On July 2, 1566, French astrologer, physician and professed prophesier Nostradamus died in Salon, France.

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 at the Washington railroad station.

In 1937, Amelia Earhart and navigator Fred Noonan disappeared over the Pacific Ocean in the first flight along the equator.

In 1961, author Ernest Hemingway shot himself to death at his home in Ketchum, Idaho.

In 1964, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed into law a sweeping civil rights bill passed by Congress.

In 1986, ruling in a pair of cases, the Supreme Court upheld affirmative action as a remedy for past job discrimination.