Today in History: July 2, Amelia Earhart disappears
William D. Ruckelshaus, outgoing FBI director, talks to reporters in his Washington office, Friday, July 2, 1973. He says the government can regain the publics confidence only by working openly and honestly in the wake of the Watergate so. (AP Photo)
Today is Saturday, July 2, the 183rd day of 2022. There are 182 days left in the year.
Today’s Highlight in History:
On July 2, 1937, aviator Amelia Earhart and navigator Fred Noonan disappeared over the Pacific Ocean while attempting to make the first round-the-world flight along the equator.
On this date:
In 1566, French astrologer, physician and professed prophesier Nostradamus died in Salon (sah-LOHN’).
In 1776, the Continental Congress passed a resolution saying that “these United Colonies are, and of right ought to be, free and independent States.”
In 1881, President James A. Garfield was shot by Charles J. Guiteau (gee-TOH’) at the Washington railroad station; Garfield died the following September. (Guiteau was hanged in June 1882.)
In 1917, rioting erupted in East St. Louis, Illinois, as white mobs attacked Black residents; nearly 50 people, mostly Blacks, are believed to have died in the violence.
In 1964, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed into law a sweeping civil rights bill passed by Congress.
In 1976, the U.S. Supreme Court, in Gregg v. Georgia, ruled 7-2 that the death penalty was not inherently cruel or unusual.
In 1979, the Susan B. Anthony dollar coin was released to the public.
In 1986, ruling in a pair of cases, the Supreme Court upheld affirmative action as a remedy for past job discrimination.
In 1990, more than 1,400 Muslim pilgrims were killed in a stampede inside a pedestrian tunnel near Mecca, Saudi Arabia.
In 1997, Academy Award-winning actor James Stewart died in Beverly Hills, California, at age 89.
In 2018, rescue divers in Thailand found 12 boys and their soccer coach, who had been trapped by flooding as they explored a cave more than a week earlier.
In 2020, a statement posted on his Twitter account revealed that former GOP presidential candidate Herman Cain was being treated for the coronavirus at an Atlanta-area hospital, less than two weeks after attending President Donald Trump’s campaign rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma. (Cain died on July 30 of complications from the virus.) British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell was arrested in New Hampshire on charges that she had helped lure at least three girls – one as young as 14 – to be sexually abused by the late financier Jeffrey Epstein. (Maxwell would be convicted on five of six counts.)
Ten years ago: Jim Yong Kim began his new job as president of the World Bank, promising to immediately focus on helping poor countries navigate a fragile global economy. The U.S. Justice Department said British drugmaker GlaxoSmithKline would pay $3 billion in fines for criminal and civil violations involving 10 drugs taken by millions of people.
Five years ago: New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie was photographed with his family soaking up the sun on a beach he had closed to the public for the Fourth of July weekend because of a government shutdown.
One year ago: After nearly 20 years, U.S. forces in Afghanistan vacated the biggest U.S. air base there, Bagram Airfield, as part of the final U.S. withdrawal from the country; an Afghan official said dozens of looters then stormed through the gates before Afghan forces regained control. The city of North Miami Beach ordered the evacuation of a condominium building after a review found unsafe conditions about 5 miles from the site of the deadly building collapse eight days earlier. The Supreme Court declined to take up the case of a florist who refused to provide services for a same-sex wedding, leaving in place a decision that she broke Washington state anti-discrimination laws.
Today’s Birthdays: Former Philippine first lady Imelda Marcos is 93. Jazz musician Ahmad Jamal is 92. Actor Robert Ito is 91. Actor Polly Holliday is 85. Racing Hall of Famer Richard Petty is 85. Former White House chief of staff and former New Hampshire governor John H. Sununu is 83. Former Mexican President Vicente Fox is 80. Writer-director-comedian Larry David is 75. Luci Baines Johnson, daughter of President Lyndon B. Johnson, is 75. Actor Saul Rubinek is 74. Rock musician Roy Bittan (Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band) is 73. Actor Wendy Schaal is 68. Actor-model Jerry Hall is 66. Actor Jimmy McNichol is 61. Country singer Guy Penrod is 59. Rock musician Dave Parsons (Bush) is 57. Actor Yancy Butler is 52. Contemporary Christian musician Melodee DeVevo (Casting Crowns) is 46. Actor Owain (OH’-wyn) Yeoman is 44. Race car driver Sam Hornish Jr. is 43. NHL center Joe Thornton is 43. Singer Michelle Branch is 39. Actor Vanessa Lee Chester is 38. Figure skater Johnny Weir is 38. Actor Nelson Franklin is 37. Actor-singer Ashley Tisdale is 37. Actor Lindsay Lohan (LOH’-uhn) is 36. Actor Margot Robbie is 32. U.S. Olympic swimmer Ryan Murphy is 27.