October 27, 1997 was the worst one-day point drop in market history, to that date, down 554 points (7.2%), from 7715 to 7161, spurred by the Asian currency crisis.  On a percentage basis, it was the third worst daily decline since the 1930s, trailing only two Mondays in late October 1987.

October 27, 1978: President Carter signed the Humphrey-Hawkins full employment bill, which mandated reducing unemployment to 4% and inflation to 3%.  It worked…20 years later! Both rates were to reach double digits in the next 2-3 years.   It was another one of those nasty Octobers in 1978, with the Dow falling 12% in 20 days (from 901 to 792, October 11 to 31).

October 27, 1929 was a peaceful Sunday before the worst stock market crash in U.S. history.

October 27, 1923 marked a cyclical Dow bottom of 85.76, and the beginning of the "Roaring 20s" bull market, which rose 344% in less than six years, to Dow 381 on September 3, 1929.

A New York State of Mind

1999: The New York Yankees swept the Atlanta Braves for their 25th World Series victory of the 20th Century.  In 2000 (technically still the 20th Century), the Yankees won World Series #26.

October 27 was always a red-letter day in the Big Apple.  Here are some highlights:

1787: The Federalist Papers started appearing in New York City newspapers.  What is now dissected as Democracy's deciding debate originally appeared as Op-Eds for the masses, written by Alexander Hamilton, John Jay and James Madison, each using the pseudonym, "Publius."

1858: R.H. Macy & Company opened its first store (6th Avenue).  First-day receipts: $1,106. After seven business failures, Macy finally found success in his own "department store," selling a variety of products.  Macy's is, by sales volume, the biggest single department store in the world.

1871: "Boss Tweed" (William Macy Tweed), the Democratic leader of the Tammany Hall machine in New York City, was arrested after the New York Times exposed his corruption.

1880: New Yorker Theodore Roosevelt married Alice Hathaway Lee, on his 22nd birthday

1878: The biggest bank heist ever: $3 million was stolen from the Manhattan Savings Bank in New York City in a celebrated robbery accredited to the gang leader George "Western" Leslie.

1904: The first subway system in America opened under New York, running north from City Hall under Lafayette Street and Park Avenue to Grand Central Station, west along 42nd Street to Times Square, then north on Broadway to 145th Street.  At 2:35, the first subway train emerged from the City Hall station, with Mayor George B. McClellan at the controls.  At 7:00pm, the public tried it out: Over 150,000 people paid a nickel each to take a ride underneath Manhattan. 

…And at 7:02, the first subway mugging was reported, with the theft a $500 diamond ring.

1927: The first newsreel featuring sound was released in New York City on this day, by Fox Movietone News, only three weeks after the opening of The Jazz Singer, the first talking movie.

The Cuban Crisis, From Columbus to Khrushchev

On October 27, 1492: Christopher Columbus discovered Cuba.  Then, 470 years later:

On October 27, 1962, Soviet premier Nikita Khrushchev reneged on his promise to remove Soviet missile bases from Cuba.  Under pressure by Soviet hard-liners, he publicly called for the dismantling of U.S. missile bases in Turkey in return for the removal of Soviet missiles in Cuba. 

While Kennedy and his advisors debated this dangerous U-turn in negotiations, a U.S. U-2 spy plane strayed into Soviet airspace, and narrowly escaped Soviet MiG fighters.  Hours later, a U-2 reconnaissance plane was shot down over Cuba and its pilot, Rudolf Anderson, was killed. To the dismay of the Pentagon, Kennedy vetoed a military retaliation against Cuban anti-aircraft sites. Later in the day, with full-scale confrontation imminent, Kennedy and his advisors agreed to dismantle the Jupiter missile sites in Turkey in exchange for removal of Soviet missiles in Cuba.

Inventions

1925: Water skis were patented by Fred Waller.

1938: DuPont announced its new synthetic fiber, which they called "nylon."

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