December 27

December 27 is the 361st day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. (362nd in a leap year). There are 4 days remaining.

Template:DecemberCalendar2009

Events

• 1703 – Portugal and England sign the Methuen Treaty which gives preference to Portuguese imported wines into England.
• 1831 – Charles Darwin embarks on his historic journey aboard the HMS Beagle.
• 1836 – The worst ever avalanche in England occurs at Lewes, Sussex, killing 8 people.
• 1845 – Ether anesthetic is used for childbirth for the first time (Dr. Crawford Williamson Long in Jefferson, Georgia).
• 1904 – James Barrie's play Peter Pan premieres in London.
• 1904  – The Abbey Theatre opens.
• 1918 – Beginning of Great Poland Uprising, the Poles in Greater Poland (or Grand Duchy of Poznań) rise against the Germans
• 1932 – Radio City Music Hall opens
• 1945 – The World Bank is created with the signing of an agreement by 28 nations.
• 1945  – Korea is divided
• 1947 – Howdy Doody, a children's television program, makes its debut (NBC).
• 1949 – Indonesian National Revolution: Queen Juliana of the Netherlands grants Indonesia sovereignty.
• 1968 – The long-running radio program The Breakfast Club signs off for the last time (ABC radio).
• 1978 – Spain becomes a democracy after 40 years of dictatorship.
• 1979 – The Soviet Union seizes control of Afghanistan and Babrak Karmal replaces overthrown and executed President Hafizullah Amin.
• 1985 – Palestinian guerrillas kill twenty people inside Rome and Vienna airports.
• 1985  – American naturalist Dian Fossey is found murdered in Rwanda.
• 1996 – Taliban forces retake the strategic Bagram air base which solidifies their buffer zone around Kabul.
• 1997 – Protestant paramilitary leader Billy Wright is assassinated in Northern Ireland.
• 2001 – The People's Republic of China is granted permanent normal trade relations with the United States.
• 2002 – Two truck bombs kill 72 and wound 200 at the pro-Moscow headquarters of the Chechen government in Grozny, Chechnya.

Births

• 1390 – Anne Mortimer
• 1571 – Johannes Kepler, German astronomer (d. 1630)
• 1654 – Jacob Bernoulli, Swiss mathematician (d. 1705)
• 1717 – Pope Pius VI (d. 1799)
• 1773 – George Cayley, naturalist, physical scientist, engineer, inventor, politician (d. 1857)
• 1822 – Louis Pasteur, French scientist d. 1895)
• 1823 – Sir Mackenzie Bowell, fifth Prime Minister of Canada (d. 1896)
• 1851 – Percy Gilchrist, metallurgist (d. 1935)
• 1860 – David Hendricks Bergey, bacteriologist (d. 1937)
• 1879 – Sydney Greenstreet, actor (d. 1954)
• 1888 – Thea von Harbou, author and actress (d. 1954)
• 1896 – Carl Zuckmayer, author and dramatist (d. 1977)
• 1896 – Louis Bromfield, writer (d. 1956)
• 1900 – Hans Stuck, automobile racer (d. 1978)
• 1901 – Marlene Dietrich, German actress and singer (d. 1992)
• 1906 – Oscar Levant, composer, actor (d. 1972)
• 1907 – Sebastian Haffner, publicist (d. 1999)
• 1915 – William Masters, sexologist (d. 2001)
• 1925 – Michel Piccoli, actor
• 1927 – Agnes Nixon, soap opera producer, director, writer
• 1934 – Larisa Latynina, Soviet gymnast
• 1939 – John Amos, actor
• 1943 – Cokie Roberts, journalist
• 1948 – Gérard Depardieu, French actor
• 1959 – Gerina Dunwich, occult author
• 1960 – Maryam d'Abo, actress
• 1965 – Salman Khan, actor, India
• 1966 – Bill Goldberg, professional wrestler, NFL player
• 1971 – Chyna, professional wrestler
• 1973 – Wilson Cruz, actor
• 1975 – Heather O'Rourke, child actress (Poltergeist) (d. 1988)
• 1979 – Carson Palmer, American football quarterback, Heisman Trophy winner
• 1981 – Emilie de Ravin, actress

Deaths

• 1782 – Henry Home, Lord Kames, Scottish advocate and philosopher (b. 1697)
• 1812 – Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liadi, founder of the Chabad Hasidic movement (b. 1745)
• 1836 – Stephen F. Austin, American pioneer (b. 1793)
• 1896 – John Brown, manufacturer
• 1900 – William George Armstrong, inventor, industrialist and engineer (b. 1810)
• 1914 – Charles Martin Hall, chemist, inventor
• 1938 – Calvin Bridges, geneticist (b. 1889)
• 1950 – Max Beckmann, painter (b. 1884)
• 1953 – Julian Tuwim, Polish poet (b. 1894)
• 1968 – Victor Ernest Shelford, zoologist
• 1972 – Lester B. Pearson, fourteenth Prime Minister of Canada (b. 1897)
• 1981 – Hoagy Carmichael, composer, singer (b. 1899)
• 1985 – Dian Fossey, American biologist (b. 1932)
• 1988 – Hal Ashby, film director (b. 1929)
• 1997 – Billy Wright, Protestant paramilitary leader (b. 1960)
• 1997 – Brendan Gill, columnist, humorist
• 2002 – George Roy Hill, film director (b. 1922)
• 2002 – Carla Henius, singer
• 2003 – Ivan Calderon, baseball player (b. 1962) (murdered)
• 2003  – Bob Monkhouse, English comedian and game show host

Holidays and Observances

• The second day of Christmas in Western Christianity.
• Feast of the Holy Innocents, Eastern Orthodox.

External links

• BBC: On This Day

December 26 – December 28 – November 27 – January 27 — listing of all days