August 27 is the 239th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (240th in leap years), with 126 days remaining.

Events

• 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 1776 - Battle of Long Island, in present day Brooklyn, New York British forces under General William Howe defeat Americans under General George Washington
• 1813 - Napoleon defeats the Austrians, Russians and Prussians at the Battle of Dresden
• 1828 - The Russians defeat the Turks at Akhaltzikke.
• 1859 - Oil discovered in Titusville, Pennsylvania. World's first successful oil well.
• 1861 - Union forces attack Cape Hatteras, North Carolina
• 1883 - The after effects caused by the Krakatau explosion in Indonesia kills 36,000 people.
• 1896 - The shortest war in the world - 9:02 - 9:40 between the United Kingdom and Zanzibar
• 1900 - British defeat Boer commandos at Bergendal
• 1928 - Kellogg-Briand Pact, outlawing war, signed by sixty nations
• 1939 - First jet aircraft flight
• 1952 - Reparation negotiations between West Germany and Israel end in Luxembourg; West Germany to pay 3 billion Deutschmarks.
• 1962 - Mariner 2 launched
• 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.
• 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 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.
• 2003 - Mars makes closest approach to Earth in nearly 60,000 years, passing approximately 34,646,416 miles (55,758,006 kilometers) from Earth.

Births

• 551 BC - Confucius, philosopher (d. 479 BC)
• AD 1407 - Ashikaga Yoshikazu, Ashikaga shogun (d. 1425)
• 1770 - Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, philosopher. (d. 1831)
• 1809 - Hannibal Hamlin, Vice President of the United States of America. (d. 1891)
• 1858 - Giuseppe Peano, mathematician. (d. 1932)
• 1865 - James Henry Breasted, Egyptologist (d. 1935)
• 1865 - Charles G. Dawes, the 30th Vice President of the United States (d. 1951)
• 1871 - Theodore Dreiser, author (d. 1945)
• 1875 - Katharine McCormick, U.S. women's rights activist (d. 1967)
• 1886 - Eric Coates, English composer
• 1890 - Man Ray, photographer, artist (d. 1976)
• 1899 - C.S. Forester, author (d. 1966)
• 1904 - Norah Lofts , author
• 1906 - Ed Gein, serial killer (d. 1984)
• 1908 - Don Bradman, cricketer (d. 2001)
• 1908 - Lyndon B. Johnson, 36th President of the United States (d. 1973)
• 1909 - Lester Young, jazz musician (d. 1959)
• 1910 - Mother Teresa, missionary, humanitarian (d. 1997)
• 1916 - Martha Raye, actress (d. 1994)
• 1926 - Kristen Nygaard (d. 2002)
• 1928 - Mangosuthu Buthelezi, Chief Minister of defunct KwaZulu bantustan, former South African minister of Home Affairs.
• 1929 - Ira Levin, author
• 1932 - Antonia Fraser, author
• 1935 - Frank Yablans, film producer
• 1952 - Paul Reubens (Pee-Wee Herman), actor
• 1957 - Bernhard Langer, German golfer
• 1968 - John Henry Williams, controversial son of baseball great Ted Williams (d. 2004)
• 1970 - Peter Ebdon, English snooker player
• 1970 - Jim Thome, baseball player
• 1974 - Jose Vidro, Major League Baseball All-Star
• 1975 - Jonny Moseley, Olympic Games gold medal winning skier
• 1976 - Carlos Moya, Spanish tennis player
• 1976 - Mark Webber, Australian Formula One driver
• 1977 - Deco, football player
• 1978 - Ma$e, rapper
• 1987 - Kenza Chaouai , Canadian actress

Deaths

• 479 BC - Confucius, ethicist
• 1521 - Josquin Des Prez, Flemish composer
• 1572 - Claude Goudimel, French composer
• 1577 - Titian, artist
• 1590 - Pope Sixtus V
• 1635 - Félix Lope de Vega, Spanish poet and playwright (b. 1562)
• 1875 - William Ralston , American entrepreneur
• 1909 - Emil Christian Hansen, fermentation physiologist
• 1929 - Herman Potočnik Noordung, Slovene pioneer of astronautics and cosmonautics, and rocket engineer
• 1931 - Frank Harris, author and editor
• 1948 - Charles Evans Hughes, United States Supreme Court justice.
• 1963 - Garrett Morgan, inventor
• 1963 - W.E.B. DuBois, civil rights activist and scholar
• 1964 - Gracie Allen, actress, comedienne.
• 1965 - Le Corbusier, Swiss architect (b. 1887)
• 1967 - Brian Epstein, manager of The Beatles
• 1968 - Her Royal Highness Princess Marina, Duchess of Kent (b. 1906)
• 1969 - Ivy Compton-Burnett, English novelist
• 1969 - Erika Mann, oldest daughter of Thomas Mann (b. 1905)
• 1971 - Bennett Cerf, publisher, television personality
• 1975 - Haile Selassie I (Ras Tafari Makonnen), Emperor of Ethiopia (b. 1892)
• 1976 - Mukesh, singer
• 1979 - Earl Mountbatten killed by an IRA bomb
• 1980 - Douglas Kenney, humorist
• 1990 - Stevie Ray Vaughan, guitarist
• 1997 - Brandon Tartikoff, television producer
• 2002 - Richard Ricci, Utah handyman and religious fanatic suspected of kidnapping 14-year-old Elizabeth Smart
• 2003 - Pierre Poujade, French politician

Holidays and observances

• Roman Empire - Volturnalia held in honor of Volturnus
• Moldova - Independence Day (the national holiday)

External links

• BBC: On This Day

August 26 - August 28 - July 27 - September 27 -- listing of all days