On July 27, 1953, the U.S., North Korea, South Korea and China agree to an armistice that brings about an end to the Korean War. The armistice created a demilitarized zone between the two Koreas, and gave South Korea slightly more land than it had when the conflict began in June, 1950. On July 27, 1974, the House Judiciary Committee recommends President Richard M. Nixon be impeached on the charge of obstruction of justice in attempting to impede the investigation of the break-in at the Democratic Party national headquarters in the Watergate Complex in Washington. Charges of abuse of power and contempt of Congress will be approved later in the week. On July 27, 1981, 6-year old Adam Walsh is abducted from a mall in Hollywood, FL. His severed head would be found in a drainage canal 100 miles away two weeks later; the rest of his body is never found. Over the next decade, career criminal Ottis Toole would confess and recant on the crime repeatedly from his Death Row cell (from another case), until his death from AIDS in 1996. It wasn't until 2008 that police would say they had found enough evidence to pin the murder on Toole. In the wake of his son's death, John Walsh would co-found the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. He also left his career as a hotel developer and became a TV producer, developing several crime-based programs, most notably America's Most Wanted, which ran for 25 years. In 1994, the Wal Mart chain introduced "Code Adam," a lock down and search procedure in the event a child goes missing in one of their stores. Many other national and regional store chains have copied the procedure.
On July 28, 1868, the 14th Amendment to the Constitution, which grants citizenship to all persons born or naturalized in the U.S. - including former slaves - is adopted into law. The 14th Amendment reaffirms the privileges and rights of all citizens, and grants all citizens "equal protection of the laws." On July 28, 1945 in heavy fog, a U.S. Army Air Corps B-25 twin engine bomber crashes into the Empire State Building in New York City. Fortunately, the crash occurs on a Saturday when the building is mostly empty, but all 3 people on the bomber and 11 people in the building are killed. The structural integrity of the building was not affected, but the impact left a 20-foot wide hole in the building that cost $1 million to repair. https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=20&v=MzCygjiLMfw&feature=emb_logo On July 28, 1935, the Boeing Corp. conducts the first test flight of its Model 299, a prototype for a 4-engine bomber. At the plane's press unveiling the day before, a Seattle Times reporter, seeing the large plane's 5 gun ports, is said to have exclaimed, "My God, its a flying fortress!" Over the next 5 years, the Model 299 evolves into the B-17, more than 12,000 of which will be assembled throughout the war. (top photo, the original Model 299; bottom, the final combat version of the plane, a B-17G)
On July 29, 1958, Congress passes legislation creating the National Aeronautics and Space Administration for coordinating America's activities in outer space. NASA is to operate as a civilian agency. On July 29, 1836, the Arc de Triomphe is dedicated in France as a memorial to the veterans of the nation's Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. At 164 feet tall and 148 feet wide, the Arc is the largest and perhaps most famous war memorial in the world. On July 29, 1588, the English navy defeats the "Invicible" Spanish Armada off the coast of France. Assembled as the vanguard of a planned Spanish invasion of England, the Armada consisted of 130 ships boasting about 2,500 cannon and a 20,000 man invasion force. The English navy is smaller, but its ships are faster and its cannon have a greater range than the Spanish guns. The two sides had exchanged blows for several days, with the English getting the better of the battles. The Armada then retreated to the French port of Calais on the English Channel. On the morning of the 29th, English commanders Lord Charles Howard and Sir Francis Drake had several derelict ships set afire and left to drift into the port. In panic, the Spanish cut anchor lines and rushed into the channel. Unorganized and unprepared for a fight, they were decimated by the English battle line and sailed for the North Sea to escape. Returning to Spain the long way around England in the Atlantic, storms took their further toll, and the Armada would eventually limp into home port in October at less than 50% strength. On July 29, 1981, an estimated 700 million TV viewers worldwide lose their minds over the "royal wedding" of Prince Charles, heir to the throne of England, and Lady Diana Spencer.
On July 30, 1965, President Lyndon Johnson signs the Medicare Act, creating a health insurance program specifically for senior citizens, along with the Medicaid Act, which creates a state-level insurance program for low income citizens. In honor of his having proposed a national health insurance program in 1945, former President Harry Truman is enrolled as the first Medicare member. On July 30, 1864, during the second month of the siege of Petersburg, VA, Union troops detonate 4 tons of gunpowder directly beneath the Confederate line of defense. Troops had spent the previous month digging a 500-foot long tunnel from the Union lines underneath the rebel lines to set the explosives. Incredibly though, in all that time no follow up plan for exploiting the breach was drawn up. As the dust cleared, 15,000 Union troops charge directly into the 30-foot deep crater and become trapped. Rebels lining the edges of the crater hunker down and pick off Yankees by the thousands before the survivor withdraw. The "Battle of the Crater" spells the end of Union General Ambrose Burnside's military career, and the siege of Petersburg goes on another 8 months. (below: "The Crater" today) On July 30, 1976 in Montreal, Bruce Jenner sets a new point record in becoming the 10th American to win the Olympic Decathlon. Jenner becomes an instant celebrity and is hailed "The world's greatest athlete." On July 30, 1956, President Dwight Eisenhower signs into law P.L. 84-140, officially making "In God We Trust" the national motto. The motto will be printed on all U.S. paper currency beginning in 1957, the phrase having already been stamped into U.S. coinage since the mid-19th century.
Mostly rhetorical, just military shit but if the union mostly ended up in the hole that answers most of them.
Part of the story I left out for brevity: Burnside originally selected one of the all-black regiments under his command to lead the charge following the explosion, but his superior, Gen. Meade, overruled him because he didn't want it to look like they were using black troops as cannon fodder. The commander of the regiment chosen to replace them wasn't given enough time to prepare a proper attack plan, which probably contributed to the charge going directly into the crater.
Just seems like such a flawed plan from the start unless you can actually get the enemy to stand directly on top of the blast! Craters are typically decent vehicle obstacles but not so much for pax. Unless of course you fall into your own obstacle and then you are in a pickle.
On July 31, 1964, the unmanned lunar probe Ranger 7 sends back to earth the most clear and detailed images of the moon's surface ever seen to this point. The photos taken by Ranger 7 before it crashed onto the lunar surface offer the first evidence that man can safely land on the moon. On July 31, 1715, the Spanish Treasure Fleet, a fleet of 12 galleons sailing out of Havana with riches plundered during New World expeditions, is struck by a hurricane off the coast of what is now Vero Beach, Florida. 11 of the 12 ships and at least 700 sailors are lost. Most of the treasure is recovered within a year, but the occasional Florida beachcomber still claims to find a gold or silver coin from the shipwrecks. On July 31, 1989, Nintendo introduces the Game Boy to North American consumers. Previous handheld consoles are single-game purposed; the Game Boy is the first designed for multiple games. The original Game Boy comes with one of 5 available game cartridges, such as Super Mario Land or Tetris. Cartridges with other games are sold separately. More than 100 million Game Boy units will be sold worldwide.
