Today in History, June 27

Every day is flush with history. June 27^th is certainly no exception.

1542 - Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo claims California for Spain

1652 - First speed limit law passed in the United States in New Amsterdam, now New York City

1778 - After the British left, the Liberty Bell returned to Philadelphia

1833 - For conducting an academy for black females at Canterbury Conn, a white woman, Prudence Crandall, is arrested

1847 - Telegraph wires connect New York and Boston

1867 - Bank of California opens

1893 - Great stock crash on New York Stock Exchange

1914 - Treaty of Commerce signed between United States and Ethiopia

1922 - Hendrik Van Loon is presented with the first Newberry Medal for kids literature

1940 - Soviet Army attacks Romania and U.S.S.R. returns to Gregorian calendar

1941 - In Amsterdam, Nazi manifest against the Jews

1950 - As North Koreans troop reach Seoul, President Truman orders Air Force and Navy into Korean conflict, and United Nations asks members to aid South Korea; the United States also sends 35 military advisors to South Vietnam

1954 - The elected government of Guatemala is overthrown by CIA-sponsored rebels

1955 - In Illinois, the first automobile seat belt legislation is enacted

1957 - 526 are killed in Louisiana and Texas by Hurricane Audrey

1962 - Ross Perot begins Electronic Data Systems, EDS

1963 - President Kennedy spends his first full day in Ireland

1966 - ABC-TV premiers the first sci-fi soap opera, "Dark Shadows."

1969 - The police raid Stonewall Gay Bar in Greenwich Village, New York. From 400 to 1000 patrons riot against the police and this lasts for three days.

1973 - John W Dean tells the Watergate Committee about Nixon's "enemies list," and "Live and Let Die" debuts in the United States

1974 - President Nixon visits the U.S.S.R.

1979 - Mohammed Ali retires as the boxing champ, and, Supreme Court rules that employers may use quotas to help minorities

1980 - The United States revives the draft registration and the first female state police graduates in New Jersey

1981 - "Bette Davis Eyes" by Kim Carnes returns to the number one slot and Cambodia adopts its constitution