December 27
is the 361st day of the year in the
Gregorian Calendar (362nd in
leap years). There are 4 days remaining in the year.
*
537 - The
Hagia Sophia is completed.
*
1657 - The
Flushing Remonstrance is signed.
*
1703 -
Portugal and
England sign the
Methuen Treaty which gives preference to Portuguese imported
wines into England.
*
1796 -
Mirza Ghalib, a
famous Indian poet of
Urdu and
Farsi is born in
Agra,
Awadh, on this day.
*
1831 -
Charles Darwin embarks on his journey aboard the
HMS Beagle, where he will formulate the theory of
evolution.
*
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 - The
Great Poland Uprising against the Germans begins.
*
1923 -
Namba Daisuke,a Japanese student, tried to assassinate the Prince Regent
Hirohito *
1932 -
Radio City Music Hall opens.
*
1945 - The
World Bank is created with the signing of an agreement by 28 nations.
*
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 eighteen people inside
Rome and
Vienna airports.
*
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.
*
1390 -
Anne de Mortimer, claimant to the English throne (d.
1411)
*
1571 -
Johannes Kepler, German astronomer (d.
1630)
*
1654 -
Jacob Bernoulli, Swiss mathematician (d.
1705)
*
1683 -
Conyers Middleton, English minister (d.
1750)
*
1715 -
Philippe de Noailles, duc de Mouchy, French soldier (d.
1794)
*
1717 -
Pope Pius VI (d.
1799)
*
1721 -
François Hemsterhuis, Dutch philosopher (d.
1790)
*
1773 -
George Cayley, English scientist, inventor, and politician (d.
1857)
*
1776 -
Nikolay Kamensky, Russian general (d.
1811)
*
1797 -
Mirza Ghalib, A famous
Indian Muslim poet of
Urdu and
Farsi (d.
1869)
*
1822 -
Louis Pasteur, French scientist (d.
1895)
*
1823 - Sir
Mackenzie Bowell, fifth
Prime Minister of Canada (d.
1896)
*
1832 -
Pavel Tretyakov, Russian businessman and patron of art (d.
1897)
*
1879 -
Sydney Greenstreet, English actor (d.
1954)
*
1888 -
Thea von Harbou, German author and actress (d.
1954)
*
1896 -
Carl Zuckmayer, German author and dramatist (d.
1977)
*
1896 -
Louis Bromfield, American writer (d.
1956)
* 1896 -
Maurice De Waele, Belgian cyclist (d.
1952)
*
1900 -
Hans Stuck, German race car driver (d.
1978)
*
1901 -
Marlene Dietrich, German actress and singer (d.
1992)
*
1906 -
Oscar Levant, American pianist, composer, and actor (d.
1972)
*
1907 -
Sebastian Haffner, German journalist and writer (d.
1999)
*
1910 -
Charles Olson, American poet (d.
1970)
*
1915 -
William Masters, American gynecologist (d.
2001)
*
1915 -
Mary Kornman, American actress (d.
1973)
* 1915 -
Gyula Zsengellér, Hungarian footballer
*
1917 -
Onni Palaste, Finnish writer
*
1920 -
Bruce Hobbs, American jockey (d.
2005)
*
1925 -
Michel Piccoli, French actor
*
1927 -
Agnes Nixon, American television producer, director, and writer
*
1934 -
Larissa Latynina, Russian gymnast
*
1939 -
John Amos, American actor
*
1941 -
Michael Pinder, British musician (
Moody Blues)
*
1942 -
Byron Browne, Baseball player
*
1943 -
Cokie Roberts, American journalist
* 1943 -
Peter Sinfield, British lyricist and producer
* 1943 -
Joan Manuel Serrat, Spanish musician
* 1943 -
Pete Quaife, British musician (
Kinks)
*
1944 -
Mick Jones, British musician (
Foreigner)
*
1948 -
Gérard Depardieu, French actor
*
1949 -
Carson Kievman, American composer
*
1950 -
Roberto Bettega, Italian footballer
* 1950 -
Terry Bozzio, American drummer (
Missing Persons)
*
1951 -
Ernesto Zedillo, President of Mexico from 1994-2000
*
1952 -
David Knopfler, British musician (
Dire Straits)
* 1952 -
Karla Bonoff, American singer/songwriter
*
1955 -
Barbara Olson, American conservative political commentator
*
1959 -
Gerina Dunwich, American author
* 1959 -
Andre Tippett, American football player
*
1960 -
Maryam d'Abo, British actress
*
1962 -
Mark Few, American basketball coach
*
1965 -
Salman Khan, Indian actor
*
1966 -
Wendy Coakley-Thompson, writer
*
1966 -
Bill Goldberg, American football player and professional wrestler
*
1966 -
John Harrington, (photographer, author)
*
1969 -
Sarah Vowell, American author and journalist
*
1971 -
Joanie Laurer, American professional wrestler
* 1971 -
Duncan Ferguson, Scottish footballer
*
1972 -
Matt Slocum, American musician (
Sixpence None The Richer)
*
1973 -
Wilson Cruz, Puerto Rican actor
*
1975 -
Heather O'Rourke, American actress (d.
1988)
*
1979 -
David Dunn, English footballer
* 1979 -
Carson Palmer, American football player
*
1981 -
Emilie de Ravin, Australian actress
*
418 -
Zosimus, Greek pope
*
1076 - Prince
Svyatoslav II of Kiev (b.
1027)
*
1381 -
Edmund de Mortimer, 3rd Earl of March, English politician
*
1548 -
Francesco Spiera, Italian protestant jurist (b.
1502)
*
1603 -
Thomas Cartwright, English Puritan clergyman
*
1707 -
Jean Mabillon, French palaeograopher and diplomat (b.
1632)
*
1737 -
William Bowyer, English printer (b.
1663)
*
1743 -
Hyacinthe Rigaud, French painter (b.
1659)
*
1771 -
Henri Pitot, French engineer (b.
1695)
*
1782 -
Henry Home, Lord Kames, Scottish philosopher (b.
1697)
*
1800 -
Hugh Blair, Scottish preacher and man of letters (b.
1718)
*
1812 -
Shneur Zalman of Liadi, Lithuanian rabbi and founder of Chabad Hasidism (b.
1745)
*
1836 -
Stephen F. Austin, American pioneer (b.
1793)
*
1858 -
Alexandre Pierre François Boëly, French composer (b.
1785)
*
1896 -
John Brown, British manufacturer (b.
1816)
*
1900 -
William George Armstrong, English inventor, industrialist, and engineer (b.
1810)
*
1914 -
Charles Martin Hall, American chemist and inventor (b.
1863)
*
1923 -
Gustave Eiffel, French engineer and architect (b.
1832)
*
1925 -
Sergei Yesenin, Russian poet (b.
1895)
*
1938 -
Calvin Bridges, geneticist (b.
1889)
* 1938 -
Osip Mandelstam, Russian poet (b.
1891)
*
1950 -
Max Beckmann, German painter (b.
1884)
*
1953 -
Julian Tuwim, Polish poet (b.
1894)
*
1955 -
Alfred Francis Blakeney Carpenter, English soldier (b.
1881)
*
1956 -
Lambert McKenna, Irish scholar, Editor and Lexicographer.
*
1966 -
Guillermo Stábile, Argentine footballer (b.
1906)
*
1972 -
Lester B. Pearson, fourteenth
Prime Minister of Canada, recipient of the
1957 Nobel Peace Prize (b.
1897)
*
1974 -
Vladimir Aleksandrovich Fock, Russian physicist (b.
1898)
*
1978 -
Houari Boumédienne, President of Algeria (b.
1932)
*
1981 -
Hoagy Carmichael, American composer and singer (b.
1899)
*
1988 -
Hal Ashby, American film director (b.
1929)
*
1992 -
Kay Boyle, American writer (b.
1902)
*
1997 -
Brendan Gill, American columnist and humorist (b.
1914)
* 1997 -
Billy Wright, Irish Protestant paramilitary leader (b.
1960)
*
2002 -
George Roy Hill, American film director (b.
1922)
*
2003 -
Alan Bates, English actor (b.
1934)
* 2003 -
Ivan Calderon, Puerto Rican
Major League Baseball player (murdered) (b.
1962)
*
2004 -
Hank Garland, Nashville studio musician (b.
1930)
*
2005 -
William Doody, Canadian politician (b.
1931)
*
R.C. Saints -
John the Apostle and Evangelist
* The second
day of Christmas in Western
Christianity.
* A
bank holiday in Britain and elsewhere if
25 December or
26 December falls in the weekend.
*
BBC: On This Day*
Today in History: December 27December 26 -
December 28 -
November 27 -
January 27 --
listing of all days
