October 27



Events

Up to 1900 
 97 - Roman Emperor Nerva adopts the then-44-year-old Trajan.
 710 - Saracen invasion of Sardinia.
 939 – Edmund I of England becomes king.
 1275 – Traditional founding of Amsterdam.
 1524 - Italian Wars: French troops lay siege to Pavia.
 1553 - Condemned as a heretic, Michael Servetus is burned at the stake just outside Geneva.
 1644 - The Second Battle of Newbury takes place in the English Civil War.
 1662 - Charles II of England sells Dunkirk to France.
 1682 – Philadelphia, Pennsylvania is founded.
 1795 – The United States and Spain sign the Treaty of Madrid, establishing boundaries between the US and the Spanish colonies.
 1806 – The French Army enters Berlin.
 1810 – The US annexes the former Spanish colony of West Florida.
 1827 - Vincenzo Bellini's third opera, Il pirata, has its first performance at La Scala, Milan.
 1838 - Governor of Missouri Lilburn Boggs issues an extermination order to Mormons in the state, which would force them either to leave or be killed.
 1870 - Franco-Prussian War: Marshal Francois Achille Bazaine surrenders to Prussian forces at the conclusion to the Siege of Metz.
 1892 - British passenger steamer Roumania crashes into rocks off Peniche, Portugal.

1901  2000 
 1904 – New York City's first underground Subway opens.
 1907 - Cernova massacre: 15 people are killed in the Hungarian half of Austria-Hungary when a gunman opens fire on a crowd gathered at a church for its consecration.
 1914 - World War I: British super dreadnought battleship HMS Audacious is sunk off Tory Island, northwest of Ireland, by a minefield laid by German merchant cruiser Berlin.
 1916 - Battle of Segale in Ethiopia.
 1922 – Italian fascists, led by Benito Mussolini, begin their March on Rome.
 1922 - A referendum in Rhodesia rejects the country's annexation (being taken control of) to the Union of South Africa.
 1924 - Soviet Union: The Uzbek Soviet Socialist Republic is founded.
 1936 – Wallis Simpson files for divorce. She later marries Edward VIII of the United Kingdom, after he abdicates the throne.
 1944 - World War II: German troops end the Slovak National Uprising in Banska Bystrica.
 1953 - British nuclear test Totem 2 is carried out at Emu Field, South Australia.
 1954 - Benjamin O. Davis Jr. becomes the first African American to join the United States Air Force.
 1958 – Iskandar Mirza is deposed as President of Pakistan.
 1961 – Mauritania and Mongolia join the UN.
 1961 - NASA tests the first Saturn I rocket in Mission-Saturn Apollo 1.
 1962 – Cuban Missile Crisis: A nuclear war is narrowly avoided.
 1962 - Rudolf Anderson of the United States Air Force becomes the only direct human casualty of the Cuban Missile Crisis.
 1962 - A plane carrying Enrico Mattei, a post-war Italian administrator, crashes in mysterious circumstances.
 1962 - Australian Dawn Fraser swims the 100 meter-backstroke in less than a minute, as the first woman to do so.
 1964 - Ronald Reagan delivers "A Time for Choosing" speech at a Barry Goldwater campaign. 
 1966 - The UN removes South Africa's mandate over Namibia.
 1968 - The 1968 Summer Olympics end in Mexico City.
 1971 – The Democratic Republic of the Congo is renamed Zaire.
 1979 – Saint Vincent and the Grenadines become independent.
 1981 - Soviet submarine U 137 runs aground on the east coast of Sweden.
 1991 – Turkmenistan achieves independence from the Soviet Union.
 1994 – Gliese 229B is the first substellar mass object to be unquestionably identified.
 1995 – Latvia applies for EU membership.
 1995 – Former Prime Minister of Italy Bettino Craxi is convicted in-absentia (without attending) for corruption.
 1997 - Global stock markets crash because of financial meltdown fears. 
 1999 – Gunmen open fire on the Armenian Parliament.

From 2001 
 2002 – The volcano Mount Etna on Sicily erupts.
 2002 – Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva is elected to succeed Fernando Henrique Cardoso as President of Brazil.
 2003 – In Malaga, where Pablo Picasso was born, the Museo Picasso (Picasso Museum) is opened.
 2003 - Bomb attacks in Baghdad kill over 40 people.
 2005 – Riots begin in France after the accidental deaths of two Muslim teenagers.
 2006 – Opening of Arsenal F.C.'s Emirates Stadium.
 2010 – Former President of Argentina Néstor Kirchner dies aged 60. He had been expected to run for president again in 2011.
 2011 - Michael D. Higgins is elected President of Ireland.
 2013 - Sebastian Vettel becomes the fourth driver to win four Formula One world titles in a row, and the youngest driver, at age 26, to do so.
 2013 - Storms begin to affect parts of western and central Europe, causing destruction and disruption the next day.
 2017 - The Parliament of Catalonia declares the region's independence from Spain; The central government in Madrid decides to impose direct rule on Catalonia.
 2018 - Pittsburgh synagogue shooting: A gunman shoots and kills 11 people worshipping at a synagogue in the Squirrel Hill neighbourhood in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
 2018 - 2018 Leicester City F.C. helicopter crash: A helicopter crash near Leicester City F.C.'s King Power Stadium in Leicester, England, kills 5 people, including the club's Thai owner Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha.
 2019 - Sophie Wilmès becomes the first female Prime Minister of Belgium, succeeding Charles Michel, who had been chosen to succeed Donald Tusk as President of the European Council.
 2019 - Alberto Fernández wins Argentina's Presidential election against the incumbent Mauricio Macri.

Births

Up to 1900 
 921 - Chai Rong, Chinese Emperor (d. 959)
 1156 - Raymond VI, Count of Toulouse (d. 1222)
 1401 – Catherine of Valois, Queen Consort of England (d. 1437)
 1466 (assumed) – Erasmus of Rotterdam, Dutch writer and philosopher (d. 1536)
 1703 - Johann Gottfried Graun, German violinist and composer (d. 1771)
 1728 – James Cook, British naval captain and explorer (d. 1779)
 1736 - James Macpherson, Scottish writer, poet and politician (d. 1796)
 1744 – Mary Moser, English painter and one of only two female founder members of the Royal Academy (d. 1819)
 1760 - August Neidhardt von Gneisenau, Prussian field marshal (d. 1831)
 1761 - Geir Vídalín, Bishop of Iceland (d. 1823)
 1763 - William Maclure, Scottish geologist (d. 1840)
 1782 – Niccolò Paganini, Italian violinist and composer (d. 1840)
 1811 – Isaac Singer, inventor of the sewing machine (d. 1875)
 1811 – Stevens Thomson Mason, first Governor of Michigan (d. 1843).
 1828 - Jacob Dolson Cox, 28th Governor of Ohio (d. 1900)
 1838 - John Davis Long, 32nd Governor of Massachusetts (d. 1915)
 1842 – Giovanni Giolitti, Italian statesman (d. 1928)
 1844 – Klas Pontus Arnoldson, Swedish writer and pacifist (d. 1916)
 1854 - William Alexander Smith, Scottish founder of the Boys' Brigade (d. 1914)
 1857 - Ernst Trygger, Prime Minister of Sweden (d. 1943)
 1858 – Theodore Roosevelt, 26th President of the United States (d. 1919)
 1858 - Saito Makoto, Prime Minister of Japan (d. 1936)
 1868 - William Gillies, Australian politician, 21st Premier of Queensland (d. 1928)
 1869 - Viola Allen, American actress (d. 1948)
 1873 - James J. Davis, Welsh-born American politician (d. 1947)
 1877 - Walt Kuhn, American painter and cartoonist (d. 1949)
 1877 – George Thompson, English cricketer (d. 1943)
 1885 - Sigrid Hjertén, Swedish painter (d. 1948)
 1889 - Enid Bagnold, English author and playwright (d. 1981)
 1889 - Fanny Durack, Australian swimmer (d. 1956)
 1894 - Oliver Leese, English general (d. 1978)
 1896 – Edith Brown, RMS Titanic survivor (d. 1997)

1901  1950 
 1902 – Emil Jónsson, Prime Minister of Iceland (d. 1986)
 1904 – Erno Schwarz, Hungarian footballer (d. 1974)
 1906 – Kazuo Ohno, Japanese dancer (d. 2010)
 1908 – Lee Krasner, American painter (d. 1984)
 1910 - Jack Carson, Canadian actor (d. 1963)
 1911 - Leif Erickson, American actor (d. 1986)
 1913 - Joe Medicine Crow, American tribal historian, anthropologist and author (d. 2016)
 1914 – Dylan Thomas, Welsh poet (d. 1953)
 1915 - Harry Saltzman, Canadian theatre and film producer (d. 1994)
 1916 - Kazimierz Brandys, Polish writer (d. 2000)
 1917 – Oliver Tambo, South African activist (d. 1993)
 1917 - Arne Andersson, Swedish athlete (d. 2009)
 1918 - Edgar Herschler, 28th Governor of Wyoming (d. 1990)
 1918 – Teresa Wright, American actress (d. 2005)
 1919 - Tim M. Babcock, 16th Governor of Montana (d. 2015)
 1920 – Nanette Fabray, American actress (d. 2018)
 1920 – K. R. Narayanan, President of India (d. 2005)
 1921 - Warren Allen Smith, American activist (d. 2017)
 1922 - Ruby Dee, American actress (d. 2014)
 1922 - Ralph Kiner, American baseball player (d. 2014)
 1922 - Michel Galabru, French actor (d. 2016)
 1922 - Carlos Andrés Pérez, President of Venezuela (d. 2010)
 1922 - George Young, Scottish footballer (d. 1997)
 1923 – Roy Lichtenstein, American pop artist (d. 1997)
 1923 - Ned Wertimer, American actor (d. 2013)
 1924 - Bonnie Lou, American singer (d. 2015)
 1925 – Warren Christopher, former United States Secretary of State (d. 2011)
 1925 - Gianni Bonagura, Italian actor (d. 2017)
 1930 - Leo Baxendale, English cartoonist (d. 2017)
 1931 – Nawal El Saadawi, Egyptian writer
 1932 – Sylvia Plath, American poet (d. 1963)
 1932 - Jean-Pierre Cassel, French actor (d. 2007)
 1933 - Floyd Cramer, American musician (d. 1997)
 1934 - Elías Querejeta, Spanish film producer and screenwriter (d. 2013)
 1937 - Peter Lustig, German television presenter (d. 2016)
 1938 - Maurice Hinchey, American politician (d. 2017)
 1939 – John Cleese, British actor, writer, and Monty Python member
 1939 - Marino Perani, Italian footballer (d. 2017)
 1939 - Albert Wendt, Samoan writer
 1940 – John Gotti, New York mafia boss (d. 2002)
 1941 - Dick Trickle, American racing driver (d. 2013)
 1943 - Sherman Kelly, American singer-songwriter (Boffalongo)
 1944 - Nikolai Karachentsov, Russian actor (d. 2018)
 1945 – Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, 35th President of Brazil
 1945 - Arild Andersen, Norwegian composer and bassist
 1946 - Steven R. Nagel, American astronaut, pilot and engineer (d. 2014)
 1946 – Carrie Snodgress, American actress (d. 2004)
 1946 - Ivan Reitman, Czech-Canadian actor, producer and director
 1949 - Garry Talent, American musician (E Street Band)
 1950 – Fran Lebowitz, American writer
 1950 - Sue Lloyd-Roberts, English journalist (d. 2015)

1951  1975 
 1951 - K. K. Downing, English musician (Judas Priest)
 1951 - Carlos Frenk, Mexican-English physicist, cosmologist and academic
 1952 – Roberto Benigni, Italian actor and director
 1952 - Francis Fukuyama, American political scientist, economist and author
 1952 - Atsuyoshi Furuta, Japanese footballer
 1953 - Peter Firth, English actor
 1954 - Frank Gray, Scottish footballer
 1954 - Mike Kelley, American artist (d. 2012)
 1956 - Michèle Chardonnet, French athlete
 1956 - Christiane Wartenberg, German athlete
 1957 – Jeff East, American actor
 1957 – Glenn Hoddle, English footballer and manager
 1958 – Simon Le Bon, English musician (Duran Duran)
 1958 - Manu Katché, French musician
 1959 - Rick Carlisle, American basketball player and coach
 1961 - Margaret Mazzantini, Italian actress
 1962 - Stewart McKimmie, Scottish footballer
 1963 - Marla Maples, American actress and model
 1963 - Farin Urlaub, German musician and songwriter
 1964 - Mary T. Meagher, American swimmer
 1967 – Scott Weiland, American musician Stone Temple Pilots, Velvet Revolver (d. 2015)
 1967 - Simone Moro, Italian mountaineer
 1970 – Adrian Erlandsson, musician (Cradle of Filth)
 1971 - Elissa, Lebanese singer
 1971 – Theodoros Zagorakis, Greek footballer
 1972 – Maria Mutola, Mozambican athlete
 1972 – Evan Coyne Maloney, documentary movie maker
 1972 – Brad Radke, American baseball player
 1975 - Zadie Smith, English novelist
 1975 - Aron Ralston, American mountaineer and engineer

From 1976 
 1976 – Ariel Ibagaza, Argentine footballer
 1977 – Jiří Jarosík, Czech footballer
 1977 - Sheeri Rappaport, American actress
 1978 - Toby Petersen, American ice hockey player
 1978 – Vanessa-Mae, Singapore-born British musician
 1980 - Tanel Padar, Estonian singer-songwriter and guitarist
 1980 - Václav Noid Bárta, Czech singer and actor
 1981 – Volkan Demirel, Turkish footballer
 1982 - Takashi Tsukamoto, Japanese actor and singer
 1984 – Kelly Osbourne, daughter of Ozzy Osbourne
 1984 - Kostas Kapetanos, Greek footballer
 1984 - Emilie Ullerup, Danish actress
 1986 - David Warner, Australian cricketer
 1987 - Yi Jianlian, Chinese basketball player
 1987 - Viktor Genev, Bulgarian footballer
 1988 – Evan Turner, American basketball player
 1992 - Stephan El Shaarawy, Italian footballer
 1992 - Emily Hagins, American director, producer and screenwriter
 1994 - Eddie Alderson, American actor
 1997 - Eden Taylor-Draper, English actress
 1999 - Haruka Kudo, Japanese singer (Morning Musume)
 2007 - Dev Singh, SuperIndian

Deaths

Up to 1900 
 673 - Pope Agatho of Alexandria (b. 654)
 939 – King Athelstan I of England (b. 895)
 1271 - Hugh II, Duke of Burgundy, French crusader (b. 1213)
 1303 - Beatrice of Castile (b. 1242)
 1312 - John II, Duke of Brabant (b. 1275)
 1327 - Elizabeth de Burgh, wife of Robert I of Scotland (b. 1289)
 1430 – Vytautas the Great, Grand Duke of Lithuania (b. 1350)
 1439 – Albert II of Germany, Holy Roman Emperor (b. 1392)
 1449 - Ulugh Beg, Persian astronomer, mathematician and Sultan (b. 1394)
 1485 - Rudolf Agricola, Dutch writer and educator (b. 1444)
 1505 – Tsar Ivan III of Russia (b. 1440)
 1553 – Michael Servetus, Spanish theologian and doctor (b. 1511)
 1561 - Lope de Aguirre, Spanish explorer (b. 1510)
 1605 – Akbar the Great, Mughal Emperor (b. 1542)
 1674 – Hallgrímur Pétursson, Icelandic poet and hymnist (b. 1614)
 1675 - Gilles de Roberval, French mathematician (b. 1602)
 1789 - John Cook, Governor of Delaware (b. 1730)
 1880 - Thrasyvoulos Zaimis, Prime Minister of Greece (b. 1827)

1901  2000 
 1917 - Arthur Rhys-Davids, English pilot (b. 1897)
 1926 - Warren Wood, American golfer (b. 1887)
 1935 - Ernest Eldridge, English racing driver (b. 1897)
 1942 – Helmuth Hubener, German resistance activist (b. 1925)
 1954 - Harry Tate, American soccer player (b. 1886)
 1962 - Rudolf Anderson, American pilot (b. 1927)
 1962 – Enrico Mattei, Italian politician (b. 1906)
 1968 – Lise Meitner, German physicist (b. 1878)
 1975 – Rex Stout, American novelist (b. 1886)
 1980 - Steve Peregrin Took, English singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1949)
 1980 – John Hasbrouck van Vleck, American physicist (b. 1899)
 1986 - Sherman Adams, 67th Governor of New Hampshire (b. 1899)
 1990 – Xavier Cugat, Catalan-born bandleader (b. 1900)
 1990 - Jacques Demy, French director (b. 1931)
 1990 - Ugo Tognazzi, Italian actor (b. 1922)
 1999 – Vazgen Sargsyan, Prime Minister of Armenia (b. 1959)
 1999 – Karen Demirchyan, Chairman of the Armenian Parliament (b. 1932)
 2000 - Walter Berry, Austrian bass baritone (b. 1929)

From 2001 
 2001 - Pradeep Kumar, Indian actor, director and producer (b. 1925)
 2003 – Walter Washington, American politician (b. 1915)
 2003 - Stephanie Tyrell, American songwriter and producer (b. 1949)
 2006 – Brad Will, American anarchist and independent journalist (b. 1970)
 2010 – Néstor Kirchner, President of Argentina (b. 1950)
 2012 - Natina Reed, American singer, producer and rapper (b. 1979)
 2012 - Hans Peter Henze, German composer (b. 1926)
 2013 - Lou Reed, American musician (b. 1942)
 2014 - Daniel Boulanger, French actor and writer (b. 1922)
 2014 - Starke Taylor, American politician, Mayor of Dallas, Texas (b. 1922)
 2014 - Shin Hae-chul, South Korean singer (b. 1968)
 2015 - Philip French, British film critic (b. 1933)
 2016 - Prince Mikasa, Japanese royal (b. 1915)
 2017 - Hans Kraay Sr., Dutch footballer (b. 1936)
 2017 - Punathil Kunjabdulla, Indian writer and physician (b. 1942)
 2018 - Freddie Hart, American musician and singer-songwriter (b. 1926)
 2018 - Madan Lal Khurana, Indian politician (b. 1936)
 2018 - Mario Segale, American businessman (b. 1934)
 2018 - Ntozake Shange, American poet and playwright (b. 1948)
 2018 - Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha, Thai businessman and owner of Leicester City F.C. (b. 1958)
 2019 - Vladimir Bukovsky, Russian-British human rights activist and dissident (b. 1942)
 2019 - Stephen P. Cohen, American political scientist and security expert (b. 1936)
 2019 - John Conyers, American politician and civil rights activist (b. 1929)
 2019 - Ivan Milat, Australian serial killer (b. 1944)
 2019 - Anne Phelan, Australian actress (b. 1940s)
 2019 - Hans-Peter Uhl, German politician (b. 1944)

Observances 
 Independence Day (Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Turkmenistan)

Days of the year