September 27

1066 – William the Conqueror and his army set sail from the mouth of the Somme river, beginning the Norman conquest of England. 1331 – The Battle of Płowce is fought, between the Kingdom of Poland and the Teutonic Order. The Poles are defeated but their leaders escape capture. 1422 – After the brief Gollub War, the Teutonic Knights sign the Treaty of Melno with Poland and Lithuania. 1529 – The Siege of Vienna begins when Suleiman I attacks the city. 1540 – The Society of Jesus (Jesuits) receives its charter from Pope Paul III. 1590 – The death of Pope Urban VII, 13 days after being chosen as the Pope, ends the shortest papal reign in history. 1605 – The armies of Sweden are defeated by the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth in the Battle of Kircholm. 1669 – The Venetians surrender the fortress of Candia to the Ottomans, thus ending the 21-year-long Siege of Candia. 1777 – American Revolution: Lancaster, Pennsylvania becomes the capital of the United States for one day after Congress evacuates Philadelphia. 1791 – The National Assembly of France votes to award full citizenship to Jews. 1821 – The Army of the Three Guarantees triumphantly enters Mexico City, led by Agustín de Iturbide. The following day Mexico is declared independent. 1822 – Jean-François Champollion officially informs the Académie des Inscriptions et Belles Lettres in France that he has deciphered the Rosetta Stone. 1825 – The world's first public railway to use steam locomotives, the Stockton and Darlington Railway, is ceremonially opened. 1854 – The paddle steamer , owned by the Collins Line of New York, sinks off the coast of Newfoundland, following a collision with a smaller vessel, the SS Vesta. Only 88 of over 300 people on board survive. About a dozen of the occupants of the Vesta are killed when their lifeboat is hit by the Arctic. 1875 – The merchant sailing ship Ellen Southard is wrecked in a storm at Liverpool. 1903 – "Wreck of the Old 97": an American rail disaster, in which 11 people are killed; it later becomes the subject of a popular ballad.