August 27

Events
Up to 1900
479 BC Battle of Plataea ends the Persian invasion of Greece, Mardonius routed by Pausanias, the Spartan commander of the Greek army.
55 BC Julius Caesar Lands in Britain for the first time.
AD 410 Vandal sack of Rome ends after three days.
1172 Henry the Young King and Margaret of France crowned as junior king and queen of England.
1593 Pierre Barriere fails in his attempt to kill King Henry IV of France.
1597 Japan defeats Korea in the Naval Battle of Chilchonryang during the Imjin War, following several mistakes by the Korean admiral Won Gyun.
1664 After officially taking control of the former Dutch colony of New Amsterdam, British colonists rename it New York.
1664 The French East India Company is officially founded by Louis XIV of France.
1728 On this date in the Gregorian calendar, Vitus Bering lands on the Diomede Islands in the now-named Bering Strait between Alaska, now in the US, and the Russian far east.
1776 Battle of Long Island, in present-day Brooklyn, New York British forces under General William Howe defeat Americans under General George Washington.
1793 French Revolutionary Wars: The city of Toulon revolts against the French Republic.
1810 The French Navy defeats the British Royal Navy, preventing them from taking the harbor of Grand Port and Ile de France.
1813 Napoleon defeats the Austrians, Russians and Prussians at the Battle of Dresden.
1820 Along with two other people, Josef Naus becomes the first person to climb Zugspitze, the highest mountain in Germany.
1828 The Russians defeat the Turks at Akhaltzikke.
1832 Black Hawk, leader of the Sauk tribe of Native Americans, surrenders to US forces.
1859 Petroleum discovered in Titusville, Pennsylvania - the world's first successful oil well.
1861 American Civil War: Union forces attack Cape Hatteras, North Carolina.
1883 The after effects caused by the Krakatoa explosion in Indonesia kill over 36,000 people, as the eruption ends in a loud explosion, which causes deadly tsunamis.
1896 The shortest war in the world - 9:02 - 9:40 between the United Kingdom and Zanzibar
1900 British defeat Boer commandos at Bergendal.
1901 2000
1912 The novel Tarzan of the Apes by Edgar Rice Burroughs goes on sale.
1914 World War I: French and British troops occupy the then-German colony of Togoland.
1916 World War I: Romania declares war on Austria-Hungary.
1921 The British Faisal I as King of Iraq.
1927 Five Canadian women file a petition to the Supreme Court of Canada asking whether the word 'persons' in Section 24 of the British North America Act of 1867, includes female persons.
1928 The Kellogg-Briand Pact, outlawing war, is signed by sixty nations.
1939 First jet aircraft flight.
1943 World War II: Japanese forces evacuate New Georgia Island in the Pacific Theater of Operations during the war.
1952 Reparation negotiations between West Germany and Israel end in Luxembourg; West Germany to pay 3 billion Deutschmarks.
1955 The Guinness Book of Records goes on sale for the first time.
1957 The Constitution of Malaysia comes into force.
1962 The Mariner 2 space probe is launched.
1971 A failed military coup occurs in Chad.
1975 The Governor of Portuguese Timor (now East Timor) abandons his capital, Dili, and flees to Atauro Island, leaving control to a rebel group.
1979 An IRA bomb kills Lord Mountbatten and 3 others on holiday in Sligo, Republic of Ireland. Another near Warrenpoint, Northern Ireland kills 18 British soldiers.
1982 Turkish military diplomat Colonel Atilla Altikat is shot dead in Ottawa, Canada. The group Justice Commandos Against Armenian Genocide claims responsibility.
1985 The Nigerian government is peacefully overthrown by army chief Ibrahim Babangida.
1990 The British Broadcasting Corporation launches BBC Radio Five Live at 9am GMT with a mixture of sports, news, and children's programming. The station broadcasts for eighteen hours per day.
1991 The European Community recognizes the independence of the Baltic states: Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania.
1991 Moldova declares independence from the USSR.
1993 The Gouhou Dam in Gonghe, Qinghai province, breaks, resulting in 240 deaths.
1993 The Florida DOT decides to cease producing its distinctive colored U.S. Highway shields so that it can make use of Federal funds for those signs.
2000 Ostankino Tower in Moscow catches fire, and three people are killed.
From 2001
2003 Mars makes closest approach to Earth in nearly 60,000 years, passing approximately 34,646,416 miles (55,758,006 kilometers) from Earth.
2005 The Turning Torso in Malmo, Sweden, which is the tallest residential building in Europe, is opened.
2005 Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama declare a State of Emergency in preparation for Hurricane Katrina.
2006 Comair Flight 5191 crashes on take-off at Lexington, Kentucky, with 49 people out of the 50 on board being confirmed dead within hours of the crash.
2010 Kenya promulgates a new constitution under Mwai Kibaki
2011 Hurricane Irene strikes the east coast of the United States.
Births
Up to 1850
551 BC Confucius, Chinese philosopher (died 479 BC)
865 Rhazes, Persian polymath (died 925)
1407 Ashikaga Yoshikazu, Ashikaga shogun (died 1425)
1471 George, Duke of Saxony (died 1539)
1487 Anne of Brandenburg (died 1514)
1545 Alexander Farnese, Duke of Parma (died 1592)
1619 Anne Genevieve de Bourbon (died 1679)
1624 Koxinga, Chinese Ming dynasty loyalist (died 1662)
1630 Maria van Oosterwijk, Dutch painter (died 1693)
1669 Anne Marie d'Orleans, Duchess of Saxony (died 1728)
1724 Joan Joachim Zubly, Swiss pastor, planter and statesman (died 1781)
1730 Johann Georg Hamann, German philosopher and writer (died 1788)
1770 Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, German philosopher (died 1831)
1781 Finnur Magnusson, Icelandic philologist (died 1847)
1785 Agustin Gamarra, Peruvian general and President (died 1841)
1803 Edward Beecher, American theologian (died 1895)
1809 Hannibal Hamlin, 15th Vice President of the United States and 26th Governor of Maine (died 1891)
1812 Bertalan Szemere, 3rd Prime Minister of Hungary (died 1869)
1827 Charles Lilley, English-Australian politician, 4th Premier of Queensland (died 1897)
1845 Friedrich Martens, Russian diplomat (died 1909)
1851 1900
1858 Giuseppe Peano, Italian mathematician (died 1932)
1862 Abram Arkhipov, Russian artist (died 1930)
1864 Helena Patursson, Faroese actress and writer (died 1916)
1865 James Henry Breasted, American Egyptologist (died 1935)
1865 Charles G. Dawes, 30th Vice President of the United States (died 1951)
1868 Hong Beom-do, Korean activist (died 1943)
1869 Karl Haushofer, German geographer (died 1946)
1870 Amado Nervo, Mexican journalist, poet and diplomat (died 1919)
1871 Theodore Dreiser, American writer (died 1945)
1872 Giovanni Nasalli Rocca di Corneliano, Archbishop of Bologna (died 1952)
1873 Maud Allan, Canadian-American dancer (died 1956)
1874 Carl Bosch, German chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1940)
1875 Katharine McCormick, American women's rights activist (died 1967)
1877 Charles Rolls, British co-founder of Rolls-Royce (died 1910)
1877 Ernst Wetter, Swiss Federal Councillor (died 1963)
1878 Pyotr Nikolayevich Wrangel, Russian military figure (died 1928)
1881 Sigurd Islandsmoen, Norwegian composer (died 1964)
1884 Vincent Auriol, President of France (died 1966)
1884 Alfredo Baldomir, President of Uruguay (died 1948)
1886 Eric Coates, English composer (died 1957)
1886 Rebecca Clark, English composer (died 1979)
1887 Jimmy Finlayson, Scottish-born American actor (died 1953)
1890 Man Ray, American photographer and artist (died 1976)
1896 Faina Rainevskaya, Russian actress (died 1984)
1896 Zygmunt Berling, Polish general and politician (died 1980)
1896 Leon Theremin, Russian physicist and inventor (died 1993)
1899 C. S. Forester, British writer (died 1966)
1899 Byron Foulger, American actor (died 1970)
1901 1950
1904 Norah Lofts, writer (died 1983)
1905 Aris Velouchiotis, Greek military leader (died 1945)
1906 Ed Gein, American serial killer (died 1984)
1908 Don Bradman, Australian cricketer (died 2001)
1908 Lyndon B. Johnson, 36th President of the United States (died 1973)
1908 Frank Leahy, American football coach (died 1945)
1909 Lester Young, American jazz musician (died 1959)
1911 Kay Walsh, British actress (died 2005)
1913 Nina Schenk von Stauffenberg, wife of Claus Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg (died 2006)
1914 Heidi Kabel, German actress (died 2010)
1915 Norman Foster Ramsey, Jr., American physicist (died 2011)
1916 Martha Raye, American actress (died 1994)
1917 Peanuts Lowrey, American baseball player, coach and manager (died 1986)
1918 Jelle Zijlstra, Prime Minister of the Netherlands (died 2001)
1920 James Molyneaux, Baron Molyneaux of Killead, Northern Irish politician (died 2015)
1921 Georg Alexander, Duke of Mecklenburg (died 1996)
1921 Leo Penn, American actor and director (died 1998)
1925 Nat Lofthouse, English footballer (died 2011)
1925 Andrea Cordero Lanza di Montezemolo, Italian cardinal (died 2017)
1926 Pat Coombs, English actress (died 2002)
1926 Kristen Nygaard, Norwegian mathematician (died 2002)
1928 Osamu Shimomura, Japanese biochemist
1928 Peter Boross, Hungarian politician and Prime Minister
1928 Mangosuthu Buthelezi, South African politician
1928 Othmar Schneider, Austrian skier (died 2012)
1929 Ira Levin, American writer (died 2007)
1931 Sri Chinmoy, Indian spiritual leader (died 2007)
1931 Sven Tumba, Swedish footballer, ice hockey player and golfer (died 2011)
1932 Saye Zerbo, Burkina Faso politician (died 2013)
1932 Karekin I, former Armenian Apostolic Church leader
1932 Antonia Fraser, British writer
1933 Kerstin Ekman, Swedish writer
1935 Frank Yablans, American movie producer
1937 Alice Coltrane, American pianist and composer (died 2007)
1937 Tommy Sands, American actor and singer
1939 Edward Patten, American singer, songwriter and producer (died 2005)
1941 Bohdan Stupka, Ukrainian actor and Minister of Culture (died 2012)
1941 Cesaria Evora, Cape Verdean singer
1941 Janos Konrad, Hungarian water polo player and swimmer
1942 Brian Peckford, Canadian politician
1942 Robert Marion Berry, American politician
1942 Daryl Dragon, American songwriter (Captain & Tennille) (d. 2019)
1943 Tuesday Weld, American actress
1943 Bob Kerrey, 36th Governor of Nebraska
1943 Wolfgang Nordwig, German high jumper
1945 Jan Sloot, Dutch inventor (died 1999)
1946 Peter Tobin, Scottish serial killer
1947 Barbara Bach, American actress
1948 Philippe Vallois, French screenwriter and director
1950 Neil Murray, Scottish bass player and songwriter
1951 1975
1952 Paul Reubens (Pee-Wee Herman), American actor
1953 Alex Lifeson, Canadian rock guitarist (Rush)
1953 Peter Stormare, Swedish actor, director, playwright and musician
1954 John Lloyd, British tennis player and coach
1957 Bernhard Langer, German golfer
1957 Jeff Grubb, American game designer and author
1958 Sergei Krikalev, Russian cosmonaut
1958 Marcos Paqueta, Brazilian football manager
1958 Hugh Orde, English senior police officer
1959 Yves Rossy, Swiss pilot, aviation enthusiast and inventor
1959 Juan Fernando Cobo, Colombian painter and sculptor
1959 Jeanette Winterson, English novelist
1959 Jurgen Becker, German comedian and performer
1961 Yolanda Adams, American singer, producer and actress
1961 Tom Ford, American fashion designer and director
1962 Sjon, Icelandic writer and artist
1965 Cheryl Fergison, English actress
1965 Paulo Silas, Brazilian footballer
1966 Juhan Parts, former Prime Minister of Estonia
1968 Daphne Koller, Israeli-American computer scientist
1969 Cesar Millan, Mexican-American dog trainer
1969 Christine O'Donnell, American politician
1969 Chandra Wilson, American actress
1970 Peter Ebdon, English snooker player
1970 Jim Thome, American baseball player
1970 Tony Kanal, English-American musician, songwriter and producer
1970 Karl Unterkircher, Italian mountaineer (died 2008)
1972 Denise Lewis, British athlete
1972 Jimmy Pop, American musician (Bloodhound Gang)
1973 Dietmar Hamann, German footballer
1974 Jose Vidro, Major League Baseball player
1974 Mohammad Yousuf, Pakistani cricketer
1975 Jonny Moseley, American skier
From 1976
1976 Sarah Chalke, Canadian actress
1976 Carlos Moya, Spanish tennis player
1976 Mark Webber, Australian race car driver
1977 Deco, Brazilian-Portuguese footballer
1979 Karel Rachunek, Czech ice hockey player (died 2011)
1981 Alessandro Gamberini, Italian footballer
1981 Collin Samuel, Trinidadian footballer
1983 Jamala, Ukrainian singer
1984 David Bentley, English footballer
1984 Sulley Muntari, Ghanaian footballer
1985 Nikica Jelavic, Croatian footballer
1985 Daniel Kublbock, German singer and actor
1985 Alexandra Nechita, Romanian-American artist
1986 Mario, American R&B singer
1986 Sebastian Kurz, Austrian politician, Chancellor of Austria
1988 Alexa Vega, American actress
1990 Taylor Mitchell, Canadian singer-songwriter (died 2009)
1990 Luuk de Jong, Dutch footballer
1993 Sarah Hecken, German figure skater
Deaths
Up to 1900
542 Caesarius of Arles, Archbishop of Arles and Roman Catholic Saint (b. 470)
827 Pope Eugene II
1312 Arthur II, Duke of Brittany (b. 1262)
1394 Emperor Chokei of Japan (b. 1343)
1521 Josquin des Prez, French-Flemish composer (b. 1450)
1577 Titian, Italian painter
1590 Pope Sixtus V (b. 1521)
1635 Lope de Vega, Spanish poet and playwright (b. 1562)
1773 Friedrich Wilhelm von Seydlitz, Prussian general (b. 1721)
1828 Eise Eisinga, Dutch astronomer (b. 1744)
1865 Thomas Chandler of Haliburton, Canadian writer (b. 1796)
1871 William Whiting Boarding, American politician (b. 1794)
1874 Stefan Golescu, Romanian statesman (b. 1809)
1875 William Chapman Ralston, founder of the Bank of California (b. 1826)
1879 Rowland Hill, English postal reformer (b. 1795)
1901 2000
1909 Emil Christian Hansen, Danish physiologist (b. 1842)
1919 Louis Botha, South African politician (b. 1862)
1937 Walter Rothschild, 2nd Baron Rothschild, British banker and zoologist (b. 1868)
1937 Andrew W. Mellon, United States Secretary of the Treasury (b. 1855)
1944 Georg von Boeselager, German aristocrat (b. 1915)
1948 Charles Evans Hughes, American Supreme Court Justice (b. 1862)
1950 Cesare Pavese, Italian poet, novelist, critic and translator (b. 1908)
1958 Ernest Lawrence, American physicist (b. 1901)
1963 W. E. B. Du Bois, American civil rights activist and scholar (b. 1868)
1964 Gracie Allen, American actress (b. 1895)
1965 Le Corbusier, Swiss architect (b. 1887)
1967 Brian Epstein, British music manager (b. 1934)
1968 Princess Marina of Greece and Denmark (b. 1906)
1968 Robert Z. Leonard, American movie director, actor, producer and screenwriter (b. 1889)
1969 Erika Mann, German actress and singer (b. 1905)
1975 Haile Selassie I, Emperor of Ethiopia (b. 1892)
1976 Mukesh, Indian singer (b. 1923)
1979 Louis Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma, British statesman (b. 1900)
1980 Douglas Kenney, American actor and writer (b. 1947)
1981 Valeri Kharlamov, Soviet ice hockey player (b. 1948)
1982 Atilla Altikat, Turkish military diplomat
1990 Stevie Ray Vaughan, American musician (b. 1954)
1999 Helder Camara, Brazilian archbishop (b. 1909)
From 2001
2001 Abu Ali Mustafa, Palestinian leader (b. 1938)
2006 Maria Esther de Capovilla, Ecuadorean supercentenarian, World's oldest woman (b. 1889)
2006 Jesse Pintado, British musician (b. 1969)
2009 Sergey Mikhalkov, Russian writer (b. 1913)
2010 Anton Geesink, Dutch judoka (b. 1934)
2011 Stetson Kennedy, American writer and Civil Rights activist (b. 1916)
2012 Russell Scott, American TV personality (b. 1920)
2012 Malcolm Browne, American journalist and photographer (b. 1931)
2013 Anatoly Onoprienko, Ukrainian serial killer (b. 1959)
2014 Valeri Petrov, Bulgarian writer (b. 1920)
2014 Sandy Wilson, English composer (b. 1924)
2014 Peret, Spanish musician (b. 1935)
2014 Yehezkel Braun, German-born Israeli composer (b. 1922)
2014 Benno Pludra, German writer (b. 1925)
2014 Jan Groth, Norwegian rock music singer (b. 1946)
2014 Jacques Friedel, French physicist (b. 1921)
2015 Darryl Dawkins, American basketball player (b. 1957)
2015 Joan Garriga, Spanish motorcycle racer (b. 1963)
2017 Yitzhak Pundak, Polish-born Israeli military officer and diplomat (b. 1913)
2017 Ebrahim Yazdi, Iranian politician and diplomat (b. 1931)
2018 Dale M. Cochran, American politician (b. 1928)
2018 Mirka Mora, French-born Australian artist (b. 1928)
2018 Fredd Wayne, American actor and columnist (b. 1924)
2018 Murray Westgate, Canadian actor (b. 1918)
Observances
Independence Day (Moldova)
Lyndon Baines Johnson Day (Texas)
Days of the year