Wednesday, 2nd July 2025

2nd July in the Stars – Star Sign Cancer

Today, the zodiac sign Cancer celebrates its birthday.

Personality Profile

Personality Those born on 2 July embody Cancer's emotional depth with exceptional sensitivity. The Moon amplifies their intuitive nature and protective instinct toward others. These individuals are warmhearted, loyal, and naturally create safe, nurturing environments wherever they go.

Strengths & Weaknesses Their strengths include empathy, dependability, and emotional intelligence. They're natural listeners and mediators. Weaknesses can manifest as hypersensitivity, overthinking, and withdrawing when hurt or misunderstood by loved ones.

Love Those born on this day love deeply and require emotional security in relationships. They're devoted partners who nurture their homes with affection and care. A partner who honors their feelings and provides stability becomes essential to their happiness.

Caree & Finance These individuals thrive in compassion-driven careers: counseling, social work, healthcare. Financial security supports their inner peace and sense of stability. They're naturally frugal and build wealth thoughtfully for family security.

Health Those born on 2 July should monitor digestion—emotional stress impacts their bodies directly. Regular self-care, quality sleep, and nature time are healing. Mindfulness practices help maintain emotional equilibrium and resilience.

That night, the moon was in its waning gibbous phase.

Chinese year of the Snake (Wood).

Fun Facts About 2nd July

Name Days in Your Language: Othello, Otis, Otto, Penelope, Penny, Petunia

Someone born on this day would be just 335 days old today — roughly 8,052 hours, 483,129 minutes, or 28,987,791 seconds spent on Earth so far.

It's the 183. day of the year. In 2025, 2nd July falls on a Wednesday.

There are 182 days still to come.

We’re currently in Week 27 — the year marches on.

Famous Birthdays on 2nd July

On this day, 163 notable people were born on 2nd July — spanning from 419 to 1996. From world leaders to artists and scientists, discover who shares this birthday.

02/07/1996

Julia Grabher, Austrian tennis player

Julia Grabher is an Austrian professional tennis player. On 26 June 2023, she reached her best singles ranking of world No. 54. On 29 August 2016, she peaked at No. 387 in the doubles rankings.

02/07/1995

Ryan Murphy, American swimmer

Ryan Fitzgerald Murphy is an American competitive swimmer specializing in backstroke. He is a five-time Olympic gold medalist and the former world-record holder in the men's 100-meter backstroke.

02/07/1994

Henrik Kristoffersen, Norwegian skier

Henrik Kristoffersen is a Norwegian World Cup alpine ski racer, World Champion, and Olympic medalist. He specializes in the technical events of slalom and giant slalom.

Derrick White, American basketball player

Derrick Richard White is an American professional basketball player for the Boston Celtics of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Nicknamed "the Buffalo" or "the Swiss Army Knife" by his Celtics teammate Neemias Queta, he played three years of college basketball in Division II for the Colorado–Colorado Springs Mountain Lions before transferring to Division I's Colorado Buffaloes for his final year.

02/07/1993

Vince Staples, American rapper and actor

Vincent Jamal Staples is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, and actor. He first became known for his appearances on the projects from Odd Future members and affiliates, including Earl Sweatshirt's Earl (2010) and Doris (2013), Mike G.’s Ali (2010) and The Jet Age of Tomorrow's Journey to the 5th Echelon (2010). He signed with Talib Kweli's Blacksmith Records prior to the release of his collaborative mixtape with Mac Miller, Stolen Youth (2013). The following year, he signed with No I.D.'s ARTium Recordings, an imprint of Def Jam Recordings, to release his debut extended play, Hell Can Wait (2014), which received critical acclaim and marked his first entry on the Billboard 200.

Saweetie, American rapper

Diamonté Quiava Valentin Harper, known professionally as Saweetie, is an American rapper, singer and actress. Her 2017 debut single, "Icy Grl", received double platinum certification by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and led her to sign with Warner Records in a joint venture with her then-manager Max Gousse's record label, Artistry Worldwide.

02/07/1992

Madison Chock, American ice dancer

Madison Laʻakea Te-Lan Hall Chock is an American ice dancer. Together with her husband and skating partner, Evan Bates, she is a two-time Olympic gold medalist in the team event, the 2026 Winter Olympics silver medalist, a three-time World champion, three-time Grand Prix Final champion, three-time Four Continents champion ; twenty-two-time ISU Grand Prix medalist ; ten-time ISU Challenger Series medalist ; and seven-time U.S. national champion. She is also a four-time Olympian, having represented the United States at the 2014, 2018, 2022, and 2026 Winter Olympics.

Jānis Timma, Latvian basketball player

Jānis Timma was a Latvian professional basketball player. Standing at 2.01 m, he mainly played at the small forward position. He also represented the senior Latvia national team.

02/07/1990

Kayla Harrison, American judoka

Kayla Jean Harrison is an American professional mixed martial artist and former judoka. She currently competes in the women's Bantamweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), where she is the current UFC Women's Bantamweight Champion. She is the first female fighter to win an Olympic gold medal and a UFC championship. She is also a former two-time Professional Fighters League lightweight champion. As of November 18, 2025, she is #2 in the UFC women's pound-for-pound rankings.

Merritt Mathias, American soccer player

Merritt Elizabeth Mathias is an American former professional soccer player who most recently played as a right back for Angel City FC of the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). She has won three NWSL Shields and three NWSL Championships during her twelve seasons in the NWSL: one Championship with FC Kansas City, one Shield with Seattle Reign FC, and two doubles with the North Carolina Courage. She played extensively with the youth national team and earned one cap with the United States senior team in 2018.

Morag McLellan, Scottish field hockey player

Morag McLellan is a Scottish female field hockey player who plays for the Scotland women's national field hockey team. She has represented Scotland in few international competitions including the 2013 Women's EuroHockey Nations Championship, 2010 Commonwealth Games, and 2014 Commonwealth Games.

Margot Robbie, Australian actress and producer

Margot Elise Robbie is an Australian actress and producer. The world's highest-paid actress in 2023, she is known for her performances in both blockbuster and independent films. Robbie has been nominated for three Academy Awards, four Golden Globe Awards, and six British Academy Film Awards.

Danny Rose, English footballer

Daniel Lee Rose is an English former professional footballer who played as a left-back. He was known for his tendency to play attacking football, with particular focus placed on his speed, decision-making, and defensive abilities, all of which often had him likened to Tottenham Hotspur legend Cyril Knowles.

Bill Tupou, New Zealand rugby league player

Bill Tupou is a former Tonga international rugby league footballer who last played as a centre or on the wing for Wakefield Trinity in the Super League.

02/07/1989

Nadezhda Grishaeva, Russian basketball player

Nadezhda Sergeyevna Grishayeva is a Russian professional basketball player. She plays for Russia women's national basketball team. She competed in the 2012 Summer Olympics. She is 1.95 m tall.

Alex Morgan, American soccer player

Alexandra Morgan Carrasco is an American former professional soccer player. She played in four editions of the FIFA Women's World Cup with the United States national team, winning in 2015 and 2019, and finishing second in 2011. She co-captained the national team with Carli Lloyd and Megan Rapinoe from 2018 to 2020, and with Lindsey Horan in 2023. In 2012, Morgan and the U.S. team won the gold medal at the Summer Olympics, and Morgan registered 28 goals and 21 assists, becoming the second American woman after Mia Hamm to register 20 goals and 20 assists in a calendar year. She was named U.S. Soccer Female Athlete of the Year for 2012 and was a FIFA World Player of the Year finalist. Morgan was ranked by Time as the top-paid American female soccer player in 2015, largely due to her numerous endorsement deals.

02/07/1988

Lee Chung-yong, South Korean footballer

Lee Chung-yong is a South Korean footballer who plays as a winger for K League 1 club Incheon United and is a South Korean international. He is nicknamed Blue Dragon, which is a literal translation of his given name "Chung-yong".

02/07/1987

Esteban Granero, Spanish footballer

Esteban Félix Granero Molina is a Spanish former professional footballer. Known as El Pirata, he could play as a central or an attacking midfielder.

02/07/1986

Brett Cecil, American baseball player

Brett Aarion Cecil is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Toronto Blue Jays and St. Louis Cardinals. Cecil was drafted as the 38th overall pick in the 2007 MLB draft by the Blue Jays. He pitched for DeMatha Catholic High School and the Maryland Terrapins of the University of Maryland, College Park. In the summer of 2005, he pitched for the Silver Spring-Takoma Thunderbolts in the Cal Ripken Collegiate Baseball League and threw the first and only no-hitter by a single pitcher in league history.

Lindsay Lohan, American actress and singer

Lindsay Dee Lohan is an American actress, singer, and songwriter. She was signed to Ford Models at the age of three, and gained early recognition as a child actress on the soap operas Guiding Light (1993) and Another World (1996–1997). Her breakthrough role came with the dual role of reunited identical twins in the Walt Disney comedy The Parent Trap (1998); its success led to subsequent roles in Life-Size (2000), Get a Clue (2002), Freaky Friday (2003) and Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen (2004). Her portrayal of Cady Heron in the teen comedy Mean Girls (2004) affirmed her status as a teen idol and established her as a prominent leading lady; The New Yorker later ranked it as the eleventh-best film performance of the 21st century.

02/07/1985

Chad Henne, American football player

Chad Steven Henne is an American former professional football player who was a quarterback for 15 seasons in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Michigan Wolverines, where he is the all-time leader in passing yards and touchdowns, with 9,715 yards and 87 touchdowns. He was selected by the Miami Dolphins in the second round of the 2008 NFL draft, and started multiple seasons over his NFL career, for both the Dolphins and Jacksonville Jaguars. He also won two Super Bowls with the Kansas City Chiefs, serving as the backup quarterback.

Ashley Tisdale, American actress, singer, and producer

Ashley Michelle Tisdale-French is an American actress and singer. During her childhood, she was featured in over 100 advertisements and had minor roles on-screen and in theatre. She achieved mainstream success as Maddie Fitzpatrick in the Disney Channel teen sitcom The Suite Life of Zack & Cody (2005–2008). This success was heightened when she starred as Sharpay Evans in the High School Musical film series (2006–2011). The success of the films led to Tisdale's signing with Warner Bros. Records and subsequently releasing her debut studio album, Headstrong (2007), which was a commercial success, earning a gold certification from the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). Tisdale also provides the voice of Candace Flynn in the Disney Channel animated series Phineas and Ferb.

02/07/1984

Thomas Kortegaard, Danish footballer

Thomas Kortegaard is a Danish former footballer who played as a midfielder.

Johnny Weir, American figure skater

John Garvin Weir is an American television commentator and retired figure skater. He is a two-time Olympian, the 2008 World bronze medalist, a two-time Grand Prix Final bronze medalist, the 2001 World Junior Champion, and a three-time U.S. National champion (2004–2006). He was the youngest U.S. National champion since 1991, in 2006 the first skater to win U.S. Nationals three times in a row since Brian Boitano in the late 1980s, and the first American to win Cup of Russia in 2007.

02/07/1983

Michelle Branch, American singer-songwriter and guitarist

Michelle Jacquet Branch is an American singer, songwriter and guitarist. She won a Grammy Award for Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals with Santana for their 2002 single, "The Game of Love".

Kyle Hogg, English cricketer

Kyle William Hogg is an English former cricketer. He was a left-handed batsman and a right-arm fast-medium bowler who played for Lancashire from 2001 to 2014. Between 2000–01 and 2002 Hogg represented the England under-19s in six youth Tests and 11 One Day Internationals (ODIs). In the 2006–07 season he travelled to New Zealand where he represented Otago as an overseas player. Hogg spent time on loan with Nottinghamshire and Worcestershire, both in 2007.

02/07/1981

Nathan Ellington, English footballer

Nathan Levi Fontaine Ellington is an English retired professional footballer who played as a striker.

Carlos Rogers, American football player

Carlos Cornelius Rogers is an American former professional football player who was a cornerback in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Auburn Tigers, earning consensus All-American honors. Rogers was selected by the Washington Redskins with the ninth overall pick in the 2005 NFL draft. He also played for the San Francisco 49ers and Oakland Raiders.

02/07/1980

Nyjer Morgan, American baseball player

Nyjer Jamid Morgan is an American former professional baseball outfielder. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Pittsburgh Pirates, Washington Nationals, Milwaukee Brewers, and Cleveland Indians, in Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) for the Yokohama DeNA BayStars, and in the KBO League for the Hanwha Eagles. Morgan mainly played center field during his MLB career.

02/07/1979

Walter Davis, American triple jumper

Walter L. Davis is an American athlete competing in the triple jump and occasionally in the long jump. He was born in Lafayette, Louisiana.

Ahmed al-Ghamdi, Saudi Arabian terrorist, hijacker of United Airlines Flight 175 (died 2001)

Ahmed Salih Said al-Kurshi al-Ghamdi was a Saudi terrorist hijacker. He was one of five hijackers of United Airlines Flight 175 as part of the September 11 attacks.

Sam Hornish Jr., American race car driver

Samuel Jon Hornish Jr. is an American semi-retired professional auto racing driver. He last competed part-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, driving the No. 22 Ford Mustang for Team Penske in 2017.

Joe Thornton, Canadian ice hockey player

Joseph Eric Thornton is a Canadian former professional ice hockey centre. He played for the Boston Bruins, San Jose Sharks, Toronto Maple Leafs and Florida Panthers of the National Hockey League (NHL). He was selected first overall by the Bruins in the 1997 NHL entry draft and went on to play seven seasons with the club, three as its captain. During the 2005–06 season, he was traded to the Sharks. Splitting the campaign between the two teams, he received the Art Ross and Hart Memorial Trophy as the league's leading point-scorer and most valuable player, respectively, becoming the only player in NHL history to win either award in a season played for multiple teams. Thornton went on to play another 14 seasons with the Sharks, including four seasons as team captain and a run to the 2016 Stanley Cup Finals. Thornton was the last active NHL player and the last big 4 North American sports player to have played in the 1990s.

02/07/1978

Jüri Ratas, Estonian politician, 42nd Mayor of Tallinn

Jüri Ratas is an Estonian politician who served as the prime minister of Estonia from 2016 to 2021 and as the leader of the Centre Party from 2016 to 2023, and the mayor of Tallinn from 2005 to 2007. Ratas was a member of the Centre Party until switching to Isamaa in 2024.

02/07/1977

Deniz Barış, Turkish footballer

Deniz Barış is a Turkish former professional footballer who played as a defensive midfielder or centre-back.

02/07/1976

Krisztián Lisztes, Hungarian footballer

Krisztián Lisztes is a Hungarian former professional footballer who played as a central midfielder. He is most commonly known for his stints at VfB Stuttgart and Werder Bremen in the Bundesliga, and for Ferencváros in his home country.

Tomáš Vokoun, Czech-American ice hockey player

Tomáš Vokoun is a Czech former professional ice hockey goaltender who played in the National Hockey League (NHL) from 1997 to 2013, mainly with the Nashville Predators. He was selected by the Montreal Canadiens in the ninth round, 226th overall, in the 1994 NHL entry draft, and played one game for the team, as well as playing with the Florida Panthers, Washington Capitals, and Pittsburgh Penguins. Internationally, Vokoun played for the Czech national team at several tournaments, including the 2006 and 2010 Winter Olympics, winning a bronze medal in 2006, as well as gold medals at the 2005 and 2010 World Championships.

Ľudovít Ódor, Prime minister of Slovakia

Ľudovít Ódor is a Slovak economist and politician who served as Prime Minister of Slovakia from May to October 2023, heading a technocratic cabinet. From July to October 2023, he also served as Minister of the Interior. Prior to his appointment as prime minister, Ódor served as Deputy Governor of the National Bank of Slovakia, from 2018 to 2023. He was the first Slovak prime-minister from the ethnic Hungarian minority in Slovakia.

02/07/1975

Éric Dazé, Canadian ice hockey player

Éric Dazé is a Canadian former professional ice hockey winger who played for the Chicago Blackhawks of the National Hockey League for eleven seasons from 1995 to 2005.

Kristen Michal, Estonian lawyer and politician

Kristen Michal is the prime minister of Estonia, having taken office on 23 July 2024. He previously served as minister of justice from 2011 to 2012, minister of economic affairs and infrastructure from 2015 to 2016, and minister of climate from 2023 to 2024.

Elizabeth Reaser, American actress

Elizabeth Ann Reaser is an American film, television, and stage actress. Her work includes the films Stay, The Family Stone, Sweet Land, Against the Current, The Twilight Saga, Young Adult, and Ouija: Origin of Evil, and the TV series Saved, Grey's Anatomy, The Ex-List, The Good Wife, True Detective, Mad Men, The Handmaid's Tale, and The Haunting of Hill House.

Stefan Terblanche, South African rugby player

Carl Stefan Terblanche is a South African former rugby union player. He played wing, centre and fullback.

02/07/1974

Sean Casey, American baseball player and sportscaster

Sean Thomas Casey, nicknamed "the Mayor", is an American former professional baseball first baseman, coach and media personality. During his Major League Baseball (MLB) career, Casey played for the Cleveland Indians, Cincinnati Reds, Pittsburgh Pirates, Detroit Tigers, and Boston Red Sox. Casey was selected to the MLB All-Star Game three times during his career. He was the hitting coach for the New York Yankees in 2023. After retiring from professional baseball, Casey transitioned into broadcasting and has been a prominent broadcaster and commentator for MLB Network since 2009, a role he still holds today. In addition to his broadcasting work, Casey is the host of the popular “The Mayor’s Office with Sean Casey” podcast, where he shares engaging conversations with athletes, entertainers, and industry leaders.

02/07/1972

Darren Shan, Irish author

Darren O'Shaughnessy is an Irish writer and novelist. He is best known for his young adult fiction series The Saga of Darren Shan, The Demonata, and Zom-B, published under the pseudonym Darren Shan. The former was adapted into a manga series from 2006 to 2009 as well as a live-action film in 2009, with a prequel series, The Saga of Larten Crepsley, being released from 2010 to 2012.

02/07/1971

Troy Brown, American football player and actor

Troy Fitzgerald Brown is an American professional football coach and former player who serves as an offensive assistant for the New York Giants of the National Football League (NFL). He played as a wide receiver and return specialist for 15 seasons in the NFL, spending his entire career with the Patriots. Brown played college football for the Marshall Thundering Herd and was selected by the Patriots in the eighth round of the 1993 NFL draft. During his New England tenure, he was selected to the Pro Bowl in 2001 and was a member of the franchise's first three Super Bowl-winning teams. In 2020, Brown rejoined the Patriots as an offensive assistant. He was inducted to the College Football Hall of Fame in 2010. Brown also was inducted to the Patriots Hall of Fame in 2012.

Bryan Redpath, Scottish rugby player and coach

Bryan William Redpath is a Scottish former rugby union player and coach. He is the Director of Rugby at London Scottish.

02/07/1970

Derrick Adkins, American hurdler

Derrick Ralph Adkins is an American former track and field athlete who specialized in the 400-meter hurdles. He was an Olympic gold medalist in that event at the 1996 Summer Olympics and World Champion at the 1995 World Championships in Athletics. He was the fastest man in the world in the 1994 and 1996 seasons, and holds a personal record of 47.54 seconds. Adkins was a two-time national champion at the USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships.

Steve Morrow, Northern Irish footballer and manager

Stephen Joseph Morrow is a Northern Irish former professional footballer and manager. He was The Football Association's head of player selection and talent strategy until 2023.

02/07/1969

Tim Rodber, English rugby player

Timothy Andrew Keith Rodber is an English former rugby union footballer who played at number eight, flanker or lock for Northampton Saints, England, and the British Lions.

02/07/1965

Norbert Röttgen, German lawyer and politician

Norbert Alois Röttgen is a German lawyer and politician who served as Federal Minister for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety in the government of Chancellor Angela Merkel from 2009 to 2012. A member of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), he placed third in the January 2021 CDU leadership election, then second in the December 2021 leadership election. From 2014 to 2021, he chaired the Bundestag Foreign Affairs Committee.

02/07/1964

Jose Canseco, Cuban-American baseball player and mixed martial artist

José Canseco Capas Jr. is a Cuban-American former professional baseball outfielder and designated hitter who played 17 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB). During his time with the Oakland Athletics, he established himself as one of the premier power hitters in the game. He won the Rookie of the Year (1986), and Most Valuable Player award (1988), and was a six-time All-Star. Canseco is a two-time World Series champion with the Oakland Athletics (1989) and the New York Yankees (2000).

Ozzie Canseco, Cuban-American baseball player, coach, and manager

Osvaldo "Ozzie" Canseco Capas is a Cuban-American former professional baseball player. He is the identical twin brother of former Major League Baseball player José Canseco.

Joe Magrane, American baseball player and sportscaster

Joseph David Magrane is an American former Major League Baseball (MLB) pitcher who played for the St. Louis Cardinals, California Angels, and Chicago White Sox between 1987 and 1996, and is currently a color commentary broadcaster for the MLB Network.

02/07/1962

Neil Williams, English cricketer (died 2006)

Neil Fitzgerald Williams was an England cricketer, who played first-class cricket for both Middlesex and Essex. In a first-class career spanning over seventeen years, he took 675 wickets and scored 4,457 runs.

02/07/1961

Clark Kellogg, American basketball player and sportscaster

Clark Clifton Kellogg Jr. is an American former professional basketball player who is the lead college basketball analyst for CBS Sports. He played in the National Basketball Association (NBA) for the Indiana Pacers.

02/07/1959

Erwin Olaf, Dutch photographer (died 2023)

Erwin Olaf Springveld, professionally known as Erwin Olaf, was a Dutch photographer from Hilversum. Time magazine described his work as straddling "the worlds of commercial, art and fashion photography at once".

02/07/1958

Pavan Malhotra, Indian actor

Pavan Malhotra is an Indian actor who works in Hindi films and television alongside Punjabi and few Telugu films. He has received several awards including a Filmfare OTT Award and a Filmfare Award South.

02/07/1957

Bret Hart, Canadian wrestler

Bret Sergeant Hart is a Canadian-American retired professional wrestler. A member of the Hart wrestling family and a second-generation wrestler, he has an amateur wrestling background at Ernest Manning High School and Mount Royal College. A major international draw within professional wrestling, he is credited with changing the perception of mainstream North American professional wrestling in the early 1990s by bringing technical wrestling to the fore. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest professional wrestlers of all time; Sky Sports noted that his legacy is that of "one of, if not the greatest, to have ever graced the squared circle". For the majority of his career, he used the nickname "the Hitman".

Jüri Raidla, Estonian lawyer and politician, Estonian Minister of Justice

Jüri Raidla is an Estonian lawyer, founder and senior partner of law firm Ellex Raidla. He served as the first Estonian Minister of Justice from 1990 to 1992.

Purvis Short, American basketball player

Purvis Short is an American former professional basketball player who played with the Golden State Warriors, Houston Rockets and New Jersey Nets of the National Basketball Association (NBA) from 1978 to 1990. A 6'7" small forward, Short averaged 17.3 points per game over his twelve-season career in the NBA. He is currently the Warriors ninth all-time leading scorer.

02/07/1956

Jerry Hall, American model and actress

Jerry Faye Hall is an American model and actress. She began modeling in the 1970s and became one of the most sought-after models in the world. She transitioned into acting, appearing in the 1989 film Batman. Hall was the long-term partner of Rolling Stones frontman Mick Jagger, with whom she has four children. She was the fourth wife of Rupert Murdoch until they divorced in 2022.

02/07/1955

Kim Carr, Australian educator and politician, 31st Australian Minister for Human Services

Kim John Carr is an Australian former politician who served as a Senator for Victoria between 1993 and 2022. Representing the Labor Party, he was a minister in the Rudd and Gillard governments.

02/07/1954

Chris Huhne, English journalist and politician, Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change

Christopher Murray Paul Huhne is a British energy and climate change consultant, and former journalist, business economist and politician who was the Liberal Democrat Member of Parliament for Eastleigh from 2005 to 2013 and the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change from 2010 to 2012. He is currently chair of the UK green gas association – the Anaerobic Digestion and Bioresources Association – and senior adviser to the World Biogas Association. He also advises companies on his particular interest in renewable technologies that can provide back up for intermittent energy sources like wind and solar.

Wendy Schaal, American actress

Wendy Schaal is an American actress known for her work in Joe Dante films, such as Innerspace, The 'Burbs, and Small Soldiers. Her other film credits include starring in Where the Boys Are '84, Creature, Going Under, and Munchies. She had many roles on television series in the 1980s, most notably as Vicki Allen on It's a Living and Marilyn Kelsy on Airwolf. Since 2005, she has primarily worked in voice acting, most notably voicing Francine Smith on the animated comedy television series American Dad!

02/07/1952

Sylvia Rivera, American transgender rights activist (died 2002)

Sylvia Rivera was an American gay liberation and transgender rights activist who was also a noted community worker in New York. Rivera, who identified as a drag queen for most of her life and later as a transgender person, participated in demonstrations with the Gay Liberation Front.

Anatoliy Solomin, Ukrainian race walker and coach

Anatoliy Vasilyevich Solomin is a former Soviet Ukrainian race walker. Solomin competed in men's 20 km walk at the 1980 Summer Olympics and contended for the gold medal, but was disqualified from the lead shortly before the finish. He was European indoor champion in men's 5000 m walk in 1983 and briefly held the 20 km world best. He was born in Komarovka in Penza Oblast.

02/07/1950

Lynne Brindley, English librarian and academic

Dame Lynne Janie Brindley is the former Master of Pembroke College, Oxford, a post she held until June 2020. Prior to this appointment she was a professional librarian, and served as the first female chief executive of the British Library, the United Kingdom's national library, from 2000 to 2012.

Jon Trickett, English politician

Jon Hedley Trickett is a British Labour Party politician who has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Normanton and Hemsworth, previously Hemsworth, since 1996. He was Shadow Lord President of the Council from 2016 to 2020 and served as Shadow Minister for the Cabinet Office from 2011 to 2013 and 2017 to 2020. He was the Labour Party National Campaign Coordinator under Jeremy Corbyn from 2015 to 2017.

02/07/1949

Greg Brown, American musician

Gregory Dane Brown is an American folk singer-songwriter and guitarist from Iowa.

Robert Paquette, Canadian singer-songwriter and guitarist

Robert Paquette is a Canadian folk singer-songwriter.

02/07/1948

Mutula Kilonzo, Kenyan lawyer and politician (died 2013)

Mutula Kilonzo was a Kenyan politician and Senior Counsel, who served as Minister of Education after having previously served as Minister for Nairobi Metropolitan and justice and constitutional affairs He belonged to the Orange Democratic Movement-Kenya and was elected to represent Makueni County as Senator in the 2013 general elections.

02/07/1947

Larry David, American actor, comedian, producer, and screenwriter

Lawrence Gene David is an American comedian, writer, actor, and television producer. He is known for his dry wit, portrayals of awkward social situations, and observations on everyday life. He has received various accolades, including two Primetime Emmy Awards, three Producers Guild of America Awards, and four Writers Guild of America Awards, in addition to nominations for six Actor Awards and three Golden Globes.

Ann Taylor, Baroness Taylor of Bolton, English politician, Minister for International Security Strategy

Winifred Ann Taylor, Baroness Taylor of Bolton, is a British politician and life peer who served in the Cabinet of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2001. A member of the Labour Party, she was Member of Parliament (MP) for Bolton West from 1974 to 1983, and Dewsbury from 1987 to 2005.

02/07/1946

Richard Axel, American neuroscientist and biologist, Nobel Prize laureate

Richard Axel is an American molecular biologist and university professor in the Department of Neuroscience at Columbia University and investigator at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. His work on the olfactory system won him and Linda Buck, a former postdoctoral research scientist in his group, the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 2004.

Ron Silver, American actor, director, and political activist (died 2009)

Ronald Arthur Silver was an American actor, director, producer, radio host, and activist. As an actor, he portrayed Henry Kissinger, Alan Dershowitz and Angelo Dundee. He was awarded the 1988 Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play for Speed-the-Plow, a satirical dissection of the American movie business, and was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for his recurring role as political strategist Bruno Gianelli in The West Wing.

02/07/1943

Larry Lake, American-Canadian trumpet player and composer (died 2013)

Larry Ellsworth Lake was an American-born Canadian composer, trumpeter, freelance writer on music, radio broadcaster, and record producer. As a composer, he was primarily known for his electronic music. His musical compositions are characterized by their integration of acoustic instruments with electronic ones in live performance. From 1985 until his death he served as artistic director of the Canadian Electronic Ensemble, a group of which he was a founding member. For nearly 30 years he hosted and served as music consultant for the CBC Radio program Two New Hours. An associate of the Canadian Music Centre (CMC), he was the chair of the CMC's Ontario Region Council and was an executive member of the CMC's national board. He was a member of both the Canadian Electroacoustic Community and the Canadian League of Composers. His compositions received multiple awards from the CMC and from the Major Armstrong Foundation. He received three Juno Award nominations for his work as a record producer.

02/07/1942

John Eekelaar, South African-English lawyer and scholar

John Eekelaar FBA is a South African-born legal scholar who specialised in family law during his academic career at the University of Oxford. A Rhodes Scholar and recipient of the Vinerian Scholarship, he served as a Tutorial Fellow at Pembroke College from 1965 and as Reader in Law from 1991 until his retirement from teaching in 2005. Elected a Fellow of the British Academy in 2001, he has served as editor of the International Journal of Law, Policy and the Family and the Oxford Journal of Legal Studies. After his retirement, he served as the academic director of Pembroke College (2005–2009) and became co-director of the Oxford Centre for Family Law and Policy (OXFLAP).

Vicente Fox, Mexican businessman and politician, 35th President of Mexico

Vicente Fox Quesada is a Mexican businessman and politician who served as the 62nd president of Mexico from 2000 to 2006. After campaigning as a right-wing populist, Fox was elected president on the National Action Party (PAN) ticket in the 2000 election. He became the first president not from the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) since 1929, and the first elected from an opposition party since Francisco I. Madero in 1911. Fox won the election with 43 percent of the vote. Considered a social-welfare promoter, along with Julio Frenk Mora, he formulated, signed and implemented the Seguro Popular which helped circa 55 million independent workers.

02/07/1941

William Guest, American singer-songwriter and producer (died 2015)

William Franklin Guest was an American R&B/soul singer best known as a member of Gladys Knight & the Pips along with his cousins Gladys Knight, Merald "Bubba" Knight and Edward Patten. Guest was a member of the group for its entire history, from 1952 to 1989. He is a multiple Grammy Award winner and was inducted to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame with Gladys Knight & the Pips in 1996.

Wendell Mottley, Trinidadian sprinter, economist, and politician

Wendell Adrian Mottley ORTT is a Trinidad and Tobago economist, politician and athlete. Mottley served as Senator and member of the House of Representatives with the Trinidad and Tobago Parliament and was Minister of Finance from 1991 to 1995. He was an Ivy League sprinter, winning two Olympic medals in 1964.

02/07/1940

Kenneth Clarke, English politician, Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain

Kenneth Harry Clarke, Baron Clarke of Nottingham is a British politician who served as Home Secretary from 1992 to 1993 and Chancellor of the Exchequer from 1993 to 1997. A member of the Conservative Party, he was Member of Parliament (MP) for Rushcliffe from 1970 to 2019, serving as Father of the House of Commons between 2017 and 2019. Clarke served in the Cabinets of Margaret Thatcher and John Major as Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster from 1987 to 1988, Health Secretary from 1988 to 1990, and Education Secretary from 1990 to 1992. He held two of the Great Offices of State as Home Secretary and Chancellor of the Exchequer.

Georgi Ivanov, Bulgarian military officer, cosmonaut and politician

Major general Georgi Ivanov Kakalov is a Bulgarian former military officer who was the first Bulgarian cosmonaut. He was a member of the National Assembly of Bulgaria in 1990.

02/07/1939

Mike Castle, American politician, 69th Governor of Delaware (died 2025)

Michael Newbold Castle was an American politician and lawyer who served as the U.S. representative for Delaware's at-large congressional district from 1993 to 2011. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as the 69th governor of Delaware from 1985 to 1992, lieutenant governor from 1981 to 1985, and as a member of the Delaware General Assembly from 1967 to 1977. As of 2025, Castle is the most recent Republican to represent Delaware in the U.S. Congress and to have been elected governor of the state.

Alexandros Panagoulis, Greek poet and politician (died 1976)

Alexandros Panagoulis was a Greek politician and poet. He took an active role in the fight against the Regime of the Colonels (1967–1974) in Greece. He became famous for his attempt to assassinate dictator Georgios Papadopoulos on 13 August 1968, but also for the torture to which he was subjected during his detention. After the restoration of democracy, he was elected to the Greek parliament as a member of the Centre Union (E.K.).

John H. Sununu, American engineer and politician, 14th White House Chief of Staff

John Henry Sununu is a Cuban-born American politician who served as the 75th governor of New Hampshire from 1983 to 1989 and as the 14th White House chief of staff under President George H. W. Bush from 1989 to 1991.

Paul Williams, American singer and choreographer (died 1973)

Paul Williams was an American baritone singer. He was noted for being one of the founding members and the original lead singer of the Motown group the Temptations. Personal problems and failing health forced Williams to retire in 1971 and, aged 34, he was found dead two years later as the result of an apparent suicide.

02/07/1938

David Owen, English physician and politician, Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs

David Anthony Llewellyn Owen, Baron Owen, is a British politician and physician. He served as Foreign Secretary in the Labour government of James Callaghan from 1977 to 1979, becoming the youngest person appointed to the position since 1935, and later led the Social Democratic Party (SDP). He was a Member of Parliament for 26 years, from 1966 to 1992.

02/07/1937

Polly Holliday, American actress (died 2025)

Polly Dean Holliday was an American actress of stage and screen. Holliday was best known for her portrayal of sassy waitress Florence Jean "Flo" Castleberry on the 1970s sitcom Alice, winning two Golden Globe Awards for Best Supporting Actress on the series. Her character's catchphrase "Kiss my grits!" enjoyed widespread popularity, and she reprised the role on Flo, a short-lived spin-off. Holliday won the 1984 Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actress portraying Ruby Deagle in Gremlins.

Richard Petty, American race car driver and sportscaster

Richard Lee Petty, nicknamed "the King", is an American former stock car racing driver who competed from 1958 to 1992 in the former NASCAR Grand National and Winston Cup Series, most notably driving the No. 43 Plymouth/Pontiac for Petty Enterprises. He is one of the members of the Petty racing family. He was the first driver to win the Cup Series championship seven times, while also winning a record 200 races during his career. This included winning the Daytona 500 a record seven times and winning a record 27 races in one season (1967). Petty is widely regarded as one of the greatest drivers in NASCAR history.

02/07/1936

Omar Suleiman, Egyptian general and politician, 16th Vice President of Egypt (died 2012)

Omar Mahmoud Suleiman was an Egyptian army general, politician, diplomat, and intelligence officer. A leading figure in Egypt's intelligence system beginning in 1986, Suleiman was appointed to the long-vacant vice presidency by President Hosni Mubarak on 29 January 2011. On 11 February 2011, Suleiman announced Mubarak's resignation and ceased being vice president; governing power was transferred to the Armed Forces Supreme Council, of which Suleiman was not a member in 2011. A new head of intelligence services was appointed by the ruling Supreme Council. Suleiman withdrew from the political scene and did not appear in public after announcing Mubarak's resignation.

02/07/1935

Gilbert Kalish, American pianist and educator

Gilbert Kalish is an American pianist. He is best known for championing the music of Charles Ives and other modernist composers. He is also noted for his partnerships with other artists, particularly his thirty-year collaboration with mezzo-soprano Jan DeGaetani, but also including cellists Timothy Eddy and Joel Krosnick, and soprano Dawn Upshaw.

02/07/1934

Tom Springfield, English musician (died 2022)

Tom Springfield was a British musician, songwriter, and record producer who was prominent in the 1960s folk and pop music scene. He was the older brother of singer Dusty Springfield, with whom he performed in the Springfields. He wrote several hit songs for the Springfields and later for the Seekers, whose records he also produced.

02/07/1933

Peter Desbarats, Canadian journalist, author, and playwright (died 2014)

Peter Hullett Desbarats, OC was a Canadian author, playwright and journalist. He was also the dean of journalism at the University of Western Ontario (1981–1997), a former commissioner in the Somalia Inquiry and a former Maclean-Hunter chair of Communications Ethics at Ryerson University in Toronto, Ontario.

Kenny Wharram, Canadian ice hockey player (died 2017)

Kenneth Malcolm Wharram was a Canadian professional ice hockey right winger who played 14 seasons in the National Hockey League, all with the Chicago Black Hawks, wearing number 17. He won a Stanley Cup in 1961.

02/07/1932

Dave Thomas, American businessman and philanthropist, founded Wendy's (died 2002)

Rex David Thomas was an American businessman, philanthropist, and fast-food tycoon who was the founder and chief executive officer of Wendy's, a fast-food restaurant chain specializing in hamburgers. In this role, Thomas appeared in more than 800 commercial advertisements for the chain from 1989 to 2002, more than any other company founder in television history.

02/07/1930

Ahmad Jamal, American jazz musician (died 2023)

Ahmad Jamal was an American jazz pianist, composer, bandleader, and educator. For six decades, he was one of the most successful small-group leaders in jazz. He was a National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) Jazz Master and won a Lifetime Achievement Grammy for his contributions to music history.

Carlos Menem, Argentinian lawyer and politician, 50th President of Argentina (died 2021)

Carlos Saúl Menem was an Argentine politician who served as the president of Argentina for ten years, from 1989 to 1999. He identified as Peronist, serving as President of the Justicialist Party for 13 years, and his political approach became known as Menemism.

02/07/1929

Imelda Marcos, Filipino politician; 10th First Lady of the Philippines

Imelda Romualdez Marcos is a Filipino politician who was First Lady of the Philippines from 1965 to 1986, wielding significant political power after her husband Ferdinand Marcos placed the country under martial law in September 1972. She is the mother of current president Bongbong Marcos.

02/07/1927

Lee Allen, American saxophone player (died 1994)

Lee Francis Allen was an American tenor saxophone player. Phil Alvin, Allen's bandmate in The Blasters, called him one of the most important instrumentalists in rock'n'roll. Allen's distinctive tone has been hailed as "one of the defining sounds of rock'n'roll" and "one of the DNA strands of rock."

James Mackay, Baron Mackay of Clashfern, Scottish lawyer and politician, Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain

James Peter Hymers Mackay, Baron Mackay of Clashfern is a British lawyer. He served as Dean of the Faculty of Advocates, Lord Advocate, and Lord Chancellor (1987–1997). He was formerly an active member of the House of Lords, where he sat as a Conservative; he retired from the House on 22 July 2022.

Brock Peters, American actor (died 2005)

Brock Peters was an American actor, best known for playing the villainous "Crown" in the 1959 film version of Porgy and Bess, and Tom Robinson in the 1962 film To Kill a Mockingbird. He made his Broadway debut in the 1965 Norman Rosten play Mister Johnson. He was nominated for a Tony Award and won a Drama Desk Award and an Outer Critics Circle Award for his lead role as Rev. Stephen Kumalo in the 1972 Broadway revival of the musical Lost in the Stars. He received the Screen Actors Guild Life Achievement Award in 1991 and a star on Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1992.

02/07/1926

Octavian Paler, Romanian journalist and politician (died 2007)

Octavian Paler was a Romanian writer, journalist, politician in Communist Romania, and civil society activist in post-1989 Romania.

02/07/1925

Medgar Evers, American soldier and civil rights movement activist (died 1963)

Medgar Wiley Evers was an American civil rights activist who was the NAACP's first field secretary in Mississippi. A United States Army veteran who served in World War II, he was engaged in efforts to overturn racial segregation at the University of Mississippi, end the segregation of public facilities, and expand opportunities for African Americans, including the enforcement of voting rights prior to his assassination.

Patrice Lumumba, Congolese politician, 1st Prime Minister of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (died 1961)

Patrice Émery Lumumba was a Congolese politician, independence leader and revolutionary who served as the first prime minister of the First Congolese Republic from June until September 1960, following the May 1960 election. Lumumba was the leader of the Congolese National Movement (MNC) from 1958 until his assassination in 1961. Ideologically an African nationalist and pan-Africanist, he played a significant role in the transformation of the Congo from a colony of Belgium into an independent republic.

Marvin Rainwater, American singer-songwriter (died 2013)

Marvin Karlton Rainwater was an American country and rockabilly singer and songwriter who had several hits during the late 1950s, including the self-penned "Gonna Find Me a Bluebird" and "Whole Lotta Woman," which hit No. 1 on the UK Singles Chart. He was known for wearing Native American fashion-themed outfits on stage and claimed to have quarter-blood Cherokee ancestry.

02/07/1924

Chia-ying Yeh, Chinese-born Canadian poet and sinologist (died 2024)

Florence Chia-ying Yeh, also known as Ye Jiaying, Jialing (迦陵), and by her married name Chia-ying Yeh Chao, was a Chinese-born Taiwanese-Canadian poet and sinologist. She was a scholar of classical Chinese poetry. Yeh taught for 20 years at the University of British Columbia (UBC), and was a professor emerita from her retirement in 1989. She was a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada. After retiring from UBC, she taught at Nankai University in Tianjin, where she was the founding Director of the Institute of Chinese Classical Culture.

02/07/1923

Cyril M. Kornbluth, American soldier and author (died 1958)

Cyril M. Kornbluth was an American science fiction author and a member of the Futurians. He used a variety of pen-names, including Cecil Corwin, S. D. Gottesman, Edward J. Bellin, Kenneth Falconer, Walter C. Davies, Simon Eisner, Jordan Park, Arthur Cooke, Paul Dennis Lavond, and Scott Mariner.

Wisława Szymborska, Polish poet and translator, Nobel Prize laureate (died 2012)

Maria Wisława Anna Szymborska was a Polish poet, essayist, translator, and recipient of the 1996 Nobel Prize in Literature. Born in Prowent, she resided in Kraków until the end of her life. In Poland, Szymborska's books have reached sales rivaling prominent prose authors, though she wrote in a poem, "Some Like Poetry", that "perhaps" two in a thousand people like poetry.

02/07/1922

Pierre Cardin, Italian-French fashion designer (died 2020)

Pietro Costante Cardin, known as Pierre Cardin, was an Italian-French fashion designer. He is known for what were his avant-garde style and Space Age designs. He preferred geometric shapes and motifs, often ignoring the female form. He advanced into unisex fashions, sometimes experimental, and not always practical. He founded his fashion house in 1950 and introduced the "bubble dress" in 1954.

Paula Valenska, Czech actress (died 1994)

Paula Valenska was a Czech actress noted for her roles in 1940s films. After appearing in several films in her native Czechoslovakia she went to Britain to star in two films produced by Anatole de Grunwald.

02/07/1920

John Kneubuhl, Samoan-American historian, screenwriter, and playwright (died 1992)

John Alexander Kneubuhl was an American Samoan screenwriter, playwright and Polynesian historian. He wrote for American television series such as The Fugitive, Gunsmoke, The Wild Wild West, Star Trek, The Invaders and Hawaii Five-O. The son of a Samoan mother and an American father, Kneubuhl's multicultural heritage produced a distinctive artistic vision that formed the basis of his most powerful dramatic work.

02/07/1919

Jean Craighead George, American author (died 2012)

Jean Carolyn Craighead George was an American writer of more than one hundred books for children and young adults, including the Newbery Medal-winning Julie of the Wolves and Newbery Honor My Side of the Mountain. Common themes in George's works are the environment and the natural world. Beside children's fiction, she wrote at least two guides to cooking with wild foods and one autobiography published 30 years before her death, Journey Inward.

02/07/1918

Athos Bulcão, Brazilian painter and sculptor (died 2008)

Athos Bulcão was a Brazilian painter and sculptor. He was born in Rio de Janeiro.

02/07/1917

Leonard J. Arrington, American author and academic, founded the Mormon History Association (died 1999)

Leonard James Arrington was an American author, academic and the founder of the Mormon History Association (MHA). He is known as the "Dean of Mormon History" and "the Father of Mormon History" because of his contributions to the field. From 1972 to 1982, he was Church Historian for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the first non-general authority to fill the assignment since it began in 1842. He was director of the Joseph Fielding Smith Institute for Church History from 1982 until 1986.

02/07/1916

Ken Curtis, American actor and singer (died 1991)

Ken Curtis was an American actor and singer best known for his role as Festus Haggen on the Western television series Gunsmoke.

Hans-Ulrich Rudel, German colonel and pilot (died 1982)

Hans-Ulrich Rudel was a German ground-attack pilot during World War II and a post-war neo-Nazi activist.

Reino Kangasmäki, Finnish wrestler (died 2010)

Reino Kalervo Kangasmäki was a journalist and a Greco-Roman wrestler from Finland. He won a bronze medal in the flyweight class at the 1948 Summer Olympics, his only major international tournament. At national championships Kangasmäki placed third in 1943 and second in 1947.

Zélia Gattai, Brazilian author and photographer (died 2008)

Zélia Gattai Amado de Faria was a Brazilian photographer, memoirist, novelist and author of children's literature, as well as a member of the Brazilian Academy of Letters. Gattai wrote 14 literary works, including children's books, and her own personal memoirs have been widely published.

02/07/1915

Valerian Wellesley, 8th Duke of Wellington, British peer, politician and soldier (died 2014)

Brigadier Arthur Valerian Wellesley, 8th Duke of Wellington, styled Marquess of Douro between 1943 and 1972, was a British peer and army officer. His main residence was Stratfield Saye House in Hampshire.

02/07/1914

Frederick Fennell, American conductor and educator (died 2004)

Frederick Fennell was an American conductor and one of the primary figures who promoted the Eastman Wind Ensemble as a performing group. He was also influential as a band pedagogue, and greatly affected the field of music education in the US and abroad. In Fennell's New York Times obituary, colleague Jerry F. Junkin was quoted as saying "He was arguably the most famous band conductor since John Philip Sousa."

Mário Schenberg, Brazilian physicist and engineer (died 1990)

Mário Schenberg was a Brazilian electrical engineer, physicist, art critic and writer.

Erich Topp, German admiral (died 2005)

Erich Topp was a German U-boat commander of World War II. He was a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords of Nazi Germany. He sank 35 ships for a total of 197,460 gross register tons (GRT). After the war, he served with the Federal German Navy, in which he reached the rank of Konteradmiral. He later served in NATO.

02/07/1913

Max Beloff, Baron Beloff, English historian and academic (died 1999)

Max Beloff, Baron Beloff, was a British historian and Conservative peer. From 1974 to 1979 he was principal of the University College of Buckingham, now the University of Buckingham.

02/07/1911

Reg Parnell, English race car driver and manager (died 1964)

Reginald Parnell was a racing driver and team manager from Derby, England. He participated in seven Formula One World Championship Grands Prix, achieving one podium, and scoring a total of nine championship points.

02/07/1908

Thurgood Marshall, American lawyer and civil rights activist, 32nd Solicitor General of the United States, and former Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States (died 1993)

Thoroughgood "Thurgood" Marshall was an American civil rights lawyer and jurist who served as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1967 until 1991. He was the Supreme Court's first African-American justice. Before his judicial service, he was an attorney who fought for civil rights, leading the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund. Marshall was a prominent figure in the movement to end racial segregation in American public schools. He won 29 of the 32 civil rights cases he argued before the Supreme Court, culminating in the Court's landmark 1954 decision in Brown v. Board of Education, which rejected the separate but equal doctrine and held segregation in public education to be unconstitutional. President Lyndon B. Johnson appointed Marshall to the Supreme Court in 1967. A staunch liberal, he frequently dissented as the Court became increasingly conservative.

02/07/1906

Hans Bethe, German-American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 2005)

Hans Albrecht Eduard Bethe was a German-American physicist who made major contributions to nuclear physics, astrophysics, quantum electrodynamics and solid-state physics, and received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1967 for his work on the theory of stellar nucleosynthesis. For most of his career, Bethe was a professor at Cornell University.

Károly Kárpáti, Hungarian Jewish wrestler (died 1996)

Károly Kárpáti was a Hungarian Olympic wrestling champion of Jewish heritage.

Séra Martin, French middle-distance runner (died 1993)

Séraphin "Séra" Martin was a French middle-distance runner who set world records in the 800 metres and 1000 metres. He competed at the 1928 and 1932 Olympics and placed sixth and eighth in the 800 metres, respectively.

02/07/1904

René Lacoste, French tennis player and businessman, created the polo shirt (died 1996)

Jean René Lacoste was a French tennis player and businessman. He was nicknamed "the Crocodile" because of how he dealt with his opponents; he is also known worldwide as the creator of the Lacoste tennis shirt, which he introduced in 1929, and eventually founded the brand and its logo in 1933.

02/07/1903

Alec Douglas-Home, English cricketer and politician, 66th Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (died 1995)

Alexander Frederick Douglas-Home, Baron Home of the Hirsel, known as Lord Dunglass from 1918 to 1951 and the Earl of Home from 1951 to 1963, was a British statesman and Conservative politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1963 to 1964. He was the last prime minister to hold office while being a member of the House of Lords, before renouncing his peerage and taking up a seat in the House of Commons for the remainder of his premiership. His reputation, however, rests more on his seven years over two stints as Foreign Secretary than on his brief premiership.

Olav V, Norwegian king, 1957–1991 (died 1991)

Olav V was King of Norway from 1957 until his death in 1991.

02/07/1902

K. Kanapathypillai, Sri Lankan author and academic (died 1968)

Professor Kandasamypillai Kanapathypillai was a leading Ceylon Tamil academic, author and head of the Department of Tamil at the University of Ceylon, Peradeniya for 18 years.

02/07/1900

Tyrone Guthrie, English actor and director (died 1971)

Sir William Tyrone Guthrie was an English theatrical director instrumental in the founding of the Stratford Festival of Canada, the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and the Tyrone Guthrie Centre at his family's ancestral home, Annaghmakerrig, near Newbliss in County Monaghan, Ireland. He is famous for his original approach to Shakespearean and modern drama.

02/07/1893

Ralph Hancock, Welsh gardener and author (died 1950)

Ralph Hancock was a Welsh landscape gardener, architect and author. Hancock built gardens in the United Kingdom in the 1920s, 1930s and 1940s and in the United States in the 1930s. He is known for the roof gardens at Derry and Toms in London and the Rockefeller Center in New York City, the garden at Twyn-yr-Hydd House in Margam, and the rock and water garden he built for Princess Victoria at Coppins, Iver, England.

02/07/1884

Alfons Maria Jakob, German neurologist and author (died 1931)

Alfons Maria Jakob was a German neurologist who worked in the field of neuropathology.

02/07/1881

Royal Hurlburt Weller, American lawyer and politician (died 1929)

Royal Hurlburt Weller was an American politician and attorney who was a United States representative from New York from 1923 to 1929. He was assistant district attorney of New York County from 1911 to 1917.

02/07/1877

Hermann Hesse, German-born Swiss poet, novelist, and painter, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1962)

Hermann Karl Hesse was a German-Swiss poet and novelist, and winner of the 1946 Nobel Prize in Literature. His interest in Eastern religious, spiritual, and philosophical traditions, combined with his involvement with Jungian analysis, helped to shape his literary work. His best-known novels include Demian, Steppenwolf, Siddhartha, Narcissus and Goldmund, and The Glass Bead Game, each of which explores an individual's search for authenticity, self-knowledge, and spirituality.

Rinaldo Cuneo, American artist ("the painter of San Francisco") (died 1939)

Rinaldo Cuneo, was an American artist known for his landscape paintings and murals. He was dubbed "the Painter of San Francisco".

02/07/1876

Harriet Brooks, Canadian physicist and academic (died 1933)

Harriet Brooks was a Canadian nuclear physicist. She is most famous for her research in radioactivity. She discovered atomic recoil, and transmutation of elements in radioactive decay. Ernest Rutherford, who guided her graduate work, regarded her as comparable to Marie Curie in the calibre of her aptitude. She was among the first persons to discover radon and to try to determine its atomic mass.

Wilhelm Cuno, German businessman and politician, Chancellor of Germany (died 1933)

Wilhelm Carl Josef Cuno was a German businessman and politician who was the chancellor of Germany from 1922 to 1923 for a total of 264 days. His tenure included the beginning of the occupation of the Ruhr by French and Belgian troops and the period in which inflation in Germany accelerated towards hyperinflation.

02/07/1869

Liane de Pougy, French-Swiss dancer and author (died 1950)

Liane de Pougy was a French dancer, courtesan and novelist. She was a Folies Bergère vedette, and was known as one of the most beautiful and notorious courtesans in Paris. Later in life, she became a Dominican tertiary.

02/07/1865

Lily Braun, German author and publicist (died 1916)

Lily Braun, born Amalie von Kretschmann, was a German feminist writer and politician of the Social Democratic Party (SPD). She developed the idea of the single-kitchen home.

02/07/1862

William Henry Bragg, English physicist, chemist, and mathematician, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1942)

Sir William Henry Bragg was a British X-ray crystallographer who uniquely shared a Nobel Prize with his son Lawrence Bragg – the 1915 Nobel Prize in Physics "for their services in the analysis of crystal structure by means of X-rays," an important step in the development of X-ray crystallography.

02/07/1849

Maria Theresa of Austria-Este (died 1919)

Maria Theresa Henriette Dorothea of Austria-Este was the last Queen of Bavaria. She was the only child of Archduke Ferdinand Karl Viktor of Austria-Este and Archduchess Elisabeth Franziska of Austria.

02/07/1834

Hendrick Peter Godfried Quack, Dutch economist and historian (died 1917)

Hendrick Peter Godfried Quack was a Dutch legal scholar, economist and historian, who is best known for his work De socialisten: Personen en stelsels.

02/07/1825

Émile Ollivier, French statesman (died 1913)

Olivier Émile Ollivier was a French statesman. Starting as an avid republican opposed to Emperor Napoleon III, he pushed the Emperor toward liberal reforms and in turn came increasingly into Napoleon's grip. He entered the cabinet and was the prime minister when Napoleon fell.

02/07/1821

Charles Tupper, Canadian physician and politician, 6th Prime Minister of Canada (died 1915)

Sir Charles Tupper, 1st Baronet, was a Canadian Father of Confederation who served as the sixth prime minister of Canada from May 1 to July 8, 1896. As the premier of Nova Scotia from 1864 to 1867, he led Nova Scotia into Confederation. He briefly served as the Canadian prime minister, from seven days after parliament had been dissolved, until he was dismissed by the Governor General on July 8, 1896, following his party's loss in the 1896 Canadian federal election. He is the only medical doctor to have ever held the office of prime minister of Canada, and his 69-day tenure as prime minister is the shortest in Canadian history.

02/07/1820

George Law Curry, American publisher and politician, 5th governor of the Oregon Territory (died 1878)

George Law Curry was a predominant American political figure and newspaper publisher in the region that eventually became the state of Oregon. A native of Pennsylvania, he published a newspaper in St. Louis, Missouri, before traveling the Oregon Trail to the unorganized Oregon Country. A Democrat, Curry served in the new Oregon Territory's government as a representative to the legislature and as Territorial Secretary before appointment as the last Governor of the Oregon Territory. Curry County in Southern Oregon is named in his honor.

Juan N. Méndez, Mexican general and interim president, 1876-1877 (died 1894)

Juan Nepomuceno Laureano Méndez Sánchez was a Mexican general, a Liberal politician and confidant of Porfirio Díaz, and interim president of the Republic for a few months during the Porfiriato. He served from 6 December 1876 until 17 February 1877.

02/07/1819

Charles-Louis Hanon, French pianist and composer (died 1900)

Charles-Louis Hanon was a French piano pedagogue and composer. He is best known for his work The Virtuoso Pianist in 60 Exercises, which is still used today for modern piano teaching, but over the years the method has also faced criticisms.

02/07/1797

Francisco Javier Echeverría, Mexican businessman and politician. President of Mexico (1841) (died 1852)

Francisco Javier Echeverría was a Mexican businessman and finance minister who served as interim president of Mexico for about two weeks in late September 1841, during the fall of Anastasio Bustamante's administration.

02/07/1724

Friedrich Gottlieb Klopstock, German poet and author (died 1803)

Friedrich Gottlieb Klopstock was a German poet. His best known works are the epic poem Der Messias and the poem Die Auferstehung, with the latter set to music in the finale of Gustav Mahler's Symphony No. 2. One of his major contributions to German literature was to open it up to exploration outside of French models.

02/07/1714

Christoph Willibald Gluck, German composer (died 1787)

Christoph Willibald Ritter von Gluck was a composer of Italian and French opera in the early classical period. Born in the Upper Palatinate and raised in Bohemia, both part of the Holy Roman Empire at the time, he gained prominence at the Habsburg court in Vienna. There he brought about the practical reform of opera's dramaturgical practices for which many intellectuals had been campaigning. With a series of radical new works in the 1760s, among them Orfeo ed Euridice and Alceste, he broke the stranglehold that Metastasian opera seria had enjoyed for much of the century. Gluck introduced more drama by using orchestral recitative and cutting the usually long da capo aria. His later operas have half the length of a typical baroque opera.

02/07/1667

Pietro Ottoboni, Italian cardinal and art collector (died 1740)

Pietro Ottoboni was an Italian cardinal and grandnephew of Pope Alexander VIII, who was also born Pietro Ottoboni. He is remembered especially as a great patron of music and art. Ottoboni was the last person to hold the curial office of cardinal-nephew, which was abolished by Alexander's successor, Pope Innocent XII, in 1692. Ottoboni '"loved pomp, prodigality, and sensual pleasure, but was in the same time kind, ready to serve, and charitable."

02/07/1665

Samuel Penhallow, English-American soldier and historian (died 1726)

Samuel Penhallow was a Cornish colonist, historian, and militia leader in present-day Maine during Queen Anne's War and Dummer's War. He was the commander at Fort Menaskoux and was attacked during the Northeast Coast Campaign (1724).

02/07/1648

Arp Schnitger, German organ builder (died 1719)

Arp Schnitger was an influential Northern German organ builder. Considered the paramount manufacturer of his time, Schnitger built or rebuilt over 150 organs. He was primarily active in Northern Europe, especially the Netherlands and Germany, where a number of his instruments still survive.

02/07/1647

Daniel Finch, 2nd Earl of Nottingham, English politician, Lord President of the Council (died 1730)

Daniel Finch, 2nd Earl of Nottingham, 7th Earl of Winchilsea, was an English Tory politician and peer who supported the Hanoverian Succession in 1714. Known as Lord Nottingham until 1729, then as Lord Winchilsea.

02/07/1597

Theodoor Rombouts, Flemish painter (died 1637)

Theodoor Rombouts was a Flemish painter who is mainly known for his Caravaggesque genre scenes depicting lively dramatic gatherings as well as religiously themed works. He is considered to be the primary and most original representative of Flemish Caravaggism. These Caravaggisti were part of an international movement of European artists who interpreted the work of Caravaggio and the followers of Caravaggio in a personal manner.

02/07/1492

Elizabeth Tudor, English daughter of Henry VII of England (died 1495)

Elizabeth Tudor was the second daughter and fourth child of Henry VII of England and Elizabeth of York.

02/07/1489

Thomas Cranmer, English archbishop, theologian, and Protestant martyr (died 1556)

Thomas Cranmer was an English theologian who was a leader of the English Reformation and served as Archbishop of Canterbury during the reigns of Henry VIII, Edward VI and, for a short time, Mary I. He is honoured as a martyr in the Church of England.

02/07/1486

Jacopo Sansovino, Italian sculptor and architect (died 1570)

Jacopo d'Antonio Sansovino was an Italian Renaissance sculptor and architect, best known for his works around the Piazza San Marco in Venice. These are crucial works in the history of Venetian Renaissance architecture. Andrea Palladio, in the Preface to his Quattro Libri was of the opinion that Sansovino's Biblioteca Marciana was the best building erected since Antiquity. Giorgio Vasari uniquely printed his Vita of Sansovino separately.

02/07/1478

Louis V, Elector Palatine (died 1544)

Louis V, Count Palatine of the Rhine, also Louis the Pacific, was a member of the Wittelsbach dynasty. He was prince elector of the Palatinate. His parents were Philip, Elector Palatine, and Margaret, a daughter of Louis IX, Duke of Bavaria-Landshut.

02/07/0419

Valentinian III, Roman emperor (died 455)

Valentinian III was Roman emperor in the West from 425 to 455. Starting in childhood, his reign over the Roman Empire was one of the longest, but was dominated by civil wars among powerful generals and the barbarian invasions. He was the youngest sole emperor in the Western Roman Empire.

Lives Remembered on 2nd July

On 2nd July, 96 remarkable people passed away — from 626 to 2025. Remember the lives and legacies of those we lost on this day.

02/07/2025

Sophia Hutchins, American socialite (born 1996)

Sophia Hutchins was an American socialite, media personality, businesswoman, charity executive and model. She was best known as the manager of Caitlyn Jenner, the chief executive officer and director of the Caitlyn Jenner Foundation, and the founder CEO of the sunscreen company LUMASOL.

Julian McMahon, Australian-American actor (born 1968)

Julian Dana William McMahon was an Australian-American actor. He was the only son of William McMahon, a former Prime Minister of Australia. He was best known for his roles as Ben Lucini in Home and Away, Detective John Grant in Profiler, Cole Turner in Charmed, Dr. Christian Troy in Nip/Tuck, Doctor Doom in the Fantastic Four duology, Jonah in Runaways and Jess LaCroix in FBI: Most Wanted. His other films include Premonition, Red, and The Surfer. For his performance in Nip/Tuck, McMahon was nominated for the Golden Globe for Best Actor in a Television Drama Series.

02/07/2020

Ángela Jeria, Chilean archaeologist and human rights activist (born 1926)

Ángela Margarita Jeria Gómez was a Chilean archaeologist. Mother of the former President of Chile Michelle Bachelet, she was the wife of the Chilean Air Force Brigadier General Alberto Bachelet, who died after being tortured during the dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet. Jeria served informally in the role of first lady during the first Bachelet government, accompanying her daughter to several official functions. Her official protocolary role was "Director of the Sociocultural Area of the Presidency".

Byron Bernstein, American Twitch streamer (born 1989)

Byron Daniel Bernstein, better known as Reckful, was an American-Israeli Twitch streamer and professional esports player. He was best known in the gaming community for his achievements in World of Warcraft and Asheron's Call.

02/07/2019

Lee Iacocca, American automotive executive (born 1924)

Lido Anthony "Lee" Iacocca was an American author, engineer, and executive who developed the Ford Mustang, Continental Mark III, and Ford Pinto cars while at the Ford Motor Company in the 1960s, and then revived the Chrysler Corporation as its CEO during the 1980s. He was president of Chrysler from 1978 to 1991 and chairman and CEO from 1979 until his retirement at the end of 1992. He was one of the few executives to preside over the operations of two of the United States' Big Three automakers.

02/07/2018

Alan Longmuir, Scottish musician (born 1948)

Alan Longmuir was a Scottish musician and a founding member of the pop group the Bay City Rollers. He played the bass guitar, whilst his younger brother Derek Longmuir was drummer.

02/07/2017

Vladislav Rastorotsky, a Russian (and former Soviet) artistic gymnastics coach, (born 1933)

Vladislav Stepanovich Rastorotsky was a Soviet and Russian female artistic gymnastics coach, Honoured Trainer of the USSR, who worked at the Dynamo sports society. Sportswomen trained by him earned more than 50 titles at the Soviet national championships, European championships, World Championships and Olympic Games. Rastorotsky trained Soviet gymnasts for five Olympic cycles, starting in the mid-1960s. His most famous pupils were Ludmilla Tourischeva, Natalia Shaposhnikova and Natalia Yurchenko.

Smith Hart, American-born Canadian professional wrestler (born 1948)

Smith Stewart Hart was an American-Canadian professional wrestler and a member of the Hart wrestling family. His parents were Stu and Helen Hart. Smith was the first of their twelve children, being one of their eight sons, Bruce, Keith, Wayne, Dean, Bret, Ross and Owen followed him. Hart is also the father of two professional wrestlers, Mike and Matt Hart. Hart wrestled for the majority of his career in Canada but also worked briefly in other countries and is best known for his time in Stampede Wrestling and for his appearances for WWE. He died in 2017 due to prostate cancer.

02/07/2016

Caroline Aherne, English actress and comedian (born 1963)

Caroline Mary Aherne was an English actress, comedian, writer and director.

Michael Cimino, American director, producer, and screenwriter (born 1939)

Michael Antonio Cimino was an American film director, screenwriter, producer and author. Notorious for his obsessive attention to detail and determination for perfection, Cimino achieved widespread fame with The Deer Hunter (1978), which won five Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Director.

Patrick Manning, 4th & 6th Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago (born 1946)

Patrick Augustus Mervyn Manning was a Trinidadian politician who served as the fourth prime minister of Trinidad and Tobago twice from 1991 to 1995, and again from 2001 to 2010. A geologist by training, Manning served as Member of Parliament for the San Fernando East constituency from 1971 until 2015 when he was replaced by Randall Mitchell, but with the seat in 2020 being won by his son Brian Manning. Patrick Manning was the longest-serving member of the House of Representatives. He was the Leader of the Opposition from 1986 to 1990 and again from 1995 to 2001.

Elie Wiesel, Holocaust survivor, activist, and author (born 1928)

Eliezer "Elie" Wiesel was a Romanian-born American writer, professor, political activist, Nobel laureate, and Holocaust survivor. He authored 57 books, written mostly in French and English, including Night, which is based on his experiences as a Jewish prisoner at Auschwitz and Buchenwald during the Holocaust.

02/07/2015

Ronald Davison, New Zealand lawyer and judge, 10th Chief Justice of New Zealand (born 1920)

Sir Ronald Keith Davison was a New Zealand lawyer and jurist. He served as the tenth Chief Justice of New Zealand from 1978 to 1989,

Charlie Sanders, American football player and sportscaster (born 1946)

Charles Alvin Sanders was an American professional football player who was a tight end for the Detroit Lions of the National Football League (NFL) from 1968 to 1977. Sanders was chosen for the NFL's 1970s All-Decade Team and voted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2007.

Jim Weaver, American football player and coach (born 1945)

James C. Weaver was an American college football player, coach and college athletics administrator. He served as the head football coach at Villanova University for the first eight games of the 1974 season, finishing with a record of 3–5. Weaver also served as the athletic director at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) from 1991 to 1994, Western Michigan University from 1996 to 1997, and Virginia Tech from 1997 to 2014.

Jacobo Zabludovsky, Mexican journalist (born 1928)

Jacobo Zabludovsky Kraveski was a Mexican journalist. He was the first anchorman in Mexican television and his TV news program, 24 Horas was for decades regarded as the most important in the country.

02/07/2014

Emilio Álvarez Montalván, Nicaraguan ophthalmologist and politician (born 1919)

Emilio Álvarez Montalván was a Nicaraguan ophthalmologist and a Foreign Minister of the Republic of Nicaragua.

Manuel Cardona, Spanish physicist and academic (born 1934)

Manuel Cardona Castro was a Spanish condensed matter physicist. According to the ISI Citations web database, Cardona was one of the eight most cited physicists since 1970. He specialized in solid state physics. Cardona's main interests were in the fields of: Raman scattering as applied to semiconductor microstructures, materials with tailor-made isotopic compositions, and high Tc superconductors, particularly investigations of electronic and vibronic excitations in the normal and superconducting state.

Mary Innes-Ker, Duchess of Roxburghe (born 1915)

Mary Evelyn Hungerford Innes-Ker, Duchess of Roxburghe, born Lady Mary Crewe-Milnes, was a British aristocrat. She was a daughter of Robert Crewe-Milnes, 1st Marquess of Crewe, by his marriage to Lady Peggy Primrose, one of the first seven women appointed as magistrates in 1919 following the passing of the Sex Disqualification (Removal) Act 1919. Her maternal grandparents were Hannah de Rothschild and Archibald Primrose, 5th Earl of Rosebery.

Harold W. Kuhn, American mathematician and academic (born 1925)

Harold William Kuhn was an American mathematician who studied game theory. He won the 1980 John von Neumann Theory Prize jointly with David Gale and Albert W. Tucker. A former professor emeritus of mathematics at Princeton University, he is known for the Karush–Kuhn–Tucker conditions, for Kuhn's theorem, and for developing Kuhn poker. He described the Hungarian method for the assignment problem, but later a paper by Carl Gustav Jacobi was discovered that had described the Hungarian method a century before Kuhn, published posthumously in 1890 in Latin.

Louis Zamperini, American runner and World War II US Army Air Forces captain (born 1917)

Louis Silvie Zamperini was an American World War II veteran, Olympic distance runner, and Christian evangelist. He began running in high school and qualified for the United States in the 5,000 m event at the 1936 Summer Olympics, where he finished eighth and set a new lap record.

02/07/2013

Anthony G. Bosco, American bishop (born 1927)

Anthony Gerard Bosco was an American prelate of the Catholic Church who served as the third bishop of the Diocese of Greensburg in Pennsylvania from 1987 to 2004. He previously served as an auxiliary bishop of the Diocese of Pittsburgh in Pennsylvania from 1970 to 1987.

Douglas Engelbart, American computer scientist, invented the computer mouse (born 1925)

Douglas Carl Engelbart was an American engineer, inventor, and a pioneer in many aspects of computer science. He is best known for his work on founding the field of human–computer interaction, particularly while at his Augmentation Research Center Lab in SRI International, which resulted in creation of the computer mouse, and the development of hypertext, networked computers, and precursors to graphical user interfaces. These were demonstrated at The Mother of All Demos in 1968. Engelbart's law, the observation that the intrinsic rate of human performance is exponential, is named after him.

Armand Gaudreault, Canadian ice hockey player (born 1921)

Armand Gérard Gaudreault was a Canadian ice hockey player. He played 44 games in the National Hockey League with the Boston Bruins during the 1944–45 season. The rest of his career, which lasted from 1940 to 1952, was spent in the Quebec Senior Hockey League and the American Hockey League. Gaudreault was born in Lac Saint-Jean, Quebec.

Anthony Llewellyn, Welsh-American chemist, academic, and astronaut (born 1933)

John Anthony Llewellyn was a Welsh chemist and a NOAA aquanaut. In August 1967, Llewellyn was one of only two non-American astronaut candidates selected by NASA as part of NASA Astronaut Group 6.

02/07/2012

Maurice Chevit, French actor and screenwriter (born 1923)

Maurice Chevit was a French actor.

Julian Goodman, American journalist (born 1922)

Julian Byrn Goodman was an American broadcasting executive and journalist.

Angelo Mangiarotti, Italian architect and academic (born 1921)

Angelo Mangiarotti was an Italian architect and industrial designer. His designs were mostly for industrial buildings and railway stations. In 1994, he received the Compasso d'Oro award of the Associazione per il Disegno Industriale for his lifetime of achievement.

Betty Meggers, American archaeologist and academic (born 1921)

Betty Jane Meggers was an American archaeologist best known for her work in South America. She was considered influential at the Smithsonian Institution, where she was long associated in research, and she wrote extensively about environment as a shaper of human cultures.

Ed Stroud, American baseball player (born 1939)

Edwin Marvin Stroud was an American professional baseball player. An outfielder, he played in the Major Leagues from 1966–1971 for the Chicago White Sox and Washington Senators. He was signed by the Chicago White Sox as an undrafted free agent in 1963.

02/07/2011

Itamar Franco, Brazilian engineer and politician, 33rd President of Brazil (born 1930)

Itamar Augusto Cautiero Franco was a Brazilian politician who served as the 33rd president of Brazil from 29 December 1992 to 1 January 1995. Previously, he was the 21st vice president of Brazil from 1990 until the resignation of President Fernando Collor de Mello. During his long political career Franco also served as Senator, Mayor, Ambassador and Governor. At the time of his death he was a senator from Minas Gerais, having won the seat in the 2010 election.

02/07/2010

Beryl Bainbridge, English screenwriter and author (born 1932)

Dame Beryl Margaret Bainbridge was an English writer. She was primarily known for her works of psychological fiction, often macabre tales set among the English working class. She won the Whitbread Awards prize for best novel in 1977 and 1996, and was nominated five times for the Booker Prize. She was described in 2007 as a national treasure. In 2008, The Times named Bainbridge on their list of the "50 greatest British writers since 1945".

02/07/2008

Natasha Shneider, Russian-American singer, keyboard player, and actress (born 1956)

Natalia Mikhailovna Schneiderman, known as Natasha Shneider, was a Latvian-born Soviet-American musician and actress. She was most notably the keyboardist and vocalist in the band Eleven, along with her partner, bandmate Alain Johannes. Shneider contributed to tracks for Chris Cornell and Queens of the Stone Age, and together with Johannes toured with Cornell on his Euphoria Morning tour in 1999 and with Queens in 2005 on their Lullabies to Paralyze tour. She died of cancer in 2008.

Elizabeth Spriggs, English actress and screenwriter (born 1929)

Elizabeth Jean Spriggs was an English actress.

02/07/2007

Beverly Sills, American operatic soprano and television personality (born 1929)

Beverly Sills was an American operatic soprano whose career peak was between the 1950s and 1970s.

02/07/2006

Jan Murray, American comedian, actor, and game show host (born 1916)

Jan Murray was an American stand-up comedian, actor, and game-show host who originally made his name on the Borscht Belt and later was known for his frequent television appearances over several decades.

02/07/2005

Ernest Lehman, American director, producer, and screenwriter (born 1915)

Ernest Paul Lehman was an American screenwriter and film producer. He was nominated six times for Academy Awards for his screenplays during his career, but did not win. At the 73rd Academy Awards in 2001, he received an Honorary Academy Award in recognition of his achievements and his influential works for the screen. He was the first screenwriter to receive that honor.

Norm Prescott, American actor, composer, and producer, co-founded Filmation Studios (born 1927)

Norman Zachary Prescott was co-founder and executive producer at Filmation Associates, an animation studio he created with veteran animator Lou Scheimer.

02/07/2004

Mochtar Lubis, Indonesian journalist and author (born 1922)

Mochtar Lubis was an Indonesian journalist and novelist who co-founded Indonesia Raya and monthly literary magazine Horison. His novel Senja di Jakarta was the first Indonesian novel to be translated into English. He was a critic of Sukarno and was imprisoned by him, as well as by Suharto on several later occasions. He held strong anti-leftist views and was seen by critics as aligned with Indonesian National Armed Forces and pro-U.S forces that were opposed to Sukarno’s non-aligned policies, a charge that he himself denied.

02/07/2003

Briggs Cunningham, American race car driver and businessman (born 1907)

Briggs Swift Cunningham II was an American entrepreneur and sportsman. He is best known for skippering the yacht Columbia to victory in the 1958 America's Cup race, and for his efforts as a driver, team owner, and constructor in sports car racing, including the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

02/07/2002

Ray Brown, American jazz musician and composer (born 1926)

Raymond Matthews Brown was an American jazz double bassist, known for his extensive work with Oscar Peterson and Ella Fitzgerald. He was also a founding member of the group that would later develop into the Modern Jazz Quartet.

02/07/2000

Joey Dunlop, Northern Irish motorcycle racer (born 1952)

William Joseph Dunlop was a Northern Irish roadracing motorcyclist from Ballymoney, County Antrim. In 2015, he was voted Northern Ireland's greatest-ever sports star.

02/07/1999

Mario Puzo, American author and screenwriter (born 1920)

Mario Francis Puzo was an American author and screenwriter. He wrote crime novels about the Italian-American Mafia and Sicilian Mafia, most notably The Godfather (1969), which he later co-adapted into a film trilogy directed by Francis Ford Coppola. He received the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay for the first film in 1972 and for Part II in 1974. Puzo also wrote the original screenplay for the 1978 Superman film and its 1980 sequel. His final novel, The Family, was released posthumously in 2001.

02/07/1997

James Stewart, American actor (born 1908)

James Maitland Stewart was an American actor and military aviator. Known for his distinctive drawl and everyman screen persona, Stewart appeared in 80 films from 1935 to 1991. His films are considered among the greatest of all time. In 1999, the American Film Institute (AFI) ranked him third on its list of the greatest American male actors; he received numerous honors including the AFI Life Achievement Award in 1980, the Kennedy Center Honor in 1983, as well as the Academy Honorary Award and Presidential Medal of Freedom, both in 1985.

02/07/1995

Lloyd MacPhail, Canadian businessman and politician, 23rd Lieutenant Governor of Prince Edward Island (born 1920)

Robert Lloyd George MacPhail, was a Canadian politician and the 23rd Lieutenant Governor of Prince Edward Island.

02/07/1994

Andrés Escobar, Colombian footballer (born 1967)

Andrés Escobar Saldarriaga was a Colombian professional footballer who played as a centre-back. He played for Atlético Nacional, BSC Young Boys, and the Colombia national team. Nicknamed The Gentleman, he was known for his clean style of play and calmness on the pitch.

02/07/1993

Fred Gwynne, American actor (born 1926)

Frederick Hubbard Gwynne was an American actor, artist, and author, who is widely known for his roles in the 1960s television sitcoms Car 54, Where Are You? and The Munsters, as well as his later film roles in The Cotton Club (1984), Pet Sematary (1989), and My Cousin Vinny (1992).

02/07/1991

Lee Remick, American actress (born 1935)

Lee Ann Remick was an American actress. She was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress for the film Days of Wine and Roses (1962) and was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play for her role in Wait Until Dark (1966) in addition to earning seven Emmy Award nominations.

02/07/1990

Snooky Lanson, American singer (born 1914)

Roy Landman, better known as Snooky Lanson, was an American singer known for co-starring on the NBC TV show, Your Hit Parade.

02/07/1989

Andrei Gromyko, Soviet economist and politician, Soviet Minister of Foreign Affairs (born 1909)

Andrei Andreyevich Gromyko was a Soviet politician and diplomat during the Cold War. He served as Minister of Foreign Affairs (1957–1985) and as Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet (1985–1988). Gromyko was responsible for many top decisions on Soviet foreign policy until he retired in 1988. In the 1940s, Western pundits called him Mr. Nyet, or Grim Grom, because of his frequent use of the Soviet veto in the United Nations Security Council.

02/07/1988

Allie Vibert Douglas, Canadian astronomer and astrophysicist (born 1894)

Alice Vibert Douglas, who usually went by her middle name, was a Canadian astronomer and astrophysicist.

02/07/1986

Peanuts Lowrey, American baseball player and manager (born 1917)

Harry Lee "Peanuts" Lowrey was an American outfielder in Major League Baseball who played for the Chicago Cubs, Cincinnati Reds (1949–50), St. Louis Cardinals (1950–54) and Philadelphia Phillies (1955).

02/07/1980

Tom Barry, leader of the Irish Republican Army during the Irish War of Independence and the Irish Civil War (born 1897)

Thomas Bernardine Barry (1 July 1897 – 2 July 1980 was an Irish republican. He was a prominent guerrilla leader in the Irish Republican Army during the Irish War of Independence and the Irish Civil War. Barry is often known for orchestrating the Kilmichael ambush, in which he and his flying column attacked an 18-man patrol of Auxiliaries, killing sixteen men.

02/07/1978

Aris Alexandrou, Greek author and poet (born 1922)

Aris Alexandrou was a Greek novelist, poet and translator. Always on the Left and always unconventional, he is the author of a single novel which is widely considered to be among the classic modern Greek works in the second half of the 20th century.

02/07/1977

Vladimir Nabokov, Russian-born novelist and critic (born 1899)

Vladimir Vladimirovich Nabokov, also known by the pen name Vladimir Sirin, was a Russian and American novelist, poet, translator, and entomologist.

02/07/1975

James Robertson Justice, English actor (born 1907)

James Robertson Justice was a British actor. He often portrayed pompous authority figures in comedies, including each of the seven films in the Doctor series. He also co-starred with Gregory Peck in several adventure movies, notably The Guns of Navarone. Born in south-east London to a Scottish father, he became prominent in Scottish public life, helping to launch Scottish Television (STV) and serving as Rector of the University of Edinburgh.

02/07/1973

Betty Grable, American actress, singer, and dancer (born 1916)

Elizabeth Ruth Grable was an American actress, pin-up girl, dancer, model, and singer. Her 42 films during the 1930s and 1940s grossed more than $100 million, and for 10 consecutive years (1942–1951) she placed among the Quigley Poll's top 10 box office stars. The U.S. Treasury Department listed her as the highest-salaried American woman in 1946 and 1947, and she earned more than $3 million during her career.

George McBride, American baseball player and manager (born 1880)

George Florian "Pinch" McBride was an American professional baseball shortstop for the Milwaukee Brewers, Pittsburgh Pirates, St. Louis Cardinals, and Washington Senators from 1901 to 1920. He started off with the short-lived Milwaukee Brewers, but he only had 12 at-bats in three games. After stints in semi-pro ball, he joined the Pirates in 1905 but was traded mid-season to the Cardinals. He did not become a regular starter until the 1908 season, when he joined the Senators and became their everyday shortstop. He never hit for a high average, but was very talented with the glove, leading the American League in fielding for four straight seasons. He was given the nickname "Pinch" for his ability to hit in the clutch.

Ferdinand Schörner, German field marshal and convicted war criminal (born 1892)

Ferdinand Schörner was a German military commander and convicted war criminal, who held the rank of Generalfeldmarschall in the Wehrmacht of Nazi Germany during World War II. He was the only German soldier to rise to this rank from his initial status of Einjährig-Freiwilliger. He commanded several army groups and was the final Commander-in-chief of the German Army and the last man promoted to the rank of Field Marshal in the Wehrmacht.

02/07/1972

Joseph Fielding Smith, American religious leader, 10th President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (born 1876)

Joseph Fielding Smith Jr. was an American religious leader and writer who served as the tenth president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from 1970 until his death in 1972. He was the son of former church president Joseph F. Smith and the great-nephew of church founder Joseph Smith.

02/07/1970

Jessie Street, Australian suffragette and feminist (born 1889)

Jessie Mary Grey Street was an Australian diplomat, suffragette, and a campaigner for Indigenous Australian rights. She was referred to as "Red Jessie" by the Australian media, due to her support for the Soviet Union through World War II and the Cold War, as she organised the "Sheepskins for Russia" campaign during World War II, and she was notably one of two Australians to attend Stalin's funeral.

02/07/1966

Jan Brzechwa, Polish poet, author, and lawyer (born 1900)

Jan Wiktor Brzechwa was a Polish poet, author and lawyer, known mostly for his contribution to children's literature.

02/07/1964

Fireball Roberts, American race car driver (born 1929)

Edward Glenn "Fireball" Roberts Jr. was an American stock car racer.

02/07/1963

Alicia Patterson, American publisher, co-founded Newsday (born 1906)

Alicia Patterson was an American journalist, and cofounder and editor of New York daily newspaper Newsday. She created the Deathless Deer comic strip with Neysa McMein in 1943.

02/07/1961

Ernest Hemingway, American novelist, short story writer, and journalist, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1899)

Ernest Miller Hemingway was an American novelist, short-story writer, and journalist. Known for an economical, understated style that influenced later 20th-century writers, he has been romanticized for his adventurous lifestyle and outspoken, blunt public image. Some of his seven novels, six short-story collections and two non-fiction works have become classics of American literature, and he was awarded the 1954 Nobel Prize in Literature.

02/07/1955

Edward Lawson, English soldier, Victoria Cross recipient (born 1873)

Edward Lawson VC was an English recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces.

02/07/1932

Manuel II of Portugal (born 1889)

Dom Manuel II, sometimes known as the Unfortunate or the Patriot, was the last king of Portugal, reigning from 1908 until 1910.

02/07/1929

Gladys Brockwell, American actress (born 1894)

Gladys Brockwell was an American actress whose career began during the silent film era.

02/07/1926

Émile Coué, French psychologist and pharmacist (born 1857)

Émile Coué de la Châtaigneraie was a French psychologist, pharmacist, and hypnotist who introduced a popular method of psychotherapy and self-improvement based on optimistic autosuggestion.It was in no small measure [Coué's] wholehearted devotion to a self-imposed task that enabled him, in less than a quarter of a century, to rise from obscurity to the position of the world’s most famous psychological exponent. Indeed, one might truly say that Coué sidetracked inefficient hypnotism [mistakenly based upon supposed operator dominance over a subject], and paved the way for the efficient, and truly scientific.

02/07/1920

William Louis Marshall, American general and engineer (born 1846)

William Louis Marshall was an influential figure in the US Corps of Engineers.

02/07/1915

Porfirio Díaz, Mexican general and politician, 29th President of Mexico (born 1830)

José de la Cruz Porfirio Díaz Mori, commonly known as Porfirio Díaz, was a Mexican general and politician who was the dictator of Mexico from 1876 until his overthrow in 1911. Seizing power in a military coup, he served as president of Mexico on three occasions, a total of over thirty years, the longest of any Mexican ruler. This period is known as the Porfiriato and has been called a de facto dictatorship.

02/07/1914

Joseph Chamberlain, English businessman and politician, Secretary of State for the Colonies (born 1836)

Joseph Chamberlain was a British statesman who was first a radical Liberal, then a Liberal Unionist after opposing home rule for Ireland, and eventually was a leading imperialist in coalition with the Conservatives. He split both major British parties in the course of his career. He was the father, by different marriages, of Nobel Peace Prize winner Austen Chamberlain and of Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain.

02/07/1912

Tom Richardson, English cricketer (born 1870)

Tom Richardson was an English cricketer. A fast bowler, Richardson relied to a great extent on the break-back, a relatively long run-up and high arm which allowed him to gain sharp lift on fast pitches even from the full, straight length he always bowled. He played 358 first-class cricket matches including 14 Tests, taking a total of 2,104 wickets. In the four consecutive seasons from 1894 to 1897 he took 1,005 wickets, a figure surpassed over such a period only by the slow bowler Tich Freeman. He took 290 wickets in 1895, again a figure only exceeded by Freeman (twice). In 1963 Neville Cardus selected him as one of his "Six Giants of the Wisden Century".

02/07/1903

Ed Delahanty, American baseball player (born 1867)

Edward James Delahanty, nicknamed "Big Ed", was an American professional baseball player, who spent his Major League Baseball (MLB) playing career with the Philadelphia Quakers, Cleveland Infants, Philadelphia Phillies, and Washington Senators. He was renowned as one of the game's early power hitters, and while primarily a left fielder, also spent time as an infielder. Delahanty won two batting titles, batted over .400 three times, and has the seventh-highest career batting average in MLB history. In 1945, Delahanty was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame. Delahanty died as a result of falling into the Niagara River or being swept over Niagara Falls (undetermined), after being removed from a train for being drunk and disorderly.

02/07/1857

Carlo Pisacane, Italian soldier and philosopher (born 1818)

Carlo Pisacane, Duke of San Giovanni was an Italian patriot and one of the first Italian socialist thinkers. He was an early advocate of propaganda by deed, arguing that violence was necessary not only to draw attention to, or generate publicity for, a cause, but also to inform, educate, and ultimately rally the masses behind the revolution.

02/07/1850

Robert Peel, English lieutenant and politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (born 1788)

Sir Robert Peel, 2nd Baronet, was a British Conservative statesman who twice was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, and simultaneously was Chancellor of the Exchequer (1834–1835). He previously was Home Secretary twice. He is regarded as the father of modern British policing, owing to his founding of the Metropolitan Police while he was Home Secretary. Peel was one of the founders of the modern Conservative Party.

02/07/1843

Samuel Hahnemann, German physician and academic (born 1755)

Christian Friedrich Samuel Hahnemann was a German medical doctor, best known for creating the pseudoscientific system of alternative medicine called homeopathy.

02/07/1833

Gervasio Antonio de Posadas, Argentinian lawyer and politician, 1st Supreme Director of the United Provinces of the Río de la Plata (born 1757)

Gervasio Antonio de Posadas y Dávila was an Argentine lawyer and statesman who served as the first Supreme Director of the United Provinces of the Río de la Plata from 31 January 1814 to 9 January 1815, after having been a member of the Second Triumvirate in 1813–1814.

02/07/1778

Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Swiss philosopher and composer (born 1712)

Jean-Jacques Rousseau was a Genevan philosopher, philosophe, writer, and composer. His political philosophy influenced the progress of the Age of Enlightenment throughout Europe, as well as aspects of the French Revolution and the development of modern political, economic, and educational thought.

02/07/1746

Thomas Baker, English antiquarian and author (born 1656)

Thomas Baker was an English antiquarian.

02/07/1743

Spencer Compton, 1st Earl of Wilmington, English politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (born 1673)

Spencer Compton, 1st Earl of Wilmington was a British Whig statesman who served continuously in government from 1715 until his death in 1743. He sat in the English and British House of Commons between 1698 and 1728, and was then raised to the peerage and sat in the House of Lords. He served as prime minister of Great Britain from 1742 until his death in 1743. He is considered to have been Britain's second prime minister, after Robert Walpole, but worked closely with the Secretary of State, Lord Carteret, in order to secure the support of the various factions making up the government.

02/07/1674

Eberhard III, Duke of Württemberg (born 1614)

Eberhard III ruled as Duke of Württemberg from 1628 until his death in 1674.

02/07/1656

François-Marie, comte de Broglie, Italian-French general (born 1611)

François-Marie, comte de Broglie and comte de Revel was a prominent soldier and commander in the Thirty Years' War.

02/07/1621

Thomas Harriot, English astronomer, mathematician, and ethnographer (born 1560)

Thomas Harriot, also spelled Harriott, Hariot or Heriot, was an English astronomer, mathematician, ethnographer and translator to whom the theory of refraction is attributed. Thomas Harriot was also recognized for his contributions in navigational techniques, working closely with John White to create advanced maps for navigation. While Harriot worked extensively on numerous papers on the subjects of astronomy, mathematics and navigation, he remains obscure because he published little of it, namely only The Briefe and True Report of the New Found Land of Virginia (1588). This book includes descriptions of English settlements and financial issues in Virginia at the time. He is sometimes credited with the introduction of the potato to the British Isles. Harriot invented binary notation and arithmetic several decades before Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz, but this remained unknown until the 1920s. He was also the first person to make a drawing of the Moon through a telescope, on 5 August 1609, about four months before Galileo Galilei.

02/07/1591

Vincenzo Galilei, Italian lute player and composer (born 1520)

Vincenzo Galilei was an Italian lutenist, composer, and music theorist. His children included the astronomer and physicist Galileo Galilei and the lute virtuoso and composer Michelagnolo Galilei. Vincenzo was a figure in the musical life of the late Renaissance and contributed significantly to the musical revolution that demarcates the beginning of the Baroque era.

02/07/1582

Akechi Mitsuhide, Japanese samurai and warlord (born 1528)

Akechi Mitsuhide , first called Jūbei from his clan and later Koretō Hyūga no Kami (惟任日向守) from his title, was a Japanese samurai general of the Sengoku period. Mitsuhide was originally a bodyguard of the last Ashikaga shōgun Ashikaga Yoshiaki and later, one of the trusted generals under daimyō Oda Nobunaga during his war of political unification in Japan.

02/07/1578

Thomas Doughty, English explorer

Thomas Doughty was an English nobleman, soldier, scholar and personal secretary of Christopher Hatton. His association with Francis Drake, on a 1577 voyage to raid Spanish treasure fleets, ended in a shipboard trial for treason and witchcraft, and Doughty's execution.

02/07/1566

Nostradamus, French astrologer and author (born 1503)

Michel de Nostredame, usually Latinised as Nostradamus, was a French astrologer, apothecary, physician, and reputed seer, who is best known for his book Les Prophéties, a collection of 942 poetic quatrains allegedly predicting future events.

02/07/1504

Stephen III of Moldavia (born 1434)

Stephen III, better known as Stephen the Great, was Voivode of Moldavia from 1457 until his death. He was one of the most prominent rulers of late medieval Eastern Europe, noted for his long reign, military leadership and astute diplomacy. His efforts to preserve Moldavian autonomy from more powerful neighboring states such as the Ottoman Empire, Poland and Hungary, as well as his aptitude for nation-building and repute as a protector of the Christian faith, made him into a national hero in both Romania and Moldova. He is canonised by the Romanian Orthodox Church.

02/07/1298

Adolf, King of the Romans (born 1220)

Adolf was the count of Nassau from about 1276 and the elected king of Germany from 1292 until his deposition by the prince-electors in 1298. He was never crowned by the pope, which would have secured him the imperial title. He was the first physically and mentally healthy ruler of the Holy Roman Empire ever to be deposed without a papal excommunication. Adolf died shortly afterwards in the Battle of Göllheim fighting against his successor Albert of Habsburg.

02/07/0936

Henry the Fowler, German king (born 876)

Henry the Fowler was the duke of Saxony from 912 and the king of East Francia from 919 until his death in 936. As the first non-Frankish king of East Francia, he established the Ottonian dynasty of kings and emperors, and he is generally considered to be the founder of the medieval German state, known until then as East Francia. An avid hunter, he obtained the epithet "the Fowler" because he was allegedly fixing his birding nets when messengers arrived to inform him that he was to be king.

02/07/0866

Robert the Strong, Frankish nobleman

Robert the Strong was the father of two kings of West Francia: Odo and Robert I of France. His family is named after him and called the Robertians. In 853, he was named missus dominicus by Charles the Bald, King of West Francia. Robert the Strong was the great-grandfather of Hugh Capet and thus the ancestor of all the Capetians.

02/07/0862

Swithun, English bishop and saint (born c. 800)

Swithun was an Anglo-Saxon bishop of Winchester and subsequently patron saint of Winchester Cathedral. His historical importance as bishop is overshadowed by his reputation for posthumous miracle-working.

02/07/0649

Li Jing, Chinese general (born 571)

Li Jing, courtesy name Yaoshi, posthumous name Duke Jingwu of Wei, was a Chinese military general, strategist, and writer who lived in the early Tang dynasty and was most active during the reign of Emperor Taizong. In 630, Li Jing defeated the Göktürks, led by Jieli Khan, with just 3,000 cavalry soldiers in a surprise attack, allowing the Tang Empire to subjugate the Göktürks and reduce them to the status of a vassal under the Tang Empire. Li Jing and Li Shiji are considered the two most prominent early Tang generals.

02/07/0626

Li Jiancheng, Chinese prince (born 589)

Li Jiancheng (Chinese: 李建成; pinyin: Lǐ Jiànchéng; 589 – July 2, 626, formally Crown Prince Yin, nickname Vaishravana, was the first crown prince of the Chinese Tang dynasty. He was the oldest son of the founding emperor Emperor Gaozu and the crown prince after the founding of the dynasty in 618 CE.

Li Yuanji, Chinese prince (born 603)

Li Yuanji, formally Prince La of Chao (巢剌王), more commonly known by the title of Prince of Qi (齊王), nickname Sanhu (三胡), was an imperial prince of the Chinese Tang dynasty. He was a son of the dynasty's founder Emperor Gaozu of Tang, and in the intense rivalry developed between his older brothers Li Jiancheng the Crown Prince and Li Shimin the Prince of Qin, he sided with Li Jiancheng and often advocated drastic actions against Li Shimin, including assassination. In 626, Li Shimin, fearing that Li Jiancheng and Li Yuanji were about to kill him, laid an ambush for them at Xuanwu Gate outside the palace and killed them. Li Shimin then effectively forced Emperor Gaozu to yield the throne to him.

Celebrations & Special Days Worldwide on 2nd July

Christian feast day: Aberoh and Atom (Coptic Church)

Aberoh and Atom are martyrs of the Christian church.

Christian feast day: Bernardino Realino

Bernardino Realino was an Italian Roman Catholic priest and a professed member of the Jesuits. His entire career was devoted to the areas of Naples and Lecce. Realino pursued a career in law and served in several municipal capacities before feeling called to the Jesuit life and being ordained to the priesthood in Naples. He is often dubbed as the "Apostle of Lecce" for his commitment to the poor and for his preaching abilities.

Christian feast day: Feast of the Visitation (Anglicanism; Levoča at Mariánska hora)

In Christianity, the Visitation, also known as the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, refers to the visit of Mary, who was pregnant with Jesus, to Elizabeth, who was pregnant with John the Baptist, in the Gospel of Luke, Luke 1:39–56. The episode is one of the standard scenes shown in cycles of the Life of the Virgin in art, and sometimes in larger cycles of the Life of Christ in art.

Christian feast day: Monegundis

Monegundis was a Frankish hermit and saint. She has been called "a holy recluse". She married and had two daughters, who both died in childhood. Deeply depressed and overcome with grief, she left her husband and became an anchorite in a small cell, living off bread and water. Her fame grew as she performed miracles and became "a leader of a local community of worshippers and attracted those who needed assistance through her gifts of physical healing". She moved to Tours "with her husband's permission", near the shrine and basilica of St. Martin of Tours. Over time, her fame grew there as well, and other women joined her to also become anchorites; eventually, they built a convent there, called St. Pierre-le-Puellier. Her biography was written by hagiographer Gregory of Tours, who was acquainted with her personally, in his De Vita Patrum. Monegundis allegedly performed many miracles during her lifetime and after her death. She died in about 570. Her feast day is 2 July.

Christian feast day: Otto of Bamberg

Otto of Bamberg was a German missionary and papal legate who converted much of medieval Pomerania to Christianity. He was the bishop of Bamberg from 1102 until his death. He was canonized in 1189.

Christian feast day: Oudoceus

Saint Oudoceus (Latin) or Euddogwy (Welsh) is generally known as the third Bishop of Llandaff in South Wales. In reality he was probably a 7th-century bishop at Llandeilo Fawr. Wendy Davies puts his episcopal reign between about 650 and 700.

Christian feast day: Martinian and Processus

Martinian and Processus were Christian martyrs of ancient Rome. Neither the years they lived nor the circumstances of their deaths are known. They are currently buried in St. Peter's Basilica in Rome.

Christian feast day: Pishoy (Coptic Church)

Pshoi, Paisius the Great, as he has been known in Europe since the 5th century AD, Bishoy, Bishūy, Bishāy or Bishiyyah, as his name is pronounced in Arabic, known in the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria as the Star of the Desert and the Beloved of our Good Savior, was a Coptic Desert Father. He is said to have seen Jesus, and been bodily preserved to the present day via incorruptibility at the Monastery of Saint Bishoy in the Nitrian Desert, Egypt. He is venerated by the Oriental Orthodox Churches and the Eastern Orthodox Church, and is known in the latter under the Greek version of his name, Paisios.

Christian feast day: Stephen III of Moldavia

Stephen III, better known as Stephen the Great, was Voivode of Moldavia from 1457 until his death. He was one of the most prominent rulers of late medieval Eastern Europe, noted for his long reign, military leadership and astute diplomacy. His efforts to preserve Moldavian autonomy from more powerful neighboring states such as the Ottoman Empire, Poland and Hungary, as well as his aptitude for nation-building and repute as a protector of the Christian faith, made him into a national hero in both Romania and Moldova. He is canonised by the Romanian Orthodox Church.

Christian feast day: July 2 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)

July 1 - Eastern Orthodox Church calendar - July 3

Flag Day (Curaçao)

A flag day is a flag-related holiday, a day designated for flying a certain flag or a day set aside to celebrate a historical event such as a nation's adoption of its flag.

Palio di Provenzano (Siena, Italy)

The Palio di Siena is a horse race held twice each year, on 2 July and 16 August, in Siena, Italy. Ten horses and riders, bareback and dressed in the appropriate colours, represent ten of the seventeen contrade, or city wards, in a tradition dating back to the 17th century. The Palio held on 2 July is named Palio di Provenzano, in honour of the Madonna of Provenzano, a Marian devotion particular to Siena which developed around an icon from the Terzo Camollia area of the city. The Palio held on 16 August is named Palio dell'Assunta, in honour of the Assumption of Mary.

Police Day (Azerbaijan)

There are several public holidays in Azerbaijan. Public holidays were regulated in the constitution of the Azerbaijan SSR for the first time on 19 May 1921. They are now regulated by the Constitution of Azerbaijan.

What Happened on 2nd July?

29 significant events took place on Sunday, 2nd July — stretching from 626 to 2024. Explore the moments that shaped history on this day.

02/07/2024

A stampede during a religious event in Uttar Pradesh, India, leaves at least 121 people dead and 150 others injured.

On 2 July 2024, a crowd crush occurred at the conclusion of a satsang organised by a self-styled godman in the village of Mughal Garhi in Hathras district of the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. The incident resulted in the deaths of 121 people, most of whom were women and children, and the hospitalisation of at least 150 others. The incident occurred when about 250,000 people showed up for the event, which had permission for at most 80,000.

02/07/2013

A magnitude 6.1 earthquake strikes Aceh, Indonesia, killing at least 42 people and injuring 420 others.

On 2 July 2013, an earthquake struck the Indonesian island of Sumatra with a moment magnitude of 6.1 and a maximum Mercalli intensity of VI (Strong). The strike-slip earthquake killed at least 43 people and injured more than 2,500 others in the province of Aceh where approximately 4,300 homes were damaged or destroyed.

02/07/2005

The Live 8 benefit concerts takes place in the G8 states and in South Africa. More than 1,000 musicians perform and are broadcast on 182 television networks and 2,000 radio networks.

Live 8 was a string of benefit concerts that took place on 2 July 2005, in the G8 states and South Africa. They were timed to precede the G8 conference and summit held at the Gleneagles Hotel in Auchterarder, Scotland, from 6–8 July 2005. Both events also coincided with the 20th anniversary of Live Aid. Run in support of the aims of the UK's Make Poverty History campaign and the Global Call to Action Against Poverty, ten simultaneous concerts were held on 2 July and one on 6 July. On 7 July, the G8 leaders pledged to double 2004 levels of aid to poor nations from US$25 billion to US$50 billion by 2010. Half of the money was to go to Africa. More than 1,000 musicians performed at the concerts, which were broadcast on 182 television networks and 2,000 radio networks. Live 8 was seen by 3 million viewers in the United States according to Nielsen, with an estimated 30 million viewers worldwide. The BBC estimates the global audience to be around 1.5 billion while other estimates place the total audience as high as 2 billion.

02/07/2000

Vicente Fox Quesada is elected the first President of México from an opposition party, the Partido Acción Nacional, after more than 70 years of continuous rule by the Partido Revolucionario Institucional, in the 2000 Mexican general election.

Vicente Fox Quesada is a Mexican businessman and politician who served as the 62nd president of Mexico from 2000 to 2006. After campaigning as a right-wing populist, Fox was elected president on the National Action Party (PAN) ticket in the 2000 election. He became the first president not from the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) since 1929, and the first elected from an opposition party since Francisco I. Madero in 1911. Fox won the election with 43 percent of the vote. Considered a social-welfare promoter, along with Julio Frenk Mora, he formulated, signed and implemented the Seguro Popular which helped circa 55 million independent workers.

02/07/1997

The Bank of Thailand floats the baht, triggering the Asian financial crisis.

The baht is the official currency of Thailand. It is divided into 100 satang. The currency was officially adopted during the Sukhothai period and continuously issued since. Initially issued in the podduang form, King Rama IV decided to switch to flat coins in 1860. The baht was then decimalised in 1897, before which the baht was divided into 8 fueang, each into 8 at, and each into 100 bia. The issuance of currency is the responsibility of the Bank of Thailand. SWIFT ranked the Thai baht as the 10th-most-frequently used world payment currency as of December 2023.

02/07/1994

USAir Flight 1016 crashes near Charlotte Douglas International Airport, killing 37 of the 57 people on board.

USAir Flight 1016 was a regularly scheduled domestic passenger flight in the southeastern United States, between Columbia, South Carolina, and Charlotte, North Carolina. On July 2, 1994, the McDonnell Douglas DC-9-31 operating the flight encountered heavy thunderstorms and microburst-induced windshear while attempting to land, and crashed into heavy trees and a private residence near the airport. The crash and ensuing fire caused 37 fatalities and seriously injured 20 others.

02/07/1993

A mob sets fire to the Hotel Madımak in Sivas, Turkey, where a Alevi cultural festival was taking place, killing 37 people.

Sivas is a city in central Turkey. It is the seat of Sivas Province and Sivas District. Its population is 365,274 (2022).

02/07/1990

In the 1990 Mecca tunnel tragedy, 1,400 Muslim pilgrims are suffocated to death and trampled upon in a pedestrian tunnel leading to the holy city of Mecca.

On 3 July 1990, 1,426 people were suffocated and trampled to death in a crowd crush or stampede event in a tunnel near Mecca during the Hajj.

02/07/1986

Rodrigo Rojas and Carmen Gloria Quintana are burnt alive during a street demonstration against the dictatorship of General Augusto Pinochet in Chile in the Quemados case.

Rodrigo Andrés Rojas de Negri, known as Rodrigo Rojas, was a young photographer who was burned alive during a street demonstration against the dictatorship of General Augusto Pinochet in Chile.

Aeroflot Flight 2306 crashes while attempting an emergency landing at Syktyvkar Airport in Syktyvkar, in present-day Komi Republic, Russia, killing 54 people.

Aeroflot Flight 2306 was a scheduled domestic passenger flight from Vorkuta to Moscow in the Soviet Union, with a stopover in Syktyvkar. The Tupolev Tu-134 operated by Aeroflot crashed on 2 July 1986 during an emergency landing after it departed Syktyvkar, killing 54 of 92 passengers and crew on board.

02/07/1976

End of South Vietnam; Communist North Vietnam annexes the former South Vietnam to form the unified Socialist Republic of Vietnam.

The Provisional Revolutionary Government of the Republic of South Vietnam, was formed on 8 June 1969, by the Democratic Republic of Vietnam, as an armed rival government opposing the government of the Republic of Vietnam under President Nguyễn Văn Thiệu. Delegates of the National Liberation Front of South Vietnam, as well as several smaller groups, participated in its creation.

02/07/1966

France conducts its first nuclear weapon test in the Pacific, on Moruroa Atoll.

The France's 1966–1970 nuclear test series was a group of 22 nuclear tests conducted in 1966–1970. These tests followed the In Ekker series and preceded the 1971–1974 French nuclear tests series.

02/07/1964

Civil rights movement: U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson signs the Civil Rights Act of 1964 meant to prohibit segregation in public places.

The civil rights movement was a social movement in the United States from 1954 to 1968 which aimed to abolish legalized racial segregation, discrimination, and disenfranchisement in the country, which most commonly affected African Americans. The movement had origins in the Reconstruction era in the late 19th century, and modern roots in the 1940s and in Mohandas Gandhi's nonviolent movement in India. After years of nonviolent protests and civil disobedience campaigns, the civil rights movement achieved many of its legislative goals in the 1960s, during which it secured new protections in federal law for the civil rights of all Americans, including the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Voting Rights Act of 1965, and the Civil Rights Act of 1968.

02/07/1937

Amelia Earhart and navigator Fred Noonan are last heard from over the Pacific Ocean and disappear while attempting to make the first equatorial round-the-world flight.

Amelia Mary Earhart was an American aviator and aviation pioneer who became one of the most celebrated figures of early flight.

02/07/1934

The Night of the Long Knives ends after three days of killings.

The Night of the Long Knives, also called the Röhm purge or Operation Hummingbird, was a purge that took place in Nazi Germany from 30 June to 2 July 1934. Chancellor Adolf Hitler, urged on by Hermann Göring and Heinrich Himmler, ordered a series of extrajudicial executions intended to consolidate his power and alleviate the German military's concerns about the role of Ernst Röhm and the Sturmabteilung (SA), the Nazis' paramilitary organization, known colloquially as "Brownshirts". Nazi propaganda presented the murders as a preventive measure against an alleged imminent coup by the SA under Röhm – the so-called Röhm Putsch.

02/07/1921

World War I: U.S. President Warren G. Harding signs the Knox–Porter Resolution formally ending the war between the United States and Germany.

World War I, or the First World War, also known as the Great War, was a global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies and the Central Powers. Major areas of conflict included Europe and the Middle East, as well as parts of Africa and the Asia-Pacific. The war saw important developments in weaponry including tanks, aircraft, artillery, machine guns, and chemical weapons. One of the deadliest conflicts in history, it resulted in an estimated 15 to 22 million military and civilian casualties and genocide. The movement of large numbers of people was a major factor in the deadly Spanish flu pandemic.

02/07/1890

The U.S. Congress passes the Sherman Antitrust Act.

The United States Congress is the legislative branch of the federal government of the United States. It is a bicameral legislature, including a lower body, the U.S. House of Representatives, and an upper body, the U.S. Senate. They both meet in the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C.

02/07/1881

Charles J. Guiteau shoots and fatally wounds U.S. President James A. Garfield (who will die of complications from his wounds on September 19).

Charles Julius Guiteau was an American office seeker who assassinated 20th United States president James A. Garfield in 1881. A failed lawyer suffering from mental illness, Guiteau delusionally believed he had played a major role in Garfield's election victory, for which he should have been rewarded with a consulship. Guiteau felt frustrated and offended by the Garfield administration's rejections of his applications to serve in Vienna or Paris to such a degree that he shot Garfield in Washington, D.C. on July 2, 1881. Garfield died on September 19 from infections related to the wounds. Caught immediately after shooting Garfield, Guiteau was tried, convicted, and publicly executed by hanging on June 30, 1882.

02/07/1863

American Civil War: On the second day of the Battle of Gettysburg - the Battle of Little Round Top takes place and results in a Union victory after the Confederate troops unsuccessfully try to assault the Union left flank.

The American Civil War was a civil war in the United States between the Union and the Confederacy, which was formed in 1861 by states that had seceded from the Union to preserve slavery in the United States, which they saw as threatened because of the election of Abraham Lincoln and the growing abolitionist movement in the North. The war ended with Union victory, the dissolution of the Confederacy and the abolition of slavery, freeing four million African Americans.

02/07/1840

A Ms  7.4 earthquake strikes present-day Turkey and Armenia; combined with the effects of an eruption on Mount Ararat, kills 10,000 people.

An earthquake occurred on 2 July 1840 at 16:00 local time with an epicenter near Mount Ararat, where it triggered an eruption and caused a landslide that destroyed villages. An estimated 10,000 people were killed by the earthquake and its damaging aftershocks. Earthquake catalogs place the surface-wave magnitude at Ms  7.4 and maximum Modified Mercalli intensity scale assigned IX (Violent).

02/07/1823

Bahia Independence Day: The Siege of Salvador ends Portuguese rule in Brazil, with the final defeat of the Portuguese crown loyalists in the province of Bahia.

Bahia is one of the 26 states of Brazil, located in the Northeast Region of the country. It is the fourth-largest Brazilian state by population and the 5th-largest by area. Bahia's capital is the city of Salvador, on a spit of land separating the Bay of All Saints from the Atlantic. Once a stronghold of supporters of direct rule of Brazil by the Portuguese monarchy, and dominated by agricultural, slaving, and ranching interests, Bahia is now a predominantly working-class industrial and agricultural state. The state is home to 7% of the Brazilian population and produces 4.2% of the country's GDP. It is divided into 417 municipalities. The state has a strong tourism power in several regions of its territory beyond the Salvador, Morro de São Paulo, Porto Seguro, Ilhéus, Alto Cariri National Park, Itacaré, Juazeiro with São Francisco River, Lençóis-Chapada Diamantina, Bom Jesus da Lapa, São Desidério etc.

02/07/1776

American Revolution: The Continental Congress adopts the Lee Resolution severing ties with the Kingdom of Great Britain, although the wording of the formal Declaration of Independence is not adopted until July 4.

The American Revolution (1765–1789) was a political movement in the Thirteen Colonies of Great Britain. The movement began as a rebellion and evolved into a revolution resulting in the sovereign United States. These changes were the outcome of the associated American Revolutionary War. The Second Continental Congress, as the provisional government, established the Continental Army and appointed George Washington as its commander-in-chief in 1775. The following year, the Congress passed the Lee Resolution on July 2nd, then unanimously adopted the Declaration of Independence on the Fourth of July. Throughout most of the war, the outcome appeared uncertain. However, in 1781, a decisive victory by Washington and the Continental Army in the Siege of Yorktown led King George III and the Fox–North coalition in government to negotiate the cessation of colonial rule and the acknowledgment of American sovereignty, formalized in the Treaty of Paris in 1783. The Constitution took effect in 1789 and the Bill of Rights was ratified in 1791.

02/07/1645

Wars of the Three Kingdoms: Battle of Alford.

The Wars of the Three Kingdoms is the collective term for a series of conflicts fought between 1639 and 1653 in England, Scotland and Ireland, then separate entities in a personal union under Charles I. They include the 1639 to 1640 Bishops' Wars, the First and Second English Civil Wars, the Irish Confederate Wars, the Cromwellian conquest of Ireland and the Anglo-Scottish War of 1650–1652. They resulted in the execution of Charles I, the abolition of monarchy, and founding of the Commonwealth of England, a unitary state which controlled the British Isles until the Stuart Restoration in 1660.

02/07/1644

English Civil War: Battle of Marston Moor.

The English Civil War or Great Rebellion was a series of civil wars and political machinations between Royalists and Parliamentarians in the Kingdom of England from 1642 to 1651. Part of the wider 1639 to 1653 Wars of the Three Kingdoms, the struggle consisted of the First English Civil War and the Second English Civil War. The Anglo-Scottish war of 1650 to 1652 is sometimes referred to as the Third English Civil War.

02/07/1582

Battle of Yamazaki: Toyotomi Hideyoshi defeats Akechi Mitsuhide.

The Battle of Yamazaki was fought in 1582 in Yamazaki, Japan, located in current-day Kyoto Prefecture. This battle is sometimes referred to as the Battle of Mt. Tennō.

02/07/1494

Age of Discovery: The Treaty of Tordesillas is ratified by Spain.

The Age of Discovery, also known as the Age of Exploration, was part of the early modern period and overlapped with the Age of Sail. It was a period from approximately the 15th to the 17th century, during which seafarers from European countries explored, colonized, and conquered regions across the globe. The Age of Discovery was a transformative period when previously isolated parts of the world became connected to form the world-system, and laid the groundwork for globalization. The extensive overseas exploration, particularly the opening of maritime routes to the East Indies and European colonization of the Americas by the Spaniards and Portuguese, later joined by the English, French, and Dutch, spurred international global trade. The interconnected global economy of the 21st century has its origins in the expansion of trade networks during this era. The exploration created colonial empires and marked an increased adoption of colonialism as a government policy in several European states. As such, it is sometimes synonymous with the first wave of European colonization. This colonization reshaped power dynamics causing geopolitical shifts in Europe and creating new centers of power beyond Europe.

02/07/1298

Battle of Göllheim: Albert I of Habsburg defeats Adolf of Nassau-Weilburg.

The Battle of Göllheim was fought on 2 July 1298 between the forces of duke Albert I of Habsburg and king Adolf of Nassau following the unilateral decision of the prince electors, without any formal election, to dethrone Adolf and proclaim Albert as king. Adolf died in the battle.

02/07/0866

Battle of Brissarthe: The Franks led by Robert the Strong are defeated by a joint Breton-Viking army.

The Battle of Brissarthe was fought on 2 July 866, between the West Franks and a joint Breton-Viking army near Brissarthe, Neustria. It was marked by the death of Robert the Strong, the Neustrian margrave, and Ranulf I, the duke of Aquitaine, and an ancestor of all the kings of France from 987 to 1848.

02/07/0626

Li Shimin, the future Emperor Taizong of Tang, ambushes and kills his rival brothers Li Yuanji and Li Jiancheng in the Xuanwu Gate Incident.

Emperor Taizong of Tang, previously Prince of Qin, personal name Li Shimin, was the second emperor of the Tang dynasty of China, ruling from 626 to 649. He is traditionally regarded as a co-founder of the dynasty for his role in encouraging his father Li Yuan to rebel against the Sui dynasty at Jinyang in 617. Taizong subsequently played a pivotal role in defeating several of the dynasty's most dangerous opponents and solidifying its rule over China proper.

On this day

World UFO Day

2nd July in the Stars – Star Sign Cancer

Personality Profile

Fun Facts About 2nd July

Famous Birthdays on 2nd July

Julia Grabher, Austrian tennis player

Ryan Murphy, American swimmer

Henrik Kristoffersen, Norwegian skier

Derrick White, American basketball player

Vince Staples, American rapper and actor

Saweetie, American rapper

Madison Chock, American ice dancer

Jānis Timma, Latvian basketball player

Kayla Harrison, American judoka

Merritt Mathias, American soccer player

Morag McLellan, Scottish field hockey player

Margot Robbie, Australian actress and producer

Danny Rose, English footballer

Bill Tupou, New Zealand rugby league player

Nadezhda Grishaeva, Russian basketball player

Alex Morgan, American soccer player

Lee Chung-yong, South Korean footballer

Esteban Granero, Spanish footballer

Brett Cecil, American baseball player

Lindsay Lohan, American actress and singer

Chad Henne, American football player

Ashley Tisdale, American actress, singer, and producer

Thomas Kortegaard, Danish footballer

Johnny Weir, American figure skater

Michelle Branch, American singer-songwriter and guitarist

Kyle Hogg, English cricketer

Nathan Ellington, English footballer

Carlos Rogers, American football player

Nyjer Morgan, American baseball player

Walter Davis, American triple jumper

Ahmed al-Ghamdi, Saudi Arabian terrorist, hijacker of United Airlines Flight 175 (died 2001)

Sam Hornish Jr., American race car driver

Joe Thornton, Canadian ice hockey player

Jüri Ratas, Estonian politician, 42nd Mayor of Tallinn

Deniz Barış, Turkish footballer

Krisztián Lisztes, Hungarian footballer

Tomáš Vokoun, Czech-American ice hockey player

Ľudovít Ódor, Prime minister of Slovakia

Éric Dazé, Canadian ice hockey player

Kristen Michal, Estonian lawyer and politician

Elizabeth Reaser, American actress

Stefan Terblanche, South African rugby player

Sean Casey, American baseball player and sportscaster

Darren Shan, Irish author

Troy Brown, American football player and actor

Bryan Redpath, Scottish rugby player and coach

Derrick Adkins, American hurdler

Steve Morrow, Northern Irish footballer and manager

Tim Rodber, English rugby player

Norbert Röttgen, German lawyer and politician

Jose Canseco, Cuban-American baseball player and mixed martial artist

Ozzie Canseco, Cuban-American baseball player, coach, and manager

Joe Magrane, American baseball player and sportscaster

Neil Williams, English cricketer (died 2006)

Clark Kellogg, American basketball player and sportscaster

Erwin Olaf, Dutch photographer (died 2023)

Pavan Malhotra, Indian actor

Bret Hart, Canadian wrestler

Jüri Raidla, Estonian lawyer and politician, Estonian Minister of Justice

Purvis Short, American basketball player

Jerry Hall, American model and actress

Kim Carr, Australian educator and politician, 31st Australian Minister for Human Services

Chris Huhne, English journalist and politician, Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change

Wendy Schaal, American actress

Sylvia Rivera, American transgender rights activist (died 2002)

Anatoliy Solomin, Ukrainian race walker and coach

Lynne Brindley, English librarian and academic

Jon Trickett, English politician

Greg Brown, American musician

Robert Paquette, Canadian singer-songwriter and guitarist

Mutula Kilonzo, Kenyan lawyer and politician (died 2013)

Larry David, American actor, comedian, producer, and screenwriter

Ann Taylor, Baroness Taylor of Bolton, English politician, Minister for International Security Strategy

Richard Axel, American neuroscientist and biologist, Nobel Prize laureate