Today in History: July 2, Amelia Earhart disappears attempting round-the-world flight

Today in History

Today is Sunday, July 2, the 183rd day of 2023. 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, most of them Black, 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 2020, 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: The Obama administration unexpectedly announced a one-year delay, until after the 2014 elections, in a central requirement of the health care law that medium and large companies provide coverage for their workers or face fines. Homer Bailey threw his second no-hitter in 10 months, pitching the Cincinnati Reds to a 3-0 victory over the slumping San Francisco Giants. Olympic track star Suzy Favor Hamilton’s name was removed from the Big Ten female athlete of the year award following revelations she had been a sex worker.

Five years ago: Rescue divers in Thailand found alive 12 boys and their soccer coach, who had been trapped by flooding as they explored a cave more than a week earlier. Joseph Jackson, patriarch of one of America’s most prominent musical families, was buried in the same cemetery as his late son Michael.

One year ago: The police chief for the Uvalde, Texas, school district stepped down from his City Council seat amid criticism of his response to the mass shooting that left 19 students and two teachers dead. Egyptian authorities closed off a stretch of the country’s Red Sea coastline, a day after a shark attack killed an Austrian woman swimming near the resort of Hurghada. Five people were killed and 44 others injured in a magnitude 6.3 earthquake in southern Iran.

Today’s Birthdays: Former Philippine first lady Imelda Marcos is 94. Actor Robert Ito is 92. Actor Polly Holliday is 86. Racing Hall of Famer Richard Petty is 86. Former White House chief of staff and former New Hampshire governor John H. Sununu is 84. Former Mexican President Vicente Fox is 81. Writer-director-comedian Larry David is 76. Luci Baines Johnson, daughter of President Lyndon B. Johnson, is 76. Actor Saul Rubinek is 75. Rock musician Roy Bittan (Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band) is 74. Actor Wendy Schaal is 69. Actor-model Jerry Hall is 67. Actor Jimmy McNichol is 62. Country singer Guy Penrod is 60. Rock musician Dave Parsons (Bush) is 58. Actor Yancy Butler is 53. Contemporary Christian musician Melodee DeVevo (Casting Crowns) is 47. Actor Owain (OH’-wyn) Yeoman is 45. Race car driver Sam Hornish Jr. is 44. NHL center Joe Thornton is 44. Singer Michelle Branch is 40. Actor Vanessa Lee Chester is 39. Figure skater Johnny Weir is 39. Actor Nelson Franklin is 38. Actor-singer Ashley Tisdale is 38. Actor Lindsay Lohan (LOH’-uhn) is 37. Actor Margot Robbie is 33. U.S. Olympic swimmer Ryan Murphy is 28.