Today is Wednesday, July 27, the 209th day of 2016. There are 157 days left in the year.

In 1789, President George Washington signed a measure establishing the Department of Foreign Affairs, forerunner of the Department of State.

In 1866, Cyrus W. Field finished laying out the first successful underwater telegraph cable between North America and Europe (a previous cable in 1858 burned out after only a few weeks’ use).

In 1921, Canadian researcher Frederick Banting and his assistant, Charles Best, succeeded in isolating the hormone insulin at the University of Toronto.

In 1946, American author, poet and publisher Gertrude Stein, 72, died in Neuilly-sur-Seine, France.

In 1953, the Korean War armistice was signed at Panmunjom, ending three years of fighting.

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

In 1995, the Korean War Veterans Memorial was dedicated in Washington by President Bill Clinton and South Korean President Kim Young-sam.

In 2003, comedian Bob Hope died in Toluca Lake, California, at age 100.