June 27: U.S. in Korean War, Do Not Call List formed

June 27, 10:19 PMPortland History ExaminerNatalie Leavitt

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Maine Fast Fact: The first Maine railroad was the Calais Railroad, built to transport lumber from a mill on the Saint Croix River down two miles to the tidewater in the city of Calais in 1835.

Births:

• 1880: Helen Keller, American deaf and blind activist
• 1927: Robert James Keeshan, American television producer and actor, known for his television show series Captain Kangaroo
• 1930: Ross Perot, American businessman and politician
• 1942: Bruce Johnston, American musician, part of the group The Beach Boys
• 1949: Vera Wang, American fashion designer
• 1975: Tobey Maguire, American actor
• 1986: Drake Bell, American actor, guitarist, comedian and singer/songwriter

Deaths:

• 2001: Jack Lemmon, American actor
• 2002: John Entwistle, English bassist for the group The Who
• 2003: David Newman, American filmmaker
• 2004: George Patton IV, American general
• 2005: John T. Walton, American businessman, son of Wal-Mart founder Sam Walton

History:

• 1846: Boston and New York are connected by telegraph wires.
• 1893: The New York stock market crashes.
• 1950: President Harry Truman decides to send U.S. troops to fight in the Korean War.
• 1954: The first nuclear power station in the world opens in Obninsk, Russia.
• 1957: Hurricane Audrey strikes Louisiana and Texas, killing 500 people.
• 1967: The first ATM in the world is installed in Enfield, London.
• 1969: The Stonewall riots occur in the Stonewall Inn, a gay bar in Manhattan’s Greenwich Village, marking the beginning of the gay rights movement.
• 1980: President Jimmy Carter signs legislation to restore the draft registration.
• 1982: Space Shuttle Columbia launches from the Kennedy Space Center for its fourth mission.
• 1985: U.S. Route 66 ends its run as an official U.S. highway.
• 1991: After declaring its independence on June 25, 1991, Slovenia is invaded by Yugoslav, starting the Ten-Day War.
• 2003: The United States National Do Not Call Registry is formed by the Federal Trade Commission to end calls from telemarketers and enrolls more than 735,000 phone numbers on its first day.
• 2008: Bill Gates retires as Chairman of Microsoft Corporation to work full time for the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

June 27 is National HIV Testing Day in the United States. It was created in 1993 by the National Association of People with AIDS. Each year has a theme and the theme of 2009 is “Take the Test, Take Control.” The testing day is a day to encourage people around the country to get tested for HIV/AIDS to stop the spread of the disease.