Today's Highlight in History:
On July 27th, 1940, Bugs¹ Bunny made his "official" debut² in the Warner Brothers animated³ cartoon "A Wild Hare."
On this date:
In 1789, Congress established the Department of Foreign Affairs, the forerunner⁴ of the Department of State.

In 1794, French revolutionary leader Maximilien Robespierre was overthrown⁵ and placed under arrest; he was executed the following day.

In 1861, Union General George B. McClellan was put in command of the Army of the Potomac.

In 1866, Cyrus W. Field finally succeeded, after two failures, in laying the first underwater telegraph cable between North America and Europe.

In 1953, the Korean War armistice⁶ was signed at Panmunjom, ending three years of fighting.

In 1960, Vice⁷ President Nixon was nominated for president at the Republican national convention in Chicago.

In 1974, the House Judiciary Committee voted 27-to-eleven to recommend President Nixon's impeachment⁸ on a charge that he had personally engaged in a "course of conduct" designed to obstruct⁹ justice in the Watergate case.

In 1976, Air Force veteran Ray Brennan became the first person to die of so-called "Legionnaire's Disease" following an American Legion convention in Philadelphia.

In 1980, on day 267 of the Iranian hostage crisis, the deposed¹⁰ Shah of Iran died at a military hospital outside Cairo, Egypt, at age 60.

In 1996, terror struck the Atlanta Olympics as a pipe bomb exploded at the public Centennial Olympic Park, killing¹¹ one person and injuring more than 100.

Ten years ago: Louisiana Governor Buddy¹² Roemer vetoed a tough abortion¹³ bill passed by his state's legislature. A mistrial was declared in Raymond Buckey's retrial on charges of molesting¹⁴ children at the McMartin Pre-School in California.

Five years ago: The Korean War Veterans Memorial was dedicated¹⁵ in Washington by President Clinton and South Korean President Kim Young-sam.

One year ago: The House approved President Clinton's one-year extension of normal trade with China. In an overwhelming defeat for major league umpires, their threatened walkout collapsed¹⁶ when all of the umpires withdrew their resignations; however, about one-third of them ended up losing their jobs anyway. A flash flood in Switzerland claimed the lives of 21 people, 18 of them tourists. With Air Force Colonel Eileen Collins at the controls, space shuttle "Columbia" returned to Earth, ending a five-day mission.