It happened today – this day in history – November 27

8BC: Death of Roman poet Horace.

1493: Christopher Columbus returns to La Navidad colony, finding it destroyed by the first native American uprising against Spanish rule.

1807: Portuguese Royal Family and its court of nearly 15,000 people leave Lisbon for their colony of Brazil to escape invading Napoleonic troops.

1826: John Walker invents the friction match.

1895: Alfred Nobel’s will establishes the Nobel Prize.

1896: “Also Sprach Zarathustra” by Richard Strauss debuts in Frankfurt.

1919: Composer Ignacy Jan Paderewski resigns as Polish Prime Minister.

1926: Italy and Albania sign a peace treaty.

1934: Bank robber Baby Face Nelson (Lester Gillis) dies in a shoot-out with the FBI.

1941: The Soviets begin a counter offensive, forcing the Germans to retreat.

1942: Jimi Hendrix is born in Seattle.

1951: Ceasefire & demarcation zone accord signed in Panmunjon, Korea.

1953: Death of playwright Eugene O’Neill.

1956: Al Oerter wins first of 4 consecutive men’s discus gold medals when he throws Olympic record 56.36m at the Melbourne Games.

1967: French President Charles de Gaulle vetoes the UK’s application to enter the common market for a second time.

1970: Pope Paul VI is wounded in the chest during a visit to The Philippines by a dagger-wielding Bolivian painter disguised as a priest.

1971: Soviet Mars 2 becomes the first spacecraft to crash land on Mars.

1973: Gerald Ford becomes vice president of the US.

1975: The Provisional IRA assassinates TV personality and Guinness Book of Records co-compiler, Ross McWhirter, after a press conference in which he announced a reward for the capture of those responsible for multiple bombings and shootings across England.

1978: San Francisco Mayor George Moscone and Supervisor Harvey Milk are assassinated by former Supervisor Dan White at City Hall.

2005: Tony Meehan, former drummer with The Shadows, died aged 62 from head injuries sustained in a fall at his flat in Maida Vale. On the same day, the first partial human face transplant is completed for Isabelle Dinoire in Amiens, France.

2006: Death of DJ Alan Freemen aged 79.

2011: Red Bull driver Sebastian Vettel retains the Formula 1 World Drvers Championship.On the same day, Welsh football team manager Gary Speed is found hanged at home.

2014: Death of author P D James aged 94.

2016: Mercedes driver Nico Rosberg secures his only Formula 1 World Drvers Championship.

2017: Prince Harry and Meaghan Markle announce their engagement.

BIRTHDAYS: John Alderton, actor, 79; Randy Brecker, musician, 74; Kathryn Bigelow, director, 68; Daryl Steurmer, guitarist, 67; Steve Bannon, Trump advisor, 66; Charlie Burchill, guitarist (Simple Minds) 60; Mike Borodin, drummer (Faith No More) 57; Fisher Stevens, actor, 56; Mike Skinner, musician (The Streets) 41; Professor Green (Stephen Manderson), rapper, 36; Alison Pill, actress, 34.