27 August

Events

Pre-1600

* 410 – The sacking of Rome by the Visigoths ends after three days.
* 1172 – Henry the Young King and Margaret of France are crowned junior king and queen of England.
*1232 – Shikken Hojo Yasutoki of the Kamakura shogunate promulgates the Goseibai Shikimoku, the first Japanese legal code governing the ''samurai'' class.
* 1353 – War of the Straits and Sardinian–Aragonese war: The Battle of Alghero results in a crushing victory of the allied Aragonese and Venetian fleet over the Genoese fleet, most of which is captured.
*1557 – The Battle of St. Quentin results in Emmanuel Philibert becoming Duke of Savoy.
* 1593 – Pierre Barrière failed an attempt to assassinate Henry IV of France.
*1597 – Jeongyu War: Battle of Chilcheollyang: A Japanese fleet of 500 ships destroys Joseon commander Wŏn Kyun's fleet of 200 ships at Chilcheollyang.
*1600 – Ishida Mitsunari's Western Army commences the Siege of Fushimi Castle, which is lightly defended by a much smaller Tokugawa garrison led by Torii Mototada.

1601–1900

*1689 – The Treaty of Nerchinsk is signed by Russia and the Qing Empire (Julian calendar).
*1776 – American Revolutionary War: Members of the 1st Maryland Regiment repeatedly charged a numerically superior British force during the Battle of Long Island, allowing General Washington and the rest of the American troops to escape.
*1791 – French Revolution: Frederick William II of Prussia and Leopold II, Holy Roman Emperor, issue the Declaration of Pillnitz, declaring the joint support of the Holy Roman Empire and Prussia for the French monarchy, agitating the French revolutionaries and contributing to the outbreak of the War of the First Coalition.
*1793 – French Revolutionary Wars: The city of Toulon revolts against the French Republic and admits the British and Spanish fleets to seize its port, leading to the Siege of Toulon by French Revolutionary forces.
*1798 – Wolfe Tone's United Irish and French forces clash with the British Army in the Battle of Castlebar, part of the Irish Rebellion of 1798, resulting in the creation of the French puppet Republic of Connacht.
*1810 – Napoleonic Wars: The French Navy defeats the British Royal Navy, preventing them from taking the harbour of Grand Port on Île de France.
*1813 – French Emperor Napoleon I defeats a larger force of Austrians, Russians, and Prussians at the Battle of Dresden.
*1828 – Brazil and Argentina recognize the sovereignty of Uruguay in the Treaty of Montevideo.
*1832 – Black Hawk, leader of the Sauk tribe of Native Americans, surrenders to U.S. authorities, ending the Black Hawk War.
*1859 – Petroleum is discovered in Titusville, Pennsylvania, leading to the world's first commercially successful oil well.
*1881 – The Georgia hurricane makes landfall near Savannah, Georgia, resulting in an estimated 700 deaths.
*1883 – Eruption of Krakatoa: Four enormous explosions almost completely destroy the island of Krakatoa and cause years of climate change.
* 1893 – The Sea Islands hurricane strikes the United States near Savannah, Georgia, killing between 1,000 and 2,000 people.
*1895 – Japanese invasion of Taiwan: Battle of Baguashan: The Empire of Japan decisively defeats a smaller Formosan army at Changhua, crippling the short-lived Republic of Formosa and leading to its surrender two months later.
*1896 – Anglo-Zanzibar War: The shortest war in world history (09:02 to 09:40), between the United Kingdom and Zanzibar.

1901–present

*1908 – The Qing dynasty promulgates the Qinding Xianfa Dagang, the first constitutional document in the history of China, transforming the Qing empire into a constitutional monarchy.
*1914 – World War I: Battle of Étreux: A British rearguard action by the Royal Munster Fusiliers during the Great Retreat.
* 1914 – World War I: Siege of Tsingtao: A Japanese fleet commanded by Vice Admiral Sadakichi Kato imposes a blockade along the whole coastline of German Tsingtao, initiating the Siege of Tsingtao.
*1915 – Attempted assassination of Bishop Patrick Heffron, bishop of the Diocese of Winona, by Rev. Louis M. Lesches.
*1916 – World War I: The Kingdom of Romania declares war on Austria-Hungary, entering the war as one of the Allied nations.
*1918 – Mexican Revolution: Battle of Ambos Nogales: U.S. Army forces skirmish against Mexican Carrancistas in the only battle of World War I fought on American soil.
*1922 – Greco-Turkish War: The Turkish army takes the Aegean city of Afyonkarahisar from the Kingdom of Greece.
*1927 – Five Canadian women file a petition to the Supreme Court of Canada, asking: "Does the word 'Persons' in Section 24 of the British North America Act, 1867, include female persons?"
*1928 – The Kellogg–Briand Pact outlawing war is signed by fifteen nations. Ultimately sixty-one nations will sign it.
*1933 – The first Afrikaans Bible is introduced during a Bible Festival in Bloemfontein.
*1939 – First flight of the turbojet-powered Heinkel He 178, the world's first jet aircraft.
*1942 – First day of the Sarny Massacre, perpetrated by Germans and Ukrainians.
*1943 – World War II: Japanese forces evacuate New Georgia Island in the Pacific Theater of Operations during World War II.
* 1943 – World War II: Aerial bombardment by the Luftwaffe razes to the ground the village of Vorizia in Crete.
*1955 – The first edition of the ''Guinness Book of Records'' is published in Great Britain.
*1956 – The nuclear power station at Calder Hall in the United Kingdom was connected to the national power grid becoming the world's first commercial nuclear power station to generate electricity on an industrial scale.
*1962 – The Mariner 2 unmanned space mission is launched to Venus by NASA.
*1963 – An explosion at the Cane Creek potash mine near Moab, Utah kills 18 miners.
*1964 – South Vietnamese junta leader Nguyễn Khánh enters into a triumvirate power-sharing arrangement with rival generals Trần Thiện Khiêm and Dương Văn Minh, who had both been involved in plots to unseat Khánh.
*1971 – An attempted coup d'état fails in the African nation of Chad. The Government of Chad accuses Egypt of playing a role in the attempt and breaks off diplomatic relations.
*1975 – The Governor of Portuguese Timor abandons its capital, Dili, and flees to Atauro Island, leaving control to a rebel group.
*1979 – The Troubles: Eighteen British soldiers are killed in an ambush by the Provisional Irish Republican Army near Warrenpoint, Northern Ireland, in the deadliest attack on British forces during Operation Banner. An IRA bomb also kills British royal family member Lord Mountbatten and three others on his boat at Mullaghmore, Republic of Ireland.
*1980 – South Korean presidential election: After successfully staging the Coup d'état of May Seventeenth, General Chun Doo-hwan, running unopposed, has the National Conference for Unification elect him President of the Fourth Republic of Korea.
*1982 – Turkish military diplomat Colonel Atilla Altıkat is shot and killed in Ottawa. Justice Commandos of the Armenian Genocide claim to be avenging the massacre of million Armenians in the 1915 Armenian genocide.
*1985 – Major General Muhammadu Buhari, Chairman of the Supreme Military Council of Nigeria, is ousted from power in a coup d'état led by Major General Ibrahim Babangida.
*1985 – Space Shuttle ''Discovery'' is launched on STS-51-I to deploy three communication satellites and repair a fourth malfunctioning one.
*1991 – The European Community recognizes the independence of the Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.
* 1991 – Moldova declares independence from the USSR.
* 1992 – Aeroflot Flight 2808 crashes on approach to Ivanovo Yuzhny Airport, killing all 84 aboard.
*2003 – Mars makes its closest approach to Earth in nearly 60,000 years, passing distant.
* 2003 – The first six-party talks, involving South and North Korea, the United States, China, Japan and Russia, convene to find a peaceful resolution to the security concerns of the North Korean nuclear weapons program.
*2006 – Comair Flight 5191 crashes on takeoff from Blue Grass Airport in Lexington, Kentucky, bound for Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport in Atlanta. Of the passengers and crew, 49 of 50 are confirmed dead in the hours following the crash.
*2009 – Internal conflict in Myanmar: The Burmese military junta and ethnic armies begin three days of violent clashes in the Kokang Special Region.
*2011 – Hurricane Irene strikes the United States east coast, killing 47 and causing an estimated $15.6 billion in damage.

Births

Pre-1600

* 865 – Rhazes, Persian polymath (died 925)
*1407 – Ashikaga Yoshikazu, Japanese shōgun (died 1425)
*1471 – George, Duke of Saxony (died 1539)
* 1487 – Anna of Brandenburg (died 1514)
*1512 – Friedrich Staphylus, German theologian (died 1564)
*1542 – John Frederick, Duke of Pomerania and Protestant Bishop of Cammin (died 1600)
* 1545 – Alexander Farnese, Duke of Parma (died 1592)

1601–1900

*1624 – Koxinga, Chinese-Japanese Ming loyalist (died 1662)
*1637 – Charles Calvert, 3rd Baron Baltimore, English politician, 2nd Proprietor of Maryland (died 1715)
*1665 – John Hervey, 1st Earl of Bristol, English politician (died 1751)
*1669 – Anne Marie d'Orléans, queen of Sardinia (died 1728)
*1677 – Otto Ferdinand von Abensberg und Traun, Austrian general (died 1748)
* 1724 – John Joachim Zubly, Swiss-American pastor, planter, and politician (died 1781)
*1730 – Johann Georg Hamann, German philosopher and author (died 1788)
*1770 – Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, German philosopher and academic (died 1831)
*1785 – Agustín Gamarra, Peruvian general and politician, 10th and 14th President of Peru (died 1841)
*1795 – Giorgio Mitrovich, Maltese politician (died 1885)
*1803 – Edward Beecher, American minister and theologian (died 1895)
*1809 – Hannibal Hamlin, American publisher and politician, 15th Vice President of the United States (died 1891)
*1812 – Bertalan Szemere, Hungarian poet and politician, 3rd Prime Minister of Hungary (died 1869)
*1822 – William Hayden English, American politician, U.S. Representative from Indiana and Democratic vice-presidential nominee (died 1896)
*1827 – Charles Lilley, English-Australian politician, 4th Premier of Queensland (died 1897)
*1845 – Ödön Lechner, Hungarian architect, designed the Museum of Applied Arts and the Church of St Elisabeth (died 1914)
* 1845 – Friedrich Martens, Estonian-Russian historian, lawyer, and diplomat (died 1909)
*1856 – Ivan Franko, Ukrainian author and poet (died 1916)
*1858 – Giuseppe Peano, Italian mathematician and philosopher (died 1932)
*1864 – Hermann Weingärtner, German gymnast (died 1919)
*1865 – James Henry Breasted, American archaeologist and historian (died 1935)
* 1865 – Charles G. Dawes, American general and politician, 30th Vice President of the United States, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1951)
*1868 – Hong Beom-do, Korean general and activist (died 1943)
*1870 – Amado Nervo, Mexican journalist, poet, and diplomat (died 1919)
*1871 – Theodore Dreiser, American novelist and journalist (died 1945)
*1874 – Carl Bosch, German chemist and engineer, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1940)
*1875 – Katharine McCormick, American biologist, philanthropist, and activist (died 1967)
*1877 – Charles Rolls, English engineer and businessman, co-founded Rolls-Royce Limited (died 1910)
* 1877 – Ernst Wetter, Swiss lawyer and politician, 48th President of the Swiss Confederation (died 1963)
*1878 – Pyotr Nikolayevich Wrangel, Russian general (died 1928)
*1884 – Vincent Auriol, French lawyer and politician, President of the French Republic (died 1966)
* 1884 – Denis G. Lillie, British biologist, member of the 1910–1913 ''Terra Nova'' Expedition (died 1963)
*1886 – Rebecca Clarke, English viola player and composer (died 1979)
*1890 – Man Ray, American-French photographer and painter (died 1976)
*1895 – Andreas Alföldi, Hungarian archaeologist and historian (died 1981)
*1896 – Kenji Miyazawa, Japanese author and poet (died 1933)
*1898 – Gaspard Fauteux, Canadian businessman and politician, 19th Lieutenant Governor of Quebec (died 1963)
*1899 – C. S. Forester, English novelist (died 1966)

1901–present

*1904 – Alar Kotli, Estonian architect (died 1963)
* 1904 – Norah Lofts, English author (died 1983)
* 1904 – John Hay Whitney, American businessman, publisher, and diplomat, founded J.H. Whitney & Company (died 1982)
*1905 – Aris Velouchiotis, Greek soldier (died 1945)
*1906 – Ed Gein, American murderer and body snatcher, The Butcher of Plainfield (died 1982)
*1908 – Don Bradman, Australian cricketer and manager (died 2001)
* 1908 – Lyndon B. Johnson, American commander and politician, 36th President of the United States (died 1973)
* 1909 – Sylvère Maes, Belgian cyclist (died 1966)
* 1909 – Charles Pozzi, French race car driver (died 2001)
* 1909 – Lester Young, American saxophonist and clarinet player (died 1959)
*1911 – Kay Walsh, English actress and dancer (died 2005)
*1912 – Gloria Guinness, Mexican journalist (died 1980)
*1915 – Norman Foster Ramsey Jr., American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 2011)
*1916 – Gordon Bashford, English engineer, co-designed the Range Rover (died 1991)
* 1916 – Tony Harris, South African cricketer and rugby player (died 1993)
* 1916 – Martha Raye, American actress and comedian (died 1994)
*1917 – Peanuts Lowrey, American baseball player, coach, and manager (died 1986)
*1918 – Jelle Zijlstra, Dutch economist and politician, Prime Minister of the Netherlands (died 2001)
*1919 – Pee Wee Butts, American baseball player and coach (died 1972)
* 1919 – Murray Grand, American singer-songwriter and pianist (died 2007)
*1920 – Baptiste Manzini, American football player (died 2008)
* 1920 – James Molyneaux, Baron Molyneaux of Killead, Northern Irish soldier and politician (died 2015)
*1921 – Georg Alexander, Duke of Mecklenburg (died 1996)
* 1921 – Leo Penn, American actor, director, and screenwriter (died 1998)
*1922 – Roelof Kruisinga, Dutch physician and politician, Minister of Defence for The Netherlands (died 2012)
*1923 – Jimmy Greenhalgh, English footballer and manager (died 2013)
*1924 – David Rowbotham, Australian journalist and poet (died 2010)
* 1924 – Rosalie E. Wahl, American lawyer and jurist (died 2013)
*1925 – Andrea Cordero Lanza di Montezemolo, Italian cardinal (died 2017)
* 1925 – Nat Lofthouse, English footballer and manager (died 2011)
* 1925 – Saiichi Maruya, Japanese author and critic (died 2012)
* 1925 – Bill Neilson, Australian politician, 34th Premier of Tasmania (died 1989)
* 1925 – Jaswant Singh Neki, Indian poet and academic (died 2015)
* 1925 – Carter Stanley, American bluegrass singer-songwriter and guitarist (died 1966)
*1926 – George Brecht, American-German chemist and composer (died 2008)
* 1926 – Kristen Nygaard, Norwegian computer scientist and academic (died 2002)
*1928 – Péter Boross, Hungarian lawyer and politician, 54th Prime Minister of Hungary
* 1928 – Mangosuthu Buthelezi, South African politician, Chief Minister of KwaZulu (died 2023)
* 1928 – Joan Kroc, American philanthropist (died 2003)
*1929 – Ira Levin, American novelist, playwright, and songwriter (died 2007)
* 1929 – George Scott, Canadian-American wrestler and promoter (died 2014)
*1930 – Aase Foss Abrahamsen, Norwegian writer (died 2023)
* 1930 – Gholamreza Takhti, Iranian wrestler and politician (died 1968)
*1931 – Sri Chinmoy

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