On this day: September 27

Events on September 27

• 1066 William the Conqueror and his army set sail from the mouth of the Somme river, beginning the Norman conquest of England. Wikipedia
• 1422 The Treaty of Melno was signed, establishing the Prussian–Lithuanian border, which afterwards remained unchanged for about 500 years. Wikipedia
• 1529 The Siege of Vienna begins when Suleiman I attacks the city. Wikipedia
• 1540 The Society of Jesus (Jesuits) receives its charter from Pope Paul III. Wikipedia
• 1822 In a letter to the Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres in Paris, Jean-François Champollion announced his initial successes in deciphering Egyptian hieroglyphs on the Rosetta Stone. Wikipedia
• 1825 Locomotion No. 1 hauled the train on the opening day of the Stockton and Darlington Railway, the first public railway in the world to use steam locomotives. Wikipedia
• 1851 The British East India Company inaugurated the Horsburgh Lighthouse on the rocky outcrop of Pedra Branca, Singapore, which later became the subject of a territorial dispute. Wikipedia
• 1854 The paddle steamer SS Arctic sank after a collision with SS Vesta 50 miles (80 km) off the coast of Newfoundland, killing approximately 320 people. Wikipedia
• 1875 The merchant ship Ellen Southard was wrecked in a storm at Liverpool, England; the U.S. Congress subsequently awarded 27 Gold Lifesaving Medals to the men who rescued her crew. Wikipedia
• 1908 The first production Ford Model T, the car credited with initiating the mass use of automobiles in the United States, was completed at the Ford Piquette Avenue Plant in Detroit, Michigan. Wikipedia
• 1916 Lij Iyasu, the emperor-designate of Ethiopia, was deposed in favor of his aunt Zewditu. Wikipedia
• 1917 The Broadhurst Theatre opened in New York City with a performance of Misalliance by George Bernard Shaw. Wikipedia
• 1928 The Republic of China is recognized by the United States. Wikipedia
• 1940 World War II: Nazi Germany, Fascist Italy and the Empire of Japan signed the Tripartite Pact in Berlin, officially forming a military alliance known as the Axis. Wikipedia
• 1941 SS Patrick Henry, the first of 2,710 Liberty ships built during World War II by the United States, was launched. Wikipedia
• 1949 Members of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference unanimously selected Zeng Liansong's design for the flag of China. Wikipedia
• 1964 The British Aircraft Corporation TSR-2, an advanced Cold War tactical strike and reconnaissance aircraft that was later cancelled, made its maiden flight. Wikipedia
• 1975 Two members of ETA political-military and three members of the Revolutionary Antifascist Patriotic Front, sentenced to death for murder, became the last people to be executed in Spain. Wikipedia
• 1981 Iran–Iraq War: Iran broke the Iraqi siege of Abadan by Operation Samen-ol-A'emeh. Wikipedia
• 1983 American software developer Richard Stallman announced plans for the Unix-like operating system GNU, the first free software developed by the GNU Project. Wikipedia
• 1988 Led by pro-democracy activist Aung San Suu Kyi, the political party National League for Democracy was founded in Burma. Wikipedia
• 1996 The Taliban drove Afghan President Burhanuddin Rabbani out of Kabul, tortured and murdered former president Mohammad Najibullah, and established the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan. Wikipedia
• 1998 The Google internet search engine retroactively claims this date as its birthday. Wikipedia
• 2007 NASA launches the Dawn probe to the asteroid belt. Wikipedia
• 2014 Mount Ontake in central Japan unexpectedly erupted, killing 63 people in the nation's deadliest eruption in more than 100 years. Wikipedia
• 2020 Second Nagorno-Karabakh War: Azerbaijan launches an offensive against the self-proclaimed Republic of Artsakh in the Nagorno-Karabakh region, inhabited predominantly by ethnic Armenians. Wikipedia

Born on September 27

• 1389 Cosimo de' Medici, ruler of Florence (died 1464) Wikipedia
• 1533 Stefan Batory, King of Poland (died 1586) Wikipedia
• 1601 Louis XIII of France (died 1643) Wikipedia
• 1627 Jacques-Bénigne Bossuet, French bishop and theologian (died 1704) Wikipedia
• 1722 Samuel Adams, American philosopher and politician, fourth Governor of Massachusetts (died 1803) Wikipedia
• 1783 Agustín de Iturbide, Mexican royalist turned insurgent; first emperor of Mexico (died 1824) Wikipedia
• 1821 Henri-Frédéric Amiel, Swiss philosopher, poet, and critic (died 1881) Wikipedia
• 1871 Grazia Deledda, Italian novelist and poet, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1936) Wikipedia
• 1918 Martin Ryle, English astronomer and author, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1984) Wikipedia
• 1925 Robert Edwards, English physiologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 2013) Wikipedia
• 1932 Oliver E. Williamson, American economist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 2020) Wikipedia
• 1934 Wilford Brimley, American actor (died 2020) Wikipedia
• 1946 Nicos Anastasiades, Cypriot lawyer and politician, seventh President of Cyprus Wikipedia
• 1947 Meat Loaf, American singer-songwriter, producer, and actor (died 2022) Wikipedia
• 1968 Mari Kiviniemi, Finnish politician, 41st Prime Minister of Finland Wikipedia
• 1972 Gwyneth Paltrow, American actress, blogger, and businesswoman Wikipedia
• 1976 Francesco Totti, Italian footballer Wikipedia
• 1982 Lil Wayne, American rapper, producer, and actor Wikipedia
• 1984 Avril Lavigne, Canadian singer-songwriter, actress, and fashion designer Wikipedia
• 1991 Simona Halep, Romanian tennis player Wikipedia
• 1992 Granit Xhaka, Swiss footballer Wikipedia
• 2002 Jenna Ortega, American actress Wikipedia

Died on September 27

• 1590 Pope Urban VII (born 1521) Wikipedia
• 1660 Vincent de Paul, French priest and saint (born 1581) Wikipedia
• 1700 Pope Innocent XII (born 1615) Wikipedia
• 1833 Raja Ram Mohan Roy, Indian humanitarian and reformer (born 1772) Wikipedia
• 1891 Ivan Goncharov, Russian author and critic (born 1812) Wikipedia
• 1917 Edgar Degas, French painter and sculptor (born 1834) Wikipedia
• 1940 Walter Benjamin, German philosopher and critic (born 1892) Wikipedia
• 1940 Julius Wagner-Jauregg, Austrian physician and neuroscientist, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1857) Wikipedia
• 1996 Mohammad Najibullah, Afghan physician and politician, seventh President of Afghanistan (born 1947) Wikipedia
• 2005 Ronald Golias, Brazilian comedian and actor (born 1929) Wikipedia
• 2017 Hugh Hefner, American publisher, founder of Playboy Enterprises (born 1926) Wikipedia
• 2023 Michael Gambon, Irish-English actor (born 1940) Wikipedia
• 2024 Maggie Smith, English actress (born 1934) Wikipedia
• 2024 Hassan Nasrallah, Lebanese politician, 3rd Secretary-General of Hezbollah (born 1960) Wikipedia

Holidays and observances

• Christian feast days: Adheritus Wikipedia
• Christian feast days: Bonfilius Wikipedia
• Christian feast days: Caius of Milan Wikipedia
• Christian feast days: Hiltrude of Liessies Wikipedia
• Christian feast days: Vincent de Paul Wikipedia
• Christian feast days: Cosmas and Damian Wikipedia
• Christian feast days: September 27 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics) Wikipedia
• Consumación de la Independencia (Mexico) Wikipedia
• French Community Holiday (French community of Belgium) Wikipedia
• Independence Day (Turkmenistan), celebrates the independence of Turkmenistan from USSR in 1991. Wikipedia
• Meskel (Ethiopian and Eritrean Orthodox Church, following Julian calendar, September 28 on leap years) Wikipedia
• National Gay Men's HIV/AIDS Awareness Day (United States) Wikipedia
• Polish Underground State's Day (Poland) Wikipedia
• World Tourism Day (International) Wikipedia

Sources

• Wikipedia — “September 27” — events, births, deaths and observances (text under CC BY-SA 4.0) (checked 2026-10-15)
• Wikipedia — “Selected anniversaries/September 27” — the anniversaries editors chose for the date and the article each one is about (checked 2026-10-15)
• Wikidata — in how many language editions each entry's own article exists, used to fill the lists (CC0) (checked 2026-10-15)
• vacanza/holidays (open-source holiday rules, MIT licence) — holiday rules used to build the lists (checked 2026-10-15)

The events, births, deaths and observances above are from the English Wikipedia article “September 27” and the articles it links to (authors and history), retrieved 2026-10-15 through the Wikimedia “On this day” feed. They are licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0; this selection is shared under the same licence. Every anniversary that Wikipedia's editors selected for September 27 stays on the list; the remaining places, up to 26 events, 22 births and 14 deaths, go to the entries whose own article — about the event itself, or else the person or thing it is about — appears in the most language editions (counted from Wikidata); an article about a person or thing, which covers far more than one day, counts half. An entry with no article of its own counts, also at half, by the least covered article it links, and one that links only places counts for nothing. Each list runs by year, and the wording is unchanged apart from removing references to pictures, audio and video.