December 27



Events

Up to 1900 
 537 – The Hagia Sophia is consecrated as a church in Byzantium.
 1703 – Portugal and England sign the Methuen Treaty which gives preference to Portuguese imported wines into England.
 1814 - War of 1812: American schooner (a type of sailing boat) USS Carolina is destroyed.
 1831 – Charles Darwin begins his trip on the boat the HMS Beagle, where he will think of the theory of evolution.
 1836 – The worst ever avalanche in England happens at Lewes, Sussex, killing 8 people.
 1845 – Ether anesthetic is used for childbirth for the first time (Dr. Crawford Williamson Long in Jefferson, Georgia).

1901  2000 
 1904 – James Barrie's play Peter Pan begins to be shown in London.
 1904 – The Abbey Theatre opens.
 1911 - Jana Gana Mana, the national anthem of India, is first sung at the Calcutta session of the Indian National Congress.
 1918 – Beginning of Great Poland Uprising. The Poles in Poland beign to fight against the Germans so that they can become free.
 1922 - Japanese aircraft carrier Hosho becomes the first purpose-built aircraft carrier to be commissioned in the world.
 1923 - Daisuke Namba, Japanese student, tries to assassinate Japan's then-Prince-Regent Hirohito.
 1932 – Radio City Music Hall opens in New York City.
 1936 - Spanish Civil War: Francisco Franco's forces bomb Santander.
 1939 - Erzincan, Turkey, is struck by a major earthquake, killing 30,000 people.
 1939 - Winter War: Finland holds off a Soviet Union attack in the Battle of Kelja.
 1945 – The World Bank is created with the signing of an agreement by 28 nations.
 1945 – Korea is divided (put into two pieces).
 1947 – Howdy Doody, a children's television program, makes its debut (NBC).
 1949 – Indonesian National Revolution: Queen Juliana of the Netherlands recognises Indonesia as an independent country.
 1959 – In a referendum, voters in the Pacific islands of Wallis and Futuna decide that their islands should have the status of a French overseas territory.
 1960 - The Beatles play their first performance in Litherland Town Hall, Liverpool.
 1966 - The Cave of Swallows, the largest-known cave shaft, is discovered near San Luis Potosí, Mexico.
 1968 – Long-time radio show The Breakfast Club ends on ABC radio.
 1975 – A mining explosion in Jharkhand, India, causes a flood, in which 372 miners drown.
 1978 – Spain becomes a democracy (a place where people vote) after 40 years of dictatorship.
 1979 – The Soviet Union invades Afghanistan and Babrak Karmal becomes the new President. The old one, Hafizullah Amin, was killed.
 1985 – Palestinian fighters kill twenty people in the Rome and Vienna airports (places where airplanes take off and land).
 1985 – American naturalist Dian Fossey is found murdered in Rwanda.
 1996 – Taliban fighters take over the Bagram air base. They became safer and stronger in Kabul after they did that.
 1997 – Protestant paramilitary (paramilitary is what you call an army that is not legal and part of the government) leader Billy Wright is assassinated in Northern Ireland.

From 2001 
 2001 – The People's Republic of China is granted permanent normal trade relations with the United States.
 2002 – Two truck bombs in Grozny kill 72 and hurt 200 at the building where the government of Chechnya works.
 2004 - Radiation from an explosion on the magnetar "SGR 1806-20" reaches Earth. It is the brightest extrasolar (outside the Solar System) event known to have been witnessed on the planet.
 2006 - Space telescope COROT is launched on a Russian Soyuz rocket from Baikonur, Kazakhstan.
 2007 – Benazir Bhutto, former Prime Minister of Pakistan, is killed in a terrorist attack in Rawalpindi, Pakistan.
 2007 - Mwai Kibaki is declared the winner of a disputed Presidential election in Kenya. Riots start, which ultimately lead to a political, economic and humanitarian crisis.
 2008 – A three-week war begins in the Gaza Strip, as Israel launches Operation Cast Lead on suspected Hamas militants in Gaza, lasting three weeks.

Births

Up to 1900 
 1350 – John I of Aragon (d. 1396)
 1390 - Anne de Mortimer, claimant to the English throne (d. 1411)
 1459 – John I Albert, King of Poland (d. 1501)
 1555 - Johann Arndt, German theologian (d. 1621)
 1566 - Jan Jesenius, Slovakian physician, politician and philosopher (d. 1621)
 1571 – Johannes Kepler, German astronomer (d. 1630)
 1572 - Johannes Vodnianus Campanus, Czech humanist (d. 1622)
 1654 – Jacob Bernoulli, Swiss mathematician (d. 1705)
 1717 – Pope Pius VI (d. 1799)
 1755 - Anthony of Saxony (d. 1836)
 1761 - Michael Andreas Barclay de Tolly, Russian field marshal (d. 1818)
 1773 – George Cayley, English naturalist, physical scientist, engineer, politician (d. 1857)
 1776 - Nikolay Kamensky, Russian general (d. 1811)
 1793 - Alexander Gordon Laing, Scottish explorer (d. 1826)
 1796 – Mirza Ghalib, poet of Urdu (d. 1869)
 1797 - Manuela Saenz, South American independence activist (d. 1856)
 1802 - Gerardus Johannes Mulder, Dutch physician and chemist (d. 1880)
 1803 - François-Marie-Thomas Chevalier de Lorimier, Canadian activist (d. 1839)
 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)
 1851 – Percy Gilchrist, metallurgist (d. 1935)
 1858 – Juan Luis Sanfuentes, President of Chile (d. 1930)
 1860 – David Hendricks Bergey, bacteriologist (d. 1937)
 1863 - Louis Lincoln Emmerson, 27th Governor of Illinois (d. 1941)
 1867 - Léon Delacroix, Prime Minister of Belgium (d. 1929)
 1879 – Sydney Greenstreet, British actor (d. 1954)
 1881 – Antonio Granjo, Portuguese politician (d. 1921)
 1883 - Cyrus S. Eaton, Canadian-American financier, businessman and philanthropist (d. 1979)
 1888 – Thea von Harbou, German writer and actress (d. 1954)
 1892 - Alfred Edwin McKay, Canadian pilot (d. 1917)
 1896 – Carl Zuckmayer, German writer (d. 1977)
 1896 – Louis Bromfield, writer (d. 1956)
 1900 – Hans Stuck, German automobile racer (d. 1978)

1901  1950 
 1901 – Marlene Dietrich, German actress and singer (d. 1992)
 1903 - Hermann Volk, German cardinal (d. 1988)
 1906 – Oscar Levant, composer and actor (d. 1972)
 1907 – Sebastian Haffner, German publicist (someone who tells people about things) (d. 1999)
 1907 - Willem van Otterloo, Dutch conductor and composer (d. 1978)
 1909 – Henryk Jablonski, Polish politician (d. 2003)
 1914 - Doris Bowdon, American actress (d. 2005)
 1915 – William Masters, American sexologist (d. 2001)
 1917 - Buddy Boudreaux, American jazz musician (d. 2015)
 1923 - Lucas Mangope, South African politician (d. 2018)
 1925 – Michel Piccoli, French actor
 1926 - Jerome Courtland, American actor, director and producer
 1926 - Rodrigo Carazo Odio, President of Costa Rica (d. 2009)
 1927 - Nityanand Swami, Indian politician, 1st Chief Minister of Uttarakhand (d. 2012)
 1928 - Walter Romberg, German politician (d. 2014)
 1930 - Marshall Sahlins, American anthropologist
 1931 - John Charles, Welsh footballer (d. 2004)
 1931 – Tommy Lapid, Israeli politician (d. 2008)
 1931 - Scotty Moore, American rock musician (d. 2016)
 1934 - Larisa Latynina, Russian gymnast
 1935 - Michael Turnbull, English bishop
 1938 - Stanislav Stanojevic, Serbian-born French movie director and actor
 1938 - Rolf Wolfsohl, German cyclist
 1939 – John Amos, American actor
 1941 - Miles Aiken, American basketball player and coach
 1941 - Mike Pinder, English singer-songwriter and keyboardist
 1941 - Nolan Richardson, American basketball player and coach
 1942 - Charmian Carr, American actress (d. 2016)
 1942 - Thomas Menino, 53rd Mayor of Boston, Massachusetts (d. 2014)
 1942 - Ron Jacobs, American basketball coach (d. 2015)
 1943 - Joan Manuel Serrat, Catalan singer-songwriter
 1943 – Cokie Roberts, American journalist (d. 2019)
 1944 - Markus Werner, Swiss writer (d. 2016)
 1946 – Janet Street-Porter, English journalist and television presenter
 1946 - Polly Toynbee, English journalist
 1948 – Gérard Depardieu, French actor
 1949 – Klaus Fischer, German footballer
 1950 – Roberto Bettega, Italian footballer

1951  1975 
 1951 – Ernesto Zedillo, former President of Mexico
 1952 – David Knopfler, British musician (Dire Straits)
 1952 - Tovah Feldshuh, American actress
 1954 - Kent Benson, American basketball player
 1956 - Doina Melinte, Romanian athlete
 1957 - Dane Witherspoon, American actor (d. 2014)
 1958 - Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, Prime Minister of Pakistan
 1959 – Gerina Dunwich, occult writer
 1960 – Maryam d'Abo, British actress
 1961 – Guido Westerwelle, German politician (d. 2016)
 1963 - Claus Meyer, Danish chef, television host and restaurateur
 1963 – Gaspar Noé, Argentine-born director
 1964 - Theresa Randle, American actress
 1965 – Salman Khan, Indian actor
 1966 - Masahiro Fukuda, Japanese footballer
 1966 – Bill Goldberg, American professional wrestler, American football player
 1966 - Eva LaRue, American actress
 1969 – Sarah Vowell, American writer and journalist
 1970 - Chyna, American professional wrestler and pornographic actress (d. 2016)
 1971 – Duncan Ferguson, Scottish footballer
 1971 - Sergei Bodrov, Jr., Russian movie actor and director (d. 2002)
 1971 - Sabine Spitz, German cyclist
 1973 – Wilson Cruz, actor
 1974 – Masi Oka, Japanese-American actor
 1975 – Heather O'Rourke, American child actress (Poltergeist) (d. 1988)

From 1976 
 1976 - Curro Torres, Spanish footballer
 1976 - Aaron Stanford, American actor and producer
 1976 - Piotr Morawski, Polish mountaineer (d. 2009)
 1976 - Tim Roberts, American professional wrestler (d. 2015)
 1979 – David Dunn, English footballer
 1979 – Carson Palmer, American football quarterback, Heisman Trophy winner
 1981 – Emilie de Ravin, Australian actress
 1981 – Javine, British singer
 1981 - Lise Darly, French singer
 1981 - Patrick Sharp, Canadian ice hockey player
 1983 - Anthony Boric, New Zealand rugby player
 1983 - Cole Hamels, American baseball player
 1984 - Black M, French rapper and singer-songwriter
 1984 – Gilles Simon, French tennis player
 1985 - Adil Rami, French footballer
 1985 - Cristian Villagra, Argentine footballer
 1986 - Torah Bright, Australian snowboarder
 1986 - Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, Jamaican athlete
 1987 - Logan Bailly, Belgian footballer
 1988 - Hiroki Yamada, Japanese footballer
 1988 – Hayley Williams, American singer (Paramore)
 1988 - Zavon Hines, Jamaican-English footballer
 1990 - Milos Raonic, Canadian tennis player
 1991 - Chloe Bridges, American actress
 1991 - Jimi Blue Ochsenknecht, German actor and rapper
 1991 - Danny Wilson, Scottish footballer
 1995 - Mark Lapidus, Estonian chess player
 1997 - Ana Konjuh, Croatian tennis player

Deaths

Up to 1900 
 1065 - King Ferdinand I of Leon and Castile (b. 1018)
 1076 - Prince Sviatoslav of Kiev (b. 1027)
 1087 - Bertha of Savoy, German queen and Holy Roman Empress (b. 1051)
 1381 - Edmund Mortimer, 3rd Earl of March, English politician
 1543 - George, Margrave of Brandenburg-Ansbach (b. 1484)
 1743 - Hyacinthe Rigaud, French sculptor (b. 1659)
 1771 - Henri Pitot, French inventor (b. 1695)
 1782 – Henry Home, Lord Kames, Scottish lawyer and philosopher (b. 1697)
 1800 - Hugh Blair, Scottish minister and author (b. 1718)
 1812 – Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liadi, founder of the Chabad Hasidic movement (b. 1745)
 1836 – Stephen F. Austin, American pioneer (someone who goes to new places) (b. 1793)
 1873 - Edward Blyth, English zoologist and ornithologist (b. 1810)
 1881 - John J. Bagley, American politician, 16th Governor of Michigan (b. 1832)
 1891 - Antonio Arenas, President of Peru (b. 1808)
 1896 – John Brown, manufacturer (b. 1861)
 1900 – William George Armstrong, inventor, industrialist and engineer (b. 1810)

1901  2000 
 1914 – Charles Martin Hall, chemist, inventor (b. 1863)
 1923 - Gustave Eiffel, French engineer and architect (b. 1832)
 1925 – Sergei Yesenin, Russian poet (b. 1895)
 1936 - Mehmet Akif Ersoy, Turkish poet, writer and academic (b. 1873)
 1937 - William Noble Andrews, American politician (b. 1876)
 1938 – Calvin Bridges, geneticist (b. 1889)
 1942 - William G. Morgan, American inventor of volleyball (b. 1870)
 1950 – Max Beckmann, German painter (b. 1884)
 1953 – Julian Tuwim, Polish poet (b. 1894)
 1957 - Otto Nuschke, German politician (b. 1883)
 1958 - Harry Warner, American studio executive (b. 1881)
 1966 – Guillermo Stabile, Argentine footballer (b. 1905)
 1968 – Victor Ernest Shelford, zoologist (b. 1877)
 1972 – Lester Pearson, fourteenth Prime Minister of Canada (b. 1897)
 1974 - Vladimir Fock, Russian physicist and mathematician (b. 1898)
 1974 - Amy Vanderbilt, American author (b. 1908)
 1978 – Houari Boumedienne, President of Algeria (b. 1932)
 1979 – Hafizullah Amin, President of Afghanistan (b. 1929)
 1981 – Hoagy Carmichael, American composer, singer (b. 1899)
 1982 - Jack Swigert, American astronaut (b. 1931)
 1985 – Dian Fossey, American biologist (b. 1932)
 1988 – Hal Ashby, movie director (b. 1929)
 1994 – Fanny Cradock, British chef and cookery writer (b. 1909)
 1997 – Billy Wright, Irish Protestant paramilitary leader (b. 1960)
 1997 – Brendan Gill, columnist, humorist (someone who makes people laugh) (b. 1953)

From 2001 
 2002 – George Roy Hill, movie director (b. 1922)
 2003 – Alan Bates, British actor (b. 1934)
 2003 – Ivan Calderon, baseball player (b. 1962) (murdered)
 2007 – Benazir Bhutto, Pakistani politician (b. 1953)
 2007 – Jerzy Kawalerowicz, Polish movie director (b. 1922)
 2007 – Jaan Kross, Estonian writer (b. 1920)
 2008 – Alfred Pfaff, German footballer (b. 1926)
 2009 - Takashi Takabayashi, Japanese footballer (b. 1931)
 2010 – Ronald Lee Herrick, organ donor (b. 1931)
 2011 – Helen Frankenthaler, American painter (b. 1928)
 2011 - Michael Dummett, British philosopher (b. 1925)
 2012 - Harry Carey, Jr., American actor (b. 1921)
 2012 - Norman Schwarzkopf, Jr., American general (b. 1934)
 2012 - Jesco von Puttkamer, German-American engineer (b. 1933)
 2013 - Mohamad Chatah, Lebanese economist and diplomat (b. 1951) (car bombing)
 2013 - Elvira Quintilla, Spanish actress (b. 1928) 
 2014 - Tomaz Salamun, Slovenian poet (b. 1941)
 2014 - Karel Poma, Belgian politician (b. 1920)
 2015 - Alfredo Pacheco, El Salvadorean footballer (b. 1982)
 2015 - Haskell Wexler, American cinematographer, movie producer and director (b. 1922)
 2015 - Dave Henderson, American baseball player (b. 1958)
 2015 - Ellsworth Kelly, American painter, sculptor and printmaker (b. 1923)
 2015 - Meadowlark Lemon, American basketball player (b. 1932)
 2015 - Stein Eriksen, Norwegian skier (b. 1927)
 2015 - Gabriel Tambon, French politician (b. 1930)
 2016 - Ratnasiri Wickremanayake, Prime Minister of Sri Lanka (b. 1951)
 2016 - Claude Gensac, French actress (b. 1927)
 2016 - Carrie Fisher, American actress and writer (b. 1956)
 2016 - Hans Tietmeyer, German economist (b. 1931)
 2017 - Ben Barres, American neurobiologist (b. 1954)
 2017 - Osvaldo Fattori, Italian footballer (b. 1922)
 2017 - Thomas Hunter, American actor (b. 1932)

Observances 
 Constitution Day (North Korea)
 Saint Stephen's Day (Eastern Orthodox Church), public holiday in Romania.

Days of the year