2 July in history
6 events that happened on 2 July, from 626 to 1964.
✦ Anniversary of the day
626 CE 1,400 years ago
Li Shimin kills his brothers in the Xuanwu Gate Incident
Prince Li Shimin ambushed and killed his brothers Li Jiancheng and Li Yuanji at the Xuanwu Gate of Chang'an. Within two months his father abdicated, and as Emperor Taizong he presided over a golden age of Tang China.
1863 CE 163 years ago
Union troops hold Little Round Top on Gettysburg's second day
Confederate assaults struck the Union left at Little Round Top, the Wheatfield and the Peach Orchard. The Union line held its high ground by a narrow margin, setting the stage for Pickett's Charge the next day.
1900 CE 126 years ago
First Zeppelin airship flies over Lake Constance
Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin's LZ 1 made its maiden flight from a floating hangar on Lake Constance. It was the first flight of a rigid airship, beginning an era that ended with the Hindenburg disaster of 1937.
1937 CE 89 years ago
Amelia Earhart disappears over the Pacific
Amelia Earhart and navigator Fred Noonan vanished while searching for tiny Howland Island on the last long legs of their round-the-world flight. Despite a vast search, their fate has never been conclusively established.
1964 CE 62 years ago
Lyndon Johnson signs the Civil Rights Act
President Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act, outlawing discrimination on the basis of race, colour, religion, sex or national origin. It ended legal segregation in public places and was the most sweeping civil rights law since Reconstruction.
