Wednesday, July 27

This Day In History

• 1694   The Bank of England received a royal charter as a commercial institution.
• 1775   Benjamin Church began his service as the first Surgeon General of the Continental Army.
• 1789   Congress established the Department of Foreign Affairs, the forerunner of the State Department.
• 1861   Union Gen. George B. McClellan was put in command of the Army of the Potomac.
• 1866   After two failures, Cyrus W. Field succeeded in laying the first underwater telegraph cable between North America and Europe.
• 1909   Orville Wright (one of the famous Wright Brothers, along with Wilbur) set a record for the longest airplane flight. Orville was testing the Army's first airplane and kept it aloft for 1 hour, 12 minutes and 40 seconds over Fort Myer, Virginia. He was so tired from the experience that he crash-landed the plane. He and his passenger (name unknown) were OK.
• 1940   Bugs Bunny made his debut in the Warner Bros. animated cartoon ''A Wild Hare.''
• 1960   Vice President Richard Nixon was nominated for president at the Republican national convention in Chicago.
• 1967   In the wake of urban rioting, President Lyndon B. Johnson appointed the Kerner Commission to assess the causes of the violence. The same day, black militant H. Rap Brown said violence was ''as American as cherry pie.''
• 1974   The House Judiciary Committee voted 27-11 to recommend President Richard Nixon's impeachment on a charge that he had personally engaged in a ''course of conduct'' designed to obstruct justice in the Watergate case.
• 1980   The deposed Shah of Iran died at a military hospital outside Cairo, Egypt, at age 60.
• 1992   Boston Celtics star Reggie Lewis died after collapsing on a Brandeis University basketball court during practice; he was 27.
• 1995   The Korean War Veterans Memorial was dedicated in Washington, D.C., by President Bill Clinton and South Korean President Kim Young-sam.
• 1996   A pipe bomb exploded at a public park during the Olympic games in Atlanta, killing one person and injuring more than 100.
• 2003   Comedian Bob Hope died in Toluca Lake, Calif., at age 100.
• 2003   Lance Armstrong wins a record-tying fifth straight title in the Tour de France.

Happy Birthday To

• 1922   Norman Lear (Emmy Award-winning producer: All in the Family [1970-1971, 1971-1972, 1972-1973], Maude, Good Times, Sanford & Son, Powers that Be, The Nancy Walker Show, The Jeffersons, Hot L Baltimore, Fernwood 2-Night)
• 1948   Peggy Fleming (Olympic Hall of Famer: gold medalist: figure skater [1968]; Ice Follies, Holiday on Ice, ABC sports commentator; International Women’s Sports Hall of Famer)