Today In History

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

1909: Orville Wright tested the U.S. Army’s first airplane, flying himself and a passenger for 1 hour and 12 minutes.

1940: Bugs Bunny made his official debut in the Warner Bros. animated cartoon “A Wild Hare.”

1967: In the wake of urban rioting, President Johnson appointed the Kerner Commission to assess the causes of the violence. The same day, black militant H. Rap Brown said violence was “as American as cherry pie.”

1996: Terror struck the Atlanta Olympics as a pipe bomb exploded at the public Centennial Olympic Park, killing one person and injuring more than 100. American Gail Devers won the women’s 100-meter dash.