Born on This Day American inventor and entrepreneur who, in the 1850s, developed the first commercially successful sewing machine. American actor and civil-rights activist who starred in films like A Raisin in the Sun and American Gangster . Quintessential New York writer best known for bestselling essay collections Metropolitan Life and Social Studies . Rocker Bruce Springsteen lands on the covers of both TIME and Newsweek in the same week, marking his transition from struggling bar band legend to The Boss. Also on This Day in History Discover more of the major events, famous births, notable deaths and everything else history-making that happened on October 27th Quakers executed for religious beliefs William Robinson and Marmaduke Stevenson, two Quakers who came from England in 1656 to escape religious persecution, are executed in the Massachusetts Bay Colony for their religious beliefs. The two had violated a law passed by the Massachusetts General Court the year before, banning Quakers from the colony under penalty of death. The Religious Society […] Theodore Roosevelt is born On October 27, 1858, future President Theodore Roosevelt is born in New York City to a wealthy family. Roosevelt was home-schooled and then attended Harvard University, graduating in 1880. He served in the New York state legislature from 1881 to 1884. In 1880, Roosevelt married Alice Hathaway Lee. The couple had a daughter, Alice, on […] Joseph Glidden applies for a patent on his barbed wire design On October 27, 1873, a DeKalb, Illinois, farmer named Joseph Glidden submits an application to the U.S. Patent Office for his clever new design for a fencing wire with sharp barbs, an invention that will forever change the face of the American West. Glidden’s was by no means the first barbed wire; he only came […] Poet Sylvia Plath is born

On October 27, 1932, poet Sylvia Plath is born in Boston. Her father, a German immigrant, was a professor of biology and a leading expert on bumblebees. An autocrat at home, he insisted his wife give up teaching to raise their two children. He died at home after a lingering illness that consumed the energy […] Mafia boss John Gotti is born John Joseph Gotti, Jr., the future head of the Gambino crime family and a man later nicknamed “the Dapper Don” due to his polished appearance and expensive suits, is born in the Bronx, New York. Gotti, the grandson of Italian immigrants, was raised in a poor family with 13 children. Growing up, he did errands […] Appeals court upholds Chuck Berry’s conviction On October 27, 1961, a U.S. appeals court affirms rock ‘n’ roller Chuck Berry’s second conviction for transporting a minor across state lines for immoral purposes in violation of the Mann Act. After an earlier conviction in the case had been thrown out a year earlier, Berry was retried—and this time, the charges stuck. He […] The United States and Soviet Union step back from brink of nuclear war Complicated and tension-filled negotiations between the United States and the Soviet Union finally result in a plan to end the two-week-old Cuban Missile Crisis. A frightening period in which nuclear holocaust seemed imminent began to come to an end. Since President John F. Kennedy’s October 22 address warning the Soviets to cease their reckless program […] ‘It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown’ debuts On October 27, 1966, “It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown” makes its debut on CBS. Justice Department announces U.S. prison population exceeds 1 million On October 27, 1994, the U.S. Justice Department announces the prison population topped 1 million for the first time in American history. Red Sox win first championship since 1918 On October 27, 2004, the Boston Red Sox win the World Series for the first time since 1918, finally vanquishing the so-called “Curse of the Bambino” that had plagued them for 86 years. “This is for anyone who has ever rooted for the Red Sox,” Boston general manager Theo Epstein tells reporters. “This is for […] Chick-fil-A founder takes last Ford Taurus On October 27, 2006, the last Ford Taurus rolls off the assembly line in Hapeville, Georgia. The keys to the silver car went to 85-year-old Truett Cathy, the founder of the Chick-fil-A fast-food franchise, who took it straight to his company’s headquarters in Atlanta and added it to an elaborate display that included 19 other […]