This Day In History : October 27

1961 United States

NASA tests the first Saturn I rocket

The first Saturn I rocket was tested by NASA on October 27, 1961. This test marked a crucial step in the development of the Saturn rocket family, which would later become instrumental in the Apollo missions to the Moon. The Saturn I rocket was designed to test and develop the technology needed for the larger Saturn rockets that would eventually launch astronauts to the Moon.

Also on This Day in History October 27

Discover what happened on October 27 with HISTORY's summaries of major events, anniversaries,
famous births and notable deaths.

Births on This Day, October 27
  • 1858 Theodore Roosevelt

    American politician, 26th President of the United States, Nobel Prize laureate

  • 1878 Stamen Grigorov

    Bulgarian physician and microbiologist who discovered Lactobacillus bulgaricus in 1905

  • 1811 Isaac Merrit Singer

    American inventor of a practical sewing machine

  • 1925 Albert Medwin

    American electrical engineer (developed integrated circuits at RCA, led development first low power CMOS chips)

  • 1946 Steven R. Nagel

    American astronaut, USAF (STS 51-G, 61-A, 37, 55)

Deaths on This Day, October 27
  • 1980 John H. Van Vleck

    American physicist, mathematician, and Nobel Laureate who pioneered the modern quantum mechanical theory of magnetism

  • 1945 Stamen Grigorov

    Bulgarian physician and microbiologist who discovered Lactobacillus bulgaricus in 1905

  • 1845 Jean-Charles-Athanase Peltier

    French Physicist (Peltier effect 1834)

  • 1941 Ernest Everett Just

    African-American embryologist (physiology of development, fertilization, cell division)

  • 1943 Isidor Traube

    German chemist who founded capillary chemistry and researched liquids (osmosis, surface tension)

1991

Turkmenistan Declares Independence from the Soviet Union

Turkmenistan declared independence from the Soviet Union on October 27, 1991. This declaration followed the dissolution of the Soviet Union, marking Turkmenistan's emergence as a sovereign state. The move came amidst a wave of declarations of independence by former Soviet republics during the final stages of the Soviet collapse. Turkmenistan's independence paved the way for the establishment of its own political, economic, and social institutions, shaping its path as an independent nation in Central Asia.
1904

First underground and underwater rail system in the New York City Subway

The New York City Subway, inaugurated on October 27, 1904, marked a significant milestone as the first underground and underwater rail system in the United States. It initially operated between City Hall and 145th Street in Manhattan, setting a precedent for urban transportation systems worldwide.
1979

Saint Vincent and the Grenadines gains its independence from the U.K.

Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, a Caribbean nation consisting of the main island of Saint Vincent and a chain of smaller islands known as the Grenadines, achieved independence from the United Kingdom on October 27, 1979. Prior to independence, it had been a British colony. The country is now a parliamentary democracy within the Commonwealth of Nations, with its capital at Kingstown on Saint Vincent Island.
1924

The Uzbek SSR is founded in the Soviet Union

The Uzbek Soviet Socialist Republic (Uzbek SSR) was established on October 27, 1924, as one of the republics of the Soviet Union. This event marked the incorporation of Uzbekistan into the Soviet federal system, following the dissolution of the Turkestan Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic.
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