Today in History

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July 2, 2009

Anonymous The Eagle Tribune Thu Jul 02, 2009, 02:10 PM EDT

Today is Thursday, July 2, the 183rd day of 2009. There are 182 days left in the year.

Today's Highlight in History:

On July 2, 1776, the Continental Congress passed a resolution saying that "these United Colonies are, and of right ought to be, free and independent States."

On this date:

In 1809, Shawnee leader Tecumseh began organizing an Indian Confederacy to resist the growing spread of white American settlers.

In 1881, President James A. Garfield was shot by Charles J. Guiteau at the Washington railroad station; Garfield died the following September. (Guiteau was hanged in June 1882.)

In 1926, the United States Army Air Corps was created.

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

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

In 1989, former Soviet Foreign Minister Andrei Gromyko died in Moscow at age 79.

In 1996, electricity and phone service were knocked out for millions of customers from Canada to the Southwest after power lines throughout the West failed on a record-hot day.

Today's Birthdays: Former Philippine first lady Imelda Marcos is 80. Actor Robert Ito is 78. Actress Polly Holliday is 72. Former White House chief of staff John H. Sununu is 70. Writer-director-comedian Larry David is 62. Actor Saul Rubinek is 61. Rock musician Roy Bittan (Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band) is 60. Rock musician Gene Taylor is 57. Actress-model Jerry Hall is 53. Actress Yancy Butler is 39. Baseball player Sean Casey is 35. Contemporary Christian musician Melodee DeVevo (Casting Crowns) is 33. Race car driver Sam Hornish Jr. is 30. Singer Michelle Branch is 26. Actress Vanessa Lee Chester is 25. Figure skater Johnny Weir is 25. Actress-singer Ashley Tisdale is 24. Actress Lindsay Lohan is 23.

Thought for Today: "The instinctive feeling of a great people is often wiser than its wisest men." — Louis Kossuth, Hungarian statesman (1802-1894).