27 September It Happened Today

1722  Birth of American revolutionary Samuel Adams.

1825 George Stephenson’s engine Locomotion pulls 32 carriages full of passengers 27 miles between Shildon and Stockton in under 3 hours.

1917  Death of French painter Edgar Degas.

1921  Death of German composer Engelbert Humperdinck.

1968 The musical Hair opens in London’s West End.

1979  Death of English entertainer Dame Gracie Fields.