History for July 2

History for July 2 - On-This-Day.com

Hermann Hesse 1877 - German poet, novelist, painter

• 1857 - New York City’s first elevated railroad officially opened for business.
• 1881 - Charles J. Guiteau fatally wounded U.S. President James A. Garfield in Washington, DC.
• 1926 - The U.S. Congress established the Army Air Corps.
• 1937 - American aviation pioneer Amelia Earhart disappeared in the Central Pacific during an attempt to fly around the world at the equator.
• 1947 - An object crashed near Roswell, NM. The U.S. Army Air Force insisted it was a weather balloon, but eyewitness accounts led to speculation that it might have been an alien spacecraft.
• 1962 - Wal-Mart Discount City opened in Rogers, Arkansas. It was the first Walmart store.
• 1964 - U.S. President Johnson signed the "Civil Rights Act of 1964" into law. The act made it illegal in the U.S. to discriminate against others because of their race.