February 27

February 27 is the 58th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. There are 307 days remaining until the end of the year (308 in leap years).

Events

• 380 – Edict of Thessalonica: Emperor Theodosius I, with co-emperors Gratian and Valentinian II, declare their wish that all Roman citizens convert to trinitarian Christianity.
• 425 – The University of Constantinople is founded by Emperor Theodosius II at the urging of his wife Aelia Eudocia.
• 907 – Abaoji, a Khitan chieftain, is enthroned as Emperor Taizu, establishing the Liao dynasty in northern China.
• 1560 – The Treaty of Berwick, which would expel the French from Scotland, is signed by England and the Lords of the Congregation of Scotland.
• 1594 – Henry IV is crowned King of France.
• 1617 – Sweden and Russia sign the Treaty of Stolbovo, ending the Ingrian War and shutting Russia out of the Baltic Sea.
• 1626 – Yuan Chonghuan is appointed Governor of Liaodong, after he led the Chinese into a great victory against the Manchurians under Nurhaci.
• 1700 – The island of New Britain is discovered.
• 1776 – American Revolutionary War: The Battle of Moore's Creek Bridge in North Carolina breaks up a Loyalist militia.
• 1782 – American Revolutionary War: The House of Commons of Great Britain votes against further war in America.
• 1801 – Pursuant to the District of Columbia Organic Act of 1801, Washington, D.C. is placed under the jurisdiction of the U.S. Congress.
• 1812 – Argentine War of Independence: Manuel Belgrano raises the Flag of Argentina in the city of Rosario for the first time.
• 1812 – Poet Lord Byron gives his first address as a member of the House of Lords, in defense of Luddite violence against Industrialism in his home county of Nottinghamshire.
• 1829 – Battle of Tarqui is fought.
• 1844 – The Dominican Republic gains independence from Haiti.
• 1860 – Abraham Lincoln makes a speech at Cooper Union in the city of New York that is largely responsible for his election to the Presidency.
• 1861 – Russian troops fire on a crowd in Warsaw protesting against Russian rule over Poland, killing five protesters.
• 1864 – American Civil War: The first Northern prisoners arrive at the Confederate prison at Andersonville, Georgia.
• 1870 – The current flag of Japan is first adopted as the national flag for Japanese merchant ships.
• 1881 – First Boer War: The Battle of Majuba Hill takes place.
• 1898 – King George I of Greece survives an assassination attempt.
• 1900 – Second Boer War: In South Africa, British military leaders receive an unconditional notice of surrender from Boer General Piet Cronjé at the Battle of Paardeberg.
• 1900 – The British Labour Party is founded.
• 1900 – Fußball-Club Bayern München is founded.
• 1902 – Second Boer War: Australian soldiers Harry 'Breaker' Morant and Peter Handcock are executed in Pretoria for war crimes.
• 1921 – The International Working Union of Socialist Parties is founded in Vienna.
• 1922 – A challenge to the Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, allowing women the right to vote, is rebuffed by the Supreme Court of the United States in Leser v. Garnett.
• 1933 – Reichstag fire: Germany's parliament building in Berlin, the Reichstag, is set on fire, apparently by the Communists.
• 1939 – United States labor law: The U.S. Supreme Court rules that sit-down strikes violate property owners' rights and are therefore illegal.
• 1940 – Martin Kamen and Sam Ruben discover carbon-14.
• 1942 – World War II: During the Battle of the Java Sea, an Allied strike force is defeated by a Japanese task force in the Java Sea in the Dutch East Indies.
• 1943 – The Smith Mine #3 in Bearcreek, Montana, explodes, killing 74 men.
• 1943 – The Rosenstrasse protest starts in Berlin.
• 1951 – The Twenty-second Amendment to the United States Constitution, limiting Presidents to two terms, is ratified.
• 1955 – Soviet Union regional elections, 1955.
• 1961 – The first congress of the Spanish Trade Union Organisation is inaugurated.
• 1962 – Two dissident Vietnam Air Force pilots bomb the Independence Palace in Saigon in a failed attempt to assassinate South Vietnam President Ngô Đình Diệm.
• 1963 – The Dominican Republic receives its first democratically elected president, Juan Bosch, since the end of the dictatorship led by Rafael Trujillo.
• 1964 – The Government of Italy asks for help to keep the Leaning Tower of Pisa from toppling over.
• 1971 – Doctors in the first Dutch abortion clinic (the Mildredhuis in Arnhem) start to perform aborti provocati.
• 1973 – The American Indian Movement (AIM) occupies Wounded Knee, South Dakota.
• 1976 – The formerly Spanish territory of Western Sahara, under the auspices of the Polisario Front declares independence as the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic.
• 1986 – The United States Senate allows its debates to be televised on a trial basis.
• 1988 – Sumgait pogrom: The Armenian community of Sumgait in Azerbaijan is targeted in a violent massacre.
• 1989 – Venezuela is rocked by the Caracazo riots.
• 1991 – Gulf War: U.S. President George H. W. Bush announces that "Kuwait is liberated".
• 1995 – Zakho: A terrorist explosion in a market in the city of Zakho leaves about 100 dead and 150 wounded.
• 2002 – Ryanair Flight 296 catches fire at London Stansted Airport. Subsequent investigations criticize Ryanair's handling of the evacuation.
• 2002 – Godhra train burning: A Muslim mob torches a train returning from Ayodhya, killing 59 Hindu pilgrims.
• 2004 – A bombing of a Superferry by Abu Sayyaf in the Philippines' worst terrorist attack kills 116.
• 2004 – The initial version of the John Jay Report, with details about the Catholic sexual abuse scandal in the United States, is released.
• 2007 – The Chinese Correction: The Shanghai Stock Exchange falls 9%, the largest drop in ten years.
• 2010 – An earthquake measuring 8.8 on the Richter scale strikes central parts of Chile leaving over 500 victims, and thousands injured. The quake triggered a tsunami which struck Hawaii shortly after.
• 2012 – A section of a nine-story apartment building in the city of Astrakhan, Russia, collapses in a natural gas explosion, killing ten people and injuring at least 12 others.
• 2013 – At least 19 people are killed when a fire breaks out at an illegal market in Kolkata, India.
• 2013 – Five people (including the perpetrator) are killed and five others injured in a shooting at a factory in Menznau, Switzerland.
• 2015 – A gunman kills seven people then himself in a series of shootings in Tyrone, Missouri.

Births

• 272 – Constantine the Great, Roman emperor (d. 337)
• 1572 – Francis II, Duke of Lorraine (d. 1632)
• 1575 – John Adolf, Duke of Holstein-Gottorp (d. 1616)
• 1606 – Laurent de La Hyre, French painter (d. 1656)
• 1630 – Roche Braziliano, Dutch pirate (d. 1671)
• 1667 – Ludwika Karolina Radziwiłł, Prussian-Lithuanian wife of Charles III Philip, Elector Palatine (d. 1695)
• 1689 – Pietro Gnocchi, Italian composer, director, historian, and geographer (d. 1775)
• 1691 – Edward Cave, English publisher, founded The Gentleman's Magazine (d. 1754)
• 1711 – Constantine Mavrocordatos, Ottoman ruler (d. 1769)
• 1724 – Frederick Michael, Count Palatine of Zweibrücken (d. 1767)
• 1732 – Jean de Dieu-Raymond de Cucé de Boisgelin, French cardinal (d. 1804)
• 1746 – Louis-Jérôme Gohier, French politician, French Minister of Justice (d. 1830)
• 1748 – Anders Erikson Sparrman, Swedish physician and activist (d. 1820)
• 1767 – Jacques-Charles Dupont de l'Eure, French lawyer and politician, 24th Prime Minister of France (d. 1855)
• 1779 – Thomas Hazlehurst, English businessman, founded Hazlehurst & Sons (d. 1842)
• 1789 – Manuel Rodríguez Erdoíza, Chilean lawyer and politician, Chilean Minister of National Defense (d. 1818)
• 1795 – José Antonio Navarro, American merchant and politician (d. 1871)
• 1807 – Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, American poet and educator (d. 1882)
• 1809 – Jean-Charles Cornay, French missionary and saint (d. 1837)
• 1812 – Pieter Harting, Dutch biologist and botanist (d. 1885)
• 1831 – Nikolai Ge, Russian painter (d. 1894)
• 1846 – Franz Mehring, German historian and politician (d. 1919)
• 1847 – Ellen Terry, English actress (d. 1928)
• 1848 – Hubert Parry, English composer and historian (d. 1918)
• 1850 – Laura E. Richards, American author and poet (d. 1943)
• 1856 – Mattia Battistini, Italian opera singer (d. 1928)
• 1859 – Bertha Pappenheim, Austrian-German activist and author (d. 1936)
• 1862 – Anastasios Metaxas, Greek target shooter and architect (d. 1937)
• 1863 – Joaquín Sorolla, Spanish painter (d. 1923)
• 1863 – George Herbert Mead, American sociologist and philosopher (d. 1930)
• 1864 – Eemil Nestor Setälä, Finnish linguist and politician, Finnish Minister for Foreign Affairs (d. 1935)
• 1867 – Irving Fisher, American economist and statistician (d. 1947)
• 1867 – Wilhelm Peterson-Berger, Swedish composer and critic (d. 1942)
• 1869 – Alice Hamilton, American physician and academic (d. 1970)
• 1870 – Louis Coerne, American composer and educator (d. 1922)
• 1872 – Alexandru Vaida-Voevod, Romanian politician, Prime Minister of Romania (d. 1950)
• 1877 – Walter Briggs, Sr., American businessman (d. 1952)
• 1877 – Adela Verne, English pianist and composer (d. 1952)
• 1878 – Alvan T. Fuller, American politician, 50th Governor of Massachusetts (d. 1958)
• 1879 – René Lefebvre, French businessman (d. 1944)
• 1881 – Sveinn Björnsson, Danish-Icelandic lawyer and politician, 1st President of Iceland (d. 1952)
• 1881 – L. E. J. Brouwer, Dutch mathematician and academic (d. 1966)
• 1886 – Hugo Black, American captain, jurist, and politician (d. 1971)
• 1887 – Pyotr Nesterov, Russian captain, pilot, and engineer (d. 1914)
• 1888 – Roberto Assagioli, Italian psychiatrist and psychologist (d. 1974)
• 1888 – Earl Caddock, American wrestler (d. 1950)
• 1888 – Lotte Lehmann, German soprano (d. 1976)
• 1888 – Arthur M. Schlesinger, Sr., American historian and academic (d. 1965)
• 1890 – Freddie Keppard, American cornet player (d. 1933)
• 1891 – David Sarnoff, Belarusian-American journalist and businessman, founded RCA (d. 1971)
• 1892 – William Demarest, American actor and singer (d. 1983)
• 1895 – Miyagiyama Fukumatsu, Japanese sumo wrestler (d. 1943)
• 1897 – Marian Anderson, American singer (d. 1993)
• 1899 – Charles Herbert Best, American-Canadian physiologist and biochemist, co-discovered Insulin (d. 1978)
• 1899 – Ian Keith, American actor (d. 1960)
• 1901 – Marino Marini, Italian sculptor and academic (d. 1980)
• 1902 – Gene Sarazen, American golfer and sportscaster (d. 1999)
• 1902 – Ethelda Bleibtrey, American swimmer (d. 1978)
• 1902 – Lúcio Costa, French-Brazilian architect and engineer, designed Gustavo Capanema Palace (d. 1998)
• 1902 – John Steinbeck, American author, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1968)
• 1903 – Ion Irimescu, Romanian sculptor and illustrator (d. 2005)
• 1903 – Grethe Weiser, German actress and singer (d. 1970)
• 1903 – Reginald Gardiner, English-American actor and singer (d. 1980)
• 1904 – James T. Farrell, American author and poet (d. 1979)
• 1904 – Chick Fullis, American baseball player (d. 1946)
• 1904 – Yulii Borisovich Khariton, Russian physicist and academic (d. 1996)
• 1904 – André Leducq, French cyclist (d. 1980)
• 1905 – Franchot Tone, American actor, singer, and producer (d. 1968)
• 1907 – Mildred Bailey, American singer (d. 1951)
• 1907 – Momčilo Đujić, Serbian-American priest and commander (d. 1999)
• 1909 – Väinö Myllyrinne, Finnish giant (d. 1963)
• 1910 – Joan Bennett, American actress and singer (d. 1990)
• 1910 – Peter De Vries, American journalist and author (d. 1993)
• 1910 – Ted Horn, American race car driver (d. 1948)
• 1910 – Kelly Johnson, American engineer, co-founded Skunk Works (d. 1990)
• 1910 – Genrikh Kasparyan, Armenian chess player (d. 1995)
• 1912 – Kusumagraj, Indian author, poet, and playwright (d. 1999)
• 1912 – Lawrence Durrell, Indian-French author, poet, and playwright (d. 1990)
• 1913 – Paul Ricœur, French philosopher and academic (d. 2005)
• 1913 – Kazimierz Sabbat, Polish soldier and politician, President of Poland (d. 1989)
• 1913 – Irwin Shaw, American author and screenwriter (d. 1984)
• 1915 – Olavi Virta, Finnish singer (d. 1972)
• 1915 – Denis Whitaker, Canadian general, football player, and businessman (d. 2001)
• 1917 – John Connally, American lieutenant and politician, 61st United States Secretary of Treasury (d. 1993)
• 1921 – Theodore Van Kirk, American soldier, pilot, and navigator (d. 2014)
• 1922 – Hans Rookmaaker, Dutch historian, author, and scholar (d. 1977)
• 1923 – Dexter Gordon, American saxophonist, composer, and actor (d. 1990)
• 1925 – Samuel Dash, American lawyer and academic (d. 2004)
• 1925 – Hardrock Gunter, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2013)
• 1926 – David H. Hubel, Canadian-American neurophysiologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2013)
• 1927 – Lynn Cartwright, American actress (d. 2004)
• 1927 – Peter Whittle, New Zealand-English mathematician and theorist
• 1928 – Alfred Hrdlicka, Austrian painter and sculptor (d. 2009)
• 1929 – Bella Flores, Filipino actress (d. 2013)
• 1929 – Jack Gibson, Australian rugby player, coach, and sportscaster (d. 2008)
• 1929 – Stefan Kudelski, Polish engineer, invented the Nagra (d. 2013)
• 1929 – Djalma Santos, Brazilian footballer (d. 2013)
• 1930 – Jovan Krkobabić, Serbian politician, Deputy Prime Minister of Serbia (d. 2014)
• 1930 – Peter Stone, American screenwriter and producer (d. 2003)
• 1930 – Paul von Ragué Schleyer, American chemist and academic
• 1930 – Joanne Woodward, American actress and producer
• 1932 – Elizabeth Taylor, English-American actress, singer, and producer (d. 2011)
• 1932 – David Young, Baron Young of Graffham, English businessman and politician, Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills
• 1933 – Raymond Berry, American football player and coach
• 1933 – Edward Lucie-Smith, Jamaican-English poet, author, and critic
• 1934 – Vincent Fourcade, French interior designer (d. 1992)
• 1934 – N. Scott Momaday, American author and academic
• 1934 – Ralph Nader, American lawyer and politician
• 1934 – Van Williams, American actor
• 1935 – Mirella Freni, Italian soprano and actress
• 1935 – Brian Heap, English biologist and academic
• 1935 – Uri Shulevitz, American author and illustrator
• 1936 – Ron Barassi, Australian footballer and coach
• 1936 – Roger Mahony, American cardinal
• 1937 – Barbara Babcock, American actress
• 1937 – Aslan Usoyan, Georgian-Russian mobster (d. 2013)
• 1938 – Jake Thackray, English singer-songwriter, guitarist, and journalist (d. 2002)
• 1939 – Don McKinnon, English-New Zealand politician, 12th Deputy Prime Minister of New Zealand
• 1939 – Peter Revson, American race car driver (d. 1974)
• 1940 – Pierre Duchesne, Canadian politician, 28th Lieutenant Governor of Quebec
• 1940 – Howard Hesseman, American actor
• 1940 – Bill Hunter, Australian actor (d. 2011)
• 1941 – Paddy Ashdown, Indian-English captain and politician
• 1942 – Jimmy Burns, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
• 1942 – Michel Forget, Canadian actor
• 1942 – Robert H. Grubbs, American chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
• 1942 – Charlayne Hunter-Gault, American journalist
• 1942 – Klaus-Dieter Sieloff, German footballer (d. 2011)
• 1943 – Mary Frann, American actress (d. 1998)
• 1943 – Morten Lauridsen, American composer and conductor
• 1943 – Carlos Alberto Parreira, Brazilian footballer and manager
• 1944 – Ken Grimwood, American author (d. 2003)
• 1944 – Graeme Pollock, South African cricketer and coach
• 1944 – Roger Scruton, English philosopher and author
• 1945 – Carl Anderson, American singer and actor (d. 2004)
• 1947 – Alan Guth, American physicist and cosmologist
• 1947 – Gidon Kremer, Latvian violinist and conductor
• 1949 – Istvan Banyai, Hungarian illustrator and animator
• 1949 – Rosalinda Galli, Italian voice actress
• 1949 – Robert Paterson, English bishop
• 1950 – Gilla, Austrian singer
• 1950 – Julia Neuberger, Baroness Neuberger, English rabbi and politician
• 1950 – Annabel Goldie, Scottish lawyer and politician
• 1951 – Lee Atwater, American politician (d. 1991)
• 1951 – Steve Harley, English singer-songwriter and guitarist (Cockney Rebel)
• 1951 – Janet Steinbeck, Australian swimmer
• 1952 – Stathis Psaltis, Greek actor
• 1953 – Gavin Esler, Scottish journalist and author
• 1953 – Ian Khama, English-Botswanan lieutenant and politician, 4th President of Botswana
• 1953 – Yolande Moreau, Belgian actress and director
• 1954 – JoAnn Falletta, American conductor
• 1954 – Neal Schon, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (Journey, Santana, Bad English, and Hardline)
• 1955 – Peter Christopherson, English keyboard player, songwriter, and director (Coil and Throbbing Gristle (d. 2010)
• 1955 – Lou Hirsch, American actor
• 1956 – Anne Veski, Estonian singer
• 1957 – Danny Antonucci, Canadian animator, producer, and screenwriter
• 1957 – Robert de Castella, Australian runner
• 1957 – Adrian Smith, English guitarist and songwriter (Iron Maiden, ASAP, and Psycho Motel, and Urchin)
• 1957 – Timothy Spall, English actor and singer
• 1958 – Naas Botha, South African rugby player
• 1958 – Max Crivello, Italian illustrator
• 1958 – Maggie Hassan, American lawyer and politician, 81st Governor of New Hampshire
• 1958 – Nancy Spungen, American murder victim, girlfriend of Sid Vicious (d. 1978)
• 1959 – Johnny Van Zant, American singer-songwriter (Lynyrd Skynyrd and Van Zant)
• 1959 – Vardan Petrosyan, Armenian-French actor and screenwriter
• 1960 – Andrés Gómez, Ecuadorian tennis player
• 1960 – Paul Humphreys, English singer-songwriter and keyboard player (Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark, The Listening Pool, and Onetwo)
• 1960 – Carson Yeung, Hong Kong businessman
• 1961 – James Worthy, American basketball player and sportscaster
• 1962 – Adam Baldwin, American actor
• 1962 – Grant Show, American actor
• 1962 – Robert Spencer, American author and blogger
• 1963 – Barbara Dare, American porn actress
• 1963 – Cynthia Layne, American singer-songwriter (d. 2015)
• 1963 – Nasty Suicide, Finnish guitarist (Hanoi Rocks and The Suicide Twins)
• 1963 – Pär Nuder, Swedish politician
• 1964 – Todd Bodine, American race car driver
• 1964 – John Pyper-Ferguson, Australian-Canadian actor
• 1964 – Thomas Lange, German rower and physician
• 1965 – Noah Emmerich, American actor
• 1965 – Pedro Chaves, Portuguese race car driver
• 1966 – Donal Logue, Canadian actor and director
• 1966 – Baltasar Kormákur, Icelandic actor, director, and producer
• 1967 – Volkan Konak, Turkish singer
• 1967 – Dănuț Lupu, Romanian footballer
• 1968 – Matt Stairs, Canadian baseball player and sportscaster
• 1969 – Stuart MacBride, Scottish author
• 1969 – Gareth Llewellyn, Welsh rugby player and coach
• 1970 – Kent Desormeaux, American jockey
• 1970 – Patricia Petibon, French soprano and actress
• 1971 – Sara Blakely, American businesswoman, founded Spanx
• 1971 – Derren Brown, English magician and painter
• 1971 – Roman Giertych, Polish lawyer and politician, Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of Poland
• 1971 – Rozonda Thomas, American singer-songwriter, dancer, and actress (TLC)
• 1972 – Jennifer Lyon, American contestant on Survivor: Palau (d. 2010)
• 1973 – Peter Andre, English-Australian singer-songwriter and actor
• 1973 – Ali Tabatabaee, Iranian-American singer-songwriter (Zebrahead)
• 1973 – Mark Taylor, Welsh rugby player and manager
• 1974 – Julie Andrieu, French radio and television host
• 1974 – Colin Edwards, American motorcycle racer
• 1974 – Carte Goodwin, American lawyer and politician
• 1974 – Movlud Miraliyev, Uzbekistani-Azerbaijani martial artist
• 1975 – Nikita Gross, Czech-Russian porn actress and model
• 1975 – Prodromos Korkizoglou, Greek decathlete
• 1975 – Christopher B. Landon, American director and screenwriter
• 1975 – Eugenia Manolidou, Greek composer and conductor
• 1976 – Tony Gonzalez, American football player and sportscaster
• 1976 – Yukari Tamura, Japanese voice actress and singer
• 1976 – Sergei Semak, Ukrainian-Russian footballer and manager
• 1977 – Ji Sung, South Korean actor
• 1977 – James Wan, Malaysian-Australian director, producer, and screenwriter
• 1978 – James Beattie, English footballer and manager
• 1978 – Kakha Kaladze, Georgian footballer
• 1978 – Emelie Öhrstig, Swedish skier and cyclist
• 1980 – Brandon Beemer, American model and actor
• 1980 – Chelsea Clinton, American journalist and academic
• 1980 – Don Diablo, Dutch singer-songwriter, DJ, and producer
• 1980 – Scott Prince, Australian rugby player
• 1980 – Bobby V, American singer-songwriter (Mista)
• 1981 – Will Devaughn, German-Filipino model and actor
• 1981 – Evi Goffin, Belgian singer-songwriter (Lasgo)
• 1981 – Josh Groban, American singer-songwriter, producer, and actor
• 1981 – Cameron Ling, Australian footballer
• 1981 – Élodie Ouédraogo, Belgian sprinter
• 1981 – Alessandro Rottoli, Italian footballer
• 1982 – Ali Bastian, English actress
• 1982 – Benjamin Bradley, American porn actor
• 1982 – Amedy Coulibaly, French criminal (d. 2015)
• 1982 – Bruno Soares, Brazilian tennis player
• 1983 – Duje Draganja, Croatian swimmer
• 1983 – Devin Harris, American basketball player
• 1983 – Hayley Angel Holt, English actress and singer
• 1983 – Kate Mara, American actress and singer
• 1983 – Mohammed Nabbous, Libyan journalist (d. 2011)
• 1983 – Vítězslav Veselý, Czech javelin thrower
• 1984 – David Noel, American basketball player
• 1984 – Aníbal Sánchez, American baseball player
• 1984 – Lotta Schelin, Swedish footballer
• 1984 – Antti Tuisku, Finnish singer
• 1985 – Diniyar Bilyaletdinov, Russian footballer
• 1985 – Braydon Coburn, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1985 – Vladislav Kulik, Ukrainian-Russian footballer
• 1986 – Yovani Gallardo, American baseball player
• 1986 – Jonathan Moreira, Brazilian footballer
• 1986 – Sandeep Singh, Indian field hockey player
• 1987 – Kristian Marmor, Estonian footballer
• 1987 – Sandy Paillot, French footballer
• 1988 – Iain Ramsay, Australian footballer
• 1988 – Dustin Jeffrey, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1989 – David Button, English footballer
• 1989 – Shota Shimizu, Japanese singer-songwriter
• 1989 – Matt Lapinskas, English actor
• 1989 – Stefano Langone, American singer
• 1989 – Xiao Xun, Taiwanese singer and actress (Hey Girl)
• 1990 – Lindsey Morgan, American actress
• 1990 – Megan Young, Filipino model and actress, Miss World 2013
• 1991 – Azeem Rafiq, Pakistani cricketer
• 1992 – Ty Dillon, American race car driver
• 1992 – Meyers Leonard, American basketball player
• 1992 – Ioannis Potouridis, Greek footballer
• 1992 – Jonjo Shelvey, English footballer
• 1992 – Callum Wilson, English footballer
• 1993 – Alphonse Aréola, French-Filipino footballer
• 1994 – Hou Yifan, Chinese chess player
• 1995 – Laura Gulbe, Latvian tennis player
• 2007 – Lance Lucido, Filipino actor

Deaths

• 640 – Pepin of Landen, Frankish politician (b. 580)
• 956 – Theophylact of Constantinople (b. 917)
• 1659 – Henry Dunster, English-American clergyman and academic (b. 1609)
• 1699 – Charles Paulet, 1st Duke of Bolton, English politician, Lord Lieutenant of Hampshire (b. 1625)
• 1702 – Münejjim Bashi, Ottoman astrologer, Sufi, and historian
• 1706 – John Evelyn, English gardener and author (b. 1620)
• 1720 – Samuel Parris, English-American minister (b. 1653)
• 1735 – John Arbuthnot, Scottish physician and polymath (b. 1667)
• 1795 – Tanikaze Kajinosuke, Japanese sumo wrestler (b. 1750)
• 1844 – Nicholas Biddle, American banker and politician (b. 1786)
• 1887 – Alexander Borodin, Russian composer and chemist (b. 1833)
• 1892 – Louis Vuitton, French businessman, founded Louis Vuitton (b. 1821)
• 1902 – Peter Handcock, Australian lieutenant (b. 1868)
• 1902 – Breaker Morant, English-Australian lieutenant (b. 1864)
• 1921 – Schofield Haigh, English cricketer and umpire (b. 1871)
• 1928 – Jürgen Kröger, German architect (b. 1856)
• 1931 – Chandra Shekhar Azad, Indian activist (b. 1906)
• 1932 – William Southam, Canadian publisher (b. 1843)
• 1936 – Joshua W. Alexander, American judge and politician, 2nd United States Secretary of Commerce (b. 1852)
• 1936 – Ivan Pavlov, Russian physiologist and physician, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1849)
• 1937 – Emily Malbone Morgan, American saint, founded the Society of the Companions of the Holy Cross (b. 1862)
• 1941 – William D. Byron, American politician (b. 1895)
• 1943 – Kostis Palamas, Greek poet and playwright (b. 1859)
• 1956 – Ganesh Vasudev Mavalankar, Indian lawyer and politician, 1st Speaker of the Lok Sabha (b. 1888)
• 1964 – Orry-Kelly, Australian-American costume designer (b. 1897)
• 1968 – Frankie Lymon, American singer-songwriter (The Teenagers) (b. 1942)
• 1969 – Marius Barbeau, Canadian ethnographer and academic (b. 1883)
• 1972 – Pat Brady, American actor and singer (b. 1914)
• 1973 – Bill Everett, American author and illustrator (b. 1917)
• 1977 – John Dickson Carr, American author and playwright (b. 1905)
• 1978 – Vadim Salmanov, Russian composer (b. 1912)
• 1980 – George Tobias, American actor and singer (b. 1901)
• 1981 – Jacob H. Gilbert, American politician (b. 1920)
• 1985 – Ray Ellington, English singer and drummer (b. 1916)
• 1985 – Henry Cabot Lodge Jr., American politician and diplomat, 3rd United States Ambassador to the United Nations (b. 1902)
• 1985 – J. Pat O'Malley, English-American actor and singer (b. 1904)
• 1986 – Jacques Plante, Canadian ice hockey player and coach (b. 1929)
• 1987 – Bill Holman, American cartoonist (b. 1903)
• 1987 – Joan Greenwood, English actress and director (b. 1921)
• 1989 – Paul Oswald Ahnert, German astronomer (b. 1897)
• 1989 – Konrad Lorenz, Austrian zoologist, ethologist, and ornithologist, Nobel laureate (b. 1903)
• 1990 – Nahum Norbert Glatzer, Ukrainian-American scholar and theologian (b. 1903)
• 1990 – Josephine Johnson, American author and poet (b. 1910)
• 1992 – S. I. Hayakawa, Canadian-American linguist and politician (b. 1906)
• 1993 – Lillian Gish, American actress and director (b. 1893)
• 1998 – George H. Hitchings, American pharmacologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1905)
• 1998 – J. T. Walsh, American actor (b. 1943)
• 1999 – Horace Tapscott American pianist and composer (b. 1934)
• 2002 – Spike Milligan, Indian-Irish comedian, actor, and author (b. 1918)
• 2003 – John Lanchbery, English-Australian composer and conductor (b. 1923)
• 2003 – Fred Rogers, American minister and television host (b. 1928)
• 2004 – Yoshihiko Amino, Japanese historian and academic (b. 1928)
• 2004 – Paul Sweezy, American economist and journalist (b. 1910)
• 2006 – Otis Chandler, American publisher (b. 1927)
• 2006 – Robert Lee Scott, Jr., American general and author (b. 1908)
• 2006 – Linda Smith, English comedian and author (b. 1958)
• 2007 – Bobby Rosengarden, American drummer (b. 1924)
• 2007 – Bernd Freytag von Loringhoven, German general (b. 1914)
• 2008 – Ivan Rebroff, German singer (b. 1931)
• 2008 – William F. Buckley, Jr., American author and journalist, founded the National Review (b. 1925)
• 2008 – Boyd Coddington, American motorcycle designer (b. 1944)
• 2008 – Myron Cope, American journalist and sportscaster (b. 1929)
• 2010 – Nanaji Deshmukh, Indian educator and activist (b. 1916)
• 2011 – Frank Buckles, American soldier (b. 1901)
• 2011 – Necmettin Erbakan, Turkish engineer and politician, 32nd Prime Minister of Turkey (b. 1926)
• 2011 – Duke Snider, American baseball player, manager, and sportscaster (b. 1926)
• 2011 – Gary Winick, American director and producer (b. 1961)
• 2012 – Vince Dantona, American ventriloquist (b. 1949)
• 2012 – Ma Jiyuan, Chinese general (b. 1921)
• 2012 – Tina Strobos, Dutch physician and psychiatrist (b. 1920)
• 2012 – Helga Vlahović, Croatian journalist and producer (b. 1945)
• 2013 – Van Cliburn, American pianist (b. 1934)
• 2013 – Ramon Dekkers, Dutch mixed martial artist and kick-boxer (b. 1969)
• 2013 – Stéphane Hessel, German-French diplomat and author (b. 1917)
• 2013 – Richard Street, American singer-songwriter (The Temptations and The Monitors) (b. 1942)
• 2013 – Adolfo Zaldívar, Chilean lawyer and politician (b. 1943)
• 2014 – Aaron Allston, American game designer and author (b. 1960)
• 2014 – Tim Kehoe, American chemist and author (b. 1970)
• 2014 – Huber Matos, Cuban-American activist (b. 1918)
• 2014 – Terry Rand, American basketball player (b. 1934)
• 2014 – Vicente T. Ximenes, American activist (b. 1919)
• 2015 – Richard Bakalyan, American actor (b. 1931)
• 2015 – Bob Benmosche, American businessman (b. 1944)
• 2015 – Boris Nemtsov, Russian academic and politician, First Deputy Prime Minister of Russia (b. 1959)
• 2015 – Leonard Nimoy, American actor, singer, and director (b. 1931)
• 2015 – Julio César Strassera, Argentinian lawyer and jurist (b. 1933)

Holidays and observances

• Christian feast day:
  • Gabriel of Our Lady of Sorrows
  • George Herbert (Anglican Communion)
  • Honorina
  • Leander
  • February 27 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
• International Polar Bear Day
• National Day (Dominican Republic), celebrates the first independence of Dominican Republic from Haiti in 1844.
• The second day of Ayyám-i-Há (Bahá'í Faith)
• Doctors' Day (Vietnam)

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to February 27.

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