Summary of the Day ✨ 27 October (27/10)
On this day, ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi died by suicide during a U.S. raid in Syria, while a gunman killed eleven people in a Pittsburgh synagogue in a deadly antisemitic attack. Simultaneously, Catalonia declared independence from Spain, Leicester City’s owner perished in a helicopter crash after a match, and Britain concluded its 12-year military operation in Afghanistan.
Historical Events 📜
- 2019: Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant founder and leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi kills himself and three children by detonating a suicide vest during the U.S. military Barisha raid in northwestern Syria.
- 2018: A gunman opens fire on a Pittsburgh synagogue killing eleven and injuring six, including four police officers.
- 2018: Leicester City F.C. owner Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha dies in a helicopter crash along with four others after a Premier League match against West Ham United at the King Power Stadium in Leicester, England.
- 2017: Catalonia declares independence from Spain.
- 2014: Britain withdraws from Afghanistan at the end of Operation Herrick, after 12 years four months and seven days.
- 1999: Gunmen open fire in the Armenian Parliament, killing the Prime Minister and seven others.
- 1997: The 1997 Asian financial crisis causes a crash in the Dow Jones Industrial Average.
- 1994: Gliese 229B is the first Substellar Mass Object to be unquestionably identified.
- 1993: Widerøe Flight 744 crashes in Overhalla Municipality, Norway, killing six people.
- 1992: United States Navy radioman Allen R. Schindler, Jr. is murdered by shipmate Terry M. Helvey for being gay, precipitating debate about gays in the military that results in the United States’ “Don’t ask, don’t tell” military policy.
- 1991: Turkmenistan achieves independence from the Soviet Union.
- 1988: Cold War: Ronald Reagan suspends construction of the new U.S. Embassy in Moscow due to Soviet listening devices in the building structure.
- 1986: The British government suddenly deregulates financial markets, leading to a total restructuring of the way in which they operate in the country, in an event now referred to as the Big Bang.
- 1981: Cold War: The Soviet submarine S-363 runs aground on the east coast of Sweden.
- 1979: Saint Vincent and the Grenadines gains its independence from the United Kingdom.
Famous Births 👶
- 1999: Haruka Kudo, Japanese singer and actress
- 1997: Lonzo Ball, American basketball player
- 1997: James TW, English singer-songwriter
- 1996: Rasmus Andersson, Swedish ice hockey player
- 1996: Kim Woo-seok, South Korean singer and actor
- 1995: Leon Draisaitl, German ice hockey player
- 1994: Rasmus Ristolainen, Finnish ice hockey player
- 1993: Troy Gentile, American actor
- 1993: Kiefer Ravena, Filipino basketball player
- 1992: Stephan El Shaarawy, Italian footballer
- 1992: Emily Hagins, American director, producer, and screenwriter
- 1992: Brandon Saad, American ice hockey player
- 1992: Daniel Sams, Australian cricketer
- 1991: Shohei Takahashi, Japanese footballer
- 1990: Alex Bentley, American-Belarusian basketball player
Notable Deaths 🕊️
- 2025: Prunella Scales, English actress (born 1932)
- 2023: Li Keqiang, premier of China (born 1955)
- 2019: Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, leader of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL); suicide (born 1971)
- 2018: Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha, Thai businessman, chairman of Leicester City F.C. (born 1958)
- 2016: Takahito, Prince Mikasa, member of the Imperial Family of Japan (born 1915)
- 2015: Ayerdhal, French author (born 1959)
- 2015: Ranjit Roy Chaudhury, Indian pharmacologist and academic (born 1930)
- 2015: Betsy Drake, French-American actress and singer (born 1923)
- 2015: Philip French, English journalist, critic, and producer (born 1933)
- 2014: Daniel Boulanger, French actor and screenwriter (born 1922)
- 2014: Shin Hae-chul, South Korean singer-songwriter and producer (born 1968)
- 2014: Starke Taylor, American soldier and politician, mayor of Dallas (born 1922)
- 2013: Noel Davern, Irish lawyer and politician, Minister for Education and Skills (born 1945)
- 2013: Leonard Herzenberg, American immunologist, geneticist, and academic (born 1931)
- 2013: Luigi Magni, Italian director and screenwriter (born 1928)
Holidays & Observances 🎉
- Christian feast day:
Abbán - Christian feast day:
Abraham the Poor - Christian feast day:
Frumentius (Roman Catholic Church) - Christian feast day:
Gaudiosus of Naples - Christian feast day:
Kaleb of Axum - Christian feast day:
Namatius (Namace) - Christian feast day:
Oran of Iona - Christian feast day:
October 27 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics) - Černová Tragedy Day (Slovakia)
- Flag Day (Greece)
- Independence Day (Saint Vincent and the Grenadines), celebrates the independence of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines from United Kingdom in 1979.
- International Religious Freedom Day (United States)
- National Black Cat Day (United Kingdom)
- Navy Day (United States) (unofficial, official date is October 13)
- World Day for Audiovisual Heritage