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On This Day: Queen Elizabeth launched as world's largest ocean liner

On Sept. 27, 1938, Queen Elizabeth christened the world's largest ocean liner with her own name during a ceremony in Scotland.

By UPI Staff
On September 27, 1938, Queen Elizabeth christened the world's largest ocean liner with her own name during a ceremony in Scotland. File Photo by Ian Taylor/Wikipedia.
1 of 4 | On September 27, 1938, Queen Elizabeth christened the world's largest ocean liner with her own name during a ceremony in Scotland. File Photo by Ian Taylor/Wikipedia.

Sept. 27 (UPI) -- On this date in history:

In 1540, the Society of Jesus, known as the Jesuits, was chartered by the Roman Catholic Church.

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In 1825, in England, George Stephenson operated the first locomotive to pull a passenger train.

In 1930, golfer Bobby Jones won the U.S. Amateur Championship, capturing the era's Grand Slam. Earlier in the year, he won the British Amateur, British Open and U.S. Open.

In 1935, 13-year-old Judy Garland signed her first contract with MGM.

In 1938, Queen Elizabeth christened the world's largest ocean liner with her own name during a ceremony in Scotland. The Queen Elizabeth was the sister ship of the Queen Mary, which was christened four years earlier.

In 1939, after 19 days of heavy air raids and artillery bombardment, Polish defenders of Warsaw surrendered to German forces.

In 1954, The Tonight Show made its television debut with host Steve Allen.

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File Photo by Rachel Griffith/UPI

In 1964, the Warren Commission report on the assassination of President John F. Kennedy was released after a 10-month investigation, concluding that there was no conspiracy and that Lee Harvey Oswald, the accused assassin, acted alone.

In 1998, Gerhard Schroeder led Germany's Social Democratic Party to victory in parliamentary elections, bringing to an end 16 years of power by Chancellor Helmut Kohl and his Christian Democratic Party.

In 2003, U.S. President George W. Bush and Russian President Vladimir Putin, meeting at Camp David in Maryland, said they would join forces to oppose nuclear proliferation in Iran and North Korea.

In 2008, Zhai Zhigang left the Shenzhou VII spacecraft and became the first Chinese astronaut to take a space walk.

In 2009, German Chancellor Angela Merkel was assured of a second term when her party, the Christian Democrats, easily won the nation's parliamentary elections. Merkel began a third term in late 2013.

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File Photo by Ron Russek II/UPI

In 2010, Jimi Heselden, 62, manufacturer of the upright Segway scooter, was killed when he apparently lost control of one of the two-wheeled, self-balancing machines and ran over a cliff into a river.

In 2013, 60 people died in the collapse of a five-story building in Mumbai. Two other buildings fell in the city in the five previous months, killing a total of more than 80 people.

In 2014, Mount Ontake, Japan's second highest volcano, erupted in a cloud of ash, killing 63 people, many of them hikers.

File Photo by Alpsdake/Wikipedia

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