This day in history

[July 27, 2010]  (AP)  Today is Tuesday, July 27, the 208th day of 2010. There are 157 days left in the year.

Today's highlight in history:

On July 27, 1960, Vice President Richard M. Nixon was nominated for president on the first ballot at the Republican national convention in Chicago.

On this date:

In 1789, President George Washington signed a measure establishing the Department of Foreign Affairs, forerunner of the Department of State.

In 1794, French revolutionary leader Maximilien Robespierre was overthrown and placed under arrest; he was executed the following day.

In 1866, Cyrus W. Field finished laying out the first successful underwater telegraph cable between North America and Europe (a previous cable in 1858 burned out after only a few weeks' use).

In 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, Va., for one hour and 12 minutes.

In 1919, race-related rioting erupted in Chicago; the violence, which claimed the lives of 23 blacks and 15 whites, lasted until Aug. 3.

In 1940, Bugs Bunny made his "official" debut in the Warner Bros. animated cartoon "A Wild Hare." (There had been previous incarnations of the "wascally wabbit," but this is considered the first definitive example of his now-familiar persona.)

In 1953, the Korean War armistice was signed at Panmunjom, ending three years of fighting.

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 in Washington that violence was "as American as cherry pie."

In 1974, the House Judiciary Committee voted 27-11 to adopt the first of three articles of impeachment against President Richard Nixon, charging he had personally engaged in a course of conduct designed to obstruct justice in the Watergate case.

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.

Ten years ago: Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic (sloh-BOH'-dahn mee-LOH'-shuh-vich) called presidential, parliamentary and local elections for the following September. (The election would result in Milosevic's fall from power.)

Five years ago: NASA said a sizable chunk of foam insulation came flying off the shuttle Discovery's fuel bank during liftoff, prompting the space agency to ground future shuttle flights until the problem could be fixed. Al-Qaida in Iraq said it had killed two kidnapped Algerian diplomats. Ahmed Ressam, an Algerian who'd plotted to bomb the Los Angeles airport on the eve of the millennium, was sentenced to 22 years in prison by a federal judge in Seattle. (However, a three-judge panel of the 9th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruled in Feb. 2010 that the 22-year sentence was too lenient; Ressam's attorney is appealing that decision.)

One year ago: The presidents of Taiwan and China exchanged direct messages for the first time since the two sides split 60 years earlier. A sailboat with an estimated 200 Haitians aboard ran aground on a reef and sank off the Turks and Caicos Islands; rescuers pulled 113 survivors from reefs but dozens others were missing and feared dead. Michael Vick was reinstated by NFL commissioner Roger Goodell.

Today's birthdays: TV producer Norman Lear is 88. Rhythm-and-blues singer Harvey Fuqua (FYOO'-kwah) is 81. Actor Jerry Van Dyke is 79. Sportscaster Irv Cross is 71. Actor John Pleshette is 68. Singer Bobbie Gentry is 66. Actress-director Betty Thomas is 62. Olympic gold medal figure skater Peggy Fleming is 62. Actor Maury Chaykin is 61. Singer Maureen McGovern is 61. Actress Janet Eilber is 59. Actress Roxanne Hart is 58. Country musician Duncan Cameron is 54. Comedian-actress-writer Carol Leifer is 54. Comedian Bill Engvall is 53. Jazz singer Karrin Allyson is 48. Country singer Stacy Dean Campbell is 43. Rock singer Juliana Hatfield is 43. Actor Julian McMahon is 42. Comedian Maya Rudolph is 38. Rock musician Abe Cunningham is 37. Singer-songwriter Pete Yorn is 36. MLB player Alex Rodriguez is 35. Actor Jonathan Rhys (rees) Meyers is 33. Singer Cheyenne Kimball is 20.

Thought for today: "The sentimentalist ages far more quickly than the person who loves his work and enjoys new challenges." -- Lillie Langtry, English actress (1853-1929).

[Associated Press]

Copyright 2010 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.