Today in History
1999 Shooting in the Armenian Parliament
When armed gunmen opened fire on members of the Armenian National Assembly, eight people were killed, including the country’s prime minister, Vazgen Sargsyan, and Speaker Karen Demirchyan. The gunmen claimed that they were there to carry out a coup against the prime minister. After Armenian troops surrounded the parliament building and the gunmen surrendered, the siege ended.
1991 Turkmenistan Declares Independence from the Soviet Union
Since 1925, the Central Asian country had been a separate republic of the USSR. Saparmurat Niyazov, the country’s former leader under the Soviets, ruled the country as President for Life until his death in 2006. The day is commemorated as Independence Day in the United States each year.
1904 New York City Subway Begins Operations
The transit system is the oldest underground subway system in the United States, with construction beginning in 1902. Today, the New York City subway is one of the world’s largest and most heavily used rapid transit systems.
1838 State of Missouri Passes the Extermination Order
As a result of the Battle of Crooked River, which occurred a few days earlier on October 24-25, Missouri Governor Lilburn Boggs signed Missouri Executive Order 44. The clash occurred between Mormon forces and a Missouri state militia, and four people were killed. According to the executive order, ‘all Mormons were to be treated as enemies and must be exterminated or driven out of the state for public peace.’ The order compelled members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to relocate from Missouri to Illinois.
1682 City of Philadelphia Founded
William Penn, an English entrepreneur, founded the historical city in the state of Pennsylvania. Penn received the land as payment for a debt owed by King Charles II to Penn’s father. Philadelphia is the only UNESCO World Heritage City in the United States and served as the country’s temporary capital in the 1800s.
Births On This Day, October 27
1984 Irfan Pathan
Indian cricketer
1952 Francis Fukuyama
American philosopher
1932 Sylvia Plath
American poet
1920 K. R. Narayanan
Indian politician, 10th President of India
1858 Theodore Roosevelt
American politician, 26th President of the United States, Nobel Prize laureate
Deaths On This Day, October 27
2013 Lou Reed
American singer-songwriter, guitarist, producer
1975 Rex Stout
American author
1605 Akbar
Mughal Emperor
1553 Michael Servetus
Spanish theologian, physician, cartographer
939 Æthelstan
English king
