On This Day
2nd July 862 – St. Swithun, Bishop of Winchester died. 1698 – Thomas Savery patented the first steam engine. 1776 – The Continental Congress adopted a resolution severing ties with Great Britain although the wording of the formal Declaration of Independence was not approved until July 4. 1777 – Vermont became the first American territory to abolish slavery. 1839 - 53 African slaves being transported to Cuba on the Spanish merchant ship La Amistad revolted against their captors led by Joseph Cinque. 1850 – The self-contained gas mask was patented by Benjamin J. Lane. 1853 – The Russian Army invaded Turkey, beginning the Crimean War. 1881 – Charles J. Guiteau shot and fatally wounded U.S. President James Garfield, who eventually died on September 19. 1897 – Italian scientist Guglielmo Marconi obtained a patent for radio in London. 1900 - The world's first rigid airship was demonstrated by Ferdinand Graf von Zeppelin on Lake Constance near Friedrichshafen, Germany...