June 27 in History: The First ATM Arrives, Route 66 Ends, and “WALL-E” Hits Theaters

Discover what happened on June 27 in history, featuring milestones in technology, transportation, entertainment, politics, and fascinating moments that helped shape modern life.

What Happened on June 27 in History?

Important events on this day include the installation of the world’s first cash dispenser, the official removal of historic Route 66 from the U.S. Highway System, the launch of Space Shuttle Columbia’s final test mission, and Pixar’s WALL-E debuting in theaters.

JUNE 27 – TODAY IN HISTORY:

1847 – The cities of New York, NY and Boston, MA were linked by telegraph wires.

1859 – The melody of probably the most often sung song in the world, “Happy Birthday to You”, was composed by Mildred J. Hill. She was a school teacher born in Louisville, Kentucky.

1885 – Chichester Bell and Charles S. Tainter applied for a patent for the gramophone. It was granted on May 4, 1886.

1893 – The New York stock market crashed. By the end of the year 600 banks and 74 railroads had gone out of business.

1924 – Democrats offered Mrs. Leroy Springs for vice presidential nomination. She was the first woman considered for the job.

1927 – The U.S. Marines adopted the English bulldog as their mascot.

1929 – Scientists at Bell Laboratories, in New York, NY, revealed a system for transmitting television pictures. The images were of a bouquet of roses and an American flag.

1931 – Igor Sikorsky filed U.S. Patent 1,994,488, which marked the breakthrough in helicopter technology.

1940 – Robert Pershing Wadlow was measured by Dr. Cyril MacBryde and Dr. C. M. Charles. They recorded his height at 8′ 11.1.” He was only 22 at the time of his death on July 15, 1940.

1947 – Ford offered workers a pension plan for the first time. The company would contribute twenty million dollars a year to the fund, allowing workers with thirty or more years of service to draw a retirement income of a $100 — three times  the amount that they would be able to get from Social Security alone.

1955 – The state of Illinois enacted the first automobile seat belt legislation.

1966 – The television drama “Dark Shadows” began running on ABC-TV.

1967 – The world’s first cash dispenser was installed at Barclays Bank in Enfield, England. The device was invented by John Sheppard-Barron. The machine operated on a voucher system and the maximum withdrawal was $28.

1973 – Former White House counsel John W. Dean told the Senate Watergate Committee about an “enemies list” that was kept by the President Richard Nixon White House.

1974 – President Richard Nixon visited the Soviet Union.

1980 – President Jimmy Carter signed legislation reviving draft registration.

1982 – Space Shuttle Columbia launched from the Kennedy Space Center on the final research and development flight mission.

1984 – The Supreme Court ruled that individual colleges could make their own TV package deals.

1984 – The Federal Communications Commission moved to deregulate U.S. commercial TV by lifting most programming requirements and ending day-part restrictions on advertising.

1985 – Route 66 was officially removed from the United States Highway System. Read about my journey on Route 66 here.

1986 – The movie “Labyrinth” debuted in theaters.

1988 – MCA Records bought Motown Records for $61 million.

1989 – Tom Jones was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

1991 – Associate Justice Thurgood Marshall resigned from the Supreme Court. He had been appointed in 1967 by President Lyndon Johnson.

1997 – Nicolas Cage and John Travolta traded faces when the movie “Face/Off” opened in theaters.

1998 – An English woman was impregnated with her dead husband’s sperm after two-year legal battle over her right to the sperm.

2002 – The Securities and Exchange Commission required companies with annual sales of more than $1.2 billion to submit sworn statements backing up the accuracy of their financial reports.

2002 – ABC aired the last regular episode of the TV game show “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire”.

2003 – The National Do Not Call Registry was opened for sign-ups. It was formed to combat unwanted telemarketing calls and administered by the Federal Trade Commission.

2005 – In Alaska’s Denali National Park, a roughly 70-million year old dinosaur track was discovered. The track was form by a three-toed Cretaceous period dinosaur.

2007 – Tony Blair resigned as British Prime Minister, a position he had held since 1997.

2008 – The animated movie “WALL-E” debuted in theaters.

2013 – NASA launched the Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph, a space probe to observe the Sun.

2024 – President Joe Biden debated former president Donald Trump. The debate led to Biden’s withdrawal from the election on July 21.

CELEBRITY BIRTHDAYS ON JUNE 27:

Charles Bronfman – 95 years old (1931) – Canadian-American businessman and philanthropist

Joseph P. Allen – 89 years old (1937) – Physicist and astronaut

Kirkpatrick Sale – 89 years old (1937) – Author and scholar

Bruce Babbitt – 88 years old (1938) – Lawyer and politician, 47th United States Secretary of the Interior

Bill Baxley – 85 years old (1941) – Lawyer and politician, 24th Lieutenant Governor of Alabama

Bruce Johnston – 84 years old (1942) – Singer-songwriter and producer

Ravi Batra – 83 years old (1943) – Indian-American economist and academic

Norma Kamali – 81 years old (1945) – Fashion designer

Camile Baudoin – 78 years old (1948) – Guitarist

Vera Wang – 77 years old (1949) – Fashion designer

Julia Duffy – 75 years old (1951) – Actress

Alice McDermott – 73 years old (1953) – Novelist

Lisa Germano – 68 years old (1958) – Singer-songwriter and guitarist

Dan Jurgens – 67 years old (1959) – Author and illustrator

Lorrie Morgan – 67 years old (1959) – Singer

Craig Hodges – 66 years old (1960) – Basketball player and coach

Michael Mayer – 66 years old (1960) – Theatre director

Johnny Benson Jr. – 63 years old (1963) – Race car driver

Chuck Person – 62 years old (1964) – Basketball player and coach

J. J. Abrams – 60 years old (1966) – Director, producer, and screenwriter

Jeff Conine – 60 years old (1966) – Baseball player and sportscaster

Kelly Ayotte – 58 years old (1968) – Lawyer and politician, Governor of New Hampshire

Jim Edmonds – 56 years old (1970) – Baseball player and sportscaster

Christian Kane – 52 years old (1974) – Singer-songwriter and actor

Christopher O'Neill – 52 years old (1974) – English-American businessman

Ace Darling – 51 years old (1975) – Wrestler

Bianca Del Rio – 51 years old (1975) – Drag queen and comedian

Tobey Maguire – 51 years old (1975) – Actor

Daryle Ward – 51 years old (1975) – Baseball player

Johnny Estrada – 50 years old (1976) – Baseball player

Leigh Nash – 50 years old (1976) – Singer-songwriter

Jennifer Goodridge – 46 years old (1980) – Keyboard player

Craig Terrill – 46 years old (1980) – Football player

Jim Johnson – 43 years old (1983) – Baseball player

Khloé Kardashian – 42 years old (1984) – Model, businesswoman, and radio host

Drake Bell – 40 years old (1986) – Singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actor

Bryan Fletcher – 40 years old (1986) – Skier

LaShawn Merritt – 40 years old (1986) – Sprinter

Kate Ziegler – 38 years old (1988) – Swimmer

Bobby Wagner – 36 years old (1990) – Football player

Monté Morris – 31 years old (1995) – Basketball player

Jehyve Floyd – 29 years old (1997) – Basketball player

Dalton Eatherly – 29 years old (1997) – Livestreamer, better known as Chud the Builder

H.E.R. – 29 years old (1997) – Singer-songwriter

Will Levis – 27 years old (1999) – Football player

Chandler Riggs – 27 years old (1999) – Actor

Chris Olave – 26 years old (2000) – Football player

Kelee Ringo – 24 years old (2002) – Football player

DAYS OF THE YEAR FOR JUNE 27:

For additional information check out websites like: www.on-this-day.com, www.born-today.com, www.famousbirthdays.com, www.daysoftheyear.com, and www.nationaldaycalendar.com.