27 September 1781

Mount Ontake in central Japan unexpectedly erupted, killing 63 people in the nation's deadliest eruption in more than 100 years.

The Taliban drove Afghan President Burhanuddin Rabbani out of Kabul, tortured and murdered former president Mohammad Najibullah, and established the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan.

Led by pro-democracy activist Aung San Suu Kyi (pictured), the political party National League for Democracy was founded in Burma.

American software developer Richard Stallman announced plans for the Unix-like operating system GNU, the first free software developed by the GNU Project.

Iran–Iraq War: Iran broke the Iraqi siege of Abadan by Operation Samen-ol-A'emeh.

Two members of ETA political-military and three members of the Revolutionary Antifascist Patriotic Front, sentenced to death for murder, became the last people to be executed in Spain.

The British Aircraft Corporation TSR-2, an advanced Cold War tactical strike and reconnaissance aircraft that was later cancelled, made its maiden flight.

Members of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference unanimously selected Zeng Liansong's design for the flag of China (pictured).

SS Patrick Henry, the first of 2,710 Liberty ships built during World War II by the United States, was launched.

World War II: Nazi Germany, Fascist Italy and the Empire of Japan signed the Tripartite Pact in Berlin, officially forming a military alliance known as the Axis.

The Broadhurst Theatre opened in New York City with a performance of Misalliance by George Bernard Shaw.

Lij Iyasu (pictured), the emperor-designate of Ethiopia, was deposed in favor of his aunt Zewditu.

The first production Ford Model T, the car credited with initiating the mass use of automobiles in the United States, was completed at the Ford Piquette Avenue Plant in Detroit, Michigan.

The merchant ship Ellen Southard was wrecked in a storm at Liverpool, England; the U.S. Congress subsequently awarded 27 Gold Lifesaving Medals to the men who rescued her crew.

The paddle steamer SS Arctic sank after a collision with SS Vesta 50 miles (80 km) off the coast of Newfoundland, killing approximately 320 people.

The British East India Company inaugurated the Horsburgh Lighthouse on the rocky outcrop of Pedra Branca, Singapore, which later became the subject of a territorial dispute.

Locomotion No. 1 hauled the train on the opening day of the Stockton and Darlington Railway, the first public railway in the world to use steam locomotives.

In a letter to the Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres in Paris, Jean-François Champollion announced his initial successes in deciphering Egyptian hieroglyphs on the Rosetta Stone (pictured).

The Treaty of Melno was signed, establishing the Prussian–Lithuanian border, which afterwards remained unchanged for about 500 years.

Second Nagorno-Karabakh War: Azerbaijan launches an offensive against the self-proclaimed Republic of Artsakh in the Nagorno-Karabakh region, inhabited predominantly by ethnic Armenians.

Over two million people participated in worldwide strikes to protest climate change across 2,400 locations worldwide.

63 people are killed in an eruption of Mount Ontake in Japan.

CNSA astronaut Zhai Zhigang becomes the first Chinese person to perform a spacewalk.

NASA launches the Dawn probe to the asteroid belt.