July 27 Birthday
On July 27, 1953, the Korean War armistice was signed at Panmunjom. The agreement created a Demilitarized Zone along the 38th parallel and established a Military Demarcation Line. No peace treaty was ever signed — the two Koreas remain technically at war. The war lasted three years and one month. 36,574 Americans died. Estimates of Korean deaths range from 2 to 3 million. The armistice was signed by General William Harrison Jr. for the UN and General Nam Il for North Korea. South Korea refused to sign. The DMZ is 160 miles long and 2.5 miles wide. It has become a wildlife sanctuary — nature reclaimed the land that humans abandoned. Norman Lear, born this day in 1922, created All in the Family, Maude, The Jeffersons, Good Times, and Sanford and Son. He transformed American television by addressing topics — racism, abortion, menopause, rape — that had been forbidden. He flew fifty-two combat missions in World War II. People born on July 27 fall under the zodiac sign of Leo. The birthstone is Ruby and the birth flower is Larkspur. Historical events on July 27 include 1953: Korean War armistice signed at Panmunjom, 1996: Centennial Olympic Park bombing kills one at Atlanta Olympics, 1949: First flight of de Havilland Comet, first jet-powered airliner. Famous people born on July 27 include Norman Lear (1922), Peggy Fleming (1948), Jonathan Rhys Meyers (1977).