2nd July - On this Day

What does the 2nd July have to offer, well on this day...

In 1937, after Amelia Earhart planned an around-the-world trip via the equatorial route that would be the longest ever made. Having completed 22,000 miles of her journey, Earhart, accompanied by navigator Fred Noonan, took off on this date from Lae, New Guinea, for the final 7,000 miles over the Pacific. On the 2nd of July, unfortunately, about 800 miles into their flight to tiny Howland Island, radio contact was lost with her craft. Despite a massive search by the US Navy and US Coast Guard, Earhart, Noonan and their plane were never found.

On the 2ns July 1881, President James A. Garfield was shot as he entered the railway station in Washington, DC. He died on the 19th of September 1881, never having recovered from the wound. The assassin, Charles J. Guiteau, was hanged on the 30th of June, 1882.

In 1962 President Lyndon Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act of 1964 into law, prohibiting discrimination based on race in public accommodations, publicly owned or operated facilities, employment and union membership, and voter registration. The bill included Title VI, which allowed for the cutoff of federal funding in areas where discrimination persisted.

For the monthly events, see 1st of July