February 27

February 27 is the 58th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. There are 307 days remaining until the end of the year (308 in leap years).

Events

Up to 1900

425 – The University of Constantinople is founded.
907 – Abaoji, a Khitan chieftain, is enthroned as Emperor Taizu, creating the Liao Dynasty in Northern China.
1560 – The Treaty of Berwick, expelling the French from Scotland, is signed by England and the Congregation of Scotland.
1594 – Henry IV of France is crowned king.
1617 – Sweden and Russia sign the Treaty of Stolbovo.
1626 – Yuan Chonghuan is appointed Governor of Liaodong, after he led the Chinese to a great victory over the Manchurians under Nurhaci.
1655 – The lighthouse at Lindesnes, the southernmost tip of Norway, is first lit, with 13 candles.
1700 – The island of New Britain is first reached by a European, on an expedition led by William Dampier.
1776 – American Revolutionary War: The Battle of Moore's Creek Bridge in North Carolina breaks up a Loyalist militia.
1782 – American Revolutionary War: The British House of Commons votes against further war in America.
1812 – Near the city of Rosario, Manuel Belgrano raises what later develops into the Flag of Argentina.
1844 – The Dominican Republic gains independence from Haiti.
1860 – Abraham Lincoln makes a speech at Cooper Union in New York City that contributes to him being elected US president.
1861 – Russian troops kill 5 protesters in Warsaw.
1864 – American Civil War: The first northern prisoners arrive the Confederate prison at Andersonville, Georgia.
1870 – The Flag of Japan is adopted as the national flag on merchant ships.
1881 – First Boer War: The Battle of Majuba Hill takes place.
1898 – George I of Greece survives an assassination attempt.
1900 – The UK Labour Party is founded.
1900 – Second Boer War: In South Africa, British officers receive an unconditional notice of surrender from Boer General Piet Cronje at the Battle of Paardeberg.

1901 – 2000

1912 – In Sudan, the first rail track from Khartoum to El Obeid opened.
1916 – British passenger steamer Maloja is sunk by a German U–boat two miles from Dover, killing 155 people.
1921 – The International Union of Socialist Parties is founded in Vienna.
1925 – Adolf Hitler re–founds the Nazi Party in Munich, ordering it to be built up on a national level.
1930 – Bouvet Island becomes a dependent territory of Norway.
1932 – Nature magazine releases an article by James Chadwick, describing the existence of the neutron.
1933 – The Reichstag building in Berlin is set on fire.
1939 – The United States Supreme Court rules sit–in protests as illegal.
1940 – Martin Kamen and Sam Ruben discover Carbon–14.
1942 – World War II: The Battle of the Java Sea begins.
1943 – The Smith Mine #3 in Bearcreek, Montana, explodes, killing 74 men.
1943 – The Rosenstrasse protest begins in Berlin.
1948 – President of Finland Juho Kusti Paasikivi signs a defence treaty with Joseph Stalin.
1951 – The 22nd Amendment to the United States Constitution is ratified, limiting the US president to two terms in office.
1961 – The first Congress of the Spanish Trade Union Organisation is inaugurated.
1962 – Two dissident Vietnam Air Force pilots bomb the Independence Palace in Saigon in a failed attempt to kill South Vietnamese leader Ngo Dinh Diem.
1963 – Juan Bosch is elected President of the Dominican Republic.
1964 – The Italian Government asks for help to keep the Leaning Tower of Pisa from toppling over.
1973 – Wounded Knee Incident standoff at the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota begins.
1976 – The former Spanish territory of Western Sahara declares its independence.
1986 – The United States Senate allows its debates to be televised on a trial basis.
1988 – A violent pogrom takes place against the Armenian Community in Sumgait, Azerbaijan.
1989 – Venezuela is rocked by the Caracazo riots.
1991 – US President George H. W. Bush declares that "Kuwait is liberated".
1992 – Jack Unterweger is arrested by FBI agents in Miami, Florida on suspicion of several murders.
1993 – Niger holds its first Presidential Election.
1994 – The 1994 Winter Olympics in Lillehammer, Norway, come to an end.
1995 – A terrorist explosion in a market in the city of Zakho in Iraqi Kurdistan kills around 100 people and injures over 150.

From 2001

2002 – Godhra train bombing: A Muslim mob kills 59 Hindu pilgrims returning from Ayodhya.
2002 – Ryanair Flight 296 catches fire at Stansted Airport. The evacuation procedures later come in for criticism.
2004 – The bombing of Superferry 14 by Abu Sayyaf in the Philippines kills 116 people.
2004 – The initial version of the John Jay Report is released into the Catholic sex abuse scandal in the United States.
2005 – Million Dollar Baby is the most successful movie at the 77th Academy Awards ceremony.
2007 – The Shanghai Stock Exchange falls by 9%, its largest drop in 10 years.
2010 – 2010 Cauquenes earthquake: A major magnitude 8.8 earthquake hits Chile, killing around 500 people.
2015 – Russian opposition politician Boris Nemtsov is shot dead by an unknown assailant shortly before midnight.

Births

Up to 1900

272 – Constantine, Roman Emperor (d. 337)
1572 – Francis II, Duke of Lorraine (d. 1632)
1689 – Pietro Gnocchi, Italian composer, choir director, historian and geographer (d. 1775)
1711 – Constantine Mavrocordates, Prince of Wallachia and Moldavia (d. 1769)
1767 – Jacques-Charles Dupont de l'Eure, French politician (d. 1855)
1789 – Manuel Rodriguez, Chilean lawyer and guerrilla (d. 1818)
1795 – José Antonio Navarro, American statesman, revolutionary and politician from Texas (d. 1871)
1799 – Edward Belcher, British polar explorer (d. 1877)
1807 – Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, American poet (d. 1882)
1809 – Jean-Charles Cornay, French missionary and saint (d. 1837)
1814 – Samuel Kleinschmidt, German–Greenlandic linguist (d. 1886)
1831 – Nikolai Ge, Russian painter (d. 1894)
1836 – Russell A. Alger, Governor of Michigan (d. 1907)
1846 – Simon Bamberger, Governor of Utah (d. 1926)
1856 – Mattia Battistini, Italian baritone (d. 1928)
1859 – Bertha Pappenheim, German activist and writer (d. 1936)
1861 – Rudolf Steiner, Austrian philosopher (d. 1925)
1862 – Anastasios Metaxas, Greek architect and shooter (d. 1937)
1863 – Joaquin Sorolla, Spanish painter (d. 1923)
1863 – George Herbert Mead, American philosopher and psychologist (d. 1931)
1867 – Irving Fisher, American economist (d. 1947)
1870 – Louis Coerne, American composer and music educator (d. 1922)
1872 – Alexandru Vaida-Voevod, Prime Minister of Romania (d. 1950)
1874 – F. M. Cornford, English classical scholar and translator (d. 1943)
1875 – Manuel Ugarte, Argentine politician (d. 1951)
1877 – Adela Verne, English pianist (d. 1952)
1878 – Alvan T. Fuller, 50th Governor of Massachusetts (d. 1958)
1879 – Rene Lefebvre, martyr of the French Resistance (d. 1944)
1881 – Sveinn Björnsson, 1st President of Iceland (d. 1952)
1882 – Burton K. Wheeler, American politician (d. 1975)
1886 – Hugo Black, United States Supreme Court Justice (d. 1971)
1887 – Pyotr Nesterov, Russian pilot and aircraft designer (d. 1914)
1888 – Arthur M. Schlesinger, Sr., American historian (d. 1965)
1888 – Lotte Lehmann, German singer (d. 1976)
1891 – Anne Samson, Canadian nun and supercentenarian (d. 2004)
1891 – David Sarnoff, Russian–born broadcast pioneer (d. 1971)
1892 – William Demarest, American actor (d. 1983)
1895 – Miyagiyama Fukumatsu, Japanese sumo wrestler (d. 1943)
1897 – Marian Anderson, American contralto (d. 1993)
1897 – Bernard Lyot, French astronomer (d. 1952)
1899 – Charles Best, Canadian scientist (d. 1978)

1901 – 1950

1901 – Marino Marini, Italian artist and sculptor (d. 1980)
1902 – John Steinbeck, American writer, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1968)
1903 – Ion Irimescu, Romanian sculptor and sketcher (d. 2005)
1903 – Grethe Weiser, German actress (d. 1970)
1904 – Yulii Borisovich Khariton, Russian physicist (d. 1996)
1904 – Chick Fullis, American baseball player (d. 1946)
1905 – Franchot Tone, American actor (d. 1968)
1907 – Mildred Bailey, American singer (d. 1951)
1910 – Genrikh Gasparyan, Armenian chess player and composer (d. 1995)
1910 – Joan Bennett, American actress (d. 1990)
1912 – Lawrence Durrell, English writer (d. 1990)
1913 – Paul Ricoeur, French philosopher (d. 2005)
1913 – Kazimierz Sabbat, Polish politician (d. 1989)
1917 – John Connally, 39th Governor of Texas and 61st United States Secretary of the Treasury (d. 1993)
1921 – Theodore Van Kirk, American soldier, pilot and navigator (d. 2014)
1923 – Alejandro Zaffaroni, Uruguayan–American chemist and entrepreneur (d. 2014)
1923 – Dexter Gordon, American jazz saxophonist (d. 1990)
1926 – David H. Hubel, Canadian neuroscientist (d. 2013)
1927 – Lynn Cartwright, American actress (d. 2004)
1927 – Guy Mitchell, American singer (d. 1999)
1928 – Alfred Hrdlicka, Austrian artist, sculptor and writer (d. 2009)
1928 – Jean Joubert, French novelist, short story writer and poet (d. 2015)
1928 – Ariel Sharon, former Prime Minister of Israel (d. 2014)
1929 – Djalma Santos, Brazilian footballer (d. 2013)
1930 – Joanne Woodward, American actress
1932 – Elizabeth Taylor, British–American actress (d. 2011)
1932 – Ernst Hinterseer, Austrian skier
1934 – Ralph Nader, American consumer activist
1934 – Michiko Maeda, Japanese actress
1935 – Alberto Remedios, operatic tenor
1935 – Mirella Freni, Italian soprano
1935 – Brian Heap, English biologist and academic
1936 – Roger Mahony, American cardinal
1936 – Ron Barassi, Australian footballer and coach
1939 – Kenzo Takada, Japanese fashion designer
1939 – Don McKinnon, New Zealand politician
1939 – Antoinette Sibley, English ballerina
1940 – Loren Pankratz, American psychologist
1940 – Bill Hunter, Australian actor (d. 2011)
1941 – Paddy Ashdown, British politician
1942 – Robert H. Grubbs, American chemist
1942 – Klaus-Dieter Sieloff, German footballer (d. 2011)
1943 – Carlos Alberto Parreira, Brazilian football manager
1945 – Carl Anderson, American actor and singer (d. 2004)
1947 – Gidon Kremer, Latvian violinist and conductor
1948 – John Chittick, American health activist (d. 2017)
1950 – Julia Neuberger, English rabbi and politician
1950 – Annabel Goldie, Scottish politician

1951 – 1975

1951 – Lee Atwater, American political figure (d. 1991)
1953 – Ian Khama, President of Botswana
1953 – Gabriela Svobodova, Czech cross–country skier
1953 – Gavin Esler, British broadcaster
1953 – Yolande Moreau, Belgian comedian, actress, movie director and screenwriter
1957 – Viktor Markin, Soviet–Russian sprinter
1957 – Adrian Smith, English musician (Iron Maiden)
1957 – Timothy Spall, English actor
1958 – Maggie Hassan, Governor of New Hampshire
1959 – Johnny Van Zant, American singer (Lynyrd Skynyrd)
1960 – Carson Yeung, Hong Kong businessman
1962 – Adam Baldwin, American actor
1964 – Thomas Lange, German rower
1965 – Noah Emmerich, American actor
1966 – Baltasar Kormakur, Icelandic actor, director and producer
1969 – Gareth Llewellyn, Welsh rugby player
1969 – Stuart MacBride, Scottish writer
1970 – Goran Markov, Macedonian footballer
1970 – Patricia Petibon, French soprano
1971 – Roman Giertych, Polish Minister of Education
1971 – Derren Brown, British illusionist
1973 – Peter Andre, British–Australian singer–songwriter, businessman and television personality
1974 – Colin Edwards, American motorcycle racer
1974 – Carte Goodwin, former United States Senator for West Virginia
1975 – Prodromos Korkizoglou, Greek decathlete

From 1976

1976 – Sergei Semak, Russian footballer
1978 – James Beattie, English footballer
1978 – Kakha Kaladze, Georgian footballer
1979 – Adriana Campos, Colombian actress (d. 2015)
1980 – Debbie Flood, British rower
1980 – Chelsea Clinton, daughter of Hillary Clinton and Bill Clinton
1980 – Bobby Valentino, American singer
1981 – Evi Goffin, Belgian singer-songwriter
1981 – Josh Groban, American singer
1982 – Bruno Soares, Brazilian tennis player
1982 – Amedy Coulibaly, French Islamic Jihadist (d. 2015)
1983 – Kate Mara, American actress
1984 – Lotta Schelin, Swedish footballer
1985 – Diniyar Bilyaletdinov, Russian footballer
1985 – Brandon Coburn, Canadian ice hockey player
1988 – Dustin Jeffrey, Canadian ice hockey player
1989 – Shota Shimizu, Japanese musician
1989 – Stephen Kiprotich, Ugandan long–distance runner
1989 – Brittany Ashton Holmes, American actress
1992 – Jonjo Shelvey, English footballer
1992 – Callum Wilson, English footballer
1992 – Meyers Leonard, American basketball player
1994 – Hou Yifan, Chinese chess player
1996 – Marta Bassino, Italian skier

Deaths

Up to 1900

640 – Pepin the Elder, Frankish Mayor of the Palace (b. 580)
956 – Patriarch Theophylact of Constantinople (b. 917)
1659 – Henry Dunster, first President of Harvard College (b. 1609)
1706 – John Evelyn, English diarist (b. 1620)
1735 – John Arbuthnot, English physician and writer (b. 1667)
1795 – Tanikaze Kajinosuke, Japanese sumo wrestler (b. 1750)
1844 – Nicholas Biddle, American banker (b. 1786)
1850 – Samuel Adams, Governor of Arkansas (b. 1805)
1874 – Carlos Manuel de Céspedes, Cuban revolutionary (b. 1819)
1887 – Alexander Borodin, Russian composer (b. 1833)
1892 – Louis Vuitton, French designer (b. 1821)

1901 – 2000

1905 – George S. Boutwell, Governor of Massachusetts (b. 1818)
1906 – Samuel Pierpoint Langley, American astrophysicist (b. 1834)
1931 – Chandrasekhar Azad, Indian revolutionary (b. 1906)
1936 – Ivan Pavlov, Russian physiologist (b. 1849)
1936 – Joshua W. Alexander, United States Secretary of Commerce (b. 1852)
1937 – Emily Malbone Morgan, American saint (b. 1862)
1939 – Nadezhda Krupskaya, Russian revolutionary (b. 1869)
1941 – William D. Byron, American politician (b. 1895)
1943 – Kostis Palamas, Greek poet (b. 1859)
1956 – Ganesh Vasudev Mavalankar, Indian politician (b. 1888)
1970 – Marie Dionne, one of the Dionne quintuplets (b. 1934)
1972 – Pat Brady, American actor and singer (b. 1914)
1973 – Bill Everett, American comic book artist (b. 1917)
1985 – Henry Cabot Lodge, American politician (b. 1902)
1986 – Jacques Plante, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1929)
1987 – Joan Greenwood, English actress and director (b. 1921)
1989 – Konrad Lorenz, Austrian zoologist (b. 1903)
1993 – Lillian Gish, American actress (b. 1893)
1998 – George H. Hitchings, American scientist (b. 1905)
1999 – Christine Glanville, British puppeteer (b. 1924)

From 2001

2002 – Spike Milligan, Irish–born comedian (b. 1918)
2003 – Fred Rogers, American children's television actor (b. 1928)
2003 – John Lanchbery, English–Australian composer and conductor (b. 1923)
2006 – Linda Smith, British comedienne (b. 1958)
2007 – Bobby Rosengarden, American jazz drummer (b. 1924)
2008 – Ivan Rebroff, German singer (b. 1931)
2008 – William F. Buckley, Jr., American writer and commentator (b. 1925)
2009 – Manea Manescu, Romanian Prime Minister (b. 1916)
2010 – Wendy Toye, British actress (b. 1917)
2011 – Necmettin Erbakan, Turkish Prime Minister (b. 1926)
2011 – Frank Buckles, American World War I veteran and supercentenarian (b. 1901)
2013 – Van Cliburn, American pianist (b. 1934)
2013 – Ramon Dekkers, Dutch kickboxer (b. 1969)
2013 – Dale Robertson, American actor (b. 1923)
2014 – Jan Hoet, Belgian art historian (b. 1936)
2014 – Huber Matos, Cuban dissident, activist and writer (b. 1918)
2014 – Aaron Allston, American game designer and science fiction writer (b. 1960)
2015 – Bohdan Tomaszewski, Polish sports commentator (b. 1921)
2015 – Richard Bakalyan, American actor (b. 1931)
2015 – Bob Benmosche, American executive (b. 1944)
2015 – Mykhailo Chechetov, Ukrainian politician (b. 1953)
2015 – Leonard Nimoy, American actor (b. 1931)
2015 – Boris Nemtsov, Russian politician (b. 1959)
2016 – Rajesh Pillai, Indian film director (b. 1974)
2017 – John Harlan, American radio and television announcer (b. 1925)
2017 – Carlos Humberto Romero, President of El Salvador (b. 1924)
2018 – Quini, Spanish footballer (b. 1949)
2018 – William H. T. Bush, American businessman (b. 1938)

Observances

National Day of the Dominican Republic