It happened today – this day in history – October 27

939: Edmund I becomes king of England.

1275: Founding of the city of Amsterdam.

1644: Charles I defeats parliamentary forces at the second Battle of Newbury.

1682: Philadelphia is founded by Englishman William Penn.

1702: British troops plunder St Augustine, Florida.

1810: The US annexes West Florida from Spain.

1858: Birth of Theodore Roosevelt.

1913: President Woodrow Wilson say the US will never attack another country.

1914: Birth of poet Dylan Thomas.

1925: Water skis are patented by Fred Waller.

1932: Birth of Sylvia Plath.

1938: DuPont announces its new synthetic polyamide will be called “nylon”.

1944: General Tito reaches free Belgrade.

1954: President Eisenhower offers aid to South Vietnam.

1955: Rebel Without A Cause is released barely a month after star James Dean’s death.

1960: Ben E King records Stand By Me and Spanish Harlem on the same day.

1971: The republic of Congo-Kinshasa becomes Zaire.

1980: Former Tyrannosaurus Rex percussionist Steve Pereguin Took, 31, chokes on a cherry stone after taking magic mushrooms which numbed his throat.

1982: China announces its population has exceeded 1 billion.

1998: Helmut Kohl resigns as Chancellor of Germany.

1999: Gunmen open fire in the Armenian parliament, killing prime minister Vazgen Sargsyan and seven others.

2002: Death of record producer Tom Dowd.

2013: Death of musician Lou Reed six months after having a liver transplant.

2017: The Catalan parliament unilaterally declares independence from Spain.

2018: Leicester City owner Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha dies when his helicopter crashes into a car park at the King Power Stadium soon after taking off from the pitch following the team’s game with West Ham.

BIRTHDAYS: John Cleese, writer/actor 80; Anita Roddick, businesswoman, 77; Ivan Reitman, film director, 73; Garry Tallent, musician (E Street Band) 70; Peter Firth, actor, 66; Glenn Hoddle, former footballer/manager/pundit, 62; Simon Le Bon, singer (Duran Duran),61; Manu Katche, drummer (Peter Gabriel) 61; Vanessa Mae, violinist, 41; Kelly Osbourne, TV personality, 35.