July second

Today's Highlight in History:
On July second, 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 1881, President Garfield was shot by Charles J. Guiteau at the Washington railroad station; Garfield died the following September.

In 1890, Congress passed the Sherman Antitrust Act.

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

In 1937, aviator Amelia Earhart and navigator Fred Noonan disappeared over the Pacific Ocean while attempting to make the first round-the-world flight at the equator.

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

In 1963, President John F. Kennedy met Pope Paul the Sixth at the Vatican, the first meeting between a Roman Catholic US chief executive and the head of the Catholic Church.

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

In 1976, the Supreme Court ruled the death penalty was not inherently cruel or unusual.

In 1994, a US-Air DC-9 crashed in poor weather at Charlotte-Douglas International Airport in North Carolina, killing 37 of the 57 people aboard.

In 1997, actor James Stewart died in Beverly Hills, California, at age 89.

Ten years ago: More than 1400 Muslim pilgrims were killed in a stampede inside a pedestrian tunnel leading to Mecca in Saudi Arabia. The Soviet Union's 28th Communist Party congress opened with an address by President Mikhail S. Gorbachev, who conceded mistakes while defending perestroika.

Five years ago: In Denver, representatives of 34 countries ended an economic summit by endorsing an open-market zone throughout the Western Hemisphere -- excluding Cuba.

One year ago: Former Northwestern University basketball coach Ricky Byrdsong was shot to death in Skokie, Illinois; authorities believe he was the victim of a three-day shooting rampage by white supremacist Benjamin Nathaniel Smith that targeted minorities in Illinois and Indiana. (One other person was killed and several wounded before Smith committed suicide.) "Godfather" author Mario Puzo died on Long Island, New York, at age 78.

"If a man cannot be a Christian in the place where he is, he cannot be a Christian anywhere."

-- Henry Ward Beecher, American clergyman (1813-1887).