July 2
1698
Thomas Savery patents the first
steam engine.
1776 The
Continental Congress adopts the
Lee Resolution severing ties with the Kingdom of Great Britain although the wording of the formal
Declaration of Independence is not approved until July 4.
1839 Twenty miles off the coast of Cuba, 53 rebelling African slaves led by
Joseph Cinquι take over the slave ship
La Amistad.
1853 The Russian Army crossed the Pruth river into the
Danubian Principalities, Moldavia and Wallachia, providing
the spark that set off the Crimean War.
1881 Charles J. Guiteau shoots and fatally wounds U.S. President
James Garfield, who eventually dies from an infection on September 19.
1897 British-Italian engineer
Guglielmo Marconi obtains a patent for
radio in London.
1937
Amelia Earhart and navigator
Fred Noonan are last heard from over the Pacific Ocean while attempting to make the first equatorial round-the-world flight.
1956 -
Elvis Presley recorded '
Hound Dog' at RCA Studios, New York. Take 31 being the version they released. This was the first time
The Jordanaires worked with Presley. The single sold over 10 million copies globally, became his best-selling song and topped the pop chart for 11 weeks, a record that stood for 36 years.
1962 The first
Wal-Mart store opens for business in Rogers, Arkansas.
Jimi Hendrix was honourably discharged from the
101st Airborne Paratroopers (Screaming Eagles)
, after breaking his ankle during his 26th and final parachute jump.
1964 U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson signs the
Civil Rights Act of 1964 meant to prohibit segregation in public places.
1969, Bassist
Noel Redding and drummer
Mitch Mitchell quit
The Jimi Hendrix Experience after completing the three-day
Denver Pop Festival.
1971 -
Queen appeared at Surrey College, England. This was the group's first gig with the line-up of Freddie Mercury, Brian May, Roger Taylor and John Deacon.
2001 The
AbioCor self-contained artificial heart is first implanted.
2002
Steve Fossett becomes the first person to fly solo around the world nonstop in a balloon.
Births
1492 Elizabeth Tudor; 1877 Hermann Hesse; 1904 Renι Lacoste; 1908 Thurgood Marshall; 1916 Ken Curtis; 1922 Pierre Cardin; 1925 Medgar Evers; 1927 Brock Peters; 1929 Imelda Marcos; 1932 Dave Thomas (Wendy's); 1937
Polly Holliday, Richard Petty; 1939 John H. Sununu, Paul Williams; 1942 Vicente Fox; 1946 Ron Silver; 1947 Larry David; 1948 Gene McFadden (McFadden & Whitehead); 1956 Jerry Hall; 1957 Bret Hart; 1964 Doug Benson, Jose Canseco, Ozzie Canseco; 1979 Sam Hornish Jr.; 1985 - Ashley Tisdale; 1986 Lindsay Lohan; 1990 Margot Robbie
Deaths
1566 Nostradamus; 1961 Ernest Hemingway; 1964 Fireball Roberts; 1973 Betty Grable; 1977 Vladimir Nabokov; 1991 Lee Remick

; 1993 Fred Gwynne; 1999 Mario Puzo; 2007 Beverly Sills