PARACULTURAL CALENDAR FOR JULY 27

On this day in 1586, Sir Walter Raleigh brings the first ever shipment of tobacco from the New World (Virginia) to England, where the addiction takes firm hold and begins to spread - much like cancerous polyps - across Europe. Eventually, the sweeter leaf makes its way down through the Muslim lands and around Asia until basically, the entire planet is hooked and puffing. Combined with the arrival from the opposite direction of coffee - and caffeine - a mere thirty years later, is it any wonder that the ensuing century would be so productive when compared to, say, the previous ten?

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On this day in 1794, French Revolution: Maximilien Robespierre is arrested after encouraging the execution of more than 17,000 "enemies of the Revolution".

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On this day in 1837, the United States Mint opens in Charlotte, North Carolina. Exactly seven years later to the day - in 1844 - it burns to the ground in a fire. Kinda makes you wonder why they bothered building it in the FIRST place!

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On this day in 1890, painter Vincent van Gogh shoots himself and dies two days later.

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On this day in 1919, the Chicago Race Riot erupts after a racial incident occurred on a South Side beach, leading to 38 fatalities and 537 injuries over a five-day period.

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On this day in 1940, the animated short A Wild Hare is released, introducing the character of Bugs Bunny.

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On this day in 1981, 6 year old Adam Walsh, son of America's Most Wanted host John Walsh, is kidnapped in Hollywood, Florida and is found murdered two weeks later.

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On this day in 1996, in Atlanta, USA, a pipe bomb explodes at Centennial Olympic Park during the 1996 Summer Olympics. One woman, Alice Hawthorne, is killed, and a cameraman suffers a heart attack fleeing the scene. 111 are injured. Early on, heroic-yet-tubby security guard Richard Jewell is considered a suspect, but eventually the far more handsome right-wing anti-abortion crusader and lone nut survivalist Eric Rudolph is identified as the true culprit.

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On this day in 2002, at a Ukraine airshow, a Sukhoi Su-27 fighter crashes in Lviv, killing 85 and injuring more than 100 others, the largest air show disaster in history.