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)
• 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.
• 1789 – The French National Assembly adopts the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen, proclaiming that "men are born and remain free and equal in rights".
• 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.
• 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.
• 1928 – The Kellogg-Briand Pact outlawing war is signed by the first fifteen 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 – An IRA bomb kills British World War II admiral Louis Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma and 3 others while they are boating on holiday in Sligo, Republic of Ireland. Another bomb near Warrenpoint, Northern Ireland kills 18 British soldiers.
• 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.
• 1990 – Stevie Ray Vaughan dies in a helicopter crash.
• 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.
• 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.
• 2007 – Bluegrass Army Depot Sarin(GB) leak in Lexington, Kentucky. Officials reported the Sarin levels 85 times above the safe limit.

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, Governor of the Province of Maryland (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 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 and Nobel Peace Prize 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 Prize laureate (d. 1940)
• 1875 – Katharine McCormick, American women's rights activist (d. 1967)
• 1877 – Charles Rolls, British co-founder of Rolls-Royce (d. 1910)
• 1877 – Ernst Wetter, member of the Swiss Federal Council (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)
• 1896 – Faina Ranevskaya, Russian actress (d. 1984)
• 1898 – Gaspard Fauteux, French Canadian parliamentarian (d. 1963)
• 1899 – C. S. Forester, British author (d. 1966)
• 1899 – Byron Foulger, American actor (d. 1970)
• 1904 – Norah Lofts, British author (d. 1983)
• 1904 – John Hay Whitney, American financier (d. 1982)
• 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 – Sylvère Maes, Belgian cyclist (d. 1966)
• 1909 – Lester Young, American musician (d. 1959)
• 1911 – Kay Walsh, British actress (d. 2005)
• 1912 – Gloria Guinness, Mexican socialite and writer(d. 1980)
• 1913 – Nina Schenk von Stauffenberg, Russian-born wife of Claus Schenk von Stauffenberg (d. 2006)
• 1914 – Heidi Kabel, German actress (d. 2010)
• 1915 – Norman Foster Ramsey, American physicist Nobel Prize laureate
• 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, Dutch politician, Prime Minister of the Netherlands from 1966 until 1967 (d. 2001)
• 1919 – Murray Grand, American songwriter and cabaret singer (d. 2007)
• 1921 – Georg Alexander, Duke of Mecklenburg, head of the House of Mecklenburg-Strelitz (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
• 1926 – Pat Coombs, English actress (d. 2002)
• 1926 – Kristen Nygaard, Norwegian mathematician (d. 2002)
• 1928 – Mangosuthu Buthelezi, South African politician
• 1929 – Ira Levin, American author (d. 2007)
• 1931 – Sri Chinmoy, Indian guru (d. 2007)
• 1931 – Joe Cunningham, American baseball player
• 1932 – Antonia Fraser, British author
• 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
• 1940 – Sonny Sharrock, American jazz guitarist (d. 1994)
• 1941 – Harrison Page, American actor
• 1942 – Daryl Dragon, American keyboardist (Captain & Tennille)
• 1942 – Brian Peckford, Canadian politician
• 1943 – Tuesday Weld, American actress
• 1944 – G. W. Bailey, American actor
• 1946 – Tony Howard, West Indian cricketer
• 1947 – Barbara Bach, American actress
• 1947 – Harry Reems, American actor
• 1947 – John Morrison, New Zealand cricketer
• 1947 – Gavin Pfuhl, South African cricketer (d. 2002)
• 1948 – Pavlos Sidiropoulos, Greek musician (d. 1990)
• 1948 – Sgt. Slaughter, American professional wrestler
• 1949 – Jeff Cook, vocals, guitar, keyboards, bass, fiddle, banjo and mandolin for Alabama
• 1950 – Charles Fleischer, American actor
• 1951 – Buddy Bell, American baseball player-manager
• 1951 – Mack Brown, American University of Texas Head Football Coach
• 1952 – Paul Reubens (aka Pee-wee Herman), American actor
• 1953 – Alex Lifeson, Canadian guitarist (Rush)
• 1953 – Peter Stormare, Swedish-born actor
• 1954 – John Lloyd, British tennis player
• 1954 – Derek Warwick, British 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 and two-time Masters champion
• 1958 – Normand Brathwaite, Canadian comedian and television and radio host
• 1958 – Sergei Krikalev, Russian cosmonaut
• 1958 – Tom Lanoye, Belgian author
• 1959 – Gerhard Berger, Austrian racing driver and F1 team co-owner (Scuderia Toro Rosso)
• 1959 – Juan Fernando Cobo, Colombian artist
• 1959 – Downtown Julie Brown, Welsh TV personality and MTV VJ
• 1961 – Yolanda Adams, American gospel singer
• 1961 – Tom Ford, American fashion designer
• 1962 – Adam Oates, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1962 – Thomas Duggan, American photographer
• 1962 – Vic Mignogna, American voice actor
• 1964 – Robert Bogue, American actor
• 1965 – Wayne James, Zimbabwean cricketer
• 1966 – Juhan Parts, Prime Minister of Estonia
• 1967 – Ogie Alcasid, Filipino singer and actor
• 1969 – Reece Shearsmith, British actor and comedian
• 1969 – Mark Ealham, England cricketer
• 1969 – Cesar Millan, Mexican dog trainer
• 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)
• 1971 – Julian Cheung, Hong Kong actor and singer
• 1971 – Ernest Faber, Dutch footballer and coach
• 1971 – Aygül Özkan, German politician
• 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 professional wrestler
• 1973 – Carlene Begnaud, American professional 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 – Björn Gelotte, Swedish guitarplayer, In Flames
• 1975 – Mark Rudan, Australian footballer
• 1976 – Sarah Chalke, Canadian actress
• 1976 – Carlos Moyà, Spanish tennis player
• 1976 – Milano Collection Akihito Terui, Japanese professional wrestler
• 1976 – Mark Webber, Australian racing driver
• 1977 – Deco, Portuguese footballer
• 1977 – Mase, American rapper
• 1979 – Giovanni Capitello, American filmmaker and actor
• 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
• 1986 – Mario, American R&B singer
• 1987 – Darren McFadden, American football player
• 1988 – Alexa Vega, American actress
• 1993 – Sarah Hecken, German figure skater

Deaths

• 542 – Saint Caesarius of Arles
• 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)
• 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 – 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. 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 – Haile Selassie I, Emperor 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, 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)
• 1996 – Greg Morris, American actor (b. 1933)
• 1997 – Sotiria Bellou, Greek singer (b. 1921)
• 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 – 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 – Luna Vachon, Professional Wrestler (b. 1962)

Holidays and observances

• Christian Feast Day:
  • 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