History of 2 August
1921 – Eight White Sox players were acquitted of throwing the 1919 World Series.
1926 – John Barrymore and Mary Astor starred in the first showing of the Vitaphone system. The system was the combining of picture and sound for movies.
1938 – Bright yellow baseballs were used in a major league baseball game between the Brooklyn Dodgers and the St. Louis Cardinals. It was hoped that the balls would be easier to see.
1939 – Albert Einstein signed a letter to President Roosevelt urging the U.S. to have an atomic weapons research program.
1939 – U.S. President Roosevelt signed the Hatch Act. The act prohibited civil service employees from taking an active part in political campaigns.
1943 – The U.S. Navy patrol torpedo boat, PT-109, sank after being attacked by a Japanese destroyer. The boat was under the command of Lt. John F. Kennedy.
1945 – The Allied conference at Potsdam was concluded.
1964 – The Pentagon reported the first of two North Vietnamese attacks on U.S. destroyers in the Gulf of Tonkin.
1983 – U.S. House of Representatives approved a law that designated the third Monday of January would be a federal holiday in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. The law was signed by President Reagon on November 2.
1987 – “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs” was re-released. The film was 50 years old at the time of its re-release.
1990 – Iraq invaded the oil-rich country of Kuwait. Iraq claimed that Kuwait had driven down oil prices by exceeding production quotas set by OPEC.
1995 – China ordered the expulsion of two U.S. Air Force officers. The two were said to have been caught spying on military sights.
1999 – The Gaisal train disaster claims 285 lives in Assam, India.
2005 – Air France Flight 358 lands at Toronto Pearson International Airport and runs off the runway, causing the plane to burst into flames leaving 12 injuries and no fatalities.
2014 – At least 146 people were killed and more than 114 injured in a factory explosion in Kunshan, Jiangsu, China.
2018 – Apple Inc. became the first U.S. company to be valued at over $1 trillion.
Celebrating Birthday Today
- 1981 – Alexander Emelianenko, Russian mixed martial artist, and boxer
- 1981 – Tim Murtagh, Irish-English cricketer
- 1982 – Hélder Postiga, Portuguese footballer
- 1982 – Kerry Rhodes, American football player
- 1982 – Grady Sizemore, American baseball player
- 1982 – Cynthia Stevenson, American actress
- 1983 – Michel Bastos, Brazilian footballer
- 1984 – Giampaolo Pazzini, Italian footballer
- 1985 – Stephen Ferris, Irish rugby player
- 1985 – David Hart Smith, Canadian wrestler
- 1985 – Britt Nicole, American Christian pop artist
- 1986 – Mathieu Razanakolona, Canadian skier
- 1988 – Golden Tate, American football player
- 1988 – Rob Kwiet, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1989 – Nacer Chadli, Belgian footballer
- 1990 – Ima Bohush, a Belarusian tennis player
- 1994 – Laura Pigossi, a Brazilian tennis player
- 1994 – Laremy Tunsil, American football player
- 1995 – Kristaps Porzingis, Latvian basketball player
- 2000 – Sandeep Lamichhane, Nepalese cricketer