August 27

August 27 is the 239th day of the year (240th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 126 days remaining until the end of the year.

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.
• 410 – The sacking of Rome by the Visigoths ends after three days.
• 1172 – Henry the Young King and Margaret of France are crowned as junior king and queen of England.
• 1232 – The Formulary of Adjudications is promulgated by Regent Hōjō Yasutoki. (Traditional Japanese date: August 10, 1232)
• 1593 – Pierre Barrière fails in his attempt to assassinate King Henry IV of France.
• 1689 – The Treaty of Nerchinsk is signed by Russia and the Qing empire.
• 1776 – The Battle of Long Island: in what is now Brooklyn, New York, British forces under General William Howe defeat Americans under General George Washington.
• 1793 – French counter-revolution: the port of Toulon revolts and admits the British fleet, which lands troops and seizes the port leading to Siege of Toulon.
• 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 Connaught.
• 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 Bonaparte defeats a larger force of Austrians, Russians, and Prussians at the Battle of Dresden.
• 1828 – Uruguay is formally proclaimed independent at preliminary peace talks brokered by Great Britain between Brazil and Argentina during the Argentina-Brazil War.
• 1859 – Petroleum is discovered in Titusville, Pennsylvania leading to the world's first commercially successful oil well.
• 1861 – Union forces attack Cape Hatteras, North Carolina.
• 1883 – The eruption of Krakatoa
• 1896 – Anglo-Zanzibar War: the shortest war in world history (09:00 to 09:45) between the United Kingdom and Zanzibar.
• 1916 – Romania declares war against Austria-Hungary, entering World War I as one of the Allied nations.
• 1921 – The British install the son of Sharif Hussein bin Ali (leader of the Arab Revolt of 1916 against the Ottoman Empire) as King Faisal I of Iraq.
• 1922 – The Turkish army takes the Aegean city of Afyonkarahisar from the Greeks.
• 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 the first 15 nations to do so. Ultimately sixty-one nations will sign it.
• 1939 – First flight of the turbojet-powered Heinkel He 178, the world's first jet aircraft.
• 1943 – Japanese forces evacuate New Georgia Island in the Pacific Theater of Operations during World War II.
• 1957 – The Constitution of Malaysia comes into force.
• 1962 – The Mariner 2 unmanned space mission is launched to Venus by NASA.
• 1969 – Israeli commando force penetrates deep into Egyptian territory to stage a mortar attack on regional Egyptian Army headquarters in the Nile Valley of Upper Egypt.
• 1971 – An attempted coup 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 – A Provisional Irish Republican Army bomb kills British World War II admiral Louis Mountbatten and three others while they are boating on holiday in Sligo, Republic of Ireland. Shortly after, 18 British Army soldiers are killed in an ambush near Warrenpoint, Northern Ireland (see Warrenpoint ambush).
• 1982 – Turkish military diplomat Colonel Atilla Altıkat is shot and killed in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada's capital. Justice Commandos Against Armenian Genocide claim responsibility, saying they are avenging the massacre of 1.5 million Armenians in the 1915 Armenian Genocide.
• 1985 – The Nigerian government is peacefully overthrown by Army Chief of Staff Major General Ibrahim Babangida.
• 1991 – The European Community recognizes the independence of the Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.
• 1991 – Moldova declares independence from the USSR.
• 1993 – The Rainbow Bridge, connecting Tokyo's Shibaura and the island of Odaiba, is completed.
• 2000 – 540-metre (1,772 ft)-tall Ostankino Tower in Moscow catches fire, three people are killed.
• 2003 – Mars makes its closest approach to Earth in nearly 60,000 years, passing 34,646,418 miles (55,758,005 km) 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 as a result 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 International Airport in Atlanta, Georgia. Of the passengers and crew, 49 of 50 are confirmed dead in the hours following the crash.
• 2009 – The Burmese military junta and ethnic armies begin three days of violent clashes in the Kokang Special Region.

Births

• 1407 – Ashikaga Yoshikazu, Japanese shogun (d. 1425)
• 1471 – George, Duke of Saxony (d. 1539)
• 1487 – Anna of Brandenburg, Queen of Denmark (d. 1514)
• 1637 – Charles Calvert, 3rd Baron Baltimore, English governor (d. 1715)
• 1665 – John Hervey, 1st Earl of Bristol, English politician (d. 1751)
• 1669 – Anne Marie of Orléans, Queen of Italy (d. 1728)
• 1698 – Baal Shem Tov, Founder of the Chasiddic movement (d. 1760)
• 1677 – Otto Ferdinand von Abensberg 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)
• 1803 – Edward Beecher, American theologian (d. 1895)
• 1809 – Hannibal Hamlin, Vice President of the United States (d. 1891)
• 1812 – Bertalan Szemere, Hungarian politician (d. 1869)
• 1845 – Ödön Lechner, Hungarian architect (d. 1914)
• 1858 – Giuseppe Peano, Italian mathematician (d. 1932)
• 1865 – James Henry Breasted, American Egyptologist (d. 1935)
• 1865 – Charles G. Dawes, Vice President of the United States, Nobel laureate (d. 1951)
• 1868 – Hong Beom-do, Korean independence activist (d. 1943)
• 1870 – Amado Nervo, Mexican poet (d. 1919)
• 1871 – Theodore Dreiser, American author (d. 1945)
• 1874 – Carl Bosch, German chemist, Nobel laureate (d. 1940)
• 1875 – Katharine McCormick, American activist (d. 1967)
• 1877 – Charles Rolls, English automotive engineer (d. 1910)
• 1877 – Ernst Wetter, Swiss Federal Council member (d. 1963)
• 1884 – Vincent Auriol, French President (d. 1966)
• 1886 – Rebecca Helferich Clarke, English composer and violist (d. 1979)
• 1886 – Eric Coates, English composer (d. 1957)
• 1890 – Man Ray, American photographer and artist (d. 1976)
• 1895 – András Alföldi, Hungarian-born historian and archaeologist (d. 1981)
• 1896 – Faina Ranevskaya, Russian actress (d. 1984)
• 1898 – Gaspard Fauteux, French Canadian parliamentarian (d. 1963)
• 1899 – C. S. Forester, English author (d. 1966)
• 1899 – Byron Foulger, American actor (d. 1970)
• 1903 – Ferenc Keserű, Hungarian water polo player (d. 1968)
• 1904 – Norah Lofts, Englis author (d. 1983)
• 1904 – John Hay Whitney, American financier (d. 1982)
• 1905 – Aris Velouchiotis, Greek party leader (d. 1945)
• 1906 – Ed Gein, American serial killer (d. 1984)
• 1908 – Sir Donald Bradman, Australian cricketer (d. 2001)
• 1908 – Lyndon B. Johnson, President of the United States (d. 1973)
• 1908 – Kurt Wegner, German artist (d. 1985)
• 1909 – Sylvère Maes, Belgian cyclist (d. 1966)
• 1909 – Lester Young, American musician (d. 1959)
• 1911 – Kay Walsh, English actress (d. 2005)
• 1912 – Gloria Guinness, Mexican socialite and writer (d. 1980)
• 1913 – Schenk Gräfin von Stauffenberg, Russian-born German countess (d. 2006)
• 1914 – Heidi Kabel, German actress (d. 2010)
• 1915 – Norman Foster Ramsey, American physicist, Nobel laureate (d. 2011)
• 1916 – Martha Raye, American actress (d. 1994)
• 1916 – Tony Harris, South African cricketer (d. 1993)
• 1917 – Peanuts Lowrey, American baseball player (d. 1986)
• 1918 – Jelle Zijlstra, Prime Minister of the Netherlands (d. 2001)
• 1919 – Murray Grand, American songwriter and singer (d. 2007)
• 1921 – Georg Alexander, Duke of Mecklenburg, French aristocrat (d. 1996)
• 1921 – Leo Penn, American film director (d. 1998)
• 1924 – David Rowbotham, Australian poet
• 1925 – Darry Cowl, French actor (d. 2006)
• 1925 – Nat Lofthouse, English footballer (d. 2011)
• 1926 – Pat Coombs, English actress (d. 2002)
• 1926 – Kristen Nygaard, Norwegian mathematician (d. 2002)
• 1927 – Jimmy C. Newman, American singer
• 1928 – Mangosuthu Buthelezi, South African politician
• 1928 – Péter Boross, Hungarian politician
• 1929 – Ira Levin, American author (d. 2007)
• 1931 – Sri Chinmoy, Indian guru (d. 2007)
• 1931 – Joe Cunningham, American baseball player
• 1932 – Cor Brom, Dutch football player and manager (d. 2008)
• 1932 – Antonia Fraser, English author
• 1933 – Jenő Hámori, Hungarian fencer
• 1933 – Joke Smit, Dutch feminist and politician (d. 1981)
• 1935 – Ernie Broglio, American baseball player
• 1935 – Frank Yablans, American film producer
• 1936 – Joel Kovel, American politician
• 1937 – Alice Coltrane, American jazz musician (d. 2007)
• 1937 – Tommy Sands, American actor and singer
• 1939 – William Least Heat-Moon, American author
• 1939 – Edward Patten, American singer (Gladys Knight & the Pips) (d. 2005)
• 1940 – Sonny Sharrock, American jazz guitarist (d. 1994)
• 1941 – Harrison Page, American actor
• 1941 – János Konrád, Hungarian water polo player and swimmer
• 1942 – Daryl Dragon, American keyboardist (Captain & Tennille)
• 1942 – Brian Peckford, Canadian politician
• 1943 – Bob Kerrey, American politician
• 1943 – Chuck Girard, American musician (Love Song)
• 1943 – Tuesday Weld, American actress
• 1944 – G. W. Bailey, American actor
• 1944 – Jan Bols, Dutch speed skater
• 1945 – Jan Sloot, Dutch inventer (d. 1999)
• 1946 – Tony Howard, West Indian cricketer
• 1947 – Barbara Bach, American actress
• 1947 – Peter Krieg, German documentary producer (d. 2009)
• 1947 – Harry Reems, American actor
• 1947 – John Morrison, New Zealand cricketer
• 1947 – Gavin Pfuhl, South African cricketer (d. 2002)
• 1948 – Sgt. Slaughter, American wrestler
• 1948 – John Mehler, American drummer (Love Song)
• 1949 – Jeff Cook, American musician (Alabama)
• 1950 – Charles Fleischer, American actor
• 1951 – Buddy Bell, American baseball player-manager
• 1951 – Mack Brown, American college football coach
• 1952 – Paul Reubens, American actor
• 1953 – Alex Lifeson, Canadian guitarist (Rush)
• 1953 – Peter Stormare, Swedish-born actor
• 1954 – John Lloyd, English tennis player
• 1954 – Derek Warwick, English race car driver
• 1955 – Laura Fygi, Dutch singer
• 1955 – Robert Richardson, American cinematographer
• 1955 – Diana Scarwid, American actress
• 1957 – Jeff Grubb, American author and game designer
• 1957 – Bernhard Langer, German golfer
• 1958 – Normand Brathwaite, Canadian TV and radio host
• 1958 – Sergei Krikalev, Russian cosmonaut
• 1958 – Tom Lanoye, Belgian author
• 1959 – Gerhard Berger, Austrian race car driver and team owner
• 1959 – Downtown Julie Brown, Welsh TV personality and MTV VJ
• 1959 – Juan Fernando Cobo, Colombian artist
• 1959 – András Petöcz, Hungarian author
• 1959 – Jeanette Winterson, English novelist
• 1961 – Yolanda Adams, American gospel singer
• 1961 – Tom Ford, American fashion designer
• 1961 – Helmut Winklhofer, German footballer
• 1962 – Vic Mignogna, American voice actor
• 1962 – Adam Oates, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1964 – Robert Bogue, American actor
• 1964 – Paul Bernardo, Canadian serial killer
• 1965 – Wayne James, Zimbabwean cricketer
• 1965 – Ange Postecoglou, Australian footballer
• 1966 – Jeroen Duyster, Dutch rower
• 1966 – Juhan Parts, Prime Minister of Estonia
• 1967 – Ogie Alcasid, Filipino singer and actor
• 1969 – Mark Ealham, English cricketer
• 1969 – Cesar Millan, American dog trainer
• 1969 – Reece Shearsmith, English actor and comedian
• 1969 – Chandra Wilson, American actress
• 1970 – Andy Bichel, Australian cricketer
• 1970 – Peter Ebdon, English snooker player
• 1970 – Mark Ilott, England cricketer
• 1970 – Tony Kanal, English musician (No Doubt)
• 1970 – Jeff Kenna, Irish footballer
• 1970 – Jim Thome, American baseball player
• 1970 – Karl Unterkircher, Italian mountaineer (d. 2008)
• 1970 – Park Myeong-su, Korean comedian, MC and singer
• 1971 – Julian Cheung, Hong Kong actor and singer
• 1971 – Ernest Faber, Dutch footballer and coach
• 1971 – Aygül Özkan, German politician
• 1972 – Felix da Housecat, American DJ and record producer
• 1972 – Jimmy Pop, American musician (The Bloodhound Gang)
• 1972 – Jaap-Derk Buma, Dutch field hockey player
• 1972 – Denise Lewis, English heptathlete
• 1972 – The Great Khali, Indian wrestler
• 1973 – Carlene Begnaud, American wrestler
• 1973 – Danny Coyne, Welsh footballer
• 1973 – Dietmar Hamann, German footballer
• 1973 – Johan Norberg, Swedish author
• 1973 – Burak Kut, Turkish pop singer
• 1973 – Cory Bowles, Canadian actor
• 1974 – José Vidro, Puerto Rican baseball player
• 1974 – Mohammad Yousuf, Pakistani cricketer
• 1974 – Michael Mason, New Zealand cricketer
• 1975 – Jonny Moseley, American skier
• 1975 – Blake Adams, American golfer
• 1975 – Björn Gelotte, Swedish guitarist (In Flames)
• 1975 – Mark Rudan, Australian footballer
• 1976 – Sarah Chalke, Canadian actress
• 1976 – Carlos Moyà, Spanish tennis player
• 1976 – Milano Collection Akihito Terui, Japanese wrestler
• 1976 – Mark Webber, Australian racing driver
• 1977 – Deco, Portuguese footballer
• 1979 – Giovanni Capitello, American actor and producer
• 1979 – Aaron Paul, American actor
• 1979 – Tian Liang, Chinese diver
• 1979 – Sarah Neufeld, Canadian musician (Arcade Fire)
• 1979 – Rusty Smith, American shorttracker
• 1980 – Neha Dhupia, Indian model and actress
• 1980 – Kyle Lowder, American actor
• 1981 – Demetria McKinney, American actress
• 1981 – Maxwell Cabelino Andrade, Spanish footballer
• 1982 – Damien Monier, French cyclist
• 1983 – Wilson Chen, Taiwanese actor
• 1984 – David Bentley, English footballer
• 1984 – Sulley Muntari, Ghanaian footballer
• 1985 – Alexandra Nechita, Romanian-American artist
• 1985 – Nikica Jelavić, Croatian footballer
• 1986 – Mario, American singer
• 1986 – Nabil El Zhar, Moroccan footballer
• 1987 – Darren McFadden, American football player
• 1988 – Alexa Vega, American actress
• 1990 – Luuk de Jong, Dutch football player
• 1992 – Kim Petras, German singer
• 1993 – Sarah Hecken, German figure skater

Deaths

• 542 – Saint Caesarius of Arles
• 749 – Qahtaba ibn Shabib al-Ta'i, Abbasid general
• 827 – Pope Eugene II
• 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)
• 1828 – Eise Eisinga, Dutch amateur astronomer who built an orrery in his house in Franeker (b. 1744)
• 1857 – Rufus Wilmot Griswold, American literary critic and editor (b. 1815)
• 1865 – Thomas Chandler Haliburton, Canadian author (b. 1796)
• 1871 – William Whiting Boardman, American politician (b. 1794)
• 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 – Willem Hubert Nolens, Dutch politician and priest (b. 1860)
• 1931 – Francis Marion Smith, American borax magnate (b. 1846)
• 1934 – Linda Agostini, Australian murder victim known as the "Pyjama Girl" (b. 1905)
• 1944 – Georg von Boeselager, German nobleman (b. 1915)
• 1945 – Hubert Pál Álgyay, Hungarian engineer (b. 1894)
• 1948 – Charles Evans Hughes, U.S. Supreme Court justice (b. 1862)
• 1958 – Ernest Lawrence, American physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1901)
• 1961 – Kálmán Rózsahegyi, Hungarian Jewish actor and teacher (b. 1873)
• 1963 – Garrett Morgan, American inventor (b. 1877)
• 1963 – W. E. B. Du Bois, American civil rights activist and scholar (b. 1868)
• 1963 – Allama Mashriqi, Pakistani scholar and politician (b. 1888)
• 1964 – Gracie Allen, American actress and comedienne (b. 1895)
• 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)
• 1971 – Margaret Bourke-White, American photo-journalist (b. 1906)
• 1975 – Emperor Haile Selassie of Ethiopia (b. 1892)
• 1976 – Mukesh, Indian playback singer (b. 1923)
• 1979 – Louis Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma, British admiral and statesman (assassinated) (b. 1900)
• 1980 – Douglas Kenney, American humorist (b. 1947)
• 1981 – Valeri Kharlamov, Soviet ice hockey player (b. 1948)
• 1984 – Bernard Youens, English actor (b. 1914)
• 1987 – Scott "La Rock" Sterling, American DJ (Boogie Down Productions) (b. 1962)
• 1988 – William Sargant, British psychiatrist (b. 1907)
• 1988 – Mario Montenegro, Filipino actor (b. 1928)
• 1990 – Stevie Ray Vaughan, American guitarist (b. 1954)
• 1994 – Frank Jeske, East German footballer (b. 1960)
• 1996 – Greg Morris, American actor (b. 1933)
• 1997 – Sotiria Bellou, Greek singer (b. 1921)
• 1998 – Essie Summers, New Zealand writer (b. 1912)
• 1999 – Hélder Câmara, Brazilian Roman Catholic archbishop (b. 1909)
• 2001 – Abu Ali Mustafa, leader of Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (assassinated) (b. 1938)
• 2001 – Michael Dertouzos, Greek internet pioneer, Director of the M.I.T. Laboratory for Computer Science (b. 1936)
• 2002 – Dr. Edwin Louis Cole, "Father of the Modern Day Men's Movement," Founder of the Christian Men's Network (CMN) (b. 1922)
• 2003 – Peter-Paul Pigmans, Dutch gabber music producer (b. 1961)
• 2003 – Pierre Poujade, French politician (b. 1920)
• 2004 – Willie Crawford, American baseball player (b. 1946)
• 2005 – Giorgos Mouzakis, Greek songwriter and musician (b. 1922)
• 2005 – Seán Purcell, Gaelic footballer (b. 1929)
• 2006 – Hrishikesh Mukherjee, Indian film director (b. 1922)
• 2006 – María Capovilla, oldest living person from 2004–2006 (b. 1889)
• 2006 – Jesse Pintado, Mexican-born guitarist (Napalm Death) (b. 1969)
• 2007 – Emma Penella, Spanish actress (b. 1930)
• 2008 – Mark Priestley, Australian actor (b. 1970)
• 2009 – Sergey Mikhalkov, Russian writer and poet (b. 1913)
• 2010 – Anton Geesink, Dutch 10th-dan judoka (b. 1934)
• 2010 – Luna Vachon, Professional Wrestler (b. 1962)

Holidays and observances

• Christian Feast Day:
  • Baculus of Sorrento
  • Caesarius of Arles
  • Margaret the Barefooted
  • Monica of Hippo, mother of Augustine of Hippo
  • Phanourios of Rhodes
  • Rufus and Carpophorus
• Independence Day, celebrates the independence of Moldova from the USSR in 1991.
• Lyndon Baines Johnson Day (Texas)
• Volturnalia, held in honor of Volturnus. (Roman Empire)

External links

• BBC: On This Day
• The New York Times: On This Day
• On This Day in Canada

---