What Happened on October 27

Cuban Waters

1962 — Soviet Officer Blocks Nuclear Torpedo Launch, Averting War

A single dissenting vote aboard a Soviet submarine stopped atomic escalation at the height of the Cuban standoff — one man's refusal rewriting the edge of annihilation.

ABOARD SOVIET SUBMARINE B-59, October 27 — The diesel stink of a submerged Soviet Foxtrot-class boat, batteries failing in Caribbean depths, became the unlikely cockpit for history's most consequential argument. Three officers held the power to loose a nuclear torpedo against an American destroyer; Vasily Arkhipov, the flotilla chief of staff, said no.

Arkhipov's refusal overrode the submarine's captain and political officer, who had judged themselves under attack and demanded retaliation. The 15-kiloton weapon, equal to Hiroshima, stayed in its tube. Soviet doctrine authorized nuclear release only by unanimous consent; Arkhipov's lone negative sustained.

The incident remained classified, as did dozens of near-misses in the thirteen days since President Kennedy's blockade began. American forces above, unaware how close they had brushed Armageddon, continued depth-charging Soviet subs to force surfacing. Arkhipov's vessel, visible now to Navy helicopters, rose with crew depleted by heat and carbon dioxide.

The 34-year-old officer had survived the K-19 disaster the previous year, a reactor accident that killed eight crewmen. Colleagues described him as calm, technically demanding, unwilling to defer to rank when safety demanded it. His wife, Olga, waited in Moscow with no knowledge her husband's vote had preserved her city.

Kennedy and Khrushchev exchanged letters through Saturday night, seeking terms. The submarine crisis, one of several flashpoints, now moves toward resolution as UN negotiators hammer inspection protocols. Arkhipov returns to duty, his role invisible, the torpedo still counted in the manifest.

• By refusing to agree to the firing of a nuclear torpedo at a US warship, Vasily Arkhipov averts nuclear war.

Source: Wikipedia — Vasily Arkhipov

Proprietary Lands

1682 — Penn's Planned City Rises on Schuylkill Banks

William Penn's grid promises religious refuge and ordered streets where wilderness stood.

SCHUYLKILL RIVER, October 27 — The Delaware Valley will never again belong to the forest. William Penn's surveyors this autumn completed the grid between two rivers, and settlers now raise the first brick structures of Philadelphia, the city of brotherly love. Penn, granted these lands by Charles II to settle a debt, designed straight streets and central squares himself. The plan gives England's persecuted sects space, air, and property held clear of lord or bishop. Quakers, Anabaptists, and dissenters have purchased lots sight unseen. The Commonwealth now counts perhaps 500 souls. Swedish and Dutch families who farmed the lower river since the '30s watch the new lots sell. Timber barges from upriver now pass daily. The Lenape call the place Coaquannock, grove of tall pines.

• Philadelphia is founded in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

Source: Wikipedia — Philadelphia

Cape Canaveral

1961 — NASA Tests Saturn I in First Step Toward Manned Moon Flight

The Saturn I booster launched from Cape Canaveral on October 27 carrying a dummy payload aloft.

CAPE CANAVERAL, October 27 — The machines that will carry Americans to the moon took their first breath today. The 162-foot booster rose from Pad 34 at 10:06 a.m., climbed 85 miles, and splashed down 214 miles out in the Atlantic eight minutes later. Engineers in the blockhouse cheered as telemetry confirmed the eight clustered engines had fired in sequence. The flight carried no capsule, only instruments to measure stress and vibration.

• NASA tests the first Saturn I rocket in Mission Saturn-Apollo 1.

Source: Wikipedia — Saturn I SA-1

Campaign '64

1964 — Reagan's Goldwater Speech Raises $1 Million, Fuels Governor Bid

The former 'Death Valley Days' host delivered a televised appeal for Barry Goldwater that has reshaped California politics.

LOS ANGELES — Ronald Reagan's televised address for Barry Goldwater, titled 'A Time for Choosing,' raised $1 million for the campaign. The speech is considered the event that launched Reagan's political career. California Republicans later nominated him for governor in 1966, impressed by his performance.

• Reagan's speech, titled 'A Time for Choosing', raised $1 million for Barry Goldwater's campaign.
• The speech is considered the event that launched Reagan's political career.
• California Republicans nominated Reagan for governor in 1966 after being impressed by his 'Time for Choosing' speech.

Source: Wikipedia — Ronald Reagan

Fenway Final

2004 — Red Sox Sweep Cardinals, Shatter 86-Year Curse in World Series Triumph

Boston becomes first club to overcome 3–0 playoff deficit en route to championship.

ST. LOUIS, October 27 — Eighty-six years dissolved in four games. The Boston Red Sox completed their sweep of the St. Louis Cardinals tonight to win the 2004 World Series, exorcising the so-called "Curse of the Bambino" that had haunted the franchise since 1918.

The clincher crowned a postseason of improbabilities. Boston became the first Major League Baseball club to win a best-of-seven playoff series after losing the first three games, storming back from an 0–3 hole against the New York Yankees in the American League Championship Series.

The victory erased decades of near-misses and superstition that traced to the 1919 sale of Babe Ruth to the Yankees.

• The Red Sox overcame a 3–0 deficit against the Yankees in the 2004 ALCS, the first MLB team to win a best-of-seven playoff series after losing the first three games.
• A 'reverse curve' road sign on Longfellow Bridge was graffitied to read 'Reverse The Curse' and left in place until the Red Sox won the 2004 World Series.
• After the World Series, the sign was edited to read 'Reversed Curse' before its removal, and was displayed on a duck boat during the 2024 home opener parade.
• The Red Sox' 2004 championship ended an 86-year drought since their 1918 World Series win, breaking the 'Curse of the Bambino'.

Source: Wikipedia — 2004 World Series

Monongahela Valley

1948 — Toxic Smog Kills 20, Sickens Thousands in Donora Mill Town

A toxic siege in this Monongahela River mill town killed 20 residents and sickened thousands, as industrial fog trapped by weather inversion settled over zinc works and steel mills.

DONORA, Pa., October 27 — A deadly smog enveloped this Monongahela River mill town today, beginning a toxic siege that would eventually kill 20 residents and sicken thousands. The industrial fog, trapped by weather inversion, settled over Donora's zinc works and steel mills without warning.

• A deadly smog event begins in Donora, Pennsylvania, eventually killing 20 and sickening thousands.

Source: Wikipedia — 1948 Donora smog

Thomaskirche Music

1726 — Bach Leads Solo Cantata Premiere at Leipzig

Bach, on October 27, premiered BWV 56, a solo bass cantata.

LEIPZIG, October 27 — The Thomaskirche choir loft filled with autumn light this morning as Johann Sebastian Bach led the first performance of his newest sacred work, a solo cantata for bass voice he has titled "Ich will den Kreuzstab gerne tragen," catalogued as BWV 56.

• Bach composed Cantata BWV 56 for the 19th Sunday after Trinity in his fourth year as Thomaskantor.
• The text was written by Christoph Birkmann, a student of mathematics and theology in Leipzig who collaborated with Bach.
• The cantata is a solo cantata requiring only a bass vocal soloist apart from the closing chorale.
• The closing chorale uses the stanza 'Komm, o Tod, du Schlafes Bruder' from Johann Franck's 1653 hymn 'Du, o schönes Weltgebäude'.
• Albert Schweitzer said the cantata placed 'unparalleled demands on the dramatic imagination of the singer.'

Source: Wikipedia — Johann Sebastian Bach

Caribbean Command

1962 — Soviets Down U-2; Pilot Dies in Cuba Crisis

The Cuban Missile Crisis claimed its first life on October 27.

WASHINGTON, October 27 — The Cuban Missile Crisis claimed its first life today, escalating the standoff to lethal stakes. Anderson, a 35-year-old native of Greenville, South Carolina, was on his sixth U-2 mission over the island. The SAM site that fired was positioned near Banes in eastern Cuba, according to Pentagon tracking data. Soviet personnel reportedly manned the battery, though Moscow has issued no statement. President Kennedy has ordered no immediate retaliation, preserving the fragile negotiations in New York.

• Major Rudolf Anderson of the United States Air Force becomes the only direct human casualty of the Cuban Missile Crisis when his U-2 reconnaissance airplane is shot down over Cuba by a Soviet-supplied surface-to-air missile.

Source: Wikipedia — Rudolf Anderson

Rapid Transit Bureau

1904 — New York's Underground Railway Opens With 150,000 Riders Paying Nickel Fare for Nine-Mile Run

The Interborough Rapid Transit Company's 9.1-mile line from City Hall to 145th Street carries the metropolis beneath its streets.

NEW YORK, October 27 — The first underground railway of the New World opened here today, running nine miles from the civic centre to Harlem. The Interborough Rapid Transit Company began service at noon with Mayor McClellan at the throttle of the inaugural train. More than 150,000 persons paid the five-cent fare to ride beneath Manhattan's paving stones before midnight. The line featured four tracks allowing local and express service from Brooklyn Bridge–City Hall to 96th Street. Station designs were inspired by those of the Paris Métro.

• The 9.1-mile subway line ran from City Hall station to 145th Street station in Harlem.
• Over 150,000 passengers paid the 5-cent fare to ride the subway on its first day of operation.
• The first underground line was operated by the Interborough Rapid Transit Company (IRT).
• The system had four tracks between Brooklyn Bridge–City Hall and 96th Street, allowing local and express service.
• The designs of the underground stations were inspired by those of the Paris Métro.

Source: Wikipedia — Early history of the IRT subway

Low Countries Annals

1275 — Count Floris V Grants Toll Privilege to Fishermen on the Amstel, Founding Amsterdam

The 1275 charter exempts the settlement from river duties, establishing a free port where the dammed river meets the inland sea.

THE HAGUE, October 27 — Count Floris V of Holland has granted a toll privilege to the fishermen dwelling at the mouth of the Amstel, a document dated this 27th day of October in the year of grace 1275, thereby confirming the settlement that men are beginning to call Amsterdam as a place of lawful market and free passage.

The count's charter, issued from his court here, exempts the holders from the river tolls that have hindered traffic along the waterway.

• Traditional founding of the city of Amsterdam.

Source: Wikipedia — Amsterdam