Today in History: Sept. 27
See what happened on this date in history: Sept. 27.
Today’s Highlight in History:
On September 27, 1942, Glenn Miller and his Orchestra performed together for the last time, at the Central Theater in Passaic, New Jersey, prior to Miller’s entry into the Army.
On this date:
In 1540, Pope Paul III issued a papal bull establishing the Society of Jesus, or Jesuits, as a religious order.
In 1779, John Adams was named by Congress to negotiate the Revolutionary War’s peace terms with Britain.
In 1854, the first great disaster involving an Atlantic Ocean passenger vessel occurred when the steamship SS Arctic sank off Newfoundland; of the more than 400 people on board, only 86 survived.
In 1928, the United States said it was recognizing the Nationalist Chinese government.
In 1939, Warsaw, Poland, surrendered after weeks of resistance to invading forces from Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union during World War II.
In 1941, the United States launched the first 14 rapidly built “Liberty” military cargo vessels.
In 1956, Olympic track and field gold medalist and Hall of Fame golfer Babe Didrikson Zaharias died in Galveston, Texas, at age 45.
In 1962, “Silent Spring,” Rachel Carson’s study on the effects of pesticides on the environment, was published in book form by Houghton Mifflin.
In 1979, Congress gave its final approval to forming the U.S. Department of Education.
In 1989, Columbia Pictures Entertainment Inc. agreed to a $3.4 billion cash buyout by Sony Corp.
In 1991, President George H.W. Bush announced in a nationally broadcast address that he was eliminating all U.S. battlefield nuclear weapons, and called on the Soviet Union to match the gesture. The Senate Judiciary Committee deadlocked, 7-7, on the nomination of Clarence Thomas to the U.S. Supreme Court.
In 2001, an armed man went on a shooting rampage in the local parliament of Zug, Switzerland, killing 14 people before taking his own life. President George W. Bush asked the nation’s governors to post National Guard troops at airports as a first step toward federal control of airline security.
Ten years ago: Soldiers fired into crowds of anti-government demonstrators in Yangon, Myanmar, reportedly killing at least nine people; Kenji Nagai, 50, a video journalist for Japan’s APF News, was among the dead. President George W. Bush promised to take steps to reduce air traffic congestion and long delays that were leaving travelers grounded.
Five years ago: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told the U.N. General Assembly that the world had only a matter of months to stop Iran before it could build a nuclear bomb. NFL referees returned to the field after a tentative deal with the league ended a lockout; games had been marred by controversy, blown calls and confusion as substitute referees officiated during the first three weeks of the season. Actor Herbert Lom, 95, best known as Inspector Clouseau’s long-suffering boss in the “Pink Panther” movies, died in London.
One year ago: The United States provided another $364 million in humanitarian aid to Syrians as their nation’s civil war appeared to be getting worse. President Barack Obama announced career diplomat Jeffrey DeLaurentis as his choice to become the first U.S. ambassador to Cuba in more than a half-century. Scientists announced the first baby born from a controversial new technique that combined DNA from three people — the mother, the father and an egg donor. (The goal was to prevent the child from inheriting a fatal genetic disease from his mother.)