August 27: Encyclopedia - August 27

August 27

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

August 27 - Events

• 479 BC - Greco-Persian Wars: Persian forces led by Mardonius are routed by Pausanias, the Spartan commander of the Greek army in the Battle of Plataea. Along the with the Greek victory on the same day in the Battle of Mycale, the Persian invasion of Greece ended.
• 55 BC - Julius Caesar lands in Britain for the first time.
• AD 410 - Visigoth sack of Rome ends after three days.
• 1232 - The Formulary of Adjudications is promulgated by Regent Hojo Yasutoki. (Traditional Japanese date: August 10, 1232)
• 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 - Petroleum discovered in Titusville, Pennsylvania. World's first successful oil well.
• 1861 - Union forces attack Cape Hatteras, North Carolina
• 1883 - Krakatoa, an Indonesian volcano, erupts. It is one of the most violent volcanic events in modern times.
• 1896 - Anglo-Zanzibar War: the shortest war in world history (9:02 to 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
• 1937 - The automobile division of Toyoda Automatic Loom Works is spun off into the Toyota Motor Corporation.
• 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
• 1969 - The first installment of the Otoko wa Tsurai yo (It's Tough Being a Man) movies is released in Japan. Director and screenplay writer Yoji Yamada went on to make 48 installments of the series, which is recognized in the Guinness Book of World Records as the longest running movie series.
• 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.
• 1985 - The Nigerian government is peacefully overthrown by Army Chief of Staff Maj. Gen. Ibrahim Babangida.
• 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.
• 1993 - The Rainbow Bridge, connecting Tokyo's Shibaura and the island of Odaiba, is completed.
• 2000 - Ostankino Tower in Moscow catches fire, three people are killed.
• 2003 - Mars makes closest approach to Earth in nearly 60,000 years, passing approximately 34,646,416 miles (55,758,006 kilometers) from Earth.

August 27 - Births

• 1407 - Ashikaga Yoshikazu, Japanese shogun (d. 1425)
• 1471 - George, Duke of Saxony (d. 1539)
• 1637 - Charles Calvert, 3rd Baron Baltimore, Governor of the Province of Maryland (d. 1715)
• 1665 - John Hervey, 1st Earl of Bristol, English politician (d. 1751)
• 1677 - Otto Ferdinand Graf von Abensperg und Traun, Austrian field marshal (d. 1748)
• 1724 - John Joachim Zubly, Swiss-born Continental Congressman (d. 1781)
• 1730 - Johann Georg Hamann, German philosopher (d. 1788)
• 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, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (d. 1951)
• 1870 - Amado Nervo, Mexican poet (d. 1919)
• 1871 - Theodore Dreiser, American author (d. 1945)
• 1874 - Carl Bosch, German chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1940)
• 1875 - Katharine McCormick, American women's rights activist (d. 1967)
• 1886 - Rebecca Clarke, English composer and violist (d. 1979)
• 1886 - Eric Coates, English composer (d. 1957)
• 1890 - Man Ray, photographer and artist (d. 1976)
• 1899 - C.S. Forester, British author (d. 1966)
• 1899 - Byron Foulger, American character actor (d. 1970)
• 1904 - Norah Lofts, British author (d. 1983)
• 1906 - Ed Gein, American serial killer (d. 1984)
• 1908 - Don Bradman, Australian cricketer (d. 2001)
• 1908 - Lyndon B. Johnson, 36th President of the United States (d. 1973)
• 1908 - Kurt Wegner, German artist
• 1909 - Lester Young, American musician (d. 1959)
• 1910 - Mother Teresa, Albanian missionary and humanitarian, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (d. 1997)
• 1911 - Kay Walsh, British actress (d. 2005)
• 1915 - Norman F. Ramsey, American physicist, Nobel Prize laureate
• 1916 - Martha Raye, American actress (d. 1994)
• 1921 - Leo Penn, American film director-actor (d. 1998)
• 1926 - Kristen Nygaard, Norwegian mathematician, computer scientist, and politician (d. 2002)
• 1928 - Mangosuthu Buthelezi, South African politician
• 1929 - Ira Levin, American author
• 1932 - Antonia Fraser, British author
• 1935 - Frank Yablans, American film producer
• 1937 - Tommy Sands, American actor and singer
• 1940 - Sonny Sharrock, American jazz guitarist (d. 1994)
• 1942 - B. J. Thomas, American singer
• 1943 - Tuesday Weld, American actress
• 1945 - G.W. Bailey, American actor
• 1947 - Barbara Bach, American actress
• 1947 - Harry Reems, American actor
• 1950 - Charles Fleischer, American actor
• 1951 - Buddy Bell, baseball player-manager
• 1952 - Paul "Pee-Wee Herman" Reubens, American actor
• 1953 - Peter Stormare, Swedish-born actor
• 1954 - Derek Warwick, British race car driver
• 1955 - Diana Scarwid, American actress
• 1957 - Bernhard Langer, German golfer
• 1959 - Gerhard Berger, Austrian race car driver
• 1963 - Downtown Julie Brown, Welsh television personality
• 1966 - Juhan Parts, Prime Minister of Estonia
• 1970 - Peter Ebdon, English snooker player
• 1970 - Tony Kanal, American-British musician (No Doubt)
• 1970 - Jim Thome, baseball player
• 1973 - Dietmar Hamann, German footballer
• 1974 - Jose Vidro, Puerto Rican Major League Baseball player
• 1975 - Jonny Moseley, American skier
• 1976 - Sarah Chalke, Canadian actress
• 1976 - Carlos Moya, Spanish tennis player
• 1976 - Mark Webber, Australian race car driver
• 1977 - Deco, Brazilian footballer
• 1979 - Tian Liang, Chinese diver
• 1988 - Alexa Vega, American actress

August 27 - Deaths

• 1312 - Arthur II, Duke of Brittany (b. 1262)
• 1394 - Chokei, Emperor of Japan (b. 1343)
• 1450 - Reginald West, 6th Baron De La Warr, English politician (b. 1395)
• 1521 - Josquin Des Prez, Flemish composer
• 1545 - Piotr Gamrat, Polish Catholic archbishop (b. 1487)
• 1572 - Claude Goudimel, French composer
• 1577 - Titian, Italian artist
• 1590 - Pope Sixtus V (b. 1521)
• 1635 - Félix Lope de Vega, Spanish poet and playwright (b. 1562)
• 1664 - Francisco Zurbarán, Spanish painter (b. 1598)
• 1748 - James Thomson, Scottish poet (b. 1700)
• 1773 - Friedrich Wilhelm von Seydlitz, Prussian general (b. 1721)
• 1875 - William Chapman Ralston, American banker (b. 1826)
• 1909 - Emil Christian Hansen, Danish fermentation physiologist (b. 1842)
• 1929 - Herman Potočnik Noordung, Slovenian rocket scientist (b. 1892)
• 1931 - Frank Harris, Irish author and editor (b. 1856)
• 1931 - Francis Marion Smith, American borax magnate (b. 1846)
• 1948 - Charles Evans Hughes, U.S. Supreme Court justice (b. 1862)
• 1958 - Ernest Lawrence, American physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1901)
• 1963 - Garrett Morgan, American inventor (b. 1877)
• 1963 - W.E.B. DuBois, American civil rights activist and scholar (b. 1868)
• 1964 - Gracie Allen, American actress and comedienne
• 1965 - Le Corbusier, Swiss architect (b. 1887)
• 1967 - Brian Epstein, English manager of The Beatles (b. 1934)
• 1968 - Princess Marina, Duchess of Kent (b. 1906)
• 1969 - Ivy Compton-Burnett, English novelist (b. 1884)
• 1969 - Erika Mann, German writer and daughter of Thomas Mann (b. 1905)
• 1971 - Bennett Cerf, American publisher and television personality (b. 1898)
• 1975 - Haile Selassie I, Emperor of Ethiopia (b. 1892)
• 1976 - Mukesh, Indian playback singer (b. 1923)
• 1979 - Earl Mountbatten, British admiral and statesman (assassinated) (b. 1900)
• 1980 - Douglas Kenney, American humorist (b. 1947)
• 1988 - William Sargant, British psychiatrist (b. 1907)
• 1990 - Stevie Ray Vaughan, American guitarist (b. 1954)
• 1997 - Brandon Tartikoff, American television producer (b. 1949)
• 2002 - Richard Ricci, American handyman wrongly suspected of being a kidnapper in the Elizabeth Smart case (b. 1953)
• 2003 - Pierre Poujade, French politician (b. 1920)
• 2004 - Willie Crawford, baseball player (b. 1946)

August 27 - Holidays and observances

• Roman festivals - Volturnalia held in honor of Volturnus
• RC Saints - Saint Monica of Hippo
• Moldova - Independence Day (from the USSR, 1991): the national holiday

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "August 27", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki