What Happened on July 27?

  • Bugs Bunny debuted on the silver screen. (1940) Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc., released A Wild Hare, an animated short film debuting one of the greatest cartoon characters in history. Bugs Bunny has been featured in 163 animated shorts and is the Warner Bros. mascot. He is perhaps most well-known for his quote, "Eh...what's up, doc?". A Wild Hare was nominated for an Academy Award.

  • The world's first underwater telegraph cable was installed between Europe and North America. (1866) After five unsuccessful attempts over nine years, Cyrus West Field successfully connected the Atlantic Cable, also called the transatlantic telegraph cable, with the help of Sir James Anderson, captain of the SS Great Eastern. The cable allowed for near instant communication between the two continents.

  • The US House Judiciary Committee started impeachment proceedings against US President Richard M. Nixon. (1974) Nixon, the 37th President of the United States, had gotten mixed up in a political scandal that eventually became known as Watergate, which started with a break-in at the Democratic Party’s national headquarters. President Nixon initially denied any involvement, but secret taped discussions between Nixon and his aides came to light, leading to the impeachment proceedings. Nixon resigned on August 8th that same year, making him the first US President to leave the office voluntarily.

  • Adam Walsh was abducted and later found murdered. His abduction and murder prompted the US television show America's Most Wanted. (1981) Adam's dad, John Walsh, became the host of the popular TV show, which helps law enforcement officials apprehend wanted criminals. The show is the longest-running series ever on the Fox Television Network and has helped capture more than 1,000 fugitives.

  • Insulin was discovered. (1921) Biochemist Frederick Banting led the team of scientists at the University of Toronto in Ontario, Canada, that made the discovery. Within a year, Banting and another scientist, J.J.R. MacLeod, were administering insulin to people with diabetes, saving them from the previously fatal disease. The two scientists later were awarded the Nobel Prize in Medicine.

  • The world's first jet had its first test flight in England. (1949) The British "De Havilland Comet," the first jet-propelled aircraft, conducted test flights for three years before it was used in the first commercial jet service between Johannesburg and London on May 2, 1952. The planes ultimately experienced a number of crashes due to metal fatigue, which grounded the entire fleet.

  • The Department of Foreign Affairs — the first US federal government agency — was established in the US. (1789) Two months later, the department was renamed the Department of State and took on domestic affairs as well.

  • The Chicago Race Riots erupted, lasting five days. (1919) The riots started after a black boy was hit in the head with a rock and killed while on a segregated beach. Over five days, 38 people were killed and more than 500 were injured. It is considered the worst riot in the state of Illinois' history.

  • The Centennial Olympic Park Bombing happened at the Olympic Games in Atlanta, Georgia. (1996) American terrorist Eric Robert Rudolph exploded a pipe bomb, killing two people and injuring more than 100. It was the first of Rudolph's four terrorist attacks. He was captured in 2003 and made a plea bargain where he accepted five consecutive life sentences in lieu of a trial.

  • American comedian Bob Hope died at 100 years old. (2003) The famous actor-comedian was well known for his contributions to the US military and appeared in almost 200 United Service Organization (USO) shows to entertain the troops. For his efforts, the US Congress made him an honorary veteran of the US Armed Forces — the only honorary member in US history. He also famously appeared on an episode of the American television show I Love Lucy, refusing a script and ad-libbing the entire episode. His obituary was accidentally released two separate times before his death, by the Associated Press in 1998 and again by CNN in 2003.

Discussion Comments

Euroxati

One thing I've always enjoyed about America's Most Wanted is that it seems to be a lot less scripted than other reality shows. Sure, there might be some improvising, but as a whole, it does a good job at portraying a man who wants to capture fugitives. This is in contrast to Dog the Bounty Hunter. Even though it follows the same concept, a lot of it seems to be staged. Duane Chapman tends to swear a lot, and for the most part, it seems like it's just there for dramatic effect.

RoyalSpyder

In relation to the fifth bullet point, that's certainly an interesting tidbit of information, as I didn't know about the discovery of insulin. Though there are many people who don't like living with diabetes, and for good reasons, at least there are treatments in this day and age, as it appeared to be fatal many years ago. That's one thing I noticed with a lot of diseases back then. They appeared to be fatal, and even if they were, we have advanced far enough to combat the disease(s) with little to no effort.

Chmander

Bugs Bunny is one of my favorite Looney Tunes characters. With his shrill voice, and the way he gets back at his enemies, he's quite memorable. In my opinion, he's an example of cartoon characters that would soon become stars. In fact, notice how in the 1940's, there seemed to be several concepts for characters which seemed like they wouldn't go anywhere. However, they are now known worldwide.

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