August 27
is the 239th day of the year in the
Gregorian Calendar (240th in
leap years), with 126 days remaining.
*
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.
*
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*
1798 -
Battle of Castlebar*
1813 -
Napoleon defeats the
Austrians,
Russians and
Prussians at the
Battle of Dresden*
1828 - The Russians defeat the Turks at the
Battle of Akhalzic.
*
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*
1920 - Radio Argentina begins regularly scheduled transmissions from the Teatro Coliseo in
Buenos Aires, considered the world's first public broadcast station.
*
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.
*
1957 - The
Malayan Constitution came into force.
*
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 its closest approach to
Earth in nearly 60,000 years, passing approximately 34,646,416 miles (55,758,006 kilometers) from Earth.
*
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)
*
1877 -
Ernst Wetter, member of the Swiss Federal Council (d.
1963)
*
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 (d.
1985)
*
1909 -
Lester Young, American musician (d.
1959)
* 1909 -
Sylvère Maes, Belgian cyclist (d.
1966)
*
1910 -
Mother Teresa, Albanian missionary and humanitarian, recipient of the
Nobel Peace Prize (d.
1997)
*
1911 -
Kay Walsh, British actress (d.
2005)
*
1913 -
Nina Schenk von Stauffenberg, German wife of freedom fighter
Claus Schenk von Stauffenberg (d.
2006)
*
1915 -
Norman F. Ramsey, American physicist,
Nobel Prize laureate
*
1916 -
Martha Raye, American actress (d.
1994)
*
1917 -
Peanuts Lowrey, baseball player (d.
1986)
*
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
*
1931 -
Joe Cunningham, baseball player
*
1932 -
Antonia Fraser, British author
*
1935 -
Frank Yablans, American film producer
* 1935 -
Ernie Broglio, Baseball player
*
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
*
1948 -
Sgt. Slaughter, professional wrestler
*
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
* 1953 -
Alex Lifeson, Canadian guitarist (
Rush)
*
1954 -
Derek Warwick, British race car driver
*
1955 -
Diana Scarwid, American actress
*
1957 -
Bernhard Langer, German golfer
*
1958 -
Tom Lanoye, Belgian author
*
1959 -
Gerhard Berger, Austrian race car driver
* 1959 -
Juan Fernando Cobo, Colombian artist
*
1961 -
Tom Ford, American fashion designer
*
1962 -
Adam Oates, Canadian hockey player
*
1963 -
Downtown Julie Brown, Welsh television personality
*
1965 -
Wayne James, Zimbabwe cricketer
*
1966 -
Juhan Parts,
Prime Minister of Estonia*
1969 -
Reece Shearsmith, British actor and comedian
*
1970 -
Peter Ebdon, English snooker player
* 1970 -
Tony Kanal, English-born musician (
No Doubt)
* 1970 -
Jim Thome, baseball player
* 1970 -
Jeff Kenna, Irish footballer
*
1971 -
Marlon Ayoví, Ecuadorian footballer
*
1972 -
Jimmy Pop, American Musician (
The Bloodhound Gang)
* 1972 -
Dalip Singh, Indian professional wrestler and bodybuilder
*
1973 -
Dietmar Hamann, German footballer
* 1973 -
Carlene Begnaud, American professional wrestler
*
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 -
Steve Taylor, British writer
* 1976 -
Mark Webber, Australian race car driver
*
1977 -
Deco, Portuguese footballer
*
1978 -
Mase, American rapper
*
1979 -
Tian Liang, Chinese diver
*
1984 -
Sulley Ali Muntari, Ghanaian footballer
*
1986 -
Mario, R&B Singer
*
1988 -
Alexa Vega, American actress
*
542 -
Saint Caesarius of Arles*
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)
*
1944 -
Georg von Boeselager, German nobleman (b.
1915)
*
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)
*
2001 -
Abu Ali Mustafa, leader of
Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (murdered) (b.
1938)
*
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)
*
2005 -
Seán Purcell, Gaelic Footballer (b.
1929)
*
Roman festivals -
Volturnalia held in honor of
Volturnus*
RC Saints - Saint
Monica of Hippo*
Moldova - Independence Day (from the USSR,
1991)
*
BBC: On This Day*
New York Times: On This DayAugust 26 -
August 28 -
July 27 -
September 27 --
listing of all days
