August 27

August 27 is the 239th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (240th in leap years), with 126 days remaining.

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Events

• 479 BC – Battle of Plataea ends the Persian invasion of Greece, Mardonius routed by Pausanias, the Spartan commander of the Greek army.
• 55 BC – Julius Caesar Lands in Britain for the first time.
• AD 1776 – Battle of Long Island, in present day Brooklyn, New York British forces under General William Howe defeat Americans under General George Washington
• 1813 – Napoleon defeats the Austrians, Russians and Prussians at the Battle of Dresden
• 1828 – The Russians defeat the Turks at Akhaltzikke.
• 1859 – Oil discovered in Titusville, Pennsylvania. World's first successful oil well.
• 1861 – Union forces attack Cape Hatteras, North Carolina
• 1883 – The after effects caused by the Krakatau explosion in Indonesia kills 36,000 people.
• 1896 – The shortest war in the world – 9:02 – 9:40 between the United Kingdom and Zanzibar
• 1900 – British defeat Boer commandos at Bergendal
• 1928 – Kellogg-Briand Pact, outlawing war, signed by sixty nations
• 1939 – First jet aircraft flight
• 1952 – Reparation negotiations between West Germany and Israel end in Luxembourg; West Germany to pay 3 billion Deutschmarks.
• 1962 – Mariner 2 launched
• 1979 – An IRA bomb kills Lord Mountbatten and 3 others on holiday in Sligo, Republic of Ireland. Another near Warrenpoint, Northern Ireland kills 18 British soldiers.
• 1990 – The British Broadcasting Corporation launches BBC Radio Five Live at 9am GMT with a mixture of sports, news, and children's programming. The station broadcasts for eighteen hours per day.
• 1991 – The European Community recognizes the independence of the Baltic states: Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.
• 1991 – Moldova declares independence from the USSR.
• 1993 – The Florida DOT decides to cease producing its distinctive colored U.S. Highway shields so that it can make use of Federal funds for those signs.
• 2003 – Mars makes closest approach to Earth in nearly 60,000 years, passing approximately 34,646,416 miles (55,758,006 kilometers) from Earth.

Births

• 551 BC – Confucius, Chinese philosopher (d. 479 BC)
• AD 1407 – Ashikaga Yoshikazu, Ashikaga shogun (d. 1425)
• 1770 – Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, German philosopher (d. 1831)
• 1809 – Hannibal Hamlin, Vice President of the United States of America. (d. 1891)
• 1858 – Giuseppe Peano, Italian mathematician (d. 1932)
• 1865 – James Henry Breasted, American Egyptologist (d. 1935)
• 1865 – Charles G. Dawes, 30th Vice President of the United States (d. 1951)
• 1871 – Theodore Dreiser, American author (d. 1945)
• 1875 – Katharine McCormick, American women's rights activist (d. 1967)
• 1886 – Eric Coates, English composer
• 1890 – Man Ray, photographer and artist (d. 1976)
• 1899 – C.S. Forester, author (d. 1966)
• 1904 – Norah Lofts, author
• 1906 – Ed Gein, serial killer (d. 1984)
• 1908 – Don Bradman, cricketer (d. 2001)
• 1908 – Lyndon B. Johnson, 36th President of the United States (d. 1973)
• 1909 – Lester Young, jazz musician (d. 1959)
• 1910 – Mother Teresa, missionary, humanitarian (d. 1997)
• 1911 – Kay Walsh, British actress (d. 2005)
• 1916 – Martha Raye, actress (d. 1994)
• 1926 – Kristen Nygaard (d. 2002)
• 1928 – Mangosuthu Buthelezi, Chief Minister of KwaZulu and South African Minister of Home Affairs.
• 1929 – Ira Levin, author
• 1932 – Antonia Fraser, author
• 1935 – Frank Yablans, film producer
• 1952 – Paul Reubens (Pee-Wee Herman), actor
• 1957 – Bernhard Langer, German golfer
• 1970 – Peter Ebdon, English snooker player
• 1970 – Jim Thome, baseball player
• 1974 – Jose Vidro, Major League Baseball player
• 1975 – Jonny Moseley, American skier
• 1976 – Carlos Moya, Spanish tennis player
• 1976 – Mark Webber, Australian race car driver
• 1977 – Deco, footballer
• 1978 – Ma$e, rapper

Deaths

• 479 BC – Confucius, ethicist
• 1521 – Josquin Des Prez, Flemish composer
• 1572 – Claude Goudimel, French composer
• 1577 – Titian, artist
• 1590 – Pope Sixtus V
• 1635 – Félix Lope de Vega, Spanish poet and playwright (b. 1562)
• 1875 – William Ralston, American entrepreneur
• 1909 – Emil Christian Hansen, fermentation physiologist
• 1929 – Herman Potočnik Noordung, Slovene pioneer of astronautics and cosmonautics, and rocket engineer
• 1931 – Frank Harris, author and editor
• 1948 – Charles Evans Hughes, United States Supreme Court justice.
• 1963 – Garrett Morgan, inventor
• 1963 – W.E.B. DuBois, civil rights activist and scholar
• 1964 – Gracie Allen, actress, comedienne.
• 1965 – Le Corbusier, Swiss architect (b. 1887)
• 1967 – Brian Epstein, manager of The Beatles
• 1968  – Her Royal Highness Princess Marina, Duchess of Kent (b. 1906)
• 1969 – Ivy Compton-Burnett, English novelist
• 1969 – Erika Mann, oldest daughter of Thomas Mann (b. 1905)
• 1971 – Bennett Cerf, publisher, television personality
• 1975 – Haile Selassie I (Ras Tafari Makonnen), Emperor of Ethiopia (b. 1892)
• 1976 – Mukesh, singer
• 1979 – Earl Mountbatten killed by an IRA bomb
• 1980 – Douglas Kenney, humorist
• 1988 – William Sargant, British psychiatrist (b. 1907)
• 1990 – Stevie Ray Vaughan, guitarist
• 1997 – Brandon Tartikoff, television producer
• 2002 – Richard Ricci, Utah handyman and religious fanatic suspected of kidnapping 14-year-old Elizabeth Smart
• 2003 – Pierre Poujade, French politician

Holidays and observances

• Roman Empire – Volturnalia held in honor of Volturnus
• Moldova – Independence Day (the national holiday)

External links

• BBC: On This Day

August 26 – August 28 – July 27 – September 27 — listing of all days