July 27
1789 - President George Washington signed a measure establishing the Department of Foreign Affairs, forerunner of the Department of State.
1861 - Union Gen. George B. McClellan was put in command of the Army of the Potomac during the Civil War.
1866 - Cyrus W. Field finished laying out the first successful underwater telegraph cable between North America and Europe.
1909 - During the first official test of the U.S. Army's first airplane, Orville Wright flew himself and a passenger, Lt. Frank Lahm, above Fort Myer, Virginia, for one hour and 12 minutes.
1940 - Bugs Bunny made his debut in the cartoon "A Wild Hare."
1940 - Billboard magazine published its first "music popularity chart" listing best-selling retail records. In first place was "I'll Never Smile Again" recorded by Tommy Dorsey and His Orchestra, with featured vocalist Frank Sinatra.
1953 - An armistice was signed bringing an end to the Korean War.
1960 - Vice President Richard M. Nixon was nominated for president on the first ballot at the Republican National Convention in Chicago.
1967 - President Lyndon B. Johnson appointed the Kerner Commission to assess the causes of urban rioting, the same day Black militant H. Rap Brown told a press conference in Washington that violence was "as American as cherry pie."
1974 - The House Judiciary Committee voted to impeach President Richard Nixon for obstructing justice in the Watergate case.
1980 - On day 267 of the Iranian hostage crisis, the deposed Shah of Iran died at a military hospital outside Cairo, Egypt, at age 60.
1981 - Six-year-old Adam Walsh was abducted from a department store in Hollywood, Florida, and was later murdered.
1995 - The Korean War Veterans Memorial was dedicated in Washington, D.C.
1996 - Trror struck the Atlanta Olympics as a pipe bomb exploded at Centennial Olympic Park, directly killing one person and injuring 111. (Anti-government extremist Eric Rudolph later pleaded guilty to the bombing, exonerating security guard Richard Jewell, who had been wrongly suspected.)
2015 - The Boy Scouts of America ended its blanket ban on gay adult leaders while allowing church-sponsored Scout units to maintain the exclusion for religious reasons.
2018 - The White House announced that North Korea had returned the remains of what were believed to be U.S. servicemen killed during the Korean War, with a U.S. military plane making a rare trip into North Korea to retrieve 55 cases of remains.
2018 - The Commerce Department reported that the U.S. economy surged in the second quarter at an annual growth rate of 4.1 percent, the fastest pace since 2014.
2020 - The world's biggest COVID-19 vaccine study began with the first of 30,000 planned volunteers helping to test shots created by the National Institutes of Health and Moderna Inc.
2022 - The last two former Minneapolis police officers who were convicted of violating George Floyd's civil rights were sentenced in federal court. J. Alexander Kueng was sentenced Wednesday to three years and Tou Thao got a 3 ½-year sentence.
Birthdays
29 - Winnie Harlow (model)
30 - Jordan Spieth (golfer)
33 - Cheyenne Kimball (singer)
33 - Kriti Sanon (actress)
33 - Indiana Evans (actress)
39 - Max Scherzer (baseball player)
39 - Taylor Schilling (actress)
40 - Blair Redford (actor)
40 - Heidi Gardner (actress/comedian)
43 - Dolph Ziggler (professional wrestler)
46 - Jonathan Rhys Meyers (actor)
46 - Martha Madison (actress)
48 - Alex Rodriguez (baseball player)
49 - Pete Yorn (singer)
51 - Maya Rudolph (actress/comedian)
54 - Paul "Triple H" Levesque (professional wrestler)
55 - Julian McMahon (actor)
56 - Juliana Hatfield (singer)
56 - Stacy Dean Campbell (singer)
66 - Bill Engvall (comedian)
67 - Carol Leifer (actress/comedian)
69 - Roxanne Hart (actress)
74 - Maureen McGovern (singer)
75 - Peggy Fleming (figure skater)
76 - Betty Thomas (actress)
81 - John Pleshette (actor)
101 - Norman Lear (TV producer)
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Today in Sports History - July 27
1918 - Brooklyn rookie Henry Heitman made his major league debut and his last major league appearance in the same day. He pitched four straight hits to the St. Louis Cardinals, left the game and never played again in the majors.
1921 - Baseball fan Reuben Berman sued the New York Giants, claiming he suffered mental and bodily distress after refusing to return a foul ball May 16th at the Polo Grounds. Berman was eventually rewarded $100.
1983 - Gaylord Perry joins Nolan Ryan and Steve Carlton as the only pitchers to reach 3,500 career strikeouts.
1984 - Pete Rose passed Ty Cobb’s record for most singles in a career when he got his 3,503rd base hit.
1986 - Greg LeMond of the U.S. became the first non-European to capture the Tour de France cycling race.
1992 - Boston Celtics star Reggie Lewis died after collapsing on a Brandeis University basketball court during practice. He was 27 years old.
1992 - China's Fu Mingxia, only two weeks away from her 14th birthday, became the second youngest gold medalist in Olympic history when she won the women's 10-meter platform diving event.
1996 - Canadian Donovan Bailey ran the Men's 100 Meter Dash with a time of 9.84. The previous record was 9.85 held by Leroy Burrell of the United States.
1997 - The Detroit Tigers retire Hal Newhouser's #16.
2001 - Deion Sanders announced his retirement from the NFL.
2003 - Lance Armstrong won a fifth consecutive Tour de France, tying Miguel Indurain's record.
2012 - The Summer Olympic Games opened in London.
2019 - The Philadelphia Phillies revive their reviled 1979 all-burgundy alternate uniforms as part of a "retro night" promotion.
2021 - American gymnast and four-time Olympic gold medalist Simone Biles withdraws from the women's team final at the Tokyo Summer Games citing the need to focus on her mental health. (She would also withdraw from the individual finals.)
1789 - President George Washington signed a measure establishing the Department of Foreign Affairs, forerunner of the Department of State.
1861 - Union Gen. George B. McClellan was put in command of the Army of the Potomac during the Civil War.
1866 - Cyrus W. Field finished laying out the first successful underwater telegraph cable between North America and Europe.
1909 - During the first official test of the U.S. Army's first airplane, Orville Wright flew himself and a passenger, Lt. Frank Lahm, above Fort Myer, Virginia, for one hour and 12 minutes.
1940 - Bugs Bunny made his debut in the cartoon "A Wild Hare."
1940 - Billboard magazine published its first "music popularity chart" listing best-selling retail records. In first place was "I'll Never Smile Again" recorded by Tommy Dorsey and His Orchestra, with featured vocalist Frank Sinatra.
1953 - An armistice was signed bringing an end to the Korean War.
1960 - Vice President Richard M. Nixon was nominated for president on the first ballot at the Republican National Convention in Chicago.
1967 - President Lyndon B. Johnson appointed the Kerner Commission to assess the causes of urban rioting, the same day Black militant H. Rap Brown told a press conference in Washington that violence was "as American as cherry pie."
1974 - The House Judiciary Committee voted to impeach President Richard Nixon for obstructing justice in the Watergate case.
1980 - On day 267 of the Iranian hostage crisis, the deposed Shah of Iran died at a military hospital outside Cairo, Egypt, at age 60.
1981 - Six-year-old Adam Walsh was abducted from a department store in Hollywood, Florida, and was later murdered.
1995 - The Korean War Veterans Memorial was dedicated in Washington, D.C.
1996 - Trror struck the Atlanta Olympics as a pipe bomb exploded at Centennial Olympic Park, directly killing one person and injuring 111. (Anti-government extremist Eric Rudolph later pleaded guilty to the bombing, exonerating security guard Richard Jewell, who had been wrongly suspected.)
2015 - The Boy Scouts of America ended its blanket ban on gay adult leaders while allowing church-sponsored Scout units to maintain the exclusion for religious reasons.
2018 - The White House announced that North Korea had returned the remains of what were believed to be U.S. servicemen killed during the Korean War, with a U.S. military plane making a rare trip into North Korea to retrieve 55 cases of remains.
2018 - The Commerce Department reported that the U.S. economy surged in the second quarter at an annual growth rate of 4.1 percent, the fastest pace since 2014.
2020 - The world's biggest COVID-19 vaccine study began with the first of 30,000 planned volunteers helping to test shots created by the National Institutes of Health and Moderna Inc.
2022 - The last two former Minneapolis police officers who were convicted of violating George Floyd's civil rights were sentenced in federal court. J. Alexander Kueng was sentenced Wednesday to three years and Tou Thao got a 3 ½-year sentence.
Birthdays
29 - Winnie Harlow (model)
30 - Jordan Spieth (golfer)
33 - Cheyenne Kimball (singer)
33 - Kriti Sanon (actress)
33 - Indiana Evans (actress)
39 - Max Scherzer (baseball player)
39 - Taylor Schilling (actress)
40 - Blair Redford (actor)
40 - Heidi Gardner (actress/comedian)
43 - Dolph Ziggler (professional wrestler)
46 - Jonathan Rhys Meyers (actor)
46 - Martha Madison (actress)
48 - Alex Rodriguez (baseball player)
49 - Pete Yorn (singer)
51 - Maya Rudolph (actress/comedian)
54 - Paul "Triple H" Levesque (professional wrestler)
55 - Julian McMahon (actor)
56 - Juliana Hatfield (singer)
56 - Stacy Dean Campbell (singer)
66 - Bill Engvall (comedian)
67 - Carol Leifer (actress/comedian)
69 - Roxanne Hart (actress)
74 - Maureen McGovern (singer)
75 - Peggy Fleming (figure skater)
76 - Betty Thomas (actress)
81 - John Pleshette (actor)
101 - Norman Lear (TV producer)
===========================================
Today in Sports History - July 27
1918 - Brooklyn rookie Henry Heitman made his major league debut and his last major league appearance in the same day. He pitched four straight hits to the St. Louis Cardinals, left the game and never played again in the majors.
1921 - Baseball fan Reuben Berman sued the New York Giants, claiming he suffered mental and bodily distress after refusing to return a foul ball May 16th at the Polo Grounds. Berman was eventually rewarded $100.
1983 - Gaylord Perry joins Nolan Ryan and Steve Carlton as the only pitchers to reach 3,500 career strikeouts.
1984 - Pete Rose passed Ty Cobb’s record for most singles in a career when he got his 3,503rd base hit.
1986 - Greg LeMond of the U.S. became the first non-European to capture the Tour de France cycling race.
1992 - Boston Celtics star Reggie Lewis died after collapsing on a Brandeis University basketball court during practice. He was 27 years old.
1992 - China's Fu Mingxia, only two weeks away from her 14th birthday, became the second youngest gold medalist in Olympic history when she won the women's 10-meter platform diving event.
1996 - Canadian Donovan Bailey ran the Men's 100 Meter Dash with a time of 9.84. The previous record was 9.85 held by Leroy Burrell of the United States.
1997 - The Detroit Tigers retire Hal Newhouser's #16.
2001 - Deion Sanders announced his retirement from the NFL.
2003 - Lance Armstrong won a fifth consecutive Tour de France, tying Miguel Indurain's record.
2012 - The Summer Olympic Games opened in London.
2019 - The Philadelphia Phillies revive their reviled 1979 all-burgundy alternate uniforms as part of a "retro night" promotion.
2021 - American gymnast and four-time Olympic gold medalist Simone Biles withdraws from the women's team final at the Tokyo Summer Games citing the need to focus on her mental health. (She would also withdraw from the individual finals.)