September 27th in History

Albert Einstein at the Bern Patent Office, 1905 (Photo: Lucien Chavan/ETH Zürich)
Today in History
- William the Conqueror sets sail to begin the Norman conquest of England (1066)
- American Revolutionary War: Lancaster, Pennsylvania, becomes the capital of the United States for one day as Congress flees Philadelphia to escape British forces (1777)
- The first public railway to use steam locomotives opens in northeast England (1825)
- Albert Einstein submits his paper introducing E=MC2 to the journal Annalen Der Physik (1905)
- Bobby Jones completes the Grand Slam of golf (1930)
- The Tonight Show (then starring Steve Allen) debuts (1954)
- Mach 3 is exceeded for the first time, though the pilot is killed shortly thereafter (1956)
- Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring is published (1962)
- Hair opens in London, and will play 1,998 performances until the roof of the theater collapses (1968)
Birthdays
- Cosimo de’ Medici, Florentine ruler (1389)
- Samuel Adams, philosopher, politician, and brewer/maltster (1722)
- Alfred Thayer Mahan, US navy officer and strategist (1840)
- Thomas Nast, cartoonist (1840)
- Harry Blackstone, Sr. magician (1885)
- Lothar von Richthofen, fighter ace (1894)
- Sam Ervin, US senator and Watergate committee chair (1896)
- Albert Ellis, psychologist (1914)
- Louis Auchincloss, author (1917)
- Jayne Meadows, actress and game show panelist (1919)
- William Conrad, actor (1920)
- Arthur Penn, filmmaker (1922)
- Sada Thompson, actress (1927)
- Greg Morris, actor (1933)
- Wilford Brimley, actor (1934)
- Don Cornelius, host of Soul Train (1936)
- Dith Pran, photojournalist (1942)
- Meat Loaf, singer-songwriter (1947)
- Jim Shooter, comics writer and editor (1951)
- Shaun Cassidy, actor and singer (1958)
- Gwyneth Paltrow, actress (1972)
- Avril Lavigne, singer-songwriter (1984)
Deaths
- Braxton Bragg, Confederate general (1876)
- Edgar Degas, painter (1917)
- Engelbert Humperdinck, composer and educator (1921)
- Aimee Semple McPherson, evangelist (1944)
- Babe Didrikson Zaharias, basketball player and golfer (1956)
- Clara Bow, actress (196 5)
- Robert Montgomery, actor (1981)
- Jimmy Doolittle, pilot and general (1993)
- Doak Walker, football player (1998)
- Donald O’Connor, actor, singer, and dancer (2003)
- William Safire, author (2009)
- George Blanda, football player (2010)
- Herbert Lom, actor (2012)
- Hugh Hefner, publisher and playboy (2017)
Holidays and Observances
- Consumación de la Independencia (Mexico)
- French Community Holiday (French-speaking Belgium)
- Google’s Official Birthday (Google)
- Meskel (Ethiopian and Eritrean Orthodox Church — September 28 on leap years)
- National Gay Men’s HIV/AIDS Awareness Day (US)
- Polish Underground State’s Day (Poland)
- World Tourism Day
September 27 is the 270th day of the year (271st in leap years). There are 95 days remaining until the end of the year.