A Brief History
This article presents a chronological list of notable events that happened on October 27th. For each date below, please click on the date to be taken to an article covering that date’s event.
Digging Deeper
According to Orthodox Christian tradition, on October 27, 312 A.D., the night before the Battle of Milvian Bridge against the Roman Emperor Maxentius, the Emperor Constantine the Great adopted as his motto the Greek phrase “ἐν τούτῳ νίκα” after having a vision of a Christogram in the sky.
On October 27, 312, Emperor Constantine the Great of the Roman Empire on the eve of the Battle of Milvian Bridge is reported to have had a vision or dream of the Christian Cross, leading to his men fighting under the protection of the cross.
On October 27, 939, King Æthelstan of England died, the throne then going to his half-brother, Edmund I.
On October 27, 1553, a Spanish scientist versed in many disciplines, Michael Servetus, was burned at the stake for heresy.
On October 27, 1838, Missouri’s governor issued an order for all Mormons to leave the state or face extermination!
On October 27, 1914, the virtually brand new British Super-Dreadnaught battleship, HMS Audacious, hit a mine off the North coast of Ireland and sunk without ever being used in combat.
On October 27, 1954, Benjamin O. Davis, Jr. became the first African-American general (brigadier, or 1 star) in the U.S. Air Force.
On October 27, 1962, US Air Force Major Rudolf Anderson was shot down and killed while flying his U-2 spy plane over Cuba.
On October 27, 1988, President Ronald Reagan made one of his most shocking Cold War related announcements while President when he decided to have the newly completed US Embassy in Moscow mostly destroyed and started over again!
On October 27, 2004, the Boston Red Sox ended a World Series victory drought that went back to 1918, an incredible 86 years between Major League triumphs.
On October 27, 2017, tensions between the United States and North Korea put a cloud of possible nuclear conflict facing the American people.
On October 27, 2017, the new major motion picture, Goodbye Christopher Robin, made its premier at theaters across the United States, bringing humanity and realism to the beloved characters associated with Winnie-the-Pooh, the characters created by author A.A. Milne based on his real life son and his son’s beloved plush animals, characters and children’s books that have become the most cherished of all children’s stories.
On October 27, 2017, Paramount Pictures releases Suburbicon, a noir-ish “dramadey” written by the Coen Brothers and directed by George Clooney.
On Monday, October 27, 2025, absurdist black comedy fans had their chance to be among the first in Cleveland, Ohio to see Bugonia at 7:00 PM at Phoenix Great Northern Mall Stadium 10 + RPX, 450 Great Northern Mall, North Olmsted, OH 44070!
Question for students (and subscribers) to ponder: Which event that occurred on today’s date would you like to learn more about?
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Historical Evidence
For more information, please see…
Andrews, John and Matt Baker. Timeline of World History. Thunder Bay Press, 2020.
You can also watch video versions of this article on YouTube.