December 27

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

### 1901 &ndash; 2000 
* 1904 &ndash; James Barrie's play *Peter Pan* begins to be shown in London.
* 1904 &ndash; The Abbey Theatre opens.
* 1911 &ndash; Jana Gana Mana, the national anthem of India, is first sung at the Calcutta session of the Indian National Congress.
* 1918 &ndash; Beginning of Great Poland Uprising. The Poles in Poland beign to fight against the Germans so that they can become free.
* 1922 &ndash; Japanese aircraft carrier *Hosho* becomes the first purpose–built aircraft carrier to be commissioned in the world.
* 1923 &ndash; Daisuke Namba, Japanese student, tries to assassinate Japan's then–Prince–Regent Hirohito.
* 1932 &ndash; Radio City Music Hall opens in New York City.
* 1936 &ndash; Spanish Civil War: Francisco Franco's forces bomb Santander.
* 1939 &ndash; Erzincan, Turkey, is struck by a major earthquake, killing 30,000 people.
* 1939 &ndash; Winter War: Finland holds off a Soviet Union attack in the Battle of Kelja.
* 1945 &ndash; The World Bank is created with the signing of an agreement by 28 nations.
* 1945 &ndash; Korea is divided (put into two pieces).
* 1947 &ndash; Howdy Doody, a children's television program, makes its debut (NBC).
* 1949 &ndash; Indonesian National Revolution: Queen Juliana of the Netherlands recognises Indonesia as an independent country.
* 1959 &ndash; 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 &ndash; The Beatles play their first performance in Litherland Town Hall, Liverpool.
* 1966 &ndash; The Cave of Swallows, the largest–known cave shaft, is discovered near San Luis Potosí, Mexico.
* 1968 &ndash; Long–time radio show *The Breakfast Club* ends on ABC radio.
* 1975 &ndash; A mining explosion in Jharkhand, India, causes a flood, in which 372 miners drown.
* 1978 &ndash; Spain becomes a democracy (a place where people vote) after 40 years of dictatorship.
* 1979 &ndash; The Soviet Union invades Afghanistan and Babrak Karmal becomes the new president. The old one, Hafizullah Amin, was killed.
* 1985 &ndash; Palestinian fighters kill twenty people in the Rome and Vienna airports (places where airplanes take off and land).
* 1985 &ndash; American naturalist Dian Fossey is found murdered in Rwanda.
* 1996 &ndash; Taliban fighters take over the Bagram air base. They became safer and stronger in Kabul after they did that.
* 1997 &ndash; 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 &ndash; The People's Republic of China is granted permanent normal trade relations with the United States.
* 2002 &ndash; Two truck bombs in Grozny kill 72 and hurt 200 at the building where the government of Chechnya works.
* 2004 &ndash; 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 &ndash; Space telescope *COROT* is launched on a Russian Soyuz rocket from Baikonur, Kazakhstan.
* 2007 &ndash; Benazir Bhutto, former Prime Minister of Pakistan, is killed in a terrorist attack in Rawalpindi, Pakistan.
* 2007 &ndash; 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 &ndash; 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 &ndash; John I of Aragon (d. 1396)
* 1390 &ndash; Anne de Mortimer, claimant to the English throne (d. 1411)
* 1459 &ndash; John I Albert, King of Poland (d. 1501)
* 1555 &ndash; Johann Arndt, German theologian (d. 1621)
* 1566 &ndash; Jan Jesenius, Slovakian physician, politician and philosopher (d. 1621)
* 1571 &ndash; Johannes Kepler, German astronomer (d. 1630)
* 1572 &ndash; Johannes Vodnianus Campanus, Czech humanist (d. 1622)
* 1654 &ndash; Jacob Bernoulli, Swiss mathematician (d. 1705)
* 1717 &ndash; Pope Pius VI (d. 1799)
* 1755 &ndash; Anthony of Saxony (d. 1836)
* 1761 &ndash; Michael Andreas Barclay de Tolly, Russian field marshal (d. 1818)
* 1773 &ndash; George Cayley, English naturalist, physical scientist, engineer, politician (d. 1857)
* 1776 &ndash; Nikolay Kamensky, Russian general (d. 1811)
* 1793 &ndash; Alexander Gordon Laing, Scottish explorer (d. 1826)
* 1796 &ndash; Mirza Ghalib, poet of Urdu (d. 1869)
* 1797 &ndash; Manuela Saenz, South American independence activist (d. 1856)
* 1802 &ndash; Gerardus Johannes Mulder, Dutch physician and chemist (d. 1880)
* 1803 &ndash; François-Marie-Thomas Chevalier de Lorimier, Canadian activist (d. 1839)
* 1822 &ndash; Louis Pasteur, French scientist (d. 1895)
* 1823 &ndash; Sir Mackenzie Bowell, fifth Prime Minister of Canada (d. 1896)
* 1832 &ndash; Pavel Tretyakov, Russian businessman and patron of art (d. 1897)
* 1851 &ndash; Percy Gilchrist, metallurgist (d. 1935)
* 1858 &ndash; Juan Luis Sanfuentes, President of Chile (d. 1930)
* 1860 &ndash; David Hendricks Bergey, bacteriologist (d. 1937)
* 1863 &ndash; Louis Lincoln Emmerson, 27th Governor of Illinois (d. 1941)
* 1867 &ndash; Léon Delacroix, Prime Minister of Belgium (d. 1929)
* 1879 &ndash; Sydney Greenstreet, British actor (d. 1954)
* 1881 &ndash; Antonio Granjo, Portuguese politician (d. 1921)
* 1883 &ndash; Cyrus S. Eaton, Canadian–American financier, businessman and philanthropist (d. 1979)
* 1888 &ndash; Thea von Harbou, German writer and actress (d. 1954)
* 1892 &ndash; Alfred Edwin McKay, Canadian pilot (d. 1917)
* 1896 &ndash; Carl Zuckmayer, German writer (d. 1977)
* 1896 &ndash; Louis Bromfield, writer (d. 1956)
* 1900 &ndash; Hans Stuck, German automobile racer (d. 1978)

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

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

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

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

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

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

## Observances 
* Saint John the Apostle and Evangelist
* Constitution Day (North Korea)
* Saint Stephen's Day (Eastern Orthodox Church), public holiday in Romania.