: Larry Walters rose to 16,000 feet using a lawn chair and 42 helium balloons.
71. 2nd July 1982: Soyuz T-6 returned to earth today.
72. 2nd July 1982: South Africa passed the Internal Securities Act by which authorities get huge powers to investigate organizations or publications.
73. 2nd July 1985: USSR today appoints Andrei Gromyko as its President today.
74. 2nd July 1993: An F-28 crash in Sorong Irian Barat killed 41 people.
21st Century – July 2 This Day In History – The 2000s
75. 2nd July 2006: In one-day international cricket Sri Lankan openers Sanat Jayasurya (152) and Upul Taranga (109) created a world record stand of 285 runs for the first wicket against England at Headingley
76. 2nd July 2014: French prosecutors charged former French President Nicolas Sarkozy with corruption.
77. 2nd July 2016: In Bagdad in Iraq, a large lorry bomb killed at least 125 people and wounded 150 more. Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attack.
78. 2nd July 2017: US President Donald Trump tweeted an edited video of himself attacking CNN.
79. 2nd July 2017: The World Health Organization declared an outbreak of Ebola in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Four deaths were reported.
80. 2nd July 2018: During the monsoon flooding in Thailand British divers, deployed to rescue trapped people found 12 boys and their coach alive in Tham Luang Nang Non Cave, who were trapped for 9 days.
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