History of 2 July
- 1995 – “Forbes” magazine reported that Microsoft’s chairman, Bill Gates, was the worth $12.9 billion, making him the world’s richest man.
- 1998 – Cable News Network (CNN) retracted a story that alleged that U.S. commandos had used nerve gas to kill American defectors during the Vietnam War.
- 2000 – In Mexico, Vicente Fox Quesada of the National Action Party (PAN) defeated Francisco Labastida Ochoa of the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) in the presidential election. The PRI had controlled the presidency in Mexico since the party was founded in 1929.
- 2001 – The AbioCor self-contained artificial heart is first implanted.
- 2002 – Steve Fossett becomes the first person to fly solo around the world nonstop in a balloon.
- 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.
- 2008 – Colombian conflict: Íngrid Betancourt, a member of the Chamber of Representatives of Colombia, is released from captivity after being held for six and a half years by FARC.
- 2010 – The South Kivu tank truck explosion in the Democratic Republic of the Congo kills at least 230 people.
- 2013 – The International Astronomical Union names Pluto’s fourth and fifth moons, Kerberos and Styx.
- 2013 – A magnitude 6.1 earthquake strikes Aceh, Indonesia, killing at least 42 people and injuring 420 others.
- 2016 – Suicide bombing of Karrada in Baghdad kills at least 341 people.
Celebrating Birthday Today
- 1981 – Nathan Ellington, English footballer
- 1981 – Carlos Rogers, American football player
- 1983 – Michelle Branch, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1983 – Kyle Hogg, English cricketer
- 1984 – Thomas Kortegaard, Danish footballer
- 1984 – Johnny Weir, American figure skater
- 1985 – Rhett Bomar, American football player
- 1985 – Chad Henne, American football player
- 1985 – Ashley Tisdale, American actress, singer, and producer
- 1986 – Brett Cecil, American baseball player
- 1986 – Lindsay Lohan, American actress and singer
- 1987 – Esteban Granero, Spanish footballer
- 1988 – Lee Chung-yong, South Korean footballer
- 1989 – Nadezhda Grishaeva, Russian basketball player
- 1989 – Alex Morgan, American soccer player
- 1990 – Kayla Harrison, American judoka
- 1990 – Merritt Mathias, American soccer player
- 1990 – Morag McLellan, Scottish field hockey player
- 1990 – Margot Robbie, Australian actress and producer
- 1990 – Danny Rose, English footballer
- 1990 – Bill Tupou, New Zealand rugby league player
- 1992 – Madison Chock, American ice dancer[20]
- 1993 – Vince Staples, American rapper and actor
- 1994 – Henrik Kristoffersen, Norwegian skier
- 1995 – Ryan Murphy, American swimmer
- 1996 – Julia Grabher, Austrian tennis player