The following events occurred in October 1927:
October 1, 1927 (Saturday) Carl Laemmle, President of Universal Studios, made news by transmitting a contract to New York and to London by "photoradio" over a six-hour period, using an early form of the fax machine.Michele Hilmes, Hollywood and Broadcasting: From Radio to Cable (University of Illinois Press, 1999) p37 The Pittsburgh Pirates clinched the National League pennant with a 9–6 victory over the Cincinnati Reds. Michigan Stadium, with a capacity of 84,401 seats, opened with the University of Michigan beating Ohio Wesleyan, 33–0. Born: Tom Bosley, American TV comedian actor known for Happy Days and The Father Dowling Mysteries; in Chicago (d. 2010)
October 2, 1927 (Sunday) Presbyterian minister Harry Emerson Fosdick delivered the first nationally-broadcast sermon, as NBC Radio began broadcasting the show National Vespers at 5:30 pm Eastern time. Fosdick continued to preach on the radio until 1946.Robert Moats Miller, Harry Emerson Fosdick: Preacher, Pastor, Prophet (Oxford University Press US, 1985) p385 Born: F. I. Karpelevich, Soviet mathematician for whom the Gindikin–Karpelevich formula is named; in Moscow (d. 2000); Died: Svante Arrhenius, 68, Swedish chemist who won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1903 for his discovery of the greenhouse effect, outlined in his paper "On the Influence of Carbonic Acid in the Air upon the Temperature of the Ground".Deborah Todd and Joseph A. Angelo, A to Z of Scientists in Space and Astronomy (Infobase Publishing, 2005) p29 Austin Peay, 51, Governor of Tennessee since 1922, died of a cerebral hemorrhage following surgery. Austin Peay State University was named in his honor in 1929."Tennessee Governor Dies After Operation", Associated Press report in San Bernardino (CA) Daily Sun, October 3, 1927, p. 3
October 3, 1927 (Monday) After General Francisco Serrano announced that he would run against former Mexican President Álvaro Obregón in the 1928 election, President Plutarco Elías Calles ordered Serrano's elimination. General Serrano and 12 of his men were intercepted on the road between Cuernavaca and Mexico City and arrested. After General Claudio Fox arrived, the 13 detainees were executed, on the spot, by the Mexican Army. Obregon's other rival, General Arnulfo Gomez, would be executed the next month. With no competitors, Obregon won the election, only to be assassinated two weeks afterward.Jurgen Buchenau, The Last Caudillo: Alvaro Obregon and the Mexican Revolution (John Wiley and Sons, 2011); "MEXICO CRUSHES MUTINY!- Gen. Serrano, Revolt Chief, with 13 Aids, Put to Death", Milwaukee Sentinel, October 5, 1927, p1
October 4, 1927 (Tuesday) Carving began on Mount Rushmore, starting with the head of George Washington, as workers began the blasting of granite until a thin layer remained. The likeness of Washington would be ready for dedication on July 4, 1934.Patrick Straub, It Happened in South Dakota: Remarkable Events That Shaped History (Globe Pequot, 2010) pp66-67 The International Social Security Association was founded in Geneva.Edmund Jan Osmańczyk and Anthony Mango, Encyclopedia of the United Nations and International Agreements: G to M (Taylor & Francis, 2003) p1134 Margaret Bevan was elected as the first woman mayor in Great Britain, becoming Lord Mayor of Liverpool."Liverpool Picks 1st Woman Lord Mayor", Milwaukee Sentinel, October 5, 1927, p1 Died: John William Boone, 63, blind African-American concert pianist
October 5, 1927 (Wednesday)
Hungarian actor Bela Lugosi played the title role in the premiere of the Broadway production of Dracula. Produced by Horace Liveright, and adapted by John L. Balderston from Bram Stoker's novel, it was a popular and critical success, running for seven months at the Fulton Theatre before going on tour. Lugosi, who was offered the role after Raymond Huntley's salary demands proved a problem, reprised his role as a vampire on film in 1931 and became a horror movie star.Eric Nuzum, The Dead Travel Fast: Stalking Vampires from Nosferatu to Count Chocula (Macmillan, 2008) p205 Died: Sam Warner, 40, CEO of Warner Bros. Studios, died of mastoiditis the day before the premiere of The Jazz Singer
October 6, 1927 (Thursday) At 8:45 pm, The Jazz Singer, starring Al Jolson, was presented for the first time. The Warner Brothers film was shown at the Warner Theater in New York, which had been specially wired for sound with the Vitaphone system. It was the first "talkie", with sound synchronized to the film, although much of it was silent, with title cards, and in cities without the sound system, was seen as another silent movie. The first words heard by the audience were Jolson, as Jakie Rabinowitz, shouting to an orchestra, ""Wait a minute! Wait a minute! I tell ya, you ain't heard nothin' yet!" In keeping with the film's theme of a conflict within a Jewish family, the film premiered after sunset on the eve of the Yom Kippur holiday.William Guynn, The Routledge Companion to Film History (Taylor & Francis, 2010) p68; "The Screen: Al Jolson and the Vitaphone" NYT 10.7.27 p24 Born: Antony Grey, English gay rights activist; in Wilmslow, Cheshire (d. 2010) Died: Amy Catherine Robbins Wells, 55, wife of science fiction author H. G. Wells. The character of Amy Robbins was portrayed by Mary Steenburgen in the 1979 science fiction film Time After Time, the premise being that Robbins was a 1979 bank employee who married Wells after traveling back to 1895.
October 7, 1927 (Friday) Tommy Loughran, nicknamed The Philadelphia Phantom, became the light heavyweight boxing champion of the world, outpointing Mike McTigue in 15 rounds. Loughran retired in 1929 in order to pursue, unsuccessfully, the heavyweight title.Nat Fleischer and Sam Andre, An Illustrated History of Boxing (Citadel Press, 2002) pp195-196 The sudden collapse of the Kimberly-Clark factory in Appleton, Wisconsin, killed 9 people and injured 18 others."9 DEAD IN MILL CRASH; DIG IN RUINS FOR BODIES", Milwaukee Sentinel, October 8, 1927, p1 Born: R. D. Laing, Scottish opponent of psychiatry; in Glasgow (d. 1989) Tony Beckley, English character actor; in Southampton, Hampshire (d. 1980) Died: John Shillington "Jack" Prince, 68, British cricketer and bicyclist. He also built tracks for bicycle, motorcycle and sprint car racing.
October 8, 1927 (Saturday) The Second 100 Years, the first film in which Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy received top billing, was released.Wes D. Gehring, Laurel & Hardy: A Bio-bibliography (Greenwood Publishing Group, 1990) p263 imdb.com The New York Yankees, aided by their six consecutive batters dubbed "Murderer's Row" (Earle Combs, Mark Koenig, Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Bob Meusel, and Tony Lazzeri) completed a 4-game sweep of the Pittsburgh Pirates in the World Series, with a 4–3 win.Leo Trachtenberg, The Wonder Team: The True Story of the Incomparable 1927 New York Yankees (Popular Press, 1995) pp122-123: "NEW YORK BEATS PIRATES 4 TO 3", Spokane Daily Chronicle, October 8, 1927, pII-2 In what has been described as "the first ever tactic of using downed aircrew as bait to ambush rescue forces",George Galdorisi and Thomas Phillips, Leave No Man Behind: The Saga of Combat Search and Rescue (Zenith Imprint, 2009) pp24-25 Sandinista guerrillas shot down a U.S. Army Air Corps biplane over Nicaragua near Jicaro then ambushed the would-be rescuers, killing four members of the Nicaraguan Guardia Nacional and wounding some of the U.S. Army forces. The two American crewmen, 2nd. Lt. Earl Thomas and Sgt. Frank Dowdell, survived the crash but were later executed. Born: César Milstein, Argentine scientist, and winner of 1984 Nobel Prize for Medicine; in Bahía Blanca (d. 2002)
October 9, 1927 (Sunday) The fire department in Spokane, Washington, blamed a house fire on sunlight and a goldfish bowl, reporting that the glass bowl "acted as a lens, focusing the sun's rays to a single point of impact" to set aflame a curtain at the home of Mrs. E. C. Barrett."Gold Fish Bowl And Sun Join in Starting Blaze", Milwaukee Sentinel, October 10, 1927, p1 The Mexican Army battled anti-government rebels as the two forces met at Vera Cruz at 3:00 in the afternoon. The fighting lasted until 8:00 pm the next evening, and the insurrection against the Calles government was suppressed."ROUT REBELS AT VERA CRUZ!", Milwaukee Sentinel, October 11, 1927, p1
October 10, 1927 (Monday) Spain's National Assembly was allowed to meet by dictator Primo Rivera for the first time since Primo Rivera ascension to power.James H. Rial, Revolution from Above: The Primo de Rivera Dictatorship in Spain, 1923-1930 (Associated University Presse, 1986) p114 Porgy, based on the novel by DuBose Heyward, opened on broadway at the Guild Theatre as a play, eight years before the opera Porgy and Bess, running for 217 performances before going on tour.Cary D. Wintz and Paul Finkelman, Encyclopedia of the Harlem Renaissance Volume 2 (Taylor & Francis, 2004) p986 The 1922 lease of rights to the Wyoming's Teapot Dome oil field, granted by then U.S. Secretary of the Interior Albert Fall in return for personal favors during the Teapot Dome scandal, was held to be invalid by unanimous decision of U.S. Supreme Court. The jazz musical Jazz Mania premiered, with Duke Ellington's band.Mark Tucker, Ellington: The Early Years (University of Illinois Press, 1995) p207 The Palace Museum Library, formerly limited to use by the family and staff of the Emperor of China, was opened to scholars in Beijing.Sharon Chien Lin, Libraries and Librarianship in China (Greenwood Publishing Group, 1998) p60 The Sidewalks of New York, a musical inspired by the popular 1894 song of the same name and starring Ruby Keeler, opened on Broadway at the Knickerbocker Theatre,Nancy Marlow-Trump, Ruby Keeler: A Photographic Biography (McFarland, 2005) p33 Born: Dana Elcar, American actor and director, known for the TV series MacGyver; in Ferndale, Michigan (d. 2005) David Dinkins, first African-American Mayor of New York City (1990-1993); in Trenton, New Jersey (d. 2020) Hazel Johnson-Brown, first African-American female to become a general in the United States Army; in West Chester, Pennsylvania (d. 2011) Died: Gustave Whitehead, 53, German-American aviation pioneer, died of a heart attack while attempting to lift an engine from a car
October 11, 1927 (Tuesday) Pilot Ruth Elder took off from New York in the airplane American Girl, with her co-pilot, George Haldeman, in an attempt to become the first woman to duplicate Charles Lindbergh's transatlantic crossing to Paris. Mechanical problems caused them to ditch the plane 360 miles from land, but they established a new over-water endurance flight record of 2,623 miles.Lynn M. Homan, et al., Women Who Fly (Pelican Publishing, 2004) p46-47; "RUTH ELDER HOPS OFF!", Milwaukee Sentinel, October 11, 1927, p1 Mona McLellan, real name Dr. Dorothy Cochrane Logan, arrived at Folkestone after reportedly breaking Gertrude Ederle's record for swimming the English Channel, with a new time of 13 hours and 10 minutes. For the feat, she won a $5,000 prize from the British newspaper News of the World. Days later, she revealed that her Channel swim had been a hoax, designed to demonstrate the lack of monitoring or verification of record-breaking attempts."London Woman Breaks Ederle Channel Mark", Miami News, October 11, 1927, p1; "Channel Swim Hoax Admitted by Prize Winner", Miami News, October 16, 1927, p1 Born: William J. Perry, U.S. Secretary of Defense 1994–1997; in Vandergrift, Pennsylvania
October 12, 1927 (Wednesday) Wright Field, located near Dayton, Ohio, was dedicated for use by the United States Army Air Corps. The land was created from Wilbur Wright Field and an additional acreage, and renamed in Wilbur's honor and that of Orville Wright. The field is now part of the Wright-Patterson Air Force Base.