Today in History, November 27th
On November 27, 1895, Alfred Nobel signed the will that created the Nobel Prizes. Plus the First Crusade, Macy's first parade, and more.
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November 27 is best known as the day in 1895 when Alfred Nobel signed the will that created the Nobel Prizes. It is also the day Pope Urban II called for the First Crusade in 1095 and the day of the first Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York in 1924.
The big story: Alfred Nobel signs the will that creates the Nobel Prizes (1895)
Alfred Nobel was a Swedish chemist and inventor who grew rich from explosives, dynamite above all. On November 27, 1895, at the Swedish-Norwegian Club in Paris, he signed his third and final will. Most of it was not about relatives. Instead, Nobel directed that the bulk of his fortune be invested and the yearly interest split into five equal prizes: physics, chemistry, physiology or medicine, literature, and peace. He even named who would choose the winners. Swedish institutions would handle the science and literature awards, while a five-member committee picked by Norway’s parliament would award the peace prize. When the will was opened after his death, it caused a stir. His family opposed it, and some of the institutions he named at first declined the job. It took years of legal and administrative work to put his plan into action. The first Nobel Prizes were finally awarded in 1901, and they remain among the most prestigious honors in the world.
More events on November 27
| Year | What happened |
|---|---|
| 511 | Clovis I, king of the Franks, died in Paris. |
| 1095 | At the Council of Clermont in France, Pope Urban II called on Christians to launch a holy war to retake Jerusalem, starting the First Crusade. |
| 1868 | U.S. Army troops under George Armstrong Custer attacked the Cheyenne village of peace chief Black Kettle on the Washita River in present-day Oklahoma. |
| 1919 | The Treaty of Neuilly set the World War I peace terms for Bulgaria. |
| 1924 | The first Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade marched through New York City. |
| 1942 | The French navy scuttled 73 ships at Toulon to keep them out of German hands. |
| 1949 | Maria Tallchief, a member of the Osage Nation, starred in George Balanchine’s Firebird with New York City Ballet, a career-defining performance for America’s first prima ballerina. |
| 1973 | The U.S. Senate overwhelmingly confirmed Gerald R. Ford as vice president. |
| 1978 | San Francisco Mayor George Moscone and Supervisor Harvey Milk, one of the nation’s first openly gay politicians, were shot and killed at City Hall by former supervisor Dan White. |
| 2014 | Mystery novelist P.D. James, nicknamed the “Queen of Crime,” died in Oxford, England. |
| 2015 | Pope Francis released Wake Up!, an album that set his words and prayers to a mix of progressive rock and sacred music. |
Born on November 27
- 1701: Anders Celsius, Swedish astronomer whose name lives on in the temperature scale.
- 1874: Chaim Weizmann, Zionist leader and the first president of Israel.
- 1940: Bruce Lee, martial artist and film star.
- 1942: Jimi Hendrix, American guitarist who transformed rock music.
- 1951: Kathryn Bigelow, film director and the first woman to win the Academy Award for best director.
Keep reading
Sources
- Alfred Nobel’s will, The Nobel Prize
- On This Day: November 27, Encyclopaedia Britannica
- This Day in History: November 27, History.com
- Pope Urban II orders first Crusade, History.com
- Maria Tallchief debuts in “Firebird”, History.com
- Colonel George Custer massacres peaceful Cheyennes by the Washita River, History.com
- San Francisco leaders George Moscone and Harvey Milk are murdered, History.com
- Pope Francis releases prog rock album, History.com
