On 2^nd July 1898, 

Anthony C. McAuliffe, United States general was born

On 2^nd July 1908,                       

Thurgood Marshall United States jurist was born

On 2^nd July 1925,           

Patrice Lumumba, the first prime minister of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (1960), was born in Onalua, Belgian Congo

On 2^nd July 1932,         

U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt coined the term “New Deal” in his acceptance speech for the Democratic presidential nomination.

On 2^nd July 1962,               

American businessman Sam Walton opened the first Walmart (then known as Wal-Mart) store, in Rogers, Arkansas; it was the start of what would become the largest retail sales chain in the United States.

On 2^nd July 1964 ,          

U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act, perhaps the most important U.S. law on civil rights since Reconstruction (1865–77) and a hallmark of the American civil rights movement.

On 2^nd July 1979,           

The United States first issued the Susan B. Anthony dollar coin, making Anthony the first woman to be depicted on U.S. currency.

On 2^nd July 2002,               

American adventurer Steve Fossett became the first balloonist to circumnavigate the world alone.

On 2^nd July 2008,           

More than six years after being taken hostage by FARC guerrillas, Colombian politician Ingrid Betancourt was freed during a rescue mission in which army soldiers posed as international aid workers