TODAY IN HISTORY
TODAY IS THURSDAY, JULY 27, the 208th day of 2017. There are 157 days left in the year. TODAY’S HIGHLIGHT IN HISTORY: On this date in 1967, President Lyndon B. Johnson appointed the Kerner Commission to assess the causes of urban rioting, the same day black militant H. Rap Brown said violence was “as American as cherry pie. Americans taught the black people to be violent. We will use that violence to rid ourselves of oppression if necessary.”
In 1789, President George Washington signed a measure establishing the Department of Foreign Affairs, forerunner of the Department of State.
In 1866, Cyrus W. Field finished laying the first successful underwater telegraph cable between North America and Europe.
In 1921, Canadian researcher Frederick Banting and his assistant, Charles Best, succeeded in isolating the hormone insulin.
In 1942, the First Battle of El Alamein in Egypt ended in a draw as Allied forces stalled the progress of Axis invaders. (The Allies went on to win a victory over the Axis in the Second Battle of El Alamein later that year.)
In 1953, the Korean War armistice was signed at Panmunjom, ending three years of fighting.
In 1974, the House Judiciary Committee voted 27-11 to adopt the first of three articles of impeachment against President Richard Nixon.
In 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.
In 1996, a pipe bomb exploded at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, killing one person and injuring 111. (Anti-government extremist Eric Rudolph later pleaded guilty to the bombing, exonerating the initial suspect, security guard Richard Jewell.) In 2003, comedian Bob Hope died in Toluca Lake, Calif., at age 100.
TODAY’S BIRTHDAYS: TV producer Norman Lear is 95. Actor Jerry Van Dyke is 86. Sportscaster Irv Cross is 78. Actor John Pleshette is 75. Actress-director Betty Thomas is 70. Olympic gold medal figure skater Peggy Fleming is 69. Singer Maureen McGovern is 68. Actress Janet Eilber and rock musician Tris Imboden (Chicago) are 66. Actress Roxanne Hart is 63. Country musician Duncan Cameron and comedian-actress-writer Carol Leifer are 61. Comedian Bill Engvall is 60. Jazz singer Karrin Allyson is 55. Country singer Stacy Dean Campbell and rock singer Juliana Hatfield are 50. Actor Julian McMahon is 49. Actor Nikolaj Coster-Waldau is 47. Comedian Maya Rudolph is 45. Rock musician Abe Coining is 44. Singer-songwriter Pete Yorn is 43. MLB All-Star Alex Rodriguez is 42. Golfer Jordan Spieth is 24.