February 27

February 27 is the 58th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. There are 307 days remaining, 308 in leap years.

Events

• 1560 - The Treaty of Berhick, which would expel the French from Scotland, is signed by England and 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
• 1700 - The island of New Britain is discovered.
• 1793 - The Giles resolutions are introduced to the United States House of Representatives asking the House to condemn Alexander Hamilton's handling of loans.
• 1801 - Washington, DC is placed under the jurisdiction of the U.S. Congress.
• 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.
• 1827 - The first Mardi Gras is celebrated in New Orleans, Louisiana.
• 1844 - The Dominican Republic gains independence from Haiti.
• 1860 - Abraham Lincoln makes a speech at Cooper Union in the city of New York that was largely responsible for his election to the Presidency.
• 1861 - A crowd in Warsaw protesting Russian rule over Poland is fired upon by Russian troops, killing five protesters.
• 1864 - American Civil War: The first Northern prisoners arrive at the Confederate prison at Andersonville, Georgia.
• 1900 - Boer War: In South Africa, British military leaders receive an unconditional notice of surrender from Boer General Piet Cronje.
• 1900 - The British Labour Party is founded
• 1900 The FC Bayern München (Munich) is founded
• 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.
• 1933 - Reichstag fire: Germany's parliament building in Berlin, the Reichstag, is set on fire.
• 1939 - American Civil Rights Movement: Sit-down strikes are outlawed by the Supreme Court of the United States.
• 1942 - World War II: the USS Langley, the first United States aircraft carrier, is sunk by Japanese warplanes.
• 1943 - The Smith Mine #3 in Bearcreek, Montana, United States explodes, killing 74 men.
• 1951 - The Twenty-second Amendment to the United States Constitution, limiting Presidents to two terms, is ratified.
• 1964 - The government of Italy asks for help to keep the Leaning Tower of Pisa from toppling over.
• 1967 - Dominica gains independence from the United Kingdom.
• 1973 - The American Indian Movement occupies Wounded Knee, South Dakota.
• 1974 - People magazine is published for the first time.
• 1976 - The formerly Spanish territory of Western Sahara, under the auspices of the Polisario declares independence as the Saharawi Arab Democratic Republic.
• 1986 - The United States Senate allows its debates to be televised on a trial basis.
• 1989 - Venezuela is rocked by the Caracazo.
• 1990 - Exxon Valdez oil spill: Exxon and its shipping company are indicted on five criminal counts.
• 1991 - Gulf War: U.S. President George H. W. Bush announces that "Kuwait is liberated."
• 1999 - While trying to circumnavigate the world in a hot air balloon, Colin Prescot and Andy Elson set a new endurance record after being in a hot air balloon for 233 hours and 55 minutes.
• 1999 - Olusegun Obasanjo becomes Nigeria's first elected president since mid-1983.
• 2002- Ryanair Flight 296 catches fire in London Stansted Airport. Subsequent investigations criticize Ryanair's handling of the evacuation.
• 2002 - 2002 Gujarat violence: a train catches fire a few minutes after it leaves the Godhra railway station, killing an estimated 58 Hindu pilgrims returning from Ayodhya and triggering riots that lead to the death of 1000 people, mostly Muslims.
• 2003 - Rowan Williams is enthroned as the 104th Archbishop of Canterbury in the Anglican church.
• 2004 - A bombing of a Superferry by Abu Sayyaf in the Philippines kills 116, it's worst terrorist attack.

Births

• 1807 - Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, poet (d. 1882)
• 1861 - Rudolf Steiner, anthroposoph (d. 1925)
• 1886 - Hugo Black, associate justice of the United States Supreme Court (d. 1971)
• 1888 - Lotte Lehmann, singer (d. 1976)
• 1890 - Freddie Keppard, jazz musician (d. 1933)
• 1891 - David Sarnoff, broadcasting pioneer (d. 1971)
• 1891 - Anne Samson, oldest-known Canadian 2002-2004 and oldest nun on record 2003-2004 (d. 2004)
• 1892 - William Demarest, actor (d. 1983)
• 1897 - Marian Anderson, singer (d. 1993)
• 1899 - Charles Best, medical scientist (d. 1978)
• 1902 - John Steinbeck, writer, winner of the Nobel Prize in literature 1962 (d. 1968)
• 1902 - Gene Sarazen, golfer (d. 1999)
• 1903 - Grethe Weiser, actress (d. 1970)
• 1905 - Franchot Tone, actor (d. 1968)
• 1907 - Mildred Bailey, jazz performer (d. 1951)
• 1910 - Joan Bennett, actress (d. 1990)
• 1910 - Peter De Vries, American writer, satirist (d. 1993)
• 1910 - Kelly Johnson, American aircraft engineer (d. 1990)
• 1912 - Lawrence Durrell, writer (d. 1990)
• 1913 - Irwin Shaw, writer (d. 1984)
• 1917 - John Connally, Governor of Texas (d. 1993)
• 1918 - William Jefferson Blythe III, father of U.S. President Bill Clinton, is born in Sherman, Grayson County, Texas (d. 1946)
• 1923 - Dexter Gordon, jazz saxophone player (d. 1990)
• 1925 - Sam Dash, Congressional counsel (d. 2004)
• 1927 - Guy Mitchell, American singer (d. 1999)
• 1928 - Alfred Hrdlicka, sculptor and graphic artist
• 1928 - Ariel Sharon, Prime Minister of Israel
• 1930 - Joanne Woodward, American actress
• 1930 - Peter Stone, writer
• 1932 - Elizabeth Taylor, British-American actress
• 1933 - Raymond Berry, American football player
• 1934 - Ralph Nader, American consumer activist
• 1934 - Van Williams, American actor
• 1935 - Mirella Freni, Italian soprano
• 1937 - Barbara Babcock, American actress
• 1940 - Howard Hesseman, American actor
• 1941 - Paddy Ashdown, British politician
• 1942 - Charlayne Hunter-Gault, American journalist
• 1943 - Morten Lauridsen, composer
• 1943 - Mary Frann, American actress (d. 1998)
• 1945 - Carl Anderson, American singer, actor (d. 2004)
• 1947 - Gidon Kremer, Latvian violinist
• 1954 - Neal Schon, American musician (Journey)
• 1957 - Adrian Smith, musician (Iron Maiden)
• 1957 - Viktor Markin, Soviet athlete
• 1958 - Nancy Spungen, girlfriend of Sid Vicious (d. 1978)
• 1962 - Grant Show, American actor
• 1966 - Donal Logue, Canadian actor
• 1971 - Derren Brown, psychological illusionist
• 1971 - Rozonda Thomas, American singer (TLC)
• 1980 - Chelsea Clinton, daughter of former U.S. President Bill Clinton
• 1981 - Josh Groban, American singer

Deaths

• 1699 - Charles Paulet, 1st Duke of Bolton, English politician
• 1706 - John Evelyn, English diarist (b. 1620)
• 1720 - Samuel Parris, English-born Puritan minister (b. 1653)
• 1844 - Nicholas Biddle, President of the Second Bank of the United States (b. 1786)
• 1887 - Alexander Borodin, Russian composer (b. 1833)
• 1921 - Schofield Haigh, irresistible sticky wicket bowler for Yorkshire (b. 1871)
• 1936 - Ivan Pavlov, Russian physiologist
• 1964 - Orry-Kelly, costume designer
• 1968 - Frankie Lymon, singer (b. 1942)
• 1972 - Pat Brady, American actor, singer
• 1977 - John Dickson Carr, American author
• 1978 - Vadim Salmanov, composer
• 1980 - George Tobias, American actor
• 1985 - Henry Cabot Lodge, politician, candidate for Vice President of the United States (b. 1902)
• 1986 - Jacques Plante, hockey player (b. 1929)
• 1989 - Paul Oswald Ahnert, astronomer (b. 1897)
• 1989 - Konrad Lorenz, behaviorist (b. 1903)
• 1992 - S. I. Hayakawa, Canadian-American linguist, politician
• 1993 - Lillian Gish, actress (b. 1893)
• 1998 - J. T. Walsh, actor (b. 1943)
• 2002 - Spike Milligan, comedian (b. 1918)
• 2002 - Mary Stuart, television actress (b. 1926)
• 2003 - John Lanchbery, English ballet composer (b. 1923)
• 2003 - Fred Rogers, children's television actor (b. 1928)
• 2004 - Paul Sweezy, economist and founding editor of the Monthly Review (b. 1910)

Holidays and observances

• Roman Empire - Equirria, horse races in honor of Mars were held.
• Bahá'í Faith - Day 2 of Ayyám-i-Há (Intercalary Days) - days in the Bahá'í calendar devoted to service and gift giving.
• Dominican Republic - National Day

External links

• BBC: On This Day
• Today in History: February 27

February 26 - February 28 - January 27 - March 27 -- listing of all days