History of Today 27 September: Important Events, Births and Deaths

Welcome to History of Today 27 September. On this page, you can read important historical events, famous births, notable deaths and general knowledge facts related to 27 September. This information is useful for UPSC, SSC, Banking, Railway, State PSC and other competitive exams.

Last updated on 27 September 2026, 01:00 AM

Important Events on 27 September in History

• 27 Sep 2024: Hurricane Helene devastates the Carolinas as a tropical storm, killing hundreds and injuring more. Read more
• 27 Sep 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. Read more
• 27 Sep 2019: Over two million people participated in worldwide strikes to protest climate change across 2,400 locations worldwide. Read more
• 27 Sep 2014: 63 people are killed in an eruption of Mount Ontake in Japan. Read more
• 27 Sep 2012: In Minneapolis, a gunman shoots eight people, killing six and injuring 2 and then kills himself. Read more
• 27 Sep 2008: CNSA astronaut Zhai Zhigang becomes the first Chinese person to perform a spacewalk. Read more
• 27 Sep 2007: NASA launches the Dawn probe to the asteroid belt. Read more
• 27 Sep 2003: The SMART-1 satellite is launched. Read more
• 27 Sep 2001: In Switzerland, a gunman shoots 18 citizens, killing 14 and then himself. Read more
• 27 Sep 1998: The Google internet search engine retroactively claims this date as its birthday. Read more
• 27 Sep 1996: The Battle of Kabul ends in a Taliban victory; an Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan is established. Read more
• 27 Sep 1996: Confusion on a tanker ship results in the Julie N oil spill in Portland, Maine. Read more
• 27 Sep 1993: The Sukhumi massacre takes place in Abkhazia. Read more
• 27 Sep 1992: Palestinian prisoners went on a 15-day hunger strike. Read more
• 27 Sep 1988: The National League for Democracy is formed by Aung San Suu Kyi and others to fight dictatorship in Myanmar. Read more
• 27 Sep 1977: Japan Airlines Flight 715 crashes on approach to Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah Airport in Subang, Malaysia, killing 34 of the 79 people on board. Read more
• 27 Sep 1975: The last use of capital punishment in Spain sparks worldwide protests. Read more
• 27 Sep 1973: Texas International Airlines Flight 655 crashes into the Black Fork Mountain Wilderness near Mena, Arkansas, killing all 11 people on board. Read more
• 27 Sep 1964: The British TSR-2 aircraft XR219 makes its maiden flight. Read more
• 27 Sep 1962: The Yemen Arab Republic is established. Read more
• 27 Sep 1962: Rachel Carson's book Silent Spring is published, inspiring an environmental movement and the creation of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Read more
• 27 Sep 1959: Typhoon Vera kills nearly 5,000 people in Japan. Read more
• 27 Sep 1956: USAF Captain Milburn G. Apt becomes the first person to exceed Mach 3. Shortly thereafter, the Bell X-2 goes out of control and Captain Apt is killed. Read more
• 27 Sep 1949: Zeng Liansong's design is chosen as the flag of the People's Republic of China. Read more
• 27 Sep 1944: World War II: The Kassel Mission results in the largest loss by a USAAF group on any mission during the war. Read more
• 27 Sep 1942: World War II: Last day of the Matanikau action on Guadalcanal as United States Marines barely escape after being surrounded by Japanese forces. Read more
• 27 Sep 1941: World War II: The Greek National Liberation Front is established with Georgios Siantos as acting leader. Read more
• 27 Sep 1941: The SS Patrick Henry is launched, becoming the first of more than 2,700 Liberty ships. Read more
• 27 Sep 1940: World War II: The Tripartite Pact is signed in Berlin by Germany, Japan and Italy. Read more
• 27 Sep 1938: The ocean liner Queen Elizabeth is launched in Glasgow. Read more
• 27 Sep 1930: Bobby Jones wins the (pre-Masters) Grand Slam of golf. Read more
• 27 Sep 1928: The Republic of China is recognized by the United States. Read more
• 27 Sep 1922: King Constantine I of Greece abdicates his throne in favor of his eldest son, George II. Read more
• 27 Sep 1916: Iyasu V is proclaimed deposed as ruler of Ethiopia in a palace coup in favor of his aunt Zewditu. Read more
• 27 Sep 1908: Production of the Model T automobile begins at the Ford Piquette Avenue Plant in Detroit. Read more
• 27 Sep 1903: "Wreck of the Old 97": an American rail disaster, in which 11 people are killed; it later becomes the subject of a popular ballad. Read more
• 27 Sep 1875: The merchant sailing ship Ellen Southard is wrecked in a storm at Liverpool. Read more
• 27 Sep 1854: The paddle steamer SS Arctic, owned by the Collins Line of New York, sinks off the coast of Newfoundland, following a collision with a smaller vessel, the SS Vesta. Only 88 of over 300 people on board survive. About a dozen of the occupants of the Vesta are killed when their lifeboat is hit by the Arctic. Read more
• 27 Sep 1825: The world's first public railway to use steam locomotives, the Stockton and Darlington Railway, is ceremonially opened with the engine Locomotion pulling wagons with coal and passengers from Shildon to Darlington to Stockton. Read more
• 27 Sep 1822: Jean-François Champollion officially informs the Académie des Inscriptions et Belles Lettres in France that he has deciphered the Rosetta Stone. Read more
• 27 Sep 1821: The Army of the Three Guarantees triumphantly enters Mexico City, led by Agustín de Iturbide. The following day Mexico is declared independent. Read more
• 27 Sep 1810: The French army under André Masséna fails to break British forces under the Arthur Wellesley in the battle of Bussaco. Read more

Famous Births on 27 September

• 27 Sep 2002: Jenna Ortega, American actress Jenna Marie Ortega is an American actress. Known for her work in horror, Ortega has been called "Gen Z's scream queen" by media publications. She was featured on The Hollywood Reporter's Power 100 list in 2023 and the Forbes 30 Under 30 list in 2024. Read more
• 27 Sep 2001: Caleb Love, American basketball player Caleb Khristopher Love is an American professional basketball player for the Philadelphia 76ers of the National Basketball Association (NBA), on a two-way contract with the Delaware Blue Coats of the NBA G League. He played college basketball for the North Carolina Tar Heels and the Arizona Wildcats. Read more
• 27 Sep 2001: David Malukas, American race car driver David Joseph Malukas is an American racing driver who competes in the IndyCar Series driving the No. 12 Chevrolet for Team Penske. He previously drove for A.J. Foyt Racing in 2025, Meyer Shank Racing in 2024, and Dale Coyne Racing in 2022 and 2023. Read more
• 27 Sep 1998: Ioana Mincă, Romanian tennis player Ioana Mincă is a Romanian tennis player. Read more
• 27 Sep 1997: Jaiden Animations, American YouTuber and animator Jaiden Dittfach is an American YouTuber and animator known for her story-time animations channel, Jaiden Animations. She makes videos on a variety of topics, spanning from personal life experiences to video game stories. Her main channel was founded in 2014, and as of September 2026, has over 15.3 million subscribers and 3.20 billion views. Nominated for a total of six Streamy Awards, she won in the Animated category in 2020. Read more
• 27 Sep 1995: Kwon Eun-bi, South Korean singer and musical actress Kwon Eun-bi is a South Korean singer and actress. She debuted as a member of the short lived girl group Ye-A under the stage name Kazoo. She participated in the Mnet reality competition series Produce 48, where she finished in 7th place and became a member and leader of the South Korean–Japanese girl group Iz*One on August 31, 2018. Read more
• 27 Sep 1995: Christian Wood, American basketball player Christian Marquise Wood is an American professional basketball player who last played for the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the UNLV Runnin' Rebels. He has also played in the NBA for the Philadelphia 76ers, Charlotte Hornets, Milwaukee Bucks, New Orleans Pelicans, Detroit Pistons, Houston Rockets and the Dallas Mavericks. Read more
• 27 Sep 1994: Dylan Walker, Australian rugby league player Dylan Walker is a professional rugby league footballer who plays as a lock forward for the Leeds Rhinos in the Super League, and has played for Australia and the New Zealand Māori at international level. Read more
• 27 Sep 1994: Sayak Chakraborty, Indian television actor Sayak Chakraborty is an Indian actor and YouTuber who works in Bengali cinema. He is known for his portrayal of Krishna in the mythological television soap opera Mahaprabhu Sri Chaitanya and his role in Karunamoyee Rani Rashmoni, a historical drama soap aired on Zee Bangla. In 2025, he became the brand ambassador of Texllo Technology and Joarder Saree House. In mid-2026, Chakraborty joined reality television show Bigg Boss Bangla season 3. Read more
• 27 Sep 1993: Lisandro Magallán, Argentinian footballer Lisandro Magallán is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for Vélez Sarsfield. Read more
• 27 Sep 1993: Ryan Murray, Canadian ice hockey player Ryan James Murray is a Canadian former professional ice hockey defenceman who played in the National Hockey League (NHL). Murray was drafted second overall by the Columbus Blue Jackets in the 2012 NHL entry draft. Murray won the Stanley Cup with the Colorado Avalanche in 2022. Read more
• 27 Sep 1993: Monica Puig, Puerto Rican-American tennis player Monica Puig Marchán is a Puerto Rican former professional tennis player. She is the first Puerto Rican in history to win a gold medal at the Olympics while representing Puerto Rico, having done so in 2016 at the women's singles event. She is also a Central American and Caribbean champion and Pan American silver medalist. Read more
• 27 Sep 1993: Vinnie Sunseri, American football player Vincent Salvatore Sunseri is an American football coach and former player who is the next safeties coach for the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets. He played professionally as a safety in the National Football League (NFL). Read more
• 27 Sep 1992: Lachlan Burr, Australian rugby league player Lachlan Burr is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who last played as a lock and prop for the North Queensland Cowboys in the NRL. Read more
• 27 Sep 1992: Sam Lerner, American actor Samuel Bryce Lerner is an American actor. He is best known for his role as Geoff Schwartz in the ABC sitcom The Goldbergs (2013–2023), and as Quinn Goldberg in the science fiction film Project Almanac (2015). His voice roles include the leading role of Zak Saturday in the animated series The Secret Saturdays (2008–2010) and Charles "Chowder" in the supernatural film Monster House (2006). Read more
• 27 Sep 1992: Ryan O'Shaughnessy, Irish singer-songwriter and actor Ryan O'Shaughnessy is an Irish singer and former actor from Loughshinny, Skerries, County Dublin. He portrayed Mark Halpin in the popular TV series Fair City for nine years (2001–2010). In January 2012, he appeared in the inaugurative season of The Voice of Ireland and in May 2012, he took part in sixth series of Britain's Got Talent making it to the final and finishing in fifth place. He represented Ireland in the Eurovision Song Contest 2018 with the song "Together" finishing 16th. Read more
• 27 Sep 1992: Granit Xhaka, Swiss footballer Granit Xhaka is a Swiss professional footballer who plays as a defensive midfielder for and captains both Premier League club Sunderland and the Switzerland national team. Read more
• 27 Sep 1991: Ousmane Barry, Guinean footballer Elhadj Ousmane Barry, also known as Pato, is a Guinean international footballer who plays as a centre forward for Al-Bukiryah. Read more
• 27 Sep 1991: Simona Halep, Romanian tennis player Simona Halep is a Romanian former professional tennis player. She was ranked as the world No. 1 in women's singles by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) for 64 weeks, including as the year-end No. 1 in 2017 and 2018. Halep won 25 WTA Tour–level titles, including two majors at the 2018 French Open and the 2019 Wimbledon Championships. Read more
• 27 Sep 1991: Thomas Mann, American actor Thomas Mann is an American actor. After making his film debut with a supporting role in It's Kind of a Funny Story (2010), Mann had his breakout with a lead role in the found footage teen comedy film Project X (2012). Read more
• 27 Sep 1991: Anete Paulus, Estonian footballer Anete Paulus is an Estonian football player who plays as a defender for Naiste Meistriliiga club Pärnu. She represented the Estonia national team from 2008 to 2017. Read more
• 27 Sep 1991: Rio Uchida, Japanese model and actress Rio Uchida is a Japanese actress and gravure idol who is affiliated with LesPros Entertainment. She is best known for her role as Kiriko Shijima, the main heroine of the Kamen Rider series Kamen Rider Drive. Read more
• 27 Sep 1990: Dion Lewis, American football player Dion John Lewis is an American football coach and former running back who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 10 seasons. He played college football for the Pittsburgh Panthers, earning second-team All-American honors in 2009. Lewis was selected by the Philadelphia Eagles in the fifth round of the 2011 NFL draft. He is currently the assistant running backs coach for the University of Albany. Read more
• 27 Sep 1989: Park Tae-hwan, South Korean swimmer Park Tae-hwan is a South Korean retired competitive swimmer who is an Olympic gold medalist and world champion. He has four Olympic medals, five world titles, and 20 Asian Games medals. He won a gold medal in the 400-meter freestyle and a silver in the 200-meter freestyle events at the 2008 Summer Olympics. He also won two silver medals at the 2012 Summer Olympics in the 200- and 400-meter freestyle. He is the first Asian swimmer to claim a gold medal in the men's 400-meter freestyle, and the first-ever South Korean swimmer to win any Olympic medal in swimming. He also holds 3 Asian Records, all in Men's Freestyle. He is best known for his impressive range and versatility, as he is able to compete at international level in 100-, 200-, 400- and 1,500-meter freestyle. Read more
• 27 Sep 1988: Lisa Ryzih, German pole vaulter Elizaveta Ryzih is a German pole vault athlete. Two times an Olympian, she placed 6th in the London and 10th in Rio Olympic Games. She was described by one athletics commentator as a "tall, fast and athletic" pole vaulter. She saw success in European Championships, as well as being a constant presence in the world yearly rankings of pole vaulters, placing among the top 10 vaulters in recent years. She is the younger sister of fellow pole vaulter Anastasija Reiberger. She is coached by her father Vladimir Ryzih. Read more
• 27 Sep 1987: Ádám Bogdán, Hungarian footballer Ádám Bogdán is a Hungarian former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. Read more
• 27 Sep 1987: Austin Carlile, American singer-songwriter Austin Robert Carlile is an American singer who achieved prominence as the former lead vocalist of Attack Attack! and Of Mice & Men. After leaving Of Mice & Men, he began coaching youth baseball in Costa Rica. A high school athlete, multiple surgeries from Marfan syndrome during his teenage years turned him towards music. In December 2016, Carlile departed from Of Mice & Men due to his Marfan syndrome and the effects that his vocal performances were having on his body. In 2026, Carlile returned to music as a solo artist, releasing several independent singles. Read more
• 27 Sep 1987: Vanessa James, French figure skater Vanessa James Amoros is a Canadian retired pair skater. Representing France with her former skating partner, Morgan Ciprès, she is the 2019 European Champion, the 2018 World bronze medallist, the 2017 European bronze medallist, the 2018 Grand Prix Final champion, and a six-time French national champion. They have also won medals in Grand Prix and Challenger Series competitions. James and Ciprès competed at the 2014 and 2018 Winter Olympics. Read more
• 27 Sep 1987: Olga Puchkova, Russian tennis player Olga Alekseyevna Puchkova is a Russian former professional tennis player. As a junior, she played for Belarus, and was sometimes listed as Belarusian professional. Read more
• 27 Sep 1986: Vin Mazzaro, American baseball player Vincent Michael Mazzaro is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He has previously played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Oakland Athletics, Kansas City Royals, Pittsburgh Pirates, Miami Marlins, and San Francisco Giants. Read more
• 27 Sep 1986: Ricardo Risatti, Argentinian race car driver Ricardo "Caíto" Risatti III is an Argentine racing driver. He was the 2006 Spanish Formula Three champion and now competes in the Argentine touring car series, TC 2000. Read more
• 27 Sep 1986: Matt Shoemaker American baseball player Matthew David Shoemaker is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Los Angeles Angels, Toronto Blue Jays, and Minnesota Twins and in Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) for the Yomiuri Giants. Prior to beginning his professional career, he played college baseball at Eastern Michigan University (EMU). Shoemaker has also competed for the United States national baseball team. Read more
• 27 Sep 1985: Massimo Bertocchi, Canadian decathlete Massimo Bertocchi is a male decathlete from Canada. Read more
• 27 Sep 1985: Anthony Morrow, American basketball player Anthony Jarrad Morrow is an American former professional basketball player and executive who was most recently an executive for the Oklahoma City Thunder of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for Georgia Tech. He went undrafted in the 2008 NBA draft but was later signed by the Golden State Warriors. He was best known for his three-point shooting. Read more
• 27 Sep 1985: Daniel Pudil, Czech footballer Daniel Pudil is a Czech former professional footballer who played for the Czech Republic national team and currently plays as a left back or left winger for Northern Counties East League Premier Division club Hallam. Read more
• 27 Sep 1985: Ibrahim Touré, Ivorian footballer (died 2014) Ibrahim Obyala Touré was an Ivorian professional footballer who played as a striker. He was the younger brother of former Manchester City midfielder Yaya Touré and former Arsenal and Liverpool defender Kolo Touré. Read more
• 27 Sep 1984: Paul Bevan, Australian footballer Paul Bevan is an Australian rules football player with the Sydney Swans of the Australian Football League (AFL). Read more
• 27 Sep 1984: Davide Capello, Italian footballer Davide Ugo Capello is a former Italian professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. Read more
• 27 Sep 1984: John Lannan, American baseball player John Edward Lannan is an American former professional baseball pitcher who has served as the Major League mental performance coach for the Toronto Blue Jays since 2024. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Washington Nationals and Philadelphia Phillies. Read more
• 27 Sep 1984: Avril Lavigne, Canadian singer-songwriter, actress, and fashion designer Avril Ramona Lavigne is a Canadian singer and songwriter. She is credited with boosting the popularity of pop-punk music, in particular for female-driven, punk-influenced pop music in the early 2000s. Her accolades include 10 Juno Awards and eight Grammy Awards nominations. Read more
• 27 Sep 1984: Wouter Weylandt, Belgian cyclist (died 2011) Wouter Weylandt was a Belgian professional cyclist for UCI ProTeam Quick-Step–Davitamon and later for Leopard Trek. His first major win was the 17th stage of the 2008 Vuelta a España. He also won the third stage of the 2010 Giro d'Italia. He died in a crash during the third stage of the 2011 Giro d'Italia. Read more
• 27 Sep 1983: Jay Bouwmeester, Canadian ice hockey player Jay Daniel Bouwmeester is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player. A defenceman, he played seventeen seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Florida Panthers, Calgary Flames and St. Louis Blues. He was a first round selection, third overall, of the Panthers at the 2002 NHL entry draft. He was named to the NHL All-Rookie Team in 2003 and played seven seasons in the Panthers organization before being traded to the Calgary Flames in 2009, with which he played four seasons. Bouwmeester was then traded to the Blues in 2013. He held one of the longest iron man streaks in NHL history as he appeared in 737 consecutive regular season games between 2004 and 2014. Read more
• 27 Sep 1983: Jeon Hye-bin, South Korean actress and singer Jeon Hye-bin, also known as BIN, is a South Korean actress, singer and model. In 2002, she began her career as singer of the short-lived, three-member girl group LUV. However, the group disbanded the following year due to individual goals. Read more
• 27 Sep 1983: Chris Quinn, American basketball player and coach Christopher James Quinn Jr. is an American professional basketball coach and former player who is the top assistant coach for the Miami Heat of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Read more
• 27 Sep 1982: Anna Camp, American actress Anna Ragsdale Camp is an American actress and singer who portrayed the villainous Sarah Newlin in the HBO vampire drama True Blood, Aubrey Posen in the Pitch Perfect film series (2012–2017), the dual role of Reagan and Maddie Lockwood in the Netflix thriller You (2025), and Jessica Bowden in the slasher film Scream 7 (2026). Read more
• 27 Sep 1982: Jon McLaughlin, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer Jonathan McLaughlin is an American pop rock singer-songwriter, record producer and pianist from Anderson, Indiana. His debut album Indiana was released on May 1, 2007, preceded by his first EP Industry, also known as Jon McL, in February 2007. His most successful song is the 2008 single "Beating My Heart", from his second album OK Now. Read more
• 27 Sep 1982: Markus Rosenberg, Swedish footballer Nils Markus Rosenberg is a Swedish former professional footballer who played as a forward. He spent the majority of his career with his boyhood club Malmö FF, as well as a notable five-year stint with German Bundesliga side Werder Bremen. Rosenberg served as captain of Malmö from 2015 to 2019. Rosenberg won 33 caps for the Sweden national team, scoring 6 goals, and represented them at the 2006 FIFA World Cup, UEFA Euro 2008, and UEFA Euro 2012. Read more
• 27 Sep 1982: Lil Wayne, American rapper, producer, and actor Dwayne Michael Carter Jr., known professionally as Lil Wayne, is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, and record executive. He is often regarded as one of the most influential hip-hop artists of his generation, as well as one of the greatest rappers of all time. Born and raised in New Orleans, he was discovered by hometown rapper Birdman in 1993 and signed with his record label, Cash Money Records, at age eleven. He emerged as the label's flagship artist until his departure in 2018. Read more
• 27 Sep 1982: Tan White, American basketball player LaTanya Chantella White is a professional basketball player. Born in Tupelo, Mississippi, White is 5 ft 7 in (1.70 m) tall and weighs 154 pounds (70 kg). She received the Frances Pomeroy Naismith Award from the Women's Basketball Coaches Association as the best senior player under 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m) in 2005. Read more
• 27 Sep 1982: Darrent Williams, American football player (died 2007) Darrent Demarcus Williams was an American professional football player who was a cornerback for the Denver Broncos of the National Football League (NFL). After attending high school in Fort Worth, Texas, Williams played football at Oklahoma State University. He was a second-round draft pick by the Broncos in 2005. Williams was killed in a drive-by shooting the day after he finished his second season with the Broncos. Read more
• 27 Sep 1981: Sophie Crumb, American author and illustrator Sophia Violet "Sophie" Crumb is an American-French comics artist. Read more
• 27 Sep 1981: Brendon McCullum, New Zealand cricketer Brendon Barrie McCullum is a New Zealand cricket coach and former player who is the head coach of the England men's cricket team in T20s and ODIs, and formerly Test matches until his sacking as England Test coach in July 2026. Representing New Zealand, he captained the team in all formats. McCullum was renowned for his quick scoring, notably setting a record for the fastest Test century. He is considered one of New Zealand's most successful batsmen and captained the team to the finals of the 2015 Cricket World Cup and 2009 ICC Champions Trophy. He is also an inductee of the New Zealand Cricket Hall of Fame. Read more
• 27 Sep 1981: Lakshmipathy Balaji, Indian cricketer Lakshmipathy Balaji is an Indian cricket coach and former international cricketer. He was a right-arm fast medium bowler. He represented the Indian cricket team and was part of the Indian team that finished as runners-up in the 2004 Asia Cup. He played for Tamil Nadu and South Zone in domestic cricket. Read more
• 27 Sep 1980: Asashōryū Akinori, Mongolian sumo wrestler, the 68th Yokozuna Asashōryū Akinori is a Mongolian former professional sumo wrestler (rikishi). He was the 68th yokozuna in the history of the sport in Japan, and in January 2003 he became the first Mongolian to reach sumo's highest rank. He was one of the most successful yokozuna ever. In 2005, he became the first wrestler to win all six official tournaments (honbasho) in a single year. Over his entire career, he won 25 top division tournament championships, placing him fourth on the all-time list. He is often referred to as one of the greatest sumo wrestlers of all time. Read more
• 27 Sep 1980: Ehron VonAllen, American singer-songwriter and producer Ehron VonAllen is an American singer in the electronic pop genre, record producer, recording artist and remixer, currently based in Hollywood, California. Born Aaron Christopher Allen, VonAllen began music in a small town of 4,000 in Walnut Ridge, Arkansas. VonAllen's first run in with music was a concert video by Depeche Mode entitled "101". After graduating from high school, he moved to Dallas, Texas, to pursue a music career instead of university or military, which were both seriously considered. While living in Texas, he played shows in the popular music district of Deep Ellum in downtown Dallas. Read more
• 27 Sep 1979: Jon Garland, American baseball player Jon Steven Garland is an American former professional baseball starting pitcher. After being drafted by the Chicago Cubs of Major League Baseball (MLB) in 1997, Garland played for the Chicago White Sox, Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, Arizona Diamondbacks, Los Angeles Dodgers, San Diego Padres, and Colorado Rockies. Read more
• 27 Sep 1979: Zita Görög, Hungarian actress and model Zita Görög is a Hungarian actress and model, often credited as Zita Gorog. Read more
• 27 Sep 1979: Christian Jones, Australian race car driver Christian Alan Jones is an Australian racing driver; he is the adopted son of 1980 Formula One World Champion Alan Jones. Read more
• 27 Sep 1979: Michael Kosta, American comedian Michael Kosta is an American stand-up comedian and former professional tennis player. He is an Emmy award-winning rotating host and senior correspondent of The Daily Show and was hired as a correspondent in 2017. He was the most-watched guest host in 2023. He has also hosted The Comment Section for the E! Network with producer Joel McHale as well as co-hosting Fox Sports 1's Crowd Goes Wild. His one-hour stand-up special for Comedy Central debuted in 2020. Read more
• 27 Sep 1979: Steve Simpson, Australian rugby league player Steve Simpson is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 2000s. A New South Wales State of Origin and Australia international representative second-row, he could also play prop or lock and played his entire club career for the Newcastle Knights, with whom he won the 2001 NRL Premiership. Read more
• 27 Sep 1978: Brad Arnold, American singer-songwriter (died 2026) Bradley Kirk Arnold was an American singer. In 1996, he co-founded the rock band 3 Doors Down with Todd Harrell and Matt Roberts, serving as its lead vocalist. The band rose to prominence with their 2000 single "Kryptonite", which Arnold wrote when he was fifteen years old. Read more
• 27 Sep 1978: Jon Rauch, American baseball player Jon Erich Rauch is an American former professional baseball pitcher. At 6 feet 11 inches (2.11 m), he is tied with Sean Hjelle as the tallest player in Major League Baseball (MLB) history. He is also an Olympic Gold Medalist in baseball. Read more
• 27 Sep 1978: Mihaela Ursuleasa, Romanian pianist (died 2012) Mihaela Ursuleasa was a Romanian concert pianist. In 1995, she won the Clara Haskil International Piano Competition. Read more
• 27 Sep 1977: Andrus Värnik, Estonian javelin thrower Andrus Värnik is a retired Estonian track and field athlete who competed in the javelin throw. He is a World Champion, having won gold in 2005. His personal best throw of 87.83 m, set in 2003, was the Estonian record for 15 years. Read more
• 27 Sep 1976: Matt Harding, American video game designer and dancer Matthew Harding is an American traveler, video game designer, and Internet celebrity who is known as Dancing Matt, for his viral videos that show him dancing in front of landmarks and street scenes in various international locations. Harding has since received widespread coverage of his travel exploits in major print and broadcast media outlets, and was hired by Visa to star in their Travel Happy campaign in 2008. Read more
• 27 Sep 1976: Jason Phillips, American baseball player and coach Jason Lloyd Phillips is an American professional baseball player and coach. He is the bullpen coach for the Trenton Thunder of the Class AA Eastern League. He played as a catcher and first baseman in Major League Baseball for the New York Mets, Los Angeles Dodgers, and Toronto Blue Jays. Read more
• 27 Sep 1976: Francesco Totti, Italian footballer Francesco Totti is an Italian former professional footballer who played for Roma and the Italy national team. He was a technically gifted and creative number 10, regarded as one of the greatest in the role, who played as an offensive playmaker (trequartista) and as a forward. Read more
• 27 Sep 1974: Carrie Brownstein, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actress Carrie Rachel Brownstein is an American musician, actress, writer, director, and comedian. She first came to prominence as a member of the band Excuse 17 before forming the rock trio Sleater-Kinney. Read more
• 27 Sep 1973: Vratislav Lokvenc, Czech footballer Vratislav Lokvenc is a Czech former professional footballer who played as a forward. After playing youth football for Náchod and Hradec Králové, he began his senior club career with the latter team. After moving to Sparta Prague he won five league titles and one cup, as well as the 1999–2000 league top scorer award. He subsequently played abroad, playing club football in Germany, Austria and Switzerland for 1. FC Kaiserslautern, VfL Bochum, Red Bull Salzburg, FC Basel and FC Ingolstadt 04. He retired in 2009. Read more
• 27 Sep 1973: Stanislav Pozdnyakov, Russian fencer Stanislav Alekseyevich Pozdnyakov is a Russian former fencer, five-time Olympian (1992–2008), and five-time Olympic medalist in individual and team sabre competitions who previously served as president of the Russian Olympic Committee from 2018 to 2024. He is also a ten-time individual and team world champion, in 1994–2007. In 2022, he was removed from his position as European Fencing Confederation (EFC) president at an Extraordinary Congress following a unanimous vote of no confidence in Pozdnyakov, due to his conduct in the wake of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Read more
• 27 Sep 1973: Indira Varma, British actress Indira Anne Varma is a British actress and narrator. Her film debut and first major role was in Kama Sutra: A Tale of Love (1996). She is known for her television roles, such as playing Mary Bennet’s aunt in “The Other Bennet Sister,” Niobe in the BBC and HBO series Rome (2005–07), Suzie Costello in the BBC series Torchwood (2006), Zoe Luther in the BBC series Luther (2010), Ilsa Pucci in Human Target (2010–11), Ellaria Sand in the HBO series Game of Thrones (2014–2017), and The Bride in the DCU/Max adult animated series Creature Commandos (2024–present). Read more
• 27 Sep 1972: Sylvia Crawley, American basketball player and coach Sylvia Crawley Spann is an American former professional basketball player and coach. She played for the Colorado Xplosion and Portland Power of the American Basketball League (ABL) and the Portland Fire and San Antonio Silver Stars of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). She was the head women's basketball coach of the Ohio Bobcats and Boston College Eagles. She played college basketball for the North Carolina Tar Heels. Read more
• 27 Sep 1972: Clara Hughes, Canadian cyclist and speed skater Clara Hughes is a Canadian cyclist and speed skater who has won multiple Olympic medals in both sports. Hughes won two bronze in the 1996 Summer Olympics and four medals over the course of three Winter Olympics. Read more
• 27 Sep 1972: Gwyneth Paltrow, American actress, blogger, and businesswoman Gwyneth Kate Paltrow is an American actress and businesswoman. The daughter of filmmaker Bruce Paltrow and actress Blythe Danner, she established herself as a leading lady appearing in primarily mid-budget and period films during the 1990s and early 2000s, before transitioning to blockbusters and franchises. Her accolades include an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award, and a Primetime Emmy Award. Read more
• 27 Sep 1972: Craig L. Rice, American politician Craig Lamont Rice is an American politician and former member of the Montgomery County Council, serving from 2010 to 2022. Elected in 2006 to the Maryland House of Delegates, he served one four-year term and represented District 15 in western and northern Montgomery County. Read more
• 27 Sep 1971: Horacio Sandoval, Mexican illustrator Horacio Miguel Sandoval Pérez is a comic book artist, member of !Ka-Boom¡ Estudio. Read more
• 27 Sep 1970: Yoshiharu Habu, Japanese chess player and author Yoshiharu Habu is a professional shogi player and a chess FIDE Master. He is a former holder of the Ryūō, Meijin, Ōi, Ōza, Kiō, Ōshō and Kisei major titles. He was the first person to simultaneously hold seven major professional shogi titles at the same time and is the only person to qualify as a lifetime title holder for seven major titles. In January 2018, Habu became the first professional shogi player to be awarded Japan's People's Honour Award. Habu is also a former president of the Japan Shogi Association (JSA). Read more
• 27 Sep 1970: Tamara Taylor, Canadian actress Tamara Taylor is a Canadian actress. She appeared in the role of Dr. Camille Saroyan, head of the Forensic Division, in the forensic crime drama Bones. She also appeared in season seven of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., in which she played Sibyl, one of the two main antagonists. She also starred in the first two seasons of Law & Order: Organized Crime. Read more
• 27 Sep 1968: Mari Kiviniemi, Finnish politician, 41st Prime Minister of Finland Mari Johanna Kiviniemi is a Finnish politician, who served as the 41st and second female Prime Minister of Finland from 2010 to 2011. Read more
• 27 Sep 1968: Patrick Muldoon, American actor (died 2026) William Patrick Muldoon III was an American actor, film producer, and musician. He was best known for his roles as Austin Reed on Days of Our Lives and Zander Barcalow on Starship Troopers. Read more
• 27 Sep 1967: Uche Okechukwu, Nigerian footballer Uchechukwu Alozie "Uche" Okechukwu, also known as Deniz Uygar, is a Nigerian former professional footballer who played as a central defender. Read more
• 27 Sep 1966: Debbie Wasserman Schultz, American politician Deborah Wasserman Schultz is an American politician serving as the U.S. representative for Florida's 25th congressional district, first elected to Congress in 2004. A member of the Democratic Party, she was the chair of the Democratic National Committee (DNC) from 2011 until her resignation in 2016. Read more
• 27 Sep 1966: Stephanie Wilson, American engineer and astronaut Stephanie Diana Wilson is an American engineer and a NASA astronaut. She flew to space onboard three Space Shuttle missions and is the second African American woman to go into space after Mae Jemison. As of 2026, her almost 43 days in space are the second most of any female African American astronaut, having been surpassed by Jessica Watkins in 2022. Read more
• 27 Sep 1966: Lorenzo Cherubini, Italian singer-songwriter and rapper Lorenzo Cherubini, known professionally as Jovanotti, is an Italian singer-songwriter, rapper, and disc jockey. Read more
• 27 Sep 1965: Steve Kerr, American basketball player, coach and sportscaster Stephen Douglas Kerr is an American professional basketball coach and former player who is the head coach for the Golden State Warriors of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He was the head coach of the U.S. national team. Kerr is known as one of the most accurate three-point shooters in NBA history and holds the record for highest career three-point percentage. He is also a nine-time NBA champion, having won five titles as a player and four as a head coach. Kerr was named one of the 15 Greatest Coaches in NBA History. Read more
• 27 Sep 1965: Bernard Lord, Canadian lawyer and politician, 30th Premier of New Brunswick Bernard Lord is a Canadian lawyer, business executive and former politician. He served as the 30th premier of New Brunswick from 1999 to 2006. Lord was appointed as board chair of Ontario Power Generation in 2014. Read more
• 27 Sep 1965: Peter MacKay, Canadian lawyer and politician, 50th Canadian Minister of Justice Peter Gordon MacKay is a Canadian lawyer and politician, who served as Member of Parliament from 1997 to 2015 and as Minister of Justice and Attorney General (2013–2015), Minister of National Defence (2007–2013), and Minister of Foreign Affairs (2006–2007) in the Cabinet of Canada under Prime Minister Stephen Harper. MacKay became the final leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada — he agreed to merge the party with Stephen Harper's Canadian Alliance in 2003, forming the Conservative Party of Canada and making MacKay one of the co-founders of the current conservative wing of Canadian politics. Read more
• 27 Sep 1965: Alexis Stewart, American radio and television host Alexis Gilbert Stewart is an American television and radio host presenter. She is the only child of Martha Stewart and her ex-husband Andrew Stewart. She was the co-host of Whatever with Alexis and Jennifer on Sirius Satellite Radio, and Whatever with Alexis and Jennifer on the Hallmark Channel alongside co-host Jennifer Hutt. Read more
• 27 Sep 1964: Predrag Brzaković, Serbian footballer (died 2012) Predrag "Peca" Brzaković was a Serbian professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. Read more
• 27 Sep 1964: Tracy Camp, American computer scientist and academic Tracy Kay Camp is an American computer scientist noted for her research on wireless networking. She is also noted for her leadership in broadening participation in computing. She was the co-chair of CRA-W from 2011 to 2014 and she was
  the co-chair of ACM-W from 1998 to 2002. On July 1, 2022, she became the Executive Director of the Computing Research Association. Read more
• 27 Sep 1964: Johnny du Plooy, South African boxer (died 2013) Johnny du Plooy was a South African former heavyweight boxer best known for his win over former WBA World Heavyweight champion Mike Weaver. He challenged once for the WBO World Heavyweight title in 1989. Read more
• 27 Sep 1964: Stephan Jenkins, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer Stephan Douglas Jenkins is an American singer, guitarist, and the frontman of the alternative rock band Third Eye Blind. He began his musical career in 1992 as part of the short-lived rap duo Puck and Natty, alongside Detroit rapper Herman Anthony Chunn. Following the breakup of the duo, Jenkins and guitarist Kevin Cadogan formed Third Eye Blind in 1993. The band released their eponymous debut studio album in 1997, which went multi-platinum in the United States. Since then, they have released nine more albums: Blue (1999), Out of the Vein (2003), Ursa Major (2009), Dopamine (2015), We Are Drugs (2016), Thanks for Everything (2018), Screamer (2019), Our Bande Apart (2021), and Unplugged (2022). As part of Third Eye Blind, Jenkins has received one Billboard Music Award and eight California Music Awards. Read more
• 27 Sep 1963: Marc Maron, American comedian, actor, and radio host Marc David Maron is an American stand-up comedian, writer, actor, musician, and former radio presenter and podcaster. Read more
• 27 Sep 1962: Gavin Larsen, New Zealand cricketer and sportscaster Gavin Rolf Larsen is a former New Zealand international cricketer who specialised in the art of economical bowling. He was known playfully by his teammates as "The Postman". He is currently chief selector for the national side. Read more
• 27 Sep 1960: Jean-Marc Barr, German-American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter Jean-Marc Barr is a French-American film actor and director. He is best known for working on several films from Danish film director and frequent collaborator Lars von Trier since Europa (1991). Read more
• 27 Sep 1959: Beth Heiden, American speed skater and cyclist Elizabeth Lee Heiden Reid is an American athlete who excelled in speed skating, cross-country skiing, and bicycle racing. She was born in Madison, Wisconsin. She was a speedskating bronze medalist at the 1980 Lake Placid Winter Olympics, where her brother Eric won five speedskating gold medals. Read more
• 27 Sep 1958: Shaun Cassidy, American actor, singer, producer, and screenwriter Shaun Paul Cassidy is an American singer, actor, television producer and screenwriter. He has created or produced a number of television series, including American Gothic, Roar, and Invasion. Cassidy was also an executive producer and writer for NBC's medical drama New Amsterdam. Read more
• 27 Sep 1958: Irvine Welsh, Scottish author and playwright Irvine Welsh is a Scottish novelist, short story writer, screenwriter and filmmaker. His novels and short stories, which almost always take place in his native Scotland, are known for their gritty depictions of working-class life and its intricacies; particularly drug addiction, social alienation, lack of opportunity and boredom, amongst others. Read more
• 27 Sep 1957: Bill Athey, English cricketer, footballer, and coach Charles William Jeffrey Athey is a retired English first-class cricketer, who played for England, and first-class cricket for Gloucestershire, Yorkshire and Sussex; he also played a solitary one-day game for Worcestershire. His bulldog spirit was exemplified by the Union Jack tattooed on his arm. He played in 23 Test matches between 1980 and 1988, but scored more than 50 runs only five times in 41 innings. In 1990, Athey joined the rebel tour to South Africa. He was a part of the English squad which finished as runners-up at the 1987 Cricket World Cup. Read more
• 27 Sep 1956: Steve Archibald, Scottish footballer and manager Steven Archibald is a Scottish former professional footballer and manager. He played prominently as a forward for Aberdeen, winning the Scottish league in 1980, Tottenham Hotspur, winning two FA Cups and a UEFA Cup, and Barcelona, winning the Spanish league in 1985. He also played for several other clubs in Scotland, England, Spain and Ireland. Read more
• 27 Sep 1956: Martin Handford, English children's author and illustrator Martin Handford is an English children's author and illustrator from London who gained worldwide fame in the mid-1980s for his Where's Wally? book series. Read more
• 27 Sep 1954: Ray Hadley, Australian radio host and sportscaster Raymond Morris Hadley is a retired Australian talkback radio broadcaster and a rugby league football commentator for Channel Nine. He presented 2GB Sydney's Monday to Friday morning show, and lead the Continuous Call Team, a rugby league-based talkback radio panel program. Read more
• 27 Sep 1954: Dmitry Sitkovetsky, Russian violinist and conductor Dmitry Yulianovich Sitkovetsky is a Soviet and American violinist, conductor, and arranger. Read more
• 27 Sep 1954: Larry Wall, American computer programmer and author Larry Arnold Wall is an American computer programmer, linguist, and author known for creating the Perl programming language and the patch tool. Read more
• 27 Sep 1953: Diane Abbott, English journalist and politician, Shadow Secretary of State for International Development Diane Julie Abbott is a British politician who has served as a Member of Parliament (MP) for Hackney North and Stoke Newington since 1987. She was the first black woman elected to the UK Parliament, and in 2024 became its longest-serving female MP, earning the title Mother of the House. A former Shadow Home Secretary and Privy Counsellor, Abbott has been a prominent figure on the Labour left and a vocal campaigner on issues of race and inequality. She was suspended from the Labour Party in 2023 over comments about racism, later apologised, and had the whip restored ahead of the 2024 general election. In July 2025, she was suspended again after reiterating those remarks in a BBC interview, and sat as an independent MP until July 2026, when the whip was restored following the ascension of Andy Burnham as Labour leader. Read more
• 27 Sep 1953: Mata Amritanandamayi, Indian guru and saint Sri Mātā Amritānandamayī Devi, often known as Amma ("Mother"), is an Indian Hindu spiritual leader, godwoman, guru and humanitarian. She is the chancellor of Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham, a multi-campus research university. Read more
• 27 Sep 1953: Claudio Gentile, Italian footballer and manager Claudio Gentile is an Italian football manager and former player who played as a defender in the 1970s and 1980s. Read more
• 27 Sep 1953: Greg Ham, Australian keyboard player, saxophonist and songwriter (died 2012) Gregory Norman Ham was an Australian musician. He was best known as a member of the 1980s band Men at Work. Besides singing and being occasional lead vocalist of the band, he played saxophone, flute, harmonica, guitar, organ, piano and synthesizer. Read more
• 27 Sep 1952: Katie Fforde, English author Katie Fforde, née Catherine Rose Gordon-Cumming, is a British romance novelist. Published since 1995, her novels are set in modern-day England. Read more
• 27 Sep 1952: Dumitru Prunariu, Romanian pilot, engineer and cosmonaut Dumitru-Dorin Prunariu is a Romanian cosmonaut. He flew in space aboard Soyuz 40 spacecraft and Salyut 6 space laboratory. He teamed with the Soviet cosmonaut Leonid Popov. The backup crew was made of Romanian candidate cosmonaut Dumitru Dediu and Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Romanenko. Read more
• 27 Sep 1951: Geoff Gallop, Australian politician, 27th Premier of Western Australia Geoffrey Ian Gallop is an Australian academic and former politician who was the premier of Western Australia from 16 February 2001 to 25 January 2006. A member of the Labor Party, he served in the Western Australian Legislative Assembly from 1986 to 2006 and was a minister in the Lawrence government from 1990 to 1993. Read more
• 27 Sep 1951: Michel Rivard, Canadian singer-songwriter and guitarist Michel Rivard is a singer-songwriter and musician from Quebec, born in Montreal. His father, Robert Rivard, was an actor. Michel began his career at an early age appearing in a Canadian television series and in TV commercials. Read more
• 27 Sep 1951: Jim Shooter, American author and illustrator (died 2025) James Charles Shooter was an American writer, editor and publisher in the comics industry. Beginning his career writing for DC Comics at the age of 14, he had a successful but controversial run as editor-in-chief at Marvel Comics, and launched comics publishers Valiant, Defiant, and Broadway. Read more
• 27 Sep 1950: John Marsden, Australian writer (died 2024) John Marsden was an Australian writer and teacher. He wrote more than 40 books in his career, including his young adult novel Tomorrow, When the War Began, which began a series of seven books. Read more
• 27 Sep 1950: Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa, Japanese-American actor and martial artist (died 2025) Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa was a Japanese actor and film producer who was best known for his role as the evil shapeshifter sorcerer Shang Tsung in various works of the Mortal Kombat franchise: he first played the character in the 1995 film adaptation, and reprised it in 2013 for the television series Mortal Kombat: Legacy and in 2019 for the video game Mortal Kombat 11. He appeared as Lt. A.J. Shimamura on 15 episodes of the American television series Nash Bridges. Read more
• 27 Sep 1949: Graham Richardson, Australian politician (died 2025) Graham Frederick Richardson was an Australian Labor Party politician who was a senator for New South Wales from 1983 to 1994 and served as a cabinet minister in both the Hawke and Keating governments. He was later a media commentator, public speaker and political lobbyist. Read more
• 27 Sep 1949: Mike Schmidt, American baseball player Michael Jack Schmidt is an American former professional baseball third baseman who spent his entire 18-year Major League Baseball (MLB) career with the Philadelphia Phillies from 1972 to 1989. Schmidt was a 12-time All-Star and a three-time winner of the National League (NL) Most Valuable Player award (MVP), and he was known for his combination of power hitting and strong defense. As a hitter, he compiled 548 home runs and 1,595 runs batted in (RBIs), and led the NL in home runs eight times and in RBIs four times. As a fielder, Schmidt won the National League Gold Glove Award for third basemen ten times. Schmidt was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1995 in his first year of eligibility, and is widely considered to be one of the greatest third basemen in baseball history. Read more
• 27 Sep 1949: Jahn Teigen, Norwegian singer-songwriter and guitarist (died 2020) Jahn Teigen was a Norwegian singer, musician and comedian. He represented Norway in the Eurovision Song Contest three times, in 1978, 1982 and 1983, From October 2006 until his death in February 2020, he lived in Sweden. Read more
• 27 Sep 1948: Tom Braidwood, Canadian actor, director, and producer Tom Braidwood is a Canadian actor and director known for the role of Melvin Frohike, one of the conspiracy theorists known as The Lone Gunmen on the American television series The X-Files. Braidwood also served as an assistant director on the show from seasons one through five; was a second unit director on Millennium, another series from Chris Carter, the creator of The X-Files; and a producer of the second season of the Canadian TV series Da Vinci's Inquest, on which he also directed some episodes. Read more
• 27 Sep 1948: Les Chapman, English footballer and manager Leslie Chapman, commonly known as Les and sometimes as Chappy, is an English former football player and manager. As a player, he made 747 appearances in the Football League in a career that spanned 22 seasons, playing for Oldham Athletic, Huddersfield Town, Stockport County, Bradford City, Rochdale and Preston North End, and also spent a season in the North American Soccer League with the San Jose Earthquakes. As a manager, he took charge of Stockport County and Preston North End. After his spell in club management he became a long-standing kit manager for Manchester City before moving to his current role as a presenter and content producer for the club's media department. He also had a brief cameo in the song "Parklife" by Blur. Read more
• 27 Sep 1948: Duncan Fletcher, Rhodesian-Zimbabwean cricketer and coach Duncan Andrew Gwynne Fletcher is a Zimbabwean cricket coach and former cricketer, who has coached the England and Indian national teams. He led the Indian team to be the winners of the 2013 ICC Champions Trophy, where the team was undefeated during the tournament. Read more
• 27 Sep 1948: A Martinez, American actor Adolfo Larrue Martínez III, credited as A Martinez, is an American actor and singer. He had roles in the daytime soap operas Santa Barbara, General Hospital, One Life to Live, The Bold and the Beautiful, and Days of Our Lives, and the primetime dramas L.A. Law, Profiler, Longmire, and Dark Winds. His feature films include The Cowboys (1972), Powwow Highway (1989), Curse of Chucky (2013), Ambulance (2022), and Far Haven (2023). Read more
• 27 Sep 1947: Dick Advocaat, Dutch football manager and former player Dirk Nicolaas "Dick" Advocaat is a Dutch professional football coach and former player who is the manager of the Curaçao national team. A successful player and manager, he is nicknamed "The Little General", a reference to his mentor Rinus Michels. Read more
• 27 Sep 1947: Richard Court, Australian politician, 26th Premier of Western Australia Richard Fairfax Court is an Australian former politician and diplomat. He served as Premier of Western Australia from 1993 to 2001 and as Australian Ambassador to Japan from 2017 to 2020. A member of the Liberal Party, he represented the Perth-area electorate of Nedlands in the Western Australian Legislative Assembly from 1982 to 2001. His father, Sir Charles Court, also served as state premier. Read more
• 27 Sep 1947: Barbara Dickson, Scottish singer-songwriter and actress Barbara Ruth Dickson is a Scottish singer and actress whose hits include "I Know Him So Well", "Answer Me" and "January February". Dickson has placed fifteen albums on the UK Albums Chart from 1977 to date, and had a number of hit singles, including four which reached the top 20 on the UK Singles Chart. The Scotsman newspaper has described her as Scotland's best-selling female singer in terms of the numbers of hit chart singles and albums she has achieved in the UK since 1976. Read more
• 27 Sep 1947: Denis Lawson, Scottish actor, director, and screenwriter Denis Stamper Lawson is a Scottish actor. He is known for his roles as Wedge Antilles in the original Star Wars trilogy (1977–1983) and as John Jarndyce in the television miniseries Bleak House (2005), the latter of which earned him BAFTA Award and Primetime Emmy Award nominations. He also appeared in the television series The Kit Curran Radio Show (1984–1986), Holby City, and New Tricks (2012–2015), and reprised the role of Antilles in the film Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (2019). On the stage, he is a three-time Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor in a Musical nominee, winning in 1983 for Mr Cinders. Read more
• 27 Sep 1947: Meat Loaf, American singer-songwriter, producer, and actor (died 2022) Michael Lee Aday, known professionally as Meat Loaf, was an American singer and actor. He was known for his powerful, wide-ranging voice and theatrical live shows. His Bat Out of Hell album trilogy—Bat Out of Hell (1977), Bat Out of Hell II: Back into Hell (1993), and Bat Out of Hell III: The Monster Is Loose (2006)—has sold more than 100 million records worldwide, making him one of the best-selling music artists of all time. The first album stayed on the charts for over nine years and is one of the best-selling albums in history, still selling an estimated 200,000 copies annually as of 2016. Read more
• 27 Sep 1947: Liz Torres, Puerto Rican-American actress and comedian Elizabeth Larrieu Torres is an American actress, singer, and comedian. Torres is best known for her role as Mahalia Sanchez in the NBC comedy series The John Larroquette Show (1993–1996), for which she received two Primetime Emmy and Golden Globe Award nominations. She is also known for her role as Patricia "Miss Patty" LaCosta in The WB family comedic drama series Amy Sherman-Palladino's Gilmore Girls (2000–07) starring Lauren Graham and Alexis Bledel. In the 1970s, she played Julie Erskine on Phyllis and also had a recurring role as Teresa Betancourt on All in the Family. Read more
• 27 Sep 1946: Nicos Anastasiades, Cypriot lawyer and politician, seventh President of Cyprus Nicos Anastasiades is a Cypriot politician and businessperson, who served as the seventh president of Cyprus from 2013 to 2023. Previously, he was the leader of Democratic Rally between 1997 and 2013 and served as Member of Parliament from Limassol between 1981 and 2013. Read more
• 27 Sep 1946: T. C. Cannon, American painter and sculptor (died 1978) Tommy Wayne Cannon was an important Native American artist of the 20th century. He was popularly known as T. C. Cannon. He was an enrolled member of the Kiowa Indian Tribe of Oklahoma and had Caddo and French ancestry. Read more
• 27 Sep 1945: Jack Goldstein, Canadian-American painter (died 2003) Jack Goldstein was a Canadian born, California and New York-based performance and conceptual artist turned post-conceptual painter in the 1980s. Read more
• 27 Sep 1944: Angélica María, American-born Mexican singer-songwriter and actress Angélica María Hartman Ortiz is a Mexican singer and actress. Referred to as "La Novia de México", she began her career as a child actress in films of the Golden Age of Mexican cinema, such as Pecado (1951), Una mujer decente (1951), and Mi esposa y la otra (1952). During the 1960s, she rose to prominence as a teen idol through her roles in films and telenovelas, concurrently launching a successful music career. Her recordings of compositions by Armando Manzanero established her as a popular singer of rock and roll and pop ballads, with hit songs including the Billboard Hot Latin Tracks top 40-singles "El hombre de mi vida", "Reina y cenicienta", "Prohibido", and "El taconazo". Read more
• 27 Sep 1944: Gary Sutherland, American baseball player and scout (died 2024) Gary Lynn Sutherland, nicknamed "Sudsy", was an American professional baseball middle infielder. He player 13 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1966 to 1978 for the Philadelphia Phillies, Montreal Expos, Houston Astros, Detroit Tigers, Milwaukee Brewers, San Diego Padres, and St. Louis Cardinals. He played college baseball at the University of Southern California. Read more
• 27 Sep 1943: Prince Amedeo, Duke of Aosta (died 2021) Prince Amedeo of Savoy-Aosta, 5th Duke of Aosta was a claimant to the headship of the House of Savoy, the family which ruled Italy from 1861 to 1946. Until 7 July 2006, Amedeo was styled Duke of Aosta; on that date he declared himself Duke of Savoy, a title that was disputed between him and his third cousin, Vittorio Emanuele, Prince of Naples, only son of King Umberto II of Italy. Read more
• 27 Sep 1943: Randy Bachman, Canadian singer-songwriter and guitarist Randolph Charles Bachman is a Canadian guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He was a founding member of the bands the Guess Who and Bachman–Turner Overdrive. He was the writer and singer of several hit rock songs, including, "Takin' Care of Business", and "You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet". Bachman also recorded as a solo artist and was part of a number of short-lived bands such as Brave Belt, Union and Ironhorse. He was a national radio personality on CBC Radio, hosting the weekly music show, Vinyl Tap. Bachman was inducted into the Musicians Hall of Fame and Museum in 2016. Read more
• 27 Sep 1942: Dith Pran, Cambodian photographer and journalist (died 2008) Dith Pran was a Cambodian-American photojournalist. He was a refugee and survivor of the Cambodian genocide and one of the subjects of the Academy Award–winning film The Killing Fields (1984), in which he was portrayed by Haing S. Ngor, a fellow survivor. Read more
• 27 Sep 1942: Alvin Stardust, English singer and actor (died 2014) Bernard William Jewry, known professionally as Shane Fenton and later as Alvin Stardust, was an English rock singer and stage actor. Performing first as Shane Fenton in the 1960s, Jewry had a moderately successful career in the pre-Beatles era, hitting the UK top 40 with four singles in 1961–62. However, he became better known for singles released in the 1970s and 1980s as Alvin Stardust, a character he began in the glam rock era, with hits including "My Coo Ca Choo", the UK singles chart-topper "Jealous Mind", "Pretend" and "I Feel Like Buddy Holly". Read more
• 27 Sep 1941: Peter Bonetti, English footballer and coach (died 2020) Peter Philip Bonetti was an English professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper for Chelsea, the St. Louis Stars, Dundee United and England. He was known for his safe handling, lightning reflexes and his graceful style, for which he was given the nickname "The Cat". He was one of several goalkeepers who specialised in a one-armed throw which could achieve a similar distance to a drop kick. Read more
• 27 Sep 1941: Serge Ménard, Canadian lawyer and politician Serge Ménard is a politician from Quebec, Canada. He was a member of the National Assembly of Quebec from 1993 to 2003, and a member of Parliament from 2004 to 2011. Outside politics he has been a lawyer, lecturer and professor. Read more
• 27 Sep 1941: Don Nix, American saxophonist, songwriter, and producer William Donald Nix was an American musician, songwriter, and producer. Nix, who was best known for his song "Going Down," was described by AllMusic as "one of the more obscure figures in Southern soul and rock." Read more
• 27 Sep 1940: Josephine Barstow, English soprano and actress Dame Josephine Clare Barstow, is an English operatic soprano. Read more
• 27 Sep 1940: Benoni Beheyt, Belgian cyclist Benoni Beheyt is a Belgian former professional road bicycle racer who raced from 1962 to 1968. Beheyt won 22 races and is most famous for winning the 1963 World Cycling Championships Road Race and stage win of the 1964 Tour de France. He also competed in the individual road race and team time trial events at the 1960 Summer Olympics. Read more
• 27 Sep 1939: Nicholas Haslam, English interior designer and author Nicholas Ponsonby Haslam is an English interior designer and socialite, and founder of the London-based interior design firm, Nicky Haslam Studio. Read more
• 27 Sep 1939: Carol Lynn Pearson, American author, poet, and playwright (died 2026) Carol Lynn Wright Pearson was an American poet, author, screenwriter, and playwright. She frequently addressed the topics of LGBT acceptance and the role of Latter-day Saint women. Read more
• 27 Sep 1939: Kathy Whitworth, American golfer (died 2022) Kathrynne Ann Whitworth was an American professional golfer. During her playing career she won 88 LPGA Tour tournaments, more than anyone else on the LPGA or PGA Tours. Whitworth was also a runner-up 93 times, giving her 181 top-two finishes. In 1981, she became the first woman to reach career earnings of $1 million on the LPGA Tour. She is a member of the World Golf Hall of Fame. Read more
• 27 Sep 1938: Jean-Loup Dabadie, French journalist, songwriter, and screenwriter (died 2020) Jean-Loup Dabadie was a French journalist, writer, lyricist, screenwriter, novelist, author of sketches and songs, playwright, translator, and dialogue writer and member of the Académie Française. Read more
• 27 Sep 1937: Vasyl Durdynets, Ukrainian politician and diplomat, eighth Prime Minister of Ukraine Major General Vasyl Vasylovych Durdynets is a Ukrainian politician and diplomat. He served as Acting Prime Minister of Ukraine during a short period in July 1997. Read more
• 27 Sep 1936: Don Cornelius, American television host and producer (died 2012) Donald Cortez Cornelius was an American television show host and producer widely known as the creator of the nationally syndicated dance and music show Soul Train, which he hosted from 1970 until 1993. Cornelius sold the show to MadVision Entertainment in 2008. On November 3, 2023, he was posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame with the Ahmet Ertegun Award. Read more
• 27 Sep 1936: Gordon Honeycombe, English actor, playwright, and author (died 2015) Ronald Gordon Honeycombe was a British newscaster, author, playwright and stage actor. Read more
• 27 Sep 1935: Al MacNeil, Canadian ice hockey player and coach (died 2025) Allister Wences MacNeil was a Canadian professional ice hockey player, coach and executive. MacNeil played 524 games in the National Hockey League and was a four-time Stanley Cup winner. He was the first native of Atlantic Canada to serve as a head coach in the NHL. He won three Stanley Cups with the Montreal Canadiens, first as the team's rookie head coach in 1971, and then back-to-back championships as Director of Player Personnel in 1978 and 1979. He went back into coaching in 1979, becoming the last head coach of the Atlanta Flames and then the first one for the Calgary Flames in 1980. As an NHL head coach, with the Canadiens and Flames, his career win-loss-tie total was 160–134–55. The final time he won a Stanley Cup was as the assistant general manager of the Calgary Flames in 1989. Read more
• 27 Sep 1934: Wilford Brimley, American actor (died 2020) Anthony Wilford Brimley was an American actor. After serving in the U.S. Marine Corps and working odd jobs in the 1950s, Brimley started working as an extra and stuntman in Western films in the late 1960s. He became an established character actor in the 1970s and 1980s in films such as The China Syndrome (1979), The Thing (1982), Tender Mercies (1983), The Natural (1984), Cocoon (1985), and Cocoon: The Return (1988). Brimley was known for playing characters at times much older than his age. He was the long-term face of American television advertisements for the Quaker Oats Company. He also promoted diabetes education and appeared in related television commercials for Liberty Medical, a role for which he became an Internet meme. Read more
• 27 Sep 1934: Claude Jarman, Jr., American actor and producer (died 2025) Claude Miller Jarman Jr. was an American actor. He became a child star with his role as Jody Baxter in The Yearling (1946), for which he won an Academy Juvenile Award. Further roles in films like Intruder in the Dust (1949) and Rio Grande (1950) followed. Jarman largely retired from acting in early adulthood and later served as executive director of the San Francisco International Film Festival, and director of Cultural Affairs for the City of San Francisco. Read more
• 27 Sep 1934: Dick Schaap, American sportscaster and author (died 2001) Richard Jay Schaap was an American sportswriter, broadcaster, and author. Read more
• 27 Sep 1933: Rodney Cotterill, Danish-English physicist and neuroscientist (died 2007) Rodney Michael John Cotterill Order of the Dannebrog was an English-Danish physicist, and neuroscientist, who was educated at University College London, Yale (M.S.) and Cambridge University (Ph.D.). He spent most of his career as a professor at the Technical University of Denmark, Denmark, (1967-) after having spent five years as a researcher at the Argonne National Laboratory. Read more
• 27 Sep 1933: Greg Morris, American actor (died 1996) Francis Gregory Alan Morris was an American actor. He was best known for portraying Barney Collier on the television series Mission: Impossible and Lieutenant David Nelson on Vega$. Read more
• 27 Sep 1932: Geoff Bent, English footballer (died 1958) Geoffrey Bent was an English footballer who played as a left back for Manchester United from 1948 until 1958. He was one of the Busby Babes, the young team formed under manager Matt Busby in the mid-1950s. Bent only made twelve first-team appearances for Manchester United, who already had an international-quality left back in Roger Byrne. Modern writers speculate that at most other teams Bent would have been a regular starter, and he was the subject of interest from fellow First Division clubs, but Busby refused to let him leave. He was one of eight Manchester United players who died in the Munich air disaster, when their aircraft crashed on its third attempt to take off from a slush-covered runway at Munich-Riem Airport after a European Cup match in Belgrade. Read more
• 27 Sep 1932: Michael Colvin, English captain and politician (died 2000) Michael Keith Beale Colvin was a British Conservative Party politician. He was first elected as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Bristol North West at the 1979 general election. From 1983 onwards, he was the MP for Romsey and Waterside constituency in Hampshire, which later became the constituency of Romsey. Read more
• 27 Sep 1932: Gabriel Loubier, Canadian politician Gabriel Loubier was a Canadian politician in Quebec. He served as leader of the Union Nationale party from 1971 to 1974, and as leader of the opposition in the National Assembly of Quebec from 1971 to 1973. Read more
• 27 Sep 1932: Oliver E. Williamson, American economist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 2020) Oliver Eaton Williamson was an American economist, a professor at the University of California, Berkeley, and recipient of the 2009 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences, which he shared with Elinor Ostrom. Read more
• 27 Sep 1932: Marcia Neugebauer, American geophysicist Marcia Neugebauer is an American geophysicist who made contributions to space physics. Neugebauer's research was among the first that yielded the first direct measurements of the solar wind and shed light on its physics and interaction with comets. Read more
• 27 Sep 1931: Freddy Quinn, Austrian singer, guitarist, and actor Freddy Quinn is a former Austrian singer and actor whose popularity in the German-speaking world soared in the late 1950s and 1960s. As Hans Albers had done two generations before him, Quinn adopted the persona of the rootless wanderer who goes to sea but longs for a home, family and friends. His father was long believed to be a supposed merchant named Johann Quinn (1912–1943), who was of Irish descent and was said to have been married to Quinn's mother for a few months in 1934. However, in his 2025 autobiography, Freddy Quinn wrote that this man never existed and that he never met his actual father; furthermore, he had adopted his Irish last name from an American soldier he had met in his early twenties. His mother, Edith Henriette Nidl, was an Austrian journalist. He is often associated with the Schlager scene. Read more
• 27 Sep 1930: Paul Reichmann, Austrian-Canadian businessman, founded Olympia and York (died 2013) Paul Reichmann was a Canadian businessman and member of the Reichmann family. He is best known for his leadership of the Olympia & York real estate development company. Read more
• 27 Sep 1929: Calvin Jones, American pianist, composer, and educator (died 2004) Calvin James Jones, Sr. was an American jazz and blues trombonist, bassist, pianist, composer, and educator. Born in Chicago, Illinois, and raised in Memphis, Tennessee, Jones moved to Washington, D.C. in the 1970s, and remained there until his death from a heart attack in October 2004. Read more
• 27 Sep 1929: Bruno Junk, Estonian race walker (died 1995) Bruno Junk was an Estonian race walker. He competed for the Soviet Union at the 1952 and 1956 Olympics and won bronze medals on both occasions. He set a world record in the 15 km in 1951 (1:08:08.0), and had world's best times in the 20 km in 1956 (1:30:00.8) and in the 3 km in 1952 (11:51.4). Domestically he won four Soviet titles: in 1951 and 1956 in the 20 km, and in 1952 and 1953 in the 10 km, and eight Estonian titles: in 1949–50 and 1956–59 in the 20 km, in 1958 in the 10 km, and in 1959 in the 30 km. Read more
• 27 Sep 1929: Barbara Murray, English actress (died 2014) Barbara Ann Murray was an English actress. Read more
• 27 Sep 1928: Margaret Rule, English archaeologist and historian (died 2015) Margaret Helen Rule was a British archaeologist. She is most notable for her involvement with the project that excavated and raised the Tudor warship Mary Rose in 1982. Read more
• 27 Sep 1927: Chrysostomos I of Cyprus (died 2007) Chrysostomos I, born Christoforos Aristodimou, was the Archbishop of Cyprus from 1977 to 2006. Read more
• 27 Sep 1927: Red Rodney, American trumpet player (died 1994) Robert Roland Chudnick, known professionally as Red Rodney, was an American jazz trumpeter. Read more
• 27 Sep 1927: Romano Scarpa, Italian author and illustrator (died 2005) Romano Scarpa was one of the most famous Italian creators of Disney comics. Read more
• 27 Sep 1927: Sada Thompson, American actress (died 2011) Sada Carolyn Thompson was an American stage, film, and television actress. Though best known to television audiences as Kate Lawrence in Family (1976–1980), for which she won the Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series in 1978, Thompson originally won acclaim as a theater actress on Broadway winning a Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play for Twigs in 1972. Read more
• 27 Sep 1926: Steve Stavro, Canadian businessman and philanthropist (died 2006) Steve Atanas Stavro, was a Macedonian-Canadian businessman, grocery store magnate, Thoroughbred racehorse owner/breeder, sports team owner, and a noted philanthropist. Read more
• 27 Sep 1925: Robert Edwards, English physiologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 2013) Sir Robert Geoffrey Edwards was a British physiologist and pioneer in reproductive medicine, and in-vitro fertilisation (IVF) in particular. Along with obstetrician and gynaecologist Patrick Steptoe and nurse and embryologist Jean Purdy, Edwards successfully pioneered conception through IVF, which led to the birth of Louise Brown on 25 July 1978. They founded the first IVF programme for infertile patients and trained other scientists in their techniques. Edwards was the founding editor-in-chief of Human Reproduction in 1986. In 2010, he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine "for the development of in vitro fertilization". Read more
• 27 Sep 1925: George Gladir, American author (died 2013) George Gladir was an American comics writer. Primarily known as a scripter for Archie Comics, he co-created that publisher's character Sabrina Spellman, with artist Dan DeCarlo. Read more
• 27 Sep 1924: Ernest Becker, American-Canadian anthropologist, author, and academic (died 1974) Ernest Becker was an American cultural anthropologist and author of the 1973 Pulitzer Prize-winning book The Denial of Death. Read more
• 27 Sep 1924: Bud Powell, American pianist and composer (died 1966) Earl Rudolph "Bud" Powell was an American jazz pianist and composer. A pioneer in the development of bebop and its associated contributions to jazz theory, Powell's application of complex phrasing to the piano influenced both his contemporaries and later pianists including Walter Davis Jr., Toshiko Akiyoshi, and Barry Harris. Read more
• 27 Sep 1924: Fred Singer, Austrian-American physicist and academic (died 2020) Siegfried Fred Singer was an Austrian-born American physicist and emeritus professor of environmental science at the University of Virginia, trained as an atmospheric physicist. He was known for rejecting the scientific consensus on several issues, including climate change, the connection between UV-B exposure and melanoma rates, stratospheric ozone loss being caused by chlorofluoro compounds, often used as refrigerants, and the health risks of passive smoking. Read more
• 27 Sep 1924: Josef Škvorecký, Czech-Canadian author and publisher (died 2012) Josef Škvorecký was a Czech-Canadian writer and publisher. He spent half of his life in Canada, publishing and supporting banned Czech literature during the communist era. Škvorecký was awarded the Neustadt International Prize for Literature in 1980. He and his wife were long-time supporters of Czech dissident writers before the fall of communism in that country. Škvorecký's fiction deals with several themes: the horrors of totalitarianism and repression, the expatriate experience, and the miracle of jazz. Read more
• 27 Sep 1922: Sammy Benskin, American pianist and bandleader (died 1992) Samuel Benskin was an American pianist and bandleader. Read more
• 27 Sep 1922: Arthur Penn, American director and producer (died 2010) Arthur Hiller Penn was an American filmmaker, theatre director, and producer. He was a three-time Academy Award nominee for Best Director, and a Tony Award winner. Among other accolades, he was also nominated for a BAFTA Award, a Golden Globe and two Primetime Emmy Awards. Read more
• 27 Sep 1921: Miklós Jancsó, Hungarian director and screenwriter (died 2014) Miklós Jancsó was a Hungarian film director and screenwriter. Jancsó achieved international prominence starting in the mid-1960s with works including The Round-Up, The Red and the White, and Red Psalm. Read more
• 27 Sep 1921: Milton Subotsky, American screenwriter and producer, co-founded Amicus Productions (died 1991) Milton Subotsky was an American producer and writer of film and television. He was the co-founder of Amicus Productions with Max J. Rosenberg, which produced horror and science-fiction films in the United Kingdom during the 1960's and 70's. Read more
• 27 Sep 1921: Bernard Waber, American author and illustrator (died 2013) Bernard Waber was an American children's author most famous for the books The House on East 88th Street (1962), Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile (1965) and the subsequent books in the Lyle series. Read more
• 27 Sep 1920: William Conrad, American actor, director, and producer (died 1994) William Conrad was an American actor, producer, and director whose entertainment career spanned five decades in radio, film, and television. Read more
• 27 Sep 1920: Alan A. Freeman, English record producer (died 1985) Alan Albert Freeman, known professionally as Alan A. Freeman was an English record producer who worked with Petula Clark, Max Miller, Tony Hancock, Nöel Coward, Morecambe and Wise, Sammy Davis Jr., Frank Sinatra, and Lonnie Donegan, producing UK singles chart number 1 hits by Donegan. Freeman founded the independent Polygon label, which ran from 1950 to 1955, and continued to work for its successor companies, Pye Nixa and Pye, in the 1960s and 70s. He achieved fame as a panellist on the ITV talent show New Faces in the 1970s, and his production career on various other labels lasted into the 1980s. Read more
• 27 Sep 1919: Jayne Meadows, American actress and author (died 2015) Jayne Meadows was an American stage, film and television actress, as well as an author and lecturer. She was nominated for three Emmy Awards during her career and was the wife of original Tonight Show host Steve Allen. She was the elder sister of actress, banker, and memoirist Audrey Meadows. Read more
• 27 Sep 1919: Charles H. Percy, American lieutenant and politician (died 2011) Charles Harting "Chuck" Percy was an American businessman and politician. He was president of the Bell & Howell Corporation from 1949 to 1964, and served as a Republican U.S. senator from Illinois from 1967 until 1985, following a defeat to Paul Simon. He was mentioned as a Republican presidential hopeful from 1968 through 1988. During his Senate career, Percy concentrated on business and foreign relations. Read more
• 27 Sep 1919: James H. Wilkinson, American mathematician and computer scientist (died 1986) James Hardy Wilkinson FRS was a prominent figure in the field of numerical analysis, a field at the boundary of applied mathematics and computer science particularly useful to physics and engineering. In 1970 he won the ACM Turing Award. Read more
• 27 Sep 1918: Martin Ryle, English astronomer and author, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1984) Sir Martin Ryle was an English radio astronomer who developed revolutionary radio telescope systems and used them for accurate location and imaging of weak radio sources. In 1946 Ryle and Derek Vonberg were the first people to publish interferometric astronomical measurements at radio wavelengths. With improved equipment, Ryle observed the most distant known galaxies in the universe at that time. He was the first Professor of Radio Astronomy in the University of Cambridge and founding director of the Mullard Radio Astronomy Observatory. He was the twelfth Astronomer Royal from 1972 to 1982. Ryle and Antony Hewish shared the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1974, the first Nobel prize awarded in recognition of astronomical research. In the 1970s, Ryle turned the greater part of his attention from astronomy to social and political issues which he considered to be more urgent. He was also an enthusiastic amateur radio operator. Read more
• 27 Sep 1918: Malcolm Shepherd, 2nd Baron Shepherd (died 2001) Malcolm Newton Shepherd, 2nd Baron Shepherd, Baron Shepherd of Spalding, was a British Labour politician and peer who served as Leader of the House of Lords under Harold Wilson and James Callaghan and member of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom. Read more
• 27 Sep 1918: Konstantin Gerchik, Soviet military leader (died 2001) Konstantin Vasilyevich Gerchik was a Russian military officer who served in the Red Army and a program manager in the former Soviet space program. He was Colonel-General of the Soviet Army, Professor of the Academy of Military Sciences of Russia, a veteran of the Great Patriotic War, and the second head of the Baikonur Cosmodrome (1958–1961). Read more
• 27 Sep 1917: Louis Auchincloss, American novelist and essayist (died 2010) Louis Stanton Auchincloss was an American lawyer, novelist, historian, and essayist. He is best known as a novelist who parlayed his experiences into books exploring the experiences and psychology of American polite society and old money. Read more
• 27 Sep 1917: Carl Ballantine, American magician and actor (died 2009) Carl Ballantine was an American magician, comedian and actor. Billing himself as "The Great Ballantine", "The Amazing Ballantine" or "Ballantine: The World's Greatest Magician", his vaudeville-style comedy routine involved transparent or incompetent stage magic tricks, which tended to flop and go "hilariously awry" to the wisecracking Ballantine's mock chagrin. He has been credited with creating comedy magic and has influenced comedians and magicians alike. Read more
• 27 Sep 1917: William T. Orr, American actor and producer (died 2002) William T. Orr was an American actor and television producer associated with various Western and detective programs of the 1950s-1970s. In most of his Warner Bros. series, he was billed as "Wm. T. Orr." Orr began his career as an actor; his film credits included The Mortal Storm, The Gay Sisters, and The Big Street. Read more
• 27 Sep 1917: Benjamin Rubin, American microbiologist (died 2010) Benjamin Rubin was an American microbiologist, known as the inventor of the bifurcated vaccination needle, which played an important role in the eradication of smallpox. Rubin invented this device by taking the eyelet of a sewing machine needle and grinding it down. Read more
• 27 Sep 1916: S. Yizhar, Israeli academic and politician (died 2006) Yizhar Smilansky, known by his pen name S. Yizhar, was an Israeli writer and politician. Widely regarded as one of the preeminent figures in Israeli literature, he was awarded the Israel Prize in 1959 for fine literature. He was also awarded several other prizes of national distinction. Yizhar served in the Knesset under Mapai party almost continuously from 1949 to 1967. Read more
• 27 Sep 1913: Albert Ellis, American psychologist and author (died 2007) Albert Ellis was an American psychologist and psychotherapist who founded rational emotive behavior therapy (REBT). He held MA and PhD degrees in clinical psychology from Columbia University, and was certified by the American Board of Professional Psychology (ABPP). He also founded, and was the President of, the New York City-based Albert Ellis Institute. He is generally considered to be one of the originators of the cognitive revolutionary paradigm shift in psychotherapy and an early proponent and developer of cognitive-behavioral therapies. Read more
• 27 Sep 1911: Marcey Jacobson, American-Mexican photographer (died 2009) Marcella "Marcey" Jacobson was an American photographer who moved to Chiapas, Mexico in the 1950s, and was best known for her photographs of the indigenous peoples of Southern Mexico. Read more
• 27 Sep 1907: Bernard Miles, English actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (died 1991) Bernard James Miles, Baron Miles was an English character actor, writer and director. He opened the Mermaid Theatre in 1959, the first new theatre that opened in the City of London since the 17th century. Read more
• 27 Sep 1907: Bhagat Singh, Indian socialist revolutionary (disputed with 28 September) (died 1931) Bhagat Singh was an Indian anti-colonial revolutionary who participated in the mistaken murder of a junior British police officer in December 1928 in what was intended to be retaliation for the death of an Indian nationalist. He later took part in a largely symbolic bombing of the Central Legislative Assembly in Delhi and a hunger strike in jail, which—on the back of sympathetic coverage in Indian-owned newspapers—turned him into a household name in the Punjab region, and, after his execution at age 23, a martyr and folk hero in Northern India. Borrowing ideas from Bolshevism and anarchism, the charismatic Bhagat Singh electrified a growing militancy in India in the 1930s and prompted urgent introspection within the Indian National Congress's nonviolent, and eventually successful, campaign for India's independence. Read more
• 27 Sep 1906: William Empson, English poet and critic (died 1984) Sir William Empson was an English literary critic and poet, widely influential for his practice of closely reading literary works, a practice fundamental to New Criticism. His best-known work is his first, Seven Types of Ambiguity, published in 1930. Read more
• 27 Sep 1906: Jim Thompson, American author and screenwriter (died 1977) James Myers Thompson was an American novelist and screenwriter, known for his hardboiled crime fiction. Read more
• 27 Sep 1906: Sergei Varshavsky, Russian art collector and author (died 1980) Sergei Petrovich Varshavsky (Russian: Сергéй Пeтрóвич Варшáвский, was a Russian writer and art collector. Read more
• 27 Sep 1905: Conrad Heidkamp, German footballer and manager (died 1994) Conrad "Conny" Heidkamp was a German footballer who played as a defender for Düsseldorfer SC 99 and Bayern Munich. Read more
• 27 Sep 1904: Edvard Kocbek, Slovenian poet and politician (died 1981) Edvard Kocbek was a Slovenian Yugoslav poet, writer, essayist, translator, member of Christian Socialists in the Liberation Front of the Slovene Nation and Slovene Partisans. He is considered one of the best authors who have written in Slovene, and one of the best Slovene poets after Prešeren. His political role during and after World War II made him one of the most controversial figures in Slovenia in the 20th century. Read more
• 27 Sep 1898: Vincent Youmans, American composer and producer (died 1946) Vincent Millie Youmans was an American Broadway composer and producer. Read more
• 27 Sep 1896: Gilbert Ashton, English cricketer (died 1981) Gilbert Ashton MC was an English cricketer who played 62 first-class matches between the wars, mostly for Cambridge University and Worcestershire. His obituary in Wisden called him "a fine, aggressive stroke-player" and praised his fielding ability at cover point.
  His bowling was of the occasional variety, and after he left Cambridge became essentially non-existent. Read more
• 27 Sep 1896: Sam Ervin, American soldier and politician (died 1985) Samuel James Ervin Jr. was an American politician who served as a U.S. senator from North Carolina from 1954 to 1974. A Southern Democrat, he liked to call himself a "country lawyer", and often told humorous stories in his Southern drawl. During his Senate career, Ervin was at first a staunch defender of Jim Crow laws and racial segregation, as the South's constitutional expert during the congressional debates on civil rights. However, unexpectedly, he became a liberal hero for his support of civil liberties. He is remembered for his work in the investigation committees that brought down Senator Joseph McCarthy in 1954 and especially for his leadership of the Senate committee's investigation of the Watergate scandal that led to the resignation of President Richard Nixon in 1974. Read more
• 27 Sep 1894: Lothar von Richthofen, German lieutenant and pilot (died 1922) Lothar Siegfried Freiherr von Richthofen was a German First World War fighter ace credited with 40 victories. He was a younger brother of top-scoring ace Manfred von Richthofen and a distant cousin of Luftwaffe Field Marshal Wolfram von Richthofen, who also became a flying ace. Read more
• 27 Sep 1892: George Bambridge, English diplomat (died 1943) George Louis St Clair Bambridge was a British diplomat. His wife, Elsie, was the daughter of the author Rudyard Kipling. Read more
• 27 Sep 1885: Harry Blackstone, Sr., American magician (died 1965) Harry Bouton Blackstone was a famed stage magician and illusionist of the 20th century. Blackstone was born Harry Bouton in Chicago, Illinois. He began his career as a magician in his teens and was popular through World War II as a USO entertainer. He was often billed as The Great Blackstone. His son Harry Blackstone Jr. also became a famous magician. Blackstone Sr. was aided by his younger brother, Pete Bouton, who was the stage manager in all his shows. Blackstone Sr. was married three times. Blackstone Jr. was his son by his second wife. Read more
• 27 Sep 1885: Charles Benjamin Howard, Canadian businessman and politician (died 1964) Charles Benjamin Howard was a Liberal party member of the House of Commons of Canada. He was known for his eloquence in English and French. Read more
• 27 Sep 1882: Dorothy Greenhough-Smith, English figure skater and tennis player (died 1965) Dorothy Greenhough-Smith was a British figure skater. She won the bronze medal in women's singles at the 1908 Summer Olympics and was the 1912 World silver medalist, as well as a two-time British champion. Read more
• 27 Sep 1879: Hans Hahn, Austrian mathematician and philosopher (died 1934) Hans Hahn was an Austrian mathematician and philosopher who made contributions to functional analysis, topology, set theory, the calculus of variations, real analysis, and order theory. In philosophy he was among the main logical positivists of the Vienna Circle. Read more
• 27 Sep 1879: Frederick Schule, American hurdler and coach (died 1962) Frederick William Schule was an American track and field athlete, football player, athletic coach, teacher, bacteriologist, and engineer. He competed for the track and field teams at the University of Wisconsin from 1900 to 1901 and at the University of Michigan in 1904. He was also a member of the undefeated 1903 Michigan Wolverines football team that outscored its opponents 565 to 6. Read more
• 27 Sep 1879: Cyril Scott, English poet and composer (died 1970) Cyril Meir Scott was an English composer, writer, poet, and occultist. He created around four hundred musical compositions including piano, violin, cello concertos, symphonies, and operas. He also wrote around 20 pamphlets and books on occult topics and natural health. Read more
• 27 Sep 1873: Vithalbhai Patel, Indian legislator and political leader (died 1933) Vithalbhai Patel was an Indian legislator and political leader, co-founder of the Swaraj Party and elder brother of Sardar Patel. Read more
• 27 Sep 1871: Grazia Deledda, Italian novelist and poet, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1936) Grazia Maria Cosima Damiana Deledda was an Italian writer who received the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1926 "for her idealistically inspired writings which with plastic clarity picture the life on her native island [i.e. Sardinia] and with depth and sympathy deal with human problems in general". She was the first Italian woman to receive the prize, and only the second woman in general after Selma Lagerlöf was awarded hers in 1909. Read more
• 27 Sep 1866: Eurosia Fabris, Italian saint (died 1932) Eurosia Fabris, TOSF, also known as "Mamma Rosa",, was an Italian member of the Third Order of Saint Francis in the Roman Catholic Church. She was beatified in 2005. She is regarded as a model of holiness in the daily life of a Catholic family. Besides her own nine children, she had two adopted ones. Read more
• 27 Sep 1864: Andrej Hlinka, Slovak priest and politician (died 1938) Andrej Hlinka was a Slovak Roman Catholic priest and politician who was one of the most important Slovak public activists in Czechoslovakia before World War II. He was the leader of the Hlinka's Slovak People's Party, a papal chamberlain, inducted papal protonotary, member of the National Assembly of Czechoslovakia, and chairman of the St. Vojtech Fellowship. Read more
• 27 Sep 1861: Corinne Roosevelt Robinson, American poet and author (died 1933) Corinne Roosevelt Robinson was an American poet, writer and lecturer. She was also the younger sister of President of the United States Theodore Roosevelt and an aunt of First Lady of the United States, Eleanor Roosevelt. Read more
• 27 Sep 1843: Gaston Tarry, French mathematician and academic (died 1913) Gaston Tarry was a French mathematician. Born in Villefranche de Rouergue, Aveyron, he studied mathematics at high school before joining the civil service in Algeria. He pursued mathematics as an amateur. Read more
• 27 Sep 1842: Alphonse François Renard, Belgian geologist and petrographer (died 1903) Alphonse Francois Renard, Belgian geologist and petrographer, was born at Ronse, in East Flanders, on 27 September 1842. He was educated for the church of Rome, and from 1866 to 1869 he was superintendent at the college de la Paix, Namur. Read more
• 27 Sep 1840: Alfred Thayer Mahan, American captain and historian (died 1914) Alfred Thayer Mahan was a United States Navy (USN) officer and historian whom John Keegan called "the most important American strategist of the nineteenth century." His 1890 book The Influence of Sea Power upon History, 1660–1783 won immediate recognition, especially in Europe, and with the publication of its 1892 successor, The Influence of Sea Power upon the French Revolution and Empire, 1793–1812, he affirmed his status as a globally-known and regarded military strategist, historian, and theorist. Mahan's works encouraged the development of large capital ships—eventually leading to dreadnought battleships—as he was an advocate of the 'decisive battle' and of naval blockades. Read more
• 27 Sep 1840: Thomas Nast, German-American cartoonist (died 1902) Thomas Nast was a German-born American caricaturist and editorial cartoonist often considered to be the "Father of the American Cartoon". Read more
• 27 Sep 1838: Lawrence Sullivan Ross, American general and politician, 19th Governor of Texas (died 1898) Lawrence Sullivan "Sul" Ross was the 19th governor of Texas, a Confederate States Army general during the American Civil War, and the fourth president of the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Texas, now called Texas A&M University. Read more
• 27 Sep 1830: William Babcock Hazen, American general (died 1887) William Babcock Hazen was a career United States Army officer who served in the Indian Wars, as a Union general in the American Civil War, and as Chief Signal Officer of the U.S. Army. His most famous service was defending "Hell's Half Acre" at the Battle of Stones River in 1862, and seizing Fort McAllister, Georgia, in December 1864, which allowed William Sherman to capture Savannah at the end of his March to the Sea. Read more
• 27 Sep 1824: William "Bull" Nelson, American general (died 1862) William "Bull" Nelson was a United States naval officer who became a Union general during the American Civil War. Read more
• 27 Sep 1821: Henri-Frédéric Amiel, Swiss philosopher, poet, and critic (died 1881) Henri Frédéric Amiel was a Swiss moral philosopher, poet, and critic. Read more
• 27 Sep 1818: Hermann Kolbe, German chemist and academic (died 1884) Adolph Wilhelm Hermann Kolbe was a German chemist and academic, and a major contributor to the birth of modern organic chemistry. He was a professor at Marburg and Leipzig. Kolbe was the first to apply the term synthesis in a chemical context, and contributed to the philosophical demise of vitalism through synthesis of the organic substance acetic acid from carbon disulfide, and also contributed to the development of structural theory. This was done via modifications to the idea of "radicals" and accurate prediction of the existence of secondary and tertiary alcohols, and to the emerging array of organic reactions through his Kolbe electrolysis of carboxylate salts, the Kolbe-Schmitt reaction in the preparation of aspirin and the Kolbe nitrile synthesis. After studies with Wöhler and Bunsen, Kolbe was involved with the early internationalization of chemistry through work in London. He was elected to the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, and won the Royal Society of London's Davy Medal in the year of his death. Despite these accomplishments and his training important members of the next generation of chemists, Kolbe is best remembered for editing the Journal für Praktische Chemie for more than a decade, in which his vituperative essays on Kekulé's structure of benzene, van't Hoff's theory on the origin of chirality and Baeyer's reforms of nomenclature were personally critical and linguistically violent. Kolbe died of a heart attack in Leipzig at age 66, six years after the death of his wife, Charlotte. Read more
• 27 Sep 1805: George Müller, German-English evangelist and missionary, founded the Ashley Down Orphanage (died 1898) George Müller was a Christian evangelist and the director of the Ashley Down orphanage in Bristol, England. He was one of the founders of the Plymouth Brethren movement. Later during the split, his group was called the Open Brethren. Read more
• 27 Sep 1803: Samuel Francis Du Pont, American admiral (died 1865) Samuel Francis Du Pont was a rear admiral in the United States Navy, and a member of the prominent du Pont family. In the Mexican–American War, Du Pont captured San Diego, and was made commander of the California naval blockade. Through the 1850s, he promoted engineering studies at the United States Naval Academy, to enable more mobile and aggressive operations. In the American Civil War, he played a major role in making the Union blockade effective, but was controversially blamed for the failed attack on Charleston, South Carolina in April 1863. Read more

Notable Deaths on 27 September

• 27 Sep 2025: Russell M. Nelson, 17th President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (born 1924) Russell Marion Nelson Sr. was an American religious leader and surgeon who was the seventeenth president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from 2018 until his death in 2025. Before becoming church president, Nelson was a member of its Quorum of the Twelve Apostles for nearly thirty-four years and was the quorum president from 2015 to 2018. As church president, Nelson was recognized by the church as the prophet, seer, and revelator. Read more
• 27 Sep 2024: Hassan Nasrallah, Lebanese politician, 3rd Secretary-General of Hezbollah (born 1960) Hassan Nasrallah was a Lebanese Shia cleric, a militant, and politician who served as the third secretary-general of Hezbollah, a Shia Islamist political party and militia, from 1992 until his assassination in 2024. Read more
• 27 Sep 2024: Maggie Smith, English actress (born 1934) Dame Margaret Natalie Smith was a British actress. Known for her wit in both comedic and dramatic roles, she had an extensive career on stage and screen spanning eight decades and was one of Britain's most recognisable and prolific actresses. She received numerous accolades, including two Academy Awards, five BAFTA Awards, four Emmy Awards, three Golden Globe Awards and a Tony Award, as well as nominations for six Olivier Awards. Smith was one of the few performers to earn the Triple Crown of Acting. Read more
• 27 Sep 2023: Michael Gambon, Irish-English actor (born 1940) Sir Michael John Gambon was an Irish-English actor. Gambon started his acting career with Laurence Olivier as one of the original members of the Royal National Theatre. Over his six-decade-long career, he received three Olivier Awards, four BAFTA TV Awards, and two Screen Actors Guild Awards. In 1998, he was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II for services to drama. Read more
• 27 Sep 2021: Madeleine Tchicaya, Ivorian politician (born 1930) Madeleine Tchicaya was an Ivorian politician. She is known for being the first female graduate of the National School of Administration. Read more
• 27 Sep 2018: Kavita Mahajan, Indian author and translator (born 1967) Kavita Mahajan was an Indian author and translator who wrote in Marathi. She is noted for her critically acclaimed novels Brr (2005), Bhinna (2007) and Kuhoo (2011), as well as a non-fiction work Graffiti Wall (2009). She was the winner of the 2011 translation award conferred by the Sahitya Akademi, India's National Academy of Letters. Read more
• 27 Sep 2018: Michael Payton, American football quarterback (born 1970) Michael Payton was an American football quarterback. He played college football for the Marshall Thundering Herd, where he won the 1992 Walter Payton Award. After college, he played one season in the Arena Football League (AFL) for the Florida Bobcats. Read more
• 27 Sep 2018: Manoharsinhji Pradyumansinhji, Indian nobleman and politician (born 1935) Manoharsinhji Pradyumansinhji Jadeja was an Indian politician. Read more
• 27 Sep 2018: Marty Balin, American singer, co-founder of the band Jefferson Airplane (born 1942) Martyn Jerel Buchwald, known as Marty Balin, was an American singer, songwriter, and musician best known as a member of Jefferson Airplane and Jefferson Starship. Read more
• 27 Sep 2017: Hugh Hefner, American publisher, founder of Playboy Enterprises (born 1926) Hugh Marston Hefner was an American magazine publisher and businessman. He was the founder and editor-in-chief of Playboy magazine, a publication with sexualized photographs of women, articles, and fiction, and lengthy interviews with politicians, musicians, artists, and writers. Hefner extended the Playboy brand into a world network of Playboy Clubs. He also resided in luxury mansions where Playboy Playmates shared his partying lifestyle, fueling media interest. Read more
• 27 Sep 2015: Syed Ahmed, Indian author and politician, 16th Governor of Manipur (born 1945) Syed Ahmed Alinki was an Indian politician, author and a member of the Congress Party. He was sworn in as the Governor of Manipur on 16 May 2015, but only served four months before dying in office on 27 September. During his short tenure as governor, the Manipur Tenants, Visitors and Migrant Workers Bill, 2015 was passed by the Manipur Assembly on 15 March. Read more
• 27 Sep 2015: Pietro Ingrao, Italian journalist and politician (born 1915) Pietro Ingrao was an Italian politician and journalist who participated in the Italian resistance movement.
  For many years, he was a senior figure in the Italian Communist Party (PCI). Read more
• 27 Sep 2015: Kallen Pokkudan, Indian activist and author (born 1937) Kallen Pokkudan (1937-2015), also known as Kandal Pokkudan, was an Indian environmental activist and writer from Kerala. He was known for his efforts for the protection and proliferation of the mangrove forests in Kerala, since 1989. Read more
• 27 Sep 2015: Frank Tyson, English-Australian cricketer, coach, and journalist (born 1930) Frank Holmes Tyson was an England international cricketer of the 1950s, who also worked as a schoolmaster, journalist, cricket coach and cricket commentator after emigrating to Australia in 1960. Nicknamed "Typhoon Tyson" by the press, he was regarded by many commentators as one of the fastest bowlers ever seen in cricket and took 76 wickets at an average of 18.56 in 17 Test matches. Read more
• 27 Sep 2014: Gaby Aghion, French fashion designer, founded Chloé (born 1921) Gabrielle Aghion was a French fashion designer and founder of the French fashion house Chloé. She is said to have coined the phrase prêt-à-porter. Read more
• 27 Sep 2014: Wally Hergesheimer, Canadian ice hockey player (born 1927) Walter Edgar Hergesheimer was a Canadian ice hockey forward. Read more
• 27 Sep 2014: Abdelmajid Lakhal, Tunisian actor and director (born 1939) Abdelmajid Lakhal was a Tunisian theatre and film actor and theatre director. He was considered to be a professional and versatile interpreter. Recently, he performed classical pieces translated into Arabic, at the Municipal theatre of Tunis, which were well received.
  He was known on Arab Television for acting in many telefilms. Read more
• 27 Sep 2014: James Traficant, American lawyer and politician (born 1941) James Anthony Traficant Jr. was an American politician who served as a Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives from Ohio. A staunch economic populist known for his flamboyant personality, he represented the 17th congressional district, which centered on his hometown of Youngstown and included parts of three counties in northeast Ohio's Mahoning Valley. Read more
• 27 Sep 2013: Oscar Castro-Neves, Brazilian-American guitarist, composer, and conductor (born 1940) Oscar Castro-Neves, was a Brazilian guitarist, arranger, and composer who is considered a founding figure in bossa nova. Read more
• 27 Sep 2013: Mauricio González-Gordon y Díez, Spanish sherry maker and conservationist (born 1923) Mauricio González-Gordon y Díez, Marquis of Bonanza was a Spanish sherry maker and a conservationist. Most of his life he worked for the family company, González Byass, where he increased its exports to a worldwide level. His family estate was located in the wetland region called Doñana in southern Spain and was threatened by drainage efforts in the early 1950s. González-Gordon with the help of researchers and international support managed to preserve the site, while at the same time donating some of his family land to the conservation effort. Afterward, González-Gordon became one of the founders of the Spanish Ornithological Society in 1954. His conservation efforts for Doñana culminated in the creation of the Doñana National Park in 1969. The area was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1994. Read more
• 27 Sep 2012: Eddie Bert, American trombonist (born 1922) Edward Joseph Bertolatus, also known as Eddie Bert, was an American jazz trombonist. Read more
• 27 Sep 2012: Herbert Lom, Czech-English actor (born 1917) Herbert Charles Angelo Kuchačevič ze Schluderpacheru, known professionally as Herbert Lom, was a Czech-British actor with a career spanning over 60 years. His cool demeanour and precise, elegant elocution saw him cast as criminals or suave villains in his younger years, and professional men and nobles as he aged. Highly versatile, he was also known to legions of comedy fans as the beleaguered Chief Inspector Charles Dreyfus in the Pink Panther film series. Read more
• 27 Sep 2011: David Croft, English director, producer, and screenwriter (born 1922) Major David John Croft was an English television comedy screenwriter, television producer and director. He produced and wrote a string of BBC sitcoms with partners Jimmy Perry and Jeremy Lloyd, including Dad's Army, Are You Being Served?, It Ain't Half Hot Mum, Hi-de-Hi! and 'Allo 'Allo! Read more
• 27 Sep 2011: Imre Makovecz, Hungarian architect (born 1935) Imre Makovecz was a Hungarian architect active in Europe from the late 1950s onward. Read more
• 27 Sep 2011: Johnny "Country" Mathis, American singer-songwriter (born 1933) "Country" Johnny Mathis was an American country music singer and songwriter. He was a successful solo performer and one half of the duo Jimmy & Johnny. Mathis is credited with penning more than 500 tunes over the course of his long career. Read more
• 27 Sep 2010: Balaji Sadasivan, Singaporean neurosurgeon and politician, Minister of Foreign Affairs for Singapore (born 1955) Balaji Sadasivan was a Singaporean politician and neurosurgeon. A member of the governing People's Action Party (PAP), he was the Minister of State for the Ministry of the Environment (2001–2003), Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Transport (2001–2004); and subsequently Senior Minister of State for the Ministry of Health (2004–2006), the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (2006–2010) and Ministry of Information, Communications and the Arts (2004–2008). He was also a Member of Parliament representing the Ang Mo Kio Group Representation Constituency from 2001 to 2010. Read more
• 27 Sep 2009: Ivan Dykhovichny, Russian director and screenwriter (born 1947) Ivan Vladimirovich Dykhovichny was a Russian film director and screenwriter. Read more
• 27 Sep 2008: Henri Pachard, American director and producer (born 1939) Henri Pachard, Jackson St. Louis and Crystal Blue were the pseudonyms of the American film director Ron Sullivan . Read more
• 27 Sep 2007: Dale Houston, American singer-songwriter (born 1940) Dale & Grace was an American singing duo consisting of Dale Houston and Grace Broussard. They had two Billboard chart hits. The first was the No. 1 gold record "I'm Leaving It Up to You" in 1963. "Stop and Think It Over" reached No. 8 in 1964. The duo broke up in 1965, but they reunited onstage on several occasions. Their recordings are highly regarded examples of the Louisiana-Texas style known as "Swamp Pop". Read more
• 27 Sep 2007: Kenji Nagai, Japanese photographer and journalist (born 1957) Kenji Nagai was a Japanese photojournalist who took many assignments to conflict zones and dangerous areas around the world. Read more
• 27 Sep 2006: Helmut Kallmeyer, German chemist and soldier (born 1910) Helmut Kallmeyer was a German chemist in the era of National Socialism. He served as a consultant in Adolf Hitler's Chancellery for gasification methods. Later, he worked in the Technical Institute for the Detection of Crime. He was involved in Action T4, Nazi Germany's program to murder people with disabilities. Read more
• 27 Sep 2005: Ronald Golias, Brazilian comedian and actor (born 1929) Ronald Golias was a Brazilian comedian and actor. Read more
• 27 Sep 2005: Mary Lee Settle, American novelist, essayist, and memoirist (born 1918) Mary Lee Settle was an American writer. Read more
• 27 Sep 2004: John E. Mack, American psychiatrist and author (born 1929) John Edward Mack was an American psychiatrist, writer, and professor of psychiatry. He served as the head of the department of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School from 1977 to 2004. In 1977, Mack won the Pulitzer Prize for his book A Prince of Our Disorder on T. E. Lawrence. Read more
• 27 Sep 2003: Jean Lucas, French racing driver (born 1927) Jean Lucas was a French racing driver. He participated in one Formula One World Championship Grand Prix, on 11 September 1955. Lucas was then manager of the Gordini team, and when regular driver Robert Manzon was unable to race, he stepped in to take his place. His retired his car with engine failure and scored no championship points. Read more
• 27 Sep 2003: Donald O'Connor, American actor, singer, and dancer (born 1925) Donald David Dixon Ronald O'Connor was an American dancer, singer and actor. He came to fame in a series of films in which he co-starred, in succession, with Gloria Jean, Peggy Ryan, and Francis the Talking Mule. Read more
• 27 Sep 1998: Doak Walker, American football player (born 1927) Ewell Doak Walker II was an American football player who was a halfback and kicker. He played college football for the SMU Mustangs, winning the Maxwell Award in 1947 and the Heisman Trophy in 1948. He then played professionally for the Detroit Lions of the National Football League (NFL) from 1950 to 1955. Walker was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1959 and the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1986. The Doak Walker Award, awarded annually since 1990 to the top running back in college football, is named after him. Read more
• 27 Sep 1997: Walter Trampler, American viola player and educator (born 1915) Walter Trampler was a German musician and teacher of the viola and viola d'amore. Read more
• 27 Sep 1996: Mohammad Najibullah, Afghan physician and politician, seventh President of Afghanistan (born 1947) Mohammad Najibullah Ahmadzai was an Afghan military officer and politician who served as the fifth president of Afghanistan from 1987 until his resignation in April 1992, shortly after the Afghan mujahideen's takeover of Kabul. He was also the General Secretary of the People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA) from 1986 to 1992. After a failed attempt to flee to India, Najibullah remained in Kabul, and lived in the United Nations headquarters until his assassination during the Taliban's first capture of Kabul in 1996. Read more
• 27 Sep 1993: Jimmy Doolittle, American general, Medal of Honor recipient (born 1896) James Harold "Jimmy" Doolittle was an American military general and aviation pioneer who received the Medal of Honor for his raid on Japan during World War II, known as the Doolittle Raid in his honor. He made early coast-to-coast flights and record-breaking speed flights, won many flying races, and helped develop and flight-test instrument flying. According to the FAA, he was the first pilot ever to perform a successful instrument flight. Read more
• 27 Sep 1993: Fraser MacPherson, Canadian saxophonist and educator (born 1928) John Fraser MacPherson CM was a Canadian jazz musician from Saint Boniface, Manitoba. Read more
• 27 Sep 1992: Zhang Leping, Chinese comic artist (born 1910) Zhang Leping was a Chinese comic artist born in Jiaxing, Zhejiang province. He played a key role in the development of modern manhua in China, and is mostly remembered for his creation of the manhua Sanmao. Read more
• 27 Sep 1991: Joe Hulme, English footballer and cricketer (born 1904) Joseph Harold Anthony Hulme was an English footballer and cricketer. Read more
• 27 Sep 1986: Cliff Burton, American bass player and songwriter (born 1962) Clifford Lee Burton was an American musician who served as the bassist for the thrash metal band Metallica from 1982 until his death in 1986. He is renowned for his musicianship and influence. Read more
• 27 Sep 1985: Lloyd Nolan, American actor (born 1902) Lloyd Benedict Nolan was an American stage, film and television actor who rose from a supporting player and B-movie lead early in his career to featured player status after creating the role of Captain Queeg in Herman Wouk's play The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial in the mid-1950s. Nolan won a Best Actor Emmy Award reprising the part in 1955 TV play based on Wouk's tale of military justice. Additionally, he starred in the Mike Shayne detective films, and the groundbreaking sitcom Julia starring Diahann Carroll. Read more
• 27 Sep 1984: Chronis Exarhakos, Greek actor (born 1932) Hronis Exarhakos was a Greek actor. Read more
• 27 Sep 1983: Wilfred Burchett, Australian journalist and author (born 1911) Wilfred Graham Burchett was an Australian journalist known for being the first western journalist to report from Hiroshima after the dropping of the atomic bomb, and for his reporting from "the other side" during the Korean and Vietnam Wars. Read more
• 27 Sep 1981: Robert Montgomery, American actor, singer, director, and producer (born 1904) Robert Montgomery was an American actor, director, and producer. He began his acting career on the stage, but was soon hired by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM). Initially assigned roles in comedies, he soon proved he was able to handle dramatic ones, as well. He appeared in a wide variety of roles, such as the weak-willed prisoner Kent in The Big House (1930), the psychotic Danny in Night Must Fall (1937), and Joe, the boxer mistakenly sent to Heaven in Here Comes Mr. Jordan (1941). The last two earned him nominations for the Academy Award for Best Actor. Read more
• 27 Sep 1979: Gracie Fields, English actress and singer (born 1898) Dame Gracie Fields was a British actress, singer, and comedian. A star of cinema and music hall, she was one of the top ten film stars in Britain during the 1930s and was considered the highest-paid film star in the world in 1937. Fields was known affectionately as Our Gracie and the Lancashire Lass and for never losing her strong, native Lancashire accent. She was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) and an Officer of the Venerable Order of St John (OStJ) in 1938, and a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) in 1979. Read more
• 27 Sep 1979: Jimmy McCulloch, Scottish singer-songwriter and guitarist (born 1953) James McCulloch was a Scottish musician best known for playing lead guitar and bass and singing backing and occasional lead vocals as a member of Paul McCartney's band Wings from 1974 to 1977. McCulloch was a member of the Glasgow psychedelic band One in a Million, Thunderclap Newman, and Stone the Crows. His brother is drummer Jack McCulloch. Read more
• 27 Sep 1975: Jack Lang, Australian lawyer and politician, 23rd Premier of New South Wales (born 1876) John Thomas Lang, nicknamed "the Big Fella", was an Australian politician who served as the 23rd premier of New South Wales from 1925 to 1927 and from 1930 to 1932. He was the state leader of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) from 1923 to 1939 and his Lang Labor faction was an influential force in both state and federal politics, breaking away from the official ALP on several occasions. Read more
• 27 Sep 1974: Silvio Frondizi, Argentinian lawyer and academic (born 1907) Silvio Frondizi was an Argentine intellectual and lawyer, brother of President Arturo Frondizi and of the philosopher Risieri Frondizi. He became active in leftist groups, and was assassinated in 1974 by the Triple A right-wing death squad that operated under the Isabel Perón government. Read more
• 27 Sep 1972: S. R. Ranganathan, Indian mathematician, librarian, and academic (born 1892) Shiyali Ramamrita Ranganathan was an Indian librarian and mathematician. S. R. Ranganathan is widely known as the “Father of Library Science in India.” His most notable contributions to the field were his five laws of library science and the development of the first major faceted classification system, the colon classification. He is considered to be the father of library science, documentation, and information science in India and is widely known throughout the rest of the world for his fundamental thinking in the field. His birthday is observed every year as National Librarian Day in India. Read more
• 27 Sep 1967: Felix Yusupov, Russian husband of Princess Irina Alexandrovna of Russia (born 1887) Knyaz Felix Felixovich Yusupov, Count Sumarokov-Elston was a Russian aristocrat from the House of Yusupov who is best known for participating in the assassination of Grigori Rasputin and for marrying Princess Irina Alexandrovna, a niece of Emperor Nicholas II. Read more
• 27 Sep 1965: Clara Bow, American actress (born 1905) Clara Gordon Bow was an American actress who rose to stardom during the silent film era of the 1920s and successfully made the transition to "talkies" in 1929. Her appearance as a plucky shopgirl in the 1927 film It brought her global fame and the nickname "The It Girl". Bow came to personify the Roaring Twenties and is described as its leading sex symbol. Read more
• 27 Sep 1965: William Stanier, English engineer, co-designed the London, Midland and Scottish Railway (born 1876) Sir William Arthur Stanier was an English railway engineer, and was chief mechanical engineer of the London, Midland and Scottish Railway. Read more
• 27 Sep 1961: H.D., American poet, novelist, and memoirist (born 1886) Hilda Doolittle was an American modernist poet, novelist, and memoirist who wrote under the name H.D. throughout her life. Her career began in 1911 after she moved to London and co-founded the avant-garde Imagist group of poets with American expatriate poet and critic Ezra Pound. During this early period, her minimalist free verse poems depicting Classical motifs drew international attention. Eventually distancing herself from the Imagist movement, she experimented with a wider variety of forms, including fiction, memoir, and verse drama. Reflecting the trauma she experienced in London during the Blitz, H.D.'s poetic style from World War II until her death pivoted towards complex long poems on esoteric and pacifist themes. Read more
• 27 Sep 1960: Sylvia Pankhurst, English activist (born 1882) Estelle Sylvia Pankhurst was an English feminist, socialist, activist, artist and writer. Following encounters with women-led labour activism in the United States, she worked to organise working-class women in London's East End. This, together with her refusal in 1914 to enter into a wartime political truce with the government, caused her to break with the suffragette leadership of her mother and sister, Emmeline and Christabel Pankhurst. Pankhurst welcomed the Russian Revolution and conferred in Moscow with Lenin. But as an advocate of workers' control, she rejected the Leninist party line and criticised the Bolshevik regime. Read more
• 27 Sep 1956: Gerald Finzi, English composer and educator (born 1901) Gerald Raphael Finzi was an English composer. Finzi is best known as a choral composer, but also wrote in other genres. Large-scale compositions by Finzi include the cantata Dies natalis for solo voice and string orchestra, and his concertos for cello and clarinet. Read more
• 27 Sep 1956: Babe Didrikson Zaharias, American basketball player and golfer (born 1911) Mildred Ella "Babe" Didrikson Zaharias was an American athlete who excelled in golf, basketball, baseball, and track and field. She won two gold medals and a silver in track and field at the 1932 Summer Olympics before turning to professional golf and winning 10 LPGA major championships. Read more
• 27 Sep 1944: Aimee Semple McPherson, Canadian-American evangelist, founded the International Church of the Foursquare Gospel (born 1890) Aimee Elizabeth Semple McPherson, also known as Sister Aimee or Sister, was a Canadian-born American Pentecostal evangelist and media celebrity in the 1920s and 1930s, famous for founding the Foursquare Church. McPherson pioneered the use of broadcast mass media for wider dissemination of both religious services and appeals for donations, using radio to draw both audience and revenue with the growing appeal of popular entertainment and incorporating stage techniques into her weekly sermons at Angelus Temple, an early megachurch. Read more
• 27 Sep 1942: Douglas Albert Munro, United States Coast Guard signalman, posthumously awarded Medal of Honor, (born 1919) Douglas Albert Munro was a United States Coast Guardsman who was posthumously decorated with the Medal of Honor for an act of "extraordinary heroism" during World War II. He is the only person to have received the medal for actions performed during service in the Coast Guard. Read more
• 27 Sep 1940: Walter Benjamin, German philosopher and critic (born 1892) Walter Bendix Schönflies Benjamin was a German philosopher, cultural critic, media theorist, and essayist. An eclectic thinker who combined elements of German idealism, Jewish mysticism, Western Marxism, and post-Kantianism, he made contributions to the philosophy of history, metaphysics, historical materialism, criticism, and aesthetics, and had an oblique but overwhelmingly influential impact on the resurrection of the Kabbalah by virtue of his life-long epistolary relationship with Gershom Scholem. Read more
• 27 Sep 1940: Julius Wagner-Jauregg, Austrian physician and neuroscientist, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1857) Julius Wagner-Jauregg was an Austrian physician who won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1927, and is the first psychiatrist to have done so. His Nobel award was "for his discovery of the therapeutic value of malaria inoculation in the treatment of dementia paralytica". Read more
• 27 Sep 1935: Alan Gray, English composer and organist (born 1855) Alan Gray was an English organist and composer. Read more
• 27 Sep 1934: Ellen Willmott, English horticulturalist (born 1858) Ellen Ann Willmott was an English horticulturist. She was an influential member of the Royal Horticultural Society, and a recipient of the first Victoria Medal of Honour, awarded to British horticulturists living in the UK by the society, in 1897. Willmott was said to have cultivated more than 100,000 species and cultivars of plants and sponsored expeditions to discover new species. Inherited wealth allowed Willmott to buy large gardens in France and Italy to add to the garden at her home, Warley Place in Essex. More than 60 plants have been named after her or her home, Warley Place. Read more
• 27 Sep 1921: Engelbert Humperdinck, German composer and educator (born 1854) Engelbert Humperdinck was a German composer of opera. He is best known for his opera Hansel and Gretel (1893). Read more
• 27 Sep 1919: Adelina Patti, Italian-French opera singer (born 1843) Adela Juana Maria Patti, commonly known as Adelina Patti, was a Spanish-Italian opera singer. At the height of her career, she was earning huge fees performing in the music capitals of Europe and America. She first sang in public as a child in 1851, and gave her last performance before an audience in 1914. Along with her near contemporaries Jenny Lind and Christina Nilsson, Patti remains one of the most famous sopranos in history, owing to the purity and beauty of her lyrical voice and the unmatched quality of her bel canto technique. Read more
• 27 Sep 1917: Edgar Degas, French painter and sculptor (born 1834) Edgar Degas was a French Impressionist artist famous for his pastel drawings and oil paintings. Read more
• 27 Sep 1915: Remy de Gourmont, French novelist, poet, and critic (born 1858) Remy de Gourmont was a French Symbolist poet, novelist, and influential critic. He was widely read in his era, and an important influence on Blaise Cendrars and Georges Bataille. The spelling Rémy de Gourmont is incorrect, albeit common. Read more
• 27 Sep 1911: Auguste Michel-Lévy, French geologist and academic (born 1844) Auguste Michel-Lévy was a French geologist. He was born in Paris. Read more
• 27 Sep 1898: Thomas Joseph Byrnes, Australian politician, 12th Premier of Queensland (born 1860) Thomas Joseph Byrnes was an Australian politician and barrister. He was Premier of Queensland from April 1898 until his death in September of the same year, having previously served in several ministerial positions in his parliamentary career. He was the first Roman Catholic Premier of Queensland and the first to die in office. Read more
• 27 Sep 1891: Ivan Goncharov, Russian author and critic (born 1812) Ivan Aleksandrovich Goncharov was a Russian novelist best known for his novels The Same Old Story, Oblomov (1859), and The Precipice. He also served in many official capacities, including the position of censor. Read more
• 27 Sep 1886: Charles Gordon Greene, American journalist and politician (born 1804) Charles Gordon Greene was an American journalist. Read more
• 27 Sep 1876: Braxton Bragg, American general (born 1817) Braxton Bragg was an American military officer during the Second Seminole War and Mexican–American War. He later served as a Confederate general in the American Civil War, seeing action in the western theater. His most important role was the commander of the Army of Mississippi, later renamed the Army of Tennessee, from June 1862 until December 1863. Read more
• 27 Sep 1838: Bernard Courtois, French chemist and pharmacist (born 1777) Bernard Courtois, also spelled Barnard Courtois, was a French chemist credited with first isolating iodine, making early photography possible. Read more
• 27 Sep 1833: Raja Ram Mohan Roy, Indian humanitarian and reformer (born 1772) Raja Ram Mohan Roy was an Indian social reformer and writer who was one of the founders of the Brahmo Sabha in 1828, the precursor of the Brahmo Samaj, a socio-religious reform movement in the Indian subcontinent. He has been dubbed the "Father of the Indian Renaissance." He was given the title of Raja by Mughal emperor Akbar II. Read more
• 27 Sep 1832: Karl Christian Friedrich Krause, German philosopher and author (born 1781) Karl (Carl) Christian Friedrich Krause was a German philosopher whose doctrines became known as Krausism. Krausism, when considered in its totality as a complete, stand-alone philosophical system, had only a small following in Germany, France, and Belgium, in contradistinction to certain other philosophical systems that had a much larger following in Europe at that time. However, Krausism became very popular and influential in Restoration Spain not as a complete, comprehensive philosophical system per se, but as a broad cultural movement. In Spain, Krausism was known as "Krausismo", and Krausists were known as "Krausistas". Outside of Spain, the Spanish Krausist cultural movement was referred to as Spanish Krausism. Read more

Why is 27 September Important in History?

27 September is important because many political, cultural, scientific, educational and social events took place on this date. These facts are useful for students, exam aspirants and readers interested in daily history and general knowledge.

History of Today 27 September for Competitive Exams

Questions based on today in history, famous personalities, historical events and important dates are often asked in UPSC, SSC, Banking, Railway, Defence and State PSC examinations.

👉 View complete History of Today archive

Frequently Asked Questions

What happened on 27 September in history?

On 27 September, many important historical events, famous births and notable deaths occurred across the world.

Why is History of Today important for exams?

History of Today helps students remember important dates, events and personalities for competitive exams like UPSC, SSC, Banking, Railway and PSC.

Where can I read daily history facts?

You can read daily history facts on this History of Today section, updated regularly with important events, births and deaths.