Today in History – September 27th

Published September 27, 2012 |

1066, William the Conqueror and his army set sail from the mouth of the Somme River, beginning the Norman Conquest of England.
1331, The Battle of Plowce between the Kingdom of Poland and the Teutonic Order is fought.
1529, The Siege of Vienna begins when Suleiman I attacks the city.
1540, The Society of Jesus (the Jesuits) receives its charter from Pope Paul III.
1590, Pope Urban VII dies 13 days after being chosen as the Pope, making his reign the shortest papacy in history.
1605, The armies of Sweden are defeated by the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in the Battle of Kircholm.
1660, Vincent de Paul, French saint (b. 1580) died.
1722, Samuel Adams, American revolutionary leader (d. 1803) was born.
1777, Lancaster, Pennsylvania is the capital of the US, for one day.
1821, Mexico gains its independence from Spain.
1822, Jean-Francois Champollion announces that he has deciphered the Rosetta stone.
1824, William “Bull” Nelson, American Civil War general (d. 1862) was born.
1840, Thomas Nast, German-born American political cartoonist (d. 1902) was born.
1854, The steamship SS Arctic sinks with 300 people on board. This marks 1st great disaster in the Atlantic Ocean.
1876, Braxton Bragg, American Confederate general (b. 1817) died.
1903, Wreck of the Old 97, a train crash made famous by the song of the same name.
1908, 1st production of the Ford Model T automobile was built at the Piquette Plant in Detroit, Michigan.
1917, Edgar Degas, French painter (b. 1834) died.
1921, Engelbert Humperdinck, German composer (b. 1854) died.
1922, King Constantine I of Greece abdicates his throne in favor of his eldest son, King George II.
1928, The Republic of China is recognised by the US.
1937, Balinese Tiger declared extinct.
1938, Ocean liner Queen Elizabeth launched in Glasgow.
1940, WWII: The Tripartite Pact is signed in Berlin by Germany, Japan and Italy.
1941, The SS Patrick Henry is launched becoming 1st of more than 2,700 Liberty ships.
1944, The Kassel Mission results in the largest loss by a USAAF group on any mission in WWII.
1954, The nationwide debut of Tonight Starring Steve Allen (The Tonight Show) hosted by Steve Allen on NBC.
1962, The Yemen Arab Republic is established.
1964, The British TSR-2 aircraft XR219 makes its maiden flight from Boscombe Down in Wiltshire.
1965, Clara Bow, American actress (b. 1905) died.
1979, The US Department of Education receives final approval from the US Congress to become the 13th US Cabinet agency.
1983, Richard Stallman announces the GNU project to develop a free Unix-like operating system.
1993, Jimmy Doolittle, American general (b. 1896) died.
1996, The Julie N. tanker ship crashes into the Million Dollar Bridge in Portland, Maine spilling thousands of gallons of oil.
1997, Communications are suddenly lost with the Mars Pathfinder space probe.
1998, The Google internet search engine retrospectively claims this as its birthday.

Chris Rivait

Chris loves history and hopes that Yesteeyear becomes a place where everyone can share their history knowledge. Chris owns an Internet Marketing company, Arrivait Marketing. He has a wonderful wife and four great children.