The way it was: Today in history - October 27

Throwback Thursday: A look back at events on October 27, including the Checkpoint Charlie standoff in Berlin and the first air-conditioned New York subway.

Nurses undergo field training at an American Army school in England cross a stream on ropes, on October 27, 1943. 

Radiated puffer fish - 1946

A.D. Welander, left, using rubber gloves, holds a puffer fish, Oct. 27, 1946, radiated from the atom bomb test at Bikini lagoon. With instructor Welander, is associate professor L.R. Donaldson, of the University of Washington Fisheries School. Donaldson was in charge of the radio biology division for the Bikini operations and brought back 5,000 specimens for study.

Bogart, Bacall, Kaye - 1947

A group of Hollywood stars pose against the Capitol dome as they arrive for a session of the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) in Washington, D.C., October 27, 1947. The stars represented a group called the Committee for the First Amendment (CFA), which protested the HUAC’s methods.

From left are Jules Buell, Marsha Hunt, David Hopkins, Richard Conte, Ralph Alswang, June Havoc, John Huston, Sterling Hayden, back, Humphrey Bogart, Paul Henreid, Lauren Bacall, Joseph Sistrom, Evelyn Keyes, Danny Kaye, Sheppard Strudwick, Jane Wyatt, Geraldine Brooks, Ira Gershwin and Larry Adler. 

Marilyn Monroe divorces - 1954

Actress Marilyn Monroe waits in the courtroom of the Superior Court building in Santa Monica, Calif. on October 27, 1954. Monroe prepared to take the stand and testify in her divorce action against her husband, Joe DiMaggio. 

1st air-conditioned NY subway - 1956

While other subway passengers perspire in the warm and humid underground station, Paul Forman appears cool and comfortable in the experimental air conditioned train which made its first run in New York City, July 9, 1956. 

The test run, which included six air conditioned cars and two old cars, was made on the East Side IRT line. The new cars provide soft music, modern design, air cooling units, deodorizers and filters to reduce germs. When the train left Grand Central Station the temperature was 89-degrees in the old cars while the new cars registered 76.5 degrees. 

The very first NYC underground subway line opened on this date in 1904. 

Checkpoint Charlie - 1961

U.S. Army tanks (foreground) faced Soviet tanks at the Berlin wall, Friedrichstreet, “Checkpoint Charlie,” on October 27/28th, 1961 for 16 perilous hours in a dispute over unrestricted American access to the communist-ruled sector of the city. 

The world watched the military confrontation with bated breath until tanks on both sides pulled back.

Gateway Arch - 1965

The 630-foot tall Gateway Arch, symbol of the gateway to the West, stands ready for insertion of the eight-foot wide keystone section along the Mississippi River in St. Louis, October 27, 1965. It is the world’s tallest arch and man-made monument in the western hemisphere. 

Robot - 1977

Three-year-old Nikki Riehle holds her hands over her ears as she keeps a wary eye on Sam Struggle Gear during a visit to a Cincinnati store, October 27, 1977. 

The robot, which plays loud recordings from Star Wars, talks, blows a siren and sounds a horn, is the basic model of a highly technical device that has several applications. 

James Earl Ray - 1977

James Earl Ray, who is serving a 99 year sentence for the death of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., walks from the courtroom at Wartburg, Tennessee on October 27, 1977, where he was being tried for and attempted escape. Ray was found guilty and given a sentence of one to two years.

Beverly Sill retires - 1980

Soprano Beverly Sills, holding a bouquet of roses presented by the orchestra, takes her final bows as balloons and confetti fall on the stage at the New York City Opera in New York City, October 27, 1980. 

Sills performed in the role of Rosalind in “Die Fledermaus,” the role in which she made her debut 25 years before. 

Grenada invasion - 1983

Demonstrators protesting the U.S. invasion of Grenada gather outside Philadelphia’s City Hall on October 27, 1983. Some 350 demonstrators gathered to hear 20 speakers condemn U.S. invasion.

Tylenol defendent - 1983

James W. Lewis, who is on trial in Chicago for attempted extortion in the 1982 Tylenol poisonings, was described by the government in closing arguments October 27, 1983 as a “scheming diabolical” man. Lewis is shown in January when he arrived in federal court in Kansas City for a hearing on unrelated charges.

Marine barracks attack - 1983

U.S. Marines, aided by Lebanese rescue workers and Italian troops of the multinational peace keeping force, continued to lift slabs of concrete in search of American peacekeepers still buried under the debris of their command post, demolished by a suicidal terrorist bomb, October 27, 1983. 

On Oct. 23 two truck bombs struck the buildings killing 241 Marines, 58 French peacekeepers and six civilians.