Today in history

On Oct. 27, 1469, Renaissance scholar Desiderius Erasmus was born in Rotterdam, the Netherlands.

In 1505 the Grand Duke of Moscow, Ivan III (also known as “Ivan the Great”), died; he was succeeded by his son, Vasily III. (Vasily’s son, Ivan IV, later became the first czar of Russia, “Ivan the Terrible.”)

In 1782 composer Niccolo Paganini was born in Genoa, Italy.

In 1787 the first of the Federalist Papers, a series of essays calling for ratification of the United States Constitution, was published in a New York newspaper.

In 1795 Spain and the U.S. signed the Treaty of San Lorenzo, which provided for free navigation of the Mississippi River.

In 1858 Theodore Roosevelt, the 26th president, was born in New York.

In 1871 William Marcy “Boss” Tweed, the political leader of Tammany Hall in New York, was arrested on charges of defrauding the city of millions of dollars.

In 1904 the first rapid transit subway, the IRT, was inaugurated in New York.

In 1914 author-poet Dylan Thomas was born in Swansea, Wales.

In 1917 Oliver Tambo, who would become president of the African National Congress, was born near Johannesburg.

In 1922 the first celebration of Navy Day took place.

In 1923 Pop Art painter Roy Lichtenstein was born in New York.

In 1926 H.R. Haldeman, the White House chief of staff under President Richard Nixon who was convicted of crimes related to Watergate, was born Harry Robbins Haldeman in Los Angeles.

In 1932 poet Sylvia Plath was born in Boston.

In 1938 DuPont announced a name for its new synthetic yarn: nylon.

In 1947 “You Bet Your Life,” starring Groucho Marx, premiered on ABC Radio. It later became a television show on NBC.

In 1954 Walt Disney’s first television program, named “Disneyland” after his yet-tobe-completed California theme park, premiered on ABC.