Special Sub-Topic: The Date Was July 2 Click Here To Play: The Date Was July 2

Which famous author committed suicide on July 2, 1961?

Ernest Hemingway. Hemingway died in Ketchum, Idaho, as a result of his self-inflicted shotgun wound to the head. (Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ernest_Hemingway) Sylvia Plath committed suicide also, but she died on February 11, 1963, in London, England. John Steinbeck died from a heart attack on December 20, 1968, in New York. William Faulkner died from a heart attack in Oxford, Mississippi, on July 6, 1962.

On July 2, 1964, President Lyndon Johnson signed which act into law?

The Civil Rights Act of 1964. In the speech he gave prior to signing this act into law, President Johnson said, "We believe that all men are created equal, yet many are denied equal treatment ... let us close the springs of racial poison." (Source: http://www.historychannel.com/speeches/archive/speech_144.html)

On July 2, 1881, which President of the United States was shot and fatally wounded by an assassin?

James Garfield. President Garfield was shot by embittered attorney Charles Guiteau in a Washington railroad station. The President's health struggled over the next few months, and he ultimately died on September 19, 1881, from an infection and internal hemorrhage. Garfield served as U.S. President for less than one year. (Source: http://www.whitehouse.gov/history/presidents)

On July 2 of this year, U.S. aviator Amelia Earhart and her copilot, Fred Noonan, disappeared in a plane somewhere over the Pacific Ocean.

1937. After Earhart's plane disappeared and no further contact was heard from her, a rescue attempt immediately commenced. On July 19, after spending $4 million and scouring 250,000 square miles of ocean, the U.S. government reluctantly called off the operation. (Source: www.ameliaearhart.com)

Nostradamus, the French physician and astrologer, died on July 2 in which year?

1566. The prophecies of Nostradamus have garnered worldwide interest for centuries. (Source: http://www.kirjasto.sci.fi/nostrada.htm)

On July 2, 1776, the delegates from the 12 North American colonies signed the Declaration of Independence to declare themselves the United States of America. On July 3 and 4, the delegates made a few changes to the document and approved it again on July 4, which the United States now celebrates as Independence Day. However, one of the delegates thought that July 2 would be remembered in history as Independence Day. Which founding father stated this belief in a letter to his wife?

John Adams. John Adams wrote to his wife, Abigail: "The Second Day of July 1776 will be the most memorable Epocha, in the History of America ... It ought to be solemnized with Pomp and Parade, with Shews, Games, Sports, Guns, Bells, Bonfires, and Illuminations from one End of this Continent to the other from this Time forward forever more." (Source: http://www.thedeclarationofindependence.org/)

Which classic movie actor died on July 2, 1997?

James Stewart. I remember this event very vividly because James Stewart, one of my all-time favorite actors, died on my sixteenth birthday. He died in Los Angeles as a result of a pulmonary blood clot. Gregory Peck died of natural causes on June 12, 2003, in Los Angeles. Cary Grant died of a stroke on November 29, 1986, in Davenport, Iowa, while on tour with his one-man show, "An Evening With Cary Grant." William Holden died on November 16, 1981, in Santa Monica, California, when he slipped and fell, cutting his head open, and bled to death. (Source: www.imdb.com)

On July 2, 1915, former Harvard University professor Erich Muenter planted and detonated a bomb in which U.S. building?

The Capitol. Published after the explosion, Muenter wrote a letter to the "Washington Evening Star" and attempted to explain his heinous act. Writing under an assumed name, he wrote that he hoped the detonation would "make enough noise to be heard above the voices that clamor for war. This explosion is an exclamation point in my appeal for peace." He was particularly angry at American financiers who were aiding Great Britain in the war against Germany. In 1915, the U.S. had not yet entered the war and maintained a neutral stance. The morning after his bomb exploded in the Capitol, Muenter headed for the Long Island estate of J.P. Morgan, Jr. Morgan's company served as Great Britain's principal U.S. purchasing agent for munitions and other war supplies. When Morgan came to the door, Muenter pulled a pistol, shot him, and fled. The financier's wounds proved superficial and Muenter was soon captured. However, Muenter committed suicide in jail several days later. (Source: http://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/minute/Bomb_Rocks_Capitol.htm)

The second day of this three-day Civil War battle took place on July 2, 1863.

Gettysburg. To commemmorate this tragic battle in U.S. history, Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, contains the largest battlefield shrine in America with over 1,000 monuments and cannons and over 40 miles of scenic avenues. (Source: www.gettysburg.com)

Thurgood Marshall was born on July 2, 1908, in Baltimore, Maryland. He was the first African American to hold which office in the United States?

Supreme Court Justice. Thurgood Marshall was named to the Supreme Court in 1967. (Source: http://novaonline.nvcc.edu)