February 27



Events

Up to 1900 
 425 – The University of Constantinople is founded.
 907 - Abaoji, a Khitan chieftain, is enthroned as Emperor Taizu, creating the Liao Dynasty in Northern China.
 1560 – The Treaty of Berwick, expelling the French from Scotland, is signed by England and the Congregation of Scotland.
 1594 – Henry IV of France is crowned king.
 1617 - Sweden and Russia sign the Treaty of Stolbovo.
 1626 - Yuan Chonghuan is appointed Governor of Liaodong, after he led the Chinese to a great victory over the Manchurians under Nurhaci.
 1655 - The lighthouse at Lindesnes, the southernmost tip of Norway, is first lit, with 13 candles.
 1700 – The island of New Britain is first reached by a European, on an expedition led by William Dampier.
 1776 - American Revolutionary War: The Battle of Moore's Creek Bridge in North Carolina breaks up a Loyalist militia.
 1782 - American Revolutionary War: The British House of Commons votes against further war in America.
 1812 – Near the city of Rosario, Manuel Belgrano raises what later develops into the Flag of Argentina.
 1844 – The Dominican Republic gains independence from Haiti.
 1860 – Abraham Lincoln makes a speech at Cooper Union in New York City that contributes to him being elected US president.
 1861 – Russian troops kill 5 protesters in Warsaw.
 1864 – American Civil War: The first northern prisoners arrive the Confederate prison at Andersonville, Georgia.
 1870 – The Flag of Japan is adopted as the national flag on merchant ships.
 1881 - First Boer War: The Battle of Majuba Hill takes place.
 1898 - George I of Greece survives an assassination attempt.
 1900 – The UK Labour Party is founded.
 1900 - Second Boer War: In South Africa, British officers receive an unconditional notice of surrender from Boer General Piet Cronje at the Battle of Paardeberg.

1901  2000 
 1912 - In Sudan, the first rail track from Khartoum to El Obeid opened.
 1916 - British passenger steamer Maloja is sunk by a German U-boat two miles from Dover, killing 155 people.
 1921 – The International Union of Socialist Parties is founded in Vienna.
 1925 - Adolf Hitler re-founds the Nazi Party in Munich, ordering it to be built up on a national level.
 1930 – Bouvet Island becomes a dependent territory of Norway.
 1932 - Nature magazine releases an article by James Chadwick, describing the existence of the neutron.
 1933 – The Reichstag building in Berlin is set on fire.
 1939 - The United States Supreme Court rules sit-in protests as illegal.
 1940 – Martin Kamen and Sam Ruben discover Carbon-14.
 1942 – World War II: The Battle of the Java Sea begins.
 1943 – The Smith Mine #3 in Bearcreek, Montana, explodes, killing 74 men.
 1943 - The Rosenstrasse protest begins in Berlin.
 1948 – President of Finland Juho Kusti Paasikivi signs a defence treaty with Joseph Stalin.
 1951 – The 22nd Amendment to the United States Constitution is ratified, limiting the US president to two terms in office.
 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 kill South Vietnamese leader Ngo Dinh Diem.
 1963 – Juan Bosch is elected President of the Dominican Republic.
 1964 - The Italian Government asks for help to keep the Leaning Tower of Pisa from toppling over.
 1973 – Wounded Knee Incident standoff at the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota begins.
 1976 – The former Spanish territory of Western Sahara declares its independence.
 1986 - The United States Senate allows its debates to be televised on a trial basis.
 1988 - A violent pogrom takes place against the Armenian Community in Sumgait, Azerbaijan.
 1989 - Venezuela is rocked by the Caracazo riots.
 1991 – US President George H. W. Bush declares that "Kuwait is liberated".
 1992 - Jack Unterweger is arrested by FBI agents in Miami, Florida on suspicion of several murders.
 1993 - Niger holds its first Presidential Election.
 1994 - The 1994 Winter Olympics in Lillehammer, Norway, come to an end.
 1995 - A terrorist explosion in a market in the city of Zakho in Iraqi Kurdistan kills around 100 people and injures over 150.

From 2001 
 2002 – Godhra train bombing: A Muslim mob kills 59 Hindu pilgrims returning from Ayodhya.
 2002 – Ryanair Flight 296 catches fire at Stansted Airport. The evacuation procedures later come in for criticism.
 2004 – The bombing of Superferry 14 by Abu Sayyaf in the Philippines kills 116 people.
 2004 - The initial version of the John Jay Report is released into the Catholic sex abuse scandal in the United States.
 2005 - Million Dollar Baby is the most successful movie at the 77th Academy Awards ceremony.
 2007 – The Shanghai Stock Exchange falls by 9%, its largest drop in 10 years.
 2010 – 2010 Cauquenes earthquake: A major magnitude 8.8 earthquake hits Chile, killing around 500 people.
 2015 - Russian opposition politician Boris Nemtsov is shot dead by an unknown assailant shortly before midnight.

Births

Up to 1900 
 272 – Constantine, Roman Emperor (d. 337)
 1572 - Francis II, Duke of Lorraine (d. 1632)
 1689 – Pietro Gnocchi, Italian composer, choir director, historian and geographer (d. 1775)
 1711 – Constantine Mavrocordates, Prince of Wallachia and Moldavia (d. 1769)
 1767 - Jacques-Charles Dupont de l'Eure, French politician (d. 1855)
 1789 – Manuel Rodriguez, Chilean lawyer and guerrilla (d. 1818)
 1795 - José Antonio Navarro, American statesman, revolutionary and politician from Texas (d. 1871)
 1799 - Edward Belcher, British polar explorer (d. 1877)
 1807 – Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, American poet (d. 1882)
 1809 - Jean-Charles Cornay, French missionary and saint (d. 1837)
 1814 - Samuel Kleinschmidt, German-Greenlandic linguist (d. 1886)
 1831 - Nikolai Ge, Russian painter (d. 1894)
 1836 - Russell A. Alger, Governor of Michigan (d. 1907)
 1846 - Simon Bamberger, Governor of Utah (d. 1926)
 1856 - Mattia Battistini, Italian baritone (d. 1928)
 1859 – Bertha Pappenheim, German activist and writer (d. 1936)
 1861 – Rudolf Steiner, Austrian philosopher (d. 1925)
 1862 – Anastasios Metaxas, Greek architect and shooter (d. 1937)
 1863 - Joaquin Sorolla, Spanish painter (d. 1923)
 1863 - George Herbert Mead, American philosopher and psychologist (d. 1931)
 1867 - Irving Fisher, American economist (d. 1947)
 1870 - Louis Coerne, American composer and music educator (d. 1922)
 1872 - Alexandru Vaida-Voevod, Prime Minister of Romania (d. 1950)
 1874 - F. M. Cornford, English classical scholar and translator (d. 1943)
 1875 - Manuel Ugarte, Argentine politician (d. 1951)
 1877 – Adela Verne, English pianist (d. 1952)
 1878 – Alvan T. Fuller, 50th Governor of Massachusetts (d. 1958)
 1879 – Rene Lefebvre, martyr of the French Resistance (d. 1944)
 1881 – Sveinn Björnsson, 1st President of Iceland (d. 1952)
 1882 - Burton K. Wheeler, American politician (d. 1975)
 1886 – Hugo Black, United States Supreme Court Justice (d. 1971)
 1887 - Pyotr Nesterov, Russian pilot and aircraft designer (d. 1914)
 1888 - Arthur M. Schlesinger, Sr., American historian (d. 1965)
 1888 – Lotte Lehmann, German singer (d. 1976)
 1891 – Anne Samson, Canadian nun and supercentenarian (d. 2004)
 1891 – David Sarnoff, Russian-born broadcast pioneer (d. 1971)
 1892 – William Demarest, American actor (d. 1983)
 1895 - Miyagiyama Fukumatsu, Japanese sumo wrestler (d. 1943)
 1897 – Marian Anderson, American contralto (d. 1993)
 1897 - Bernard Lyot, French astronomer (d. 1952)
 1899 - Charles Best, Canadian scientist (d. 1978)

1901  1950 
 1901 – Marino Marini, Italian artist and sculptor (d. 1980)
 1902 – John Steinbeck, American writer, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1968)
 1903 - Ion Irimescu, Romanian sculptor and sketcher (d. 2005)
 1903 - Grethe Weiser, German actress (d. 1970)
 1904 - Yulii Borisovich Khariton, Russian physicist (d. 1996)
 1904 - Chick Fullis, American baseball player (d. 1946)
 1905 - Franchot Tone, American actor (d. 1968)
 1907 - Mildred Bailey, American singer (d. 1951)
 1910 - Genrikh Gasparyan, Armenian chess player and composer (d. 1995)
 1910 – Joan Bennett, American actress (d. 1990)
 1912 – Lawrence Durrell, English writer (d. 1990)
 1913 – Paul Ricoeur, French philosopher (d. 2005)
 1913 – Kazimierz Sabbat, Polish politician (d. 1989)
 1917 – John Connally, 39th Governor of Texas and 61st United States Secretary of the Treasury (d. 1993)
 1921 - Theodore Van Kirk, American soldier, pilot and navigator (d. 2014)
 1923 - Alejandro Zaffaroni, Uruguayan-American chemist and entrepreneur (d. 2014)
 1923 - Dexter Gordon, American jazz saxophonist (d. 1990)
 1926 – David H. Hubel, Canadian neuroscientist (d. 2013)
 1927 - Lynn Cartwright, American actress (d. 2004)
 1927 - Guy Mitchell, American singer (d. 1999)
 1928 – Alfred Hrdlicka, Austrian artist, sculptor and writer (d. 2009)
 1928 - Jean Joubert, French novelist, short story writer and poet (d. 2015)
 1928 – Ariel Sharon, former Prime Minister of Israel (d. 2014)
 1929 – Djalma Santos, Brazilian footballer (d. 2013)
 1930 – Joanne Woodward, American actress
 1932 – Elizabeth Taylor, British-American actress (d. 2011)
 1932 - Ernst Hinterseer, Austrian skier
 1934 – Ralph Nader, American consumer activist
 1934 - Michiko Maeda, Japanese actress
 1935 - Alberto Remedios, operatic tenor
 1935 - Mirella Freni, Italian soprano
 1935 - Brian Heap, English biologist and academic
 1936 - Roger Mahony, American cardinal
 1936 - Ron Barassi, Australian footballer and coach
 1939 - Kenzo Takada, Japanese fashion designer
 1939 - Don McKinnon, New Zealand politician
 1939 - Antoinette Sibley, English ballerina
 1940 - Loren Pankratz, American psychologist
 1940 – Bill Hunter, Australian actor (d. 2011)
 1941 – Paddy Ashdown, British politician
 1942 – Robert H. Grubbs, American chemist
 1942 – Klaus-Dieter Sieloff, German footballer (d. 2011)
 1943 – Carlos Alberto Parreira, Brazilian football manager
 1945 - Carl Anderson, American actor and singer (d. 2004)
 1947 - Gidon Kremer, Latvian violinist and conductor
 1948 - John Chittick, American health activist (d. 2017)
 1950 - Julia Neuberger, English rabbi and politician
 1950 - Annabel Goldie, Scottish politician

1951  1975 
 1951 - Lee Atwater, American political figure (d. 1991)
 1953 - Ian Khama, President of Botswana
 1953 - Gabriela Svobodova, Czech cross-country skier
 1953 - Gavin Esler, British broadcaster
 1953 - Yolande Moreau, Belgian comedian, actress, movie director and screenwriter
 1957 - Viktor Markin, Soviet-Russian sprinter
 1957 – Adrian Smith, English musician (Iron Maiden)
 1957 – Timothy Spall, English actor
 1958 - Maggie Hassan, Governor of New Hampshire
 1959 – Johnny Van Zant, American singer (Lynyrd Skynyrd)
 1960 – Carson Yeung, Hong Kong businessman
 1962 - Adam Baldwin, American actor
 1964 - Thomas Lange, German rower
 1965 - Noah Emmerich, American actor
 1966 – Baltasar Kormakur, Icelandic actor, director and producer
 1969 - Gareth Llewellyn, Welsh rugby player
 1969 - Stuart MacBride, Scottish writer
 1970 - Goran Markov, Macedonian footballer
 1970 - Patricia Petibon, French soprano
 1971 – Roman Giertych, Polish Minister of Education
 1971 – Derren Brown, British illusionist
 1973 – Peter Andre, British-Australian singer-songwriter, businessman and television personality
 1974 – Colin Edwards, American motorcycle racer
 1974 - Carte Goodwin, former United States Senator for West Virginia
 1975 - Prodromos Korkizoglou, Greek decathlete

From 1976 
 1976 - Sergei Semak, Russian footballer
 1978 – James Beattie, English footballer
 1978 - Kakha Kaladze, Georgian footballer
 1979 - Adriana Campos, Colombian actress (d. 2015)
 1980 - Debbie Flood, British rower
 1980 – Chelsea Clinton, daughter of Hillary Clinton and Bill Clinton
 1980 – Bobby Valentino, American singer
 1981 - Evi Goffin, Belgian singer-songwriter
 1981 – Josh Groban, American singer
 1982 - Bruno Soares, Brazilian tennis player
 1982 - Amedy Coulibaly, French Islamic Jihadist (d. 2015)
 1983 – Kate Mara, American actress
 1984 – Lotta Schelin, Swedish footballer
 1985 – Diniyar Bilyaletdinov, Russian footballer
 1985 - Brandon Coburn, Canadian ice hockey player
 1988 - Dustin Jeffrey, Canadian ice hockey player
 1989 - Shota Shimizu, Japanese musician
 1989 - Stephen Kiprotich, Ugandan long-distance runner
 1989 - Brittany Ashton Holmes, American actress
 1992 - Jonjo Shelvey, English footballer
 1992 - Callum Wilson, English footballer
 1992 - Meyers Leonard, American basketball player
 1994 - Hou Yifan, Chinese chess player
 1996 - Marta Bassino, Italian skier

Deaths

Up to 1900 
 640 - Pepin the Elder, Frankish Mayor of the Palace (b. 580)
 956 - Patriarch Theophylact of Constantinople (b. 917)
 1659 - Henry Dunster, first President of Harvard College (b. 1609)
 1706 – John Evelyn, English diarist (b. 1620)
 1735 – John Arbuthnot, English physician and writer (b. 1667)
 1795 - Tanikaze Kajinosuke, Japanese sumo wrestler (b. 1750)
 1844 - Nicholas Biddle, American banker (b. 1786)
 1850 - Samuel Adams, Governor of Arkansas (b. 1805)
 1874 - Carlos Manuel de Céspedes, Cuban revolutionary (b. 1819)
 1887 – Alexander Borodin, Russian composer (b. 1833)
 1892 – Louis Vuitton, French designer (b. 1821)

1901  2000 
 1905 - George S. Boutwell, Governor of Massachusetts (b. 1818)
 1906 - Samuel Pierpoint Langley, American astrophysicist (b. 1834)
 1931 – Chandrasekhar Azad, Indian revolutionary (b. 1906)
 1936 – Ivan Pavlov, Russian physiologist (b. 1849)
 1936 - Joshua W. Alexander, United States Secretary of Commerce (b. 1852)
 1937 - Emily Malbone Morgan, American saint (b. 1862)
 1939 – Nadezhda Krupskaya, Russian revolutionary (b. 1869)
 1941 - William D. Byron, American politician (b. 1895)
 1943 – Kostis Palamas, Greek poet (b. 1859)
 1956 - Ganesh Vasudev Mavalankar, Indian politician (b. 1888)
 1970 – Marie Dionne, one of the Dionne quintuplets (b. 1934)
 1972 - Pat Brady, American actor and singer (b. 1914)
 1973 - Bill Everett, American comic book artist (b. 1917)
 1985 – Henry Cabot Lodge, American politician (b. 1902)
 1986 – Jacques Plante, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1929)
 1987 - Joan Greenwood, English actress and director (b. 1921)
 1989 – Konrad Lorenz, Austrian zoologist (b. 1903)
 1993 – Lillian Gish, American actress (b. 1893)
 1998 – George H. Hitchings, American scientist (b. 1905)
 1999 - Christine Glanville, British puppeteer (b. 1924)

From 2001 
 2002 – Spike Milligan, Irish-born comedian (b. 1918)
 2003 – Fred Rogers, American children's television actor (b. 1928)
 2003 - John Lanchbery, English-Australian composer and conductor (b. 1923)
 2006 - Linda Smith, British comedienne (b. 1958)
 2007 - Bobby Rosengarden, American jazz drummer (b. 1924)
 2008 – Ivan Rebroff, German singer (b. 1931)
 2008 – William F. Buckley, Jr., American writer and commentator (b. 1925)
 2009 – Manea Manescu, Romanian Prime Minister (b. 1916)
 2010 – Wendy Toye, British actress (b. 1917)
 2011 – Necmettin Erbakan, Turkish Prime Minister (b. 1926)
 2011 – Frank Buckles, American World War I veteran and supercentenarian (b. 1901)
 2013 - Van Cliburn, American pianist (b. 1934)
 2013 - Ramon Dekkers, Dutch kickboxer (b. 1969)
 2013 - Dale Robertson, American actor (b. 1923)
 2014 - Jan Hoet, Belgian art historian (b. 1936)
 2014 - Huber Matos, Cuban dissident, activist and writer (b. 1918)
 2014 - Aaron Allston, American game designer and science fiction writer (b. 1960)
 2015 - Bohdan Tomaszewski, Polish sports commentator (b. 1921)
 2015 - Richard Bakalyan, American actor (b. 1931)
 2015 - Bob Benmosche, American executive (b. 1944)
 2015 - Mykhailo Chechetov, Ukrainian politician (b. 1953)
 2015 - Leonard Nimoy, American actor (b. 1931)
 2015 - Boris Nemtsov, Russian politician (b. 1959)
 2016 - Rajesh Pillai, Indian film director (b. 1974)
 2017 - John Harlan, American radio and television announcer (b. 1925)
 2017 - Carlos Humberto Romero, President of El Salvador (b. 1924)
 2018 - Quini, Spanish footballer (b. 1949)
 2018 - William H. T. Bush, American businessman (b. 1938)

Observances
 National Day of the Dominican Republic

Days of the year