Today in History – September 27 in History
What happened on this day in history – September 27 in History around the world
1540 | The Society of Jesus, a religious order under Ignatius Loyola, is approved by the Pope. | |
1669 | The island of Crete in the Mediterranean Sea falls to the Ottoman Turks after a 21-year siege. | |
1791 | Jews in France are granted French citizenship. | |
1864 | Confederate guerrilla Bloody Bill Anderson and his henchmen, including a teenage Jesse James, massacre 20 unarmed Union soldiers at Centralia, Missouri. The event becomes known as the Centralia Massacre. | |
1869 | Wild Bill Hickok, sheriff of Hays City, Kan., shoots down Samuel Strawhim, a drunken teamster causing trouble. | |
1916 | Constance of Greece declares war on Bulgaria. | |
1918 | President Woodrow Wilson opens his fourth Liberty Loan campaign to support men and machines for World War I. | |
1920 | Eight Chicago White Sox players are charged with fixing the 1919 World Series. | |
1939 | Germany occupies Warsaw as Poland falls to Germany and the Soviet Union. | |
1942 | Australian forces defeat the Japanese on New Guinea in the South Pacific. | |
1944 | Thousands of British troops are killed as German forces rebuff their massive effort to capture the Arnhem Bridge across the Rhine River in Holland. | |
1950 | U.S. Army and Marine troops liberate Seoul, South Korea. | |
1956 | The U.S. Air Force Bell X-2, the world’s fastest and highest-flying plane, crashes, killing the test pilot. | |
1964 | The Warren Commission, investigating the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, issues its report, stating its conclusion that Lee Harvey Oswald was the sole gunman. | |
1979 | US Congress approves Department of Education as the 13th agency in the US Cabinet. | |
1983 | Sukhumi massacre: Abkhaz separatist forces and their allies commit widespread atrocities against the civilian population in the USSR state of Georgia. | |
1996 | The Taliban capture Afghanistan’s capital city, Kabul. | |
2003 | European Space Agency launches SMART-1 satellite to orbit the moon. | |
2007 | NASA launches Dawn probe to explore and study the two larges objects of the asteroid belt, Vesta and Ceres. | |
2008 | Shai Shigang becomes the first Chinese to walk in space; he was part of the Shenzhou 7 crew. | |
Born on September 27 | ||
1722 | Samuel Adams, American revolutionary patriot and statesman, helped to organize the Boston Tea Party. | |
1840 | Alfred T. Mahan, navy admiral who wrote The Influence of Seapower on History and other books that encouraged world leaders to build larger navies. | |
1840 | Thomas Nast, caricaturist, creator of the Democratic donkey and the Republican elephant. | |
1862 | Louis Botha, commander-in-chief of the Boar Army against the British and first president of South Africa. | |
1898 | Vincent Youmans, songwriter best known for musical scores such as No, No Nanette and Flying Down to Rio. | |
1917 | Louis Auchincloss, novelist (Portait in Brownstone, The Embezzler). | |
1924 | Bud Powell, jazz pianist. | |
1927 | Red Rodney, trumpeter. | |
1945 | Stephanie Pogue, artist and art professor. | |
1947 | Meat Loaf, singer, songwriter (Bat Out of Hell album trilogy), actor (The Rocky Horror Picture Show, Fight Club). | |
1948 | Robin “The Jackal” Jackson, Northern Ireland loyalist, commander of Ulster Volunteer Force (1975-1990s); allegedly responsible for a large number of deaths, perhaps more than 100. | |
1958 | Shaun Cassidy, singer (“Da Doo Ron Ron”), actor, TV producer / creator, screenwriter (American Gothic). | |
1965 | Peter MacKay, lawyer, politician; last leader of Progressive Conservative Party of Canada before it merged with the Canadian Alliance in 2003 to form the Conservative Party of Canada. |