1979 joe thornton canadian ice hockey player 07 02
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1979 47 years ago Notable Births July 2

Joe Thornton, Canadian ice hockey player

On July 2, in the year 1979, Joe Thornton, Canadian ice hockey player. This event is recorded as a Notable Births event in the history of July 2, one of 319 recorded events on this date across all of history.

1 notable person is associated with this event, including Joe Thornton. Learn more below.

Joseph Eric Thornton is a Canadian former professional ice hockey centre. He played for the Boston Bruins, San Jose Sharks, Toronto Maple Leafs and Florida Panthers of the National Hockey League (NHL). He was selected first overall by the Bruins in the 1997 NHL entry draft and went on to play seven seasons with the club, three as its captain. During the 2005–06 season, he was traded to the Sharks. Splitting the campaign between the two teams, he received the Art Ross and Hart Memorial Trophy as the league's leading point-scorer and most valuable player, respectively, becoming the only player in NHL history to win either award in a season played for multiple teams. Thornton went on to play another 14 seasons with the Sharks, including four seasons as team captain and a run to the 2016 Stanley Cup Finals. Thornton was the last active NHL player and the last big 4 North American sports player to have played in the 1990s.

Key Facts

  • This event took place on July 2, 1979 (AD era).
  • It is categorised as a Notable Births event in recorded history.
  • Referenced in 1 Wikipedia article.
  • 1 notable person is recorded as involved in or associated with this event.
  • Wikipedia source last updated on 13 June 2026.

On This Date in History 319

Type Year Date Event
Notable Deaths 2025 Jul 2 Sophia Hutchins, American socialite (born 1996)
Notable Deaths 2025 Jul 2 Julian McMahon, Australian-American actor (born 1968)
Historical Events 2024 Jul 2 A stampede during a religious event in Uttar Pradesh, India, leaves at least 121 people dead and 150 others injured.
Notable Deaths 2020 Jul 2 Ángela Jeria, Chilean archaeologist and human rights activist (born 1926)
Notable Deaths 2020 Jul 2 Byron Bernstein, American Twitch streamer (born 1989)
Selected Events 2020 Jul 2 A landslide at a jade mine in Hpakant killed 175–200 miners, the deadliest mining accident in Burmese history.
Notable Deaths 2019 Jul 2 Lee Iacocca, American automotive executive (born 1924)
Notable Deaths 2018 Jul 2 Alan Longmuir, Scottish musician (born 1948)
Notable Deaths 2017 Jul 2 Vladislav Rastorotsky, a Russian (and former Soviet) artistic gymnastics coach, (born 1933)
Notable Deaths 2017 Jul 2 Smith Hart, American-born Canadian professional wrestler (born 1948)
Notable Deaths 2016 Jul 2 Caroline Aherne, English actress and comedian (born 1963)
Notable Deaths 2016 Jul 2 Michael Cimino, American director, producer, and screenwriter (born 1939)
Notable Deaths 2016 Jul 2 Patrick Manning, 4th & 6th Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago (born 1946)
Notable Deaths 2016 Jul 2 Elie Wiesel, Holocaust survivor, activist, and author (born 1928)
Notable Deaths 2015 Jul 2 Ronald Davison, New Zealand lawyer and judge, 10th Chief Justice of New Zealand (born 1920)
Notable Deaths 2015 Jul 2 Charlie Sanders, American football player and sportscaster (born 1946)
Notable Deaths 2015 Jul 2 Jim Weaver, American football player and coach (born 1945)
Notable Deaths 2015 Jul 2 Jacobo Zabludovsky, Mexican journalist (born 1928)
Notable Deaths 2014 Jul 2 Emilio Álvarez Montalván, Nicaraguan ophthalmologist and politician (born 1919)
Notable Deaths 2014 Jul 2 Manuel Cardona, Spanish physicist and academic (born 1934)
Notable Deaths 2014 Jul 2 Mary Innes-Ker, Duchess of Roxburghe (born 1915)
Notable Deaths 2014 Jul 2 Harold W. Kuhn, American mathematician and academic (born 1925)
Notable Deaths 2014 Jul 2 Louis Zamperini, American runner and World War II US Army Air Forces captain (born 1917)
Historical Events 2013 Jul 2 A magnitude 6.1 earthquake strikes Aceh, Indonesia, killing at least 42 people and injuring 420 others.
Notable Deaths 2013 Jul 2 Anthony G. Bosco, American bishop (born 1927)
Notable Deaths 2013 Jul 2 Douglas Engelbart, American computer scientist, invented the computer mouse (born 1925)
Notable Deaths 2013 Jul 2 Armand Gaudreault, Canadian ice hockey player (born 1921)
Notable Deaths 2013 Jul 2 Anthony Llewellyn, Welsh-American chemist, academic, and astronaut (born 1933)
Selected Events 2013 Jul 2 The International Astronomical Union announced that the fourth and fifth moons of Pluto to be discovered would be…
Selected Events 2013 Jul 2 In the Indonesian province of Aceh on the northern end of Sumatra, a Mw 6.1 strike-slip earthquake killed at least 35…
Notable Deaths 2012 Jul 2 Maurice Chevit, French actor and screenwriter (born 1923)
Notable Deaths 2012 Jul 2 Julian Goodman, American journalist (born 1922)
Notable Deaths 2012 Jul 2 Angelo Mangiarotti, Italian architect and academic (born 1921)
Notable Deaths 2012 Jul 2 Betty Meggers, American archaeologist and academic (born 1921)
Notable Deaths 2012 Jul 2 Ed Stroud, American baseball player (born 1939)
Notable Deaths 2011 Jul 2 Itamar Franco, Brazilian engineer and politician, 33rd President of Brazil (born 1930)
Notable Deaths 2010 Jul 2 Beryl Bainbridge, English screenwriter and author (born 1932)
Notable Deaths 2008 Jul 2 Natasha Shneider, Russian-American singer, keyboard player, and actress (born 1956)
Notable Deaths 2008 Jul 2 Elizabeth Spriggs, English actress and screenwriter (born 1929)
Selected Events 2008 Jul 2 Israeli–Palestinian conflict: An Arab man rammed a loader into traffic in Jerusalem, killing three people and injuring…
Notable Deaths 2007 Jul 2 Beverly Sills, American operatic soprano and television personality (born 1929)
Notable Deaths 2006 Jul 2 Jan Murray, American comedian, actor, and game show host (born 1916)
Historical Events 2005 Jul 2 The Live 8 benefit concerts takes place in the G8 states and in South Africa. More than 1,000 musicians perform and…
Notable Deaths 2005 Jul 2 Ernest Lehman, American director, producer, and screenwriter (born 1915)
Notable Deaths 2005 Jul 2 Norm Prescott, American actor, composer, and producer, co-founded Filmation Studios (born 1927)
Notable Deaths 2004 Jul 2 Mochtar Lubis, Indonesian journalist and author (born 1922)
Notable Deaths 2003 Jul 2 Briggs Cunningham, American race car driver and businessman (born 1907)
Notable Deaths 2002 Jul 2 Ray Brown, American jazz musician and composer (born 1926)
Historical Events 2000 Jul 2 Vicente Fox Quesada is elected the first President of México from an opposition party, the Partido Acción Nacional,…
Notable Deaths 2000 Jul 2 Joey Dunlop, Northern Irish motorcycle racer (born 1952)

This article draws on content from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

People Involved

Joe Thornton

Canadian ice hockey player (born 1979)

birth

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