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Paul Creston

The Sonata for E♭ Alto Saxophone and Piano, Op. 19, was composed by Paul Creston (pictured) in 1939. The sonata was commissioned by Creston's frequent collaborator, the American saxophonist Cecil Leeson. Creston began composition by June; it was completed by the end of August and slated for publication in 1940, although this was postponed to 1945 due to World War II. The sonata is in three movements and takes around thirteen minutes to perform. Its form follows a traditional, Classical-era structure. The sonata as a whole is of considerable difficulty for both players. Creston and Leeson premiered the sonata at the Carnegie Chamber Hall on February 15, 1940. No critics were present at the premiere, but the sonata's 1955 debut recording by Vincent Abato and Creston received a mixed response. Most found the sonata enjoyable, but there was criticism of a perceived simplistic and salon-like styling. (Full article...)

Women's 400 metres final at the 2016 European Athletics Championships

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• ... that Maude Simmons played the mother of Paul Robeson on stage and the mother of Sidney Poitier on screen?
• ... that the Japanese government responded to the rice riots of 1918, which involved up to 10 million participants, with a "candy and whip" policy?

Trifid and Lagoon nebulae

• The Vera C. Rubin Observatory in Chile releases the first light images (example shown) from its new 8.4-metre (28 ft) telescope.
• In basketball, the Oklahoma City Thunder defeat the Indiana Pacers to win the NBA Finals.
• An attack on a Greek Orthodox church in Damascus, Syria, kills at least 25 people.
• The United States conducts military strikes on three nuclear facilities in Iran.
• In rugby union, the Crusaders defeat the Chiefs to win the Super Rugby Pacific final.

July 2

A demonstration against the Soviet blockade of Lithuania

• 1779 – American Revolutionary War: French troops landed near St. George's, Grenada, and began their capture of the island.
• 1990 – Singing Revolution: The Soviet economic blockade of Lithuania (pictured) was lifted when the Lithuanian parliament agreed to suspect the effects of their act to re-establish Lithuania as a state.
• 1998 – Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J. K. Rowling, the second novel of the Harry Potter series, was published
• 2013 – In the Indonesian province of Aceh on the northern end of Sumatra, a M_w 6.1 strike-slip earthquake killed at least 35 people and injured 276 others.
• 2020 – A landslide at a jade mine in Hpakant killed 175-200 miners, the deadliest mining accident in Burmese history.