On This Day: 2 July

2 July in Indian history

• 2024A stampede during a religious event in Uttar Pradesh, India, leaves at least 121 people dead and 150 others injured.India

2 July in world history

• 2013In the Indonesian province of Aceh on the northern end of Sumatra, a Mw 6.1 strike-slip earthquake killed at least 35 people and injured 276 others.
• 2013The International Astronomical Union announced that the fourth and fifth moons of Pluto to be discovered would be named Kerberos and Styx, respectively.
• 2005The Live 8 benefit concerts takes place in the G8 states and in South Africa. More than 1,000 musicians perform and are broadcast on 182 television networks and 2,000 radio networks.
• 2000Vicente Fox Quesada is elected the first President of México from an opposition party, the Partido Acción Nacional, after more than 70 years of continuous rule by the Partido Revolucionario Institucional, in the 2000 Mexican general election.
• 1990Singing Revolution: The Soviet economic blockade of Lithuania was lifted when the Lithuanian parliament agreed to suspend the effects of their act to re-establish Lithuania as a state.
• 1986Rodrigo Rojas and Carmen Gloria Quintana are burnt alive during a street demonstration against the dictatorship of General Augusto Pinochet in Chile in the Quemados case.
• 1976More than a year after the end of the Vietnam War, North and South Vietnam officially merged under communist rule to form the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.
• 1964Civil rights movement: U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson signs the Civil Rights Act of 1964 meant to prohibit segregation in public places.
• 1921World War I: U.S. President Warren G. Harding signs the Knox–Porter Resolution formally ending the war between the United States and Germany.
• 1881U.S. president James A. Garfield was fatally shot by Charles J. Guiteau at the Baltimore and Potomac Railroad station in Washington, D.C.
• 1863American Civil War: On the second day of the Battle of Gettysburg - the Battle of Little Round Top takes place and results in a Union victory after the Confederate troops unsuccessfully try to assault the Union left flank.
• 1823Bahia Independence Day: The Siege of Salvador ends Portuguese rule in Brazil, with the final defeat of the Portuguese crown loyalists in the province of Bahia.
• 1779American Revolutionary War: French troops landed near St. George's, Grenada, and began their capture of the island.
• 1776American Revolution: The Continental Congress adopts the Lee Resolution severing ties with the Kingdom of Great Britain. The wording of the formal Declaration of Independence was agreed upon and publicly released two days later, on July 4.
• 1724On the Feast of the Visitation, Bach led the first performance of his Meine Seel erhebt den Herren, BWV 10, based on the German Magnificat.
• 1644First English Civil War: The combined forces of Scottish Covenanters and English Parliamentarians defeated Royalist troops at the Battle of Marston Moor.
• 1494Age of Discovery: The Treaty of Tordesillas is ratified by Spain.

Born on 2 July

• 1979Joe Thornton, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1974Sean Casey, American baseball player and sportscaster
• 1958Pavan Malhotra, Indian actorIndia
• 1943Larry Lake, American-Canadian trumpet player and composer (died 2013)
• 1936Omar Suleiman, Egyptian general and politician, 16th Vice President of Egypt (died 2012)
• 1908Thurgood Marshall, American lawyer and civil rights activist, 32nd Solicitor General of the United States, and former Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States (died 1993)

Died on 2 July

• 2013Douglas Engelbart, American computer scientist, invented the computer mouse (born 1925)
• 1980Tom Barry, leader of the Irish Republican Army during the Irish War of Independence and the Irish Civil War (born 1897)
• 1743Spencer Compton, 1st Earl of Wilmington, English politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (born 1673)
• 1621Thomas Harriot, English astronomer, mathematician, and ethnographer (born 1560)

Frequently asked questions

What happened on 2 July in history?

2024: A stampede during a religious event in Uttar Pradesh, India, leaves at least 121 people dead and 150 others injured. 2013: In the Indonesian province of Aceh on the northern end of Sumatra, a Mw 6.1 strike-slip earthquake killed at least 35 people and injured 276 others. 2013: The International Astronomical Union announced that the fourth and fifth moons of Pluto to be discovered would be named Kerberos and Styx, respectively. 2005: The Live 8 benefit concerts takes place in the G8 states and in South Africa. More than 1,000 musicians perform and are broadcast on 182 television networks and 2,000 radio networks.

What happened on 2 July in Indian history?

2024: A stampede during a religious event in Uttar Pradesh, India, leaves at least 121 people dead and 150 others injured.

Which famous people were born on 2 July?

Joe Thornton, Canadian ice hockey player (1979); Sean Casey, American baseball player and sportscaster (1974); Pavan Malhotra, Indian actor (1958); Larry Lake, American-Canadian trumpet player and composer (died 2013) (1943).

Which day is observed on 2 July?

Flag Day (Curaçao); Palio di Provenzano (Siena, Italy); Police Day (Azerbaijan).