December 27Birthdays & History

On this day: December 27 in history

Oldest first. Tap a year to see it on the World Chronicle timeline.

1. 537The second Hagia Sophia in Constantinople is consecrated.Middle East
2. 1512The Spanish Crown issues the Laws of Burgos, governing the conduct of settlers with regard to native Indians in the New World.Europe
3. 1521The Zwickau prophets arrive in Wittenberg, disturbing the peace and preaching the Apocalypse.Europe
4. 1655Second Northern War/the Deluge: Monks at the Jasna Góra Monastery in Częstochowa are successful in fending off a month-long siege.Europe
5. 1657The Flushing Remonstrance articulates for the first time in North American history that freedom of religion is a fundamental right.North America
6. 1703Portugal and England sign the Methuen Treaty which allows Portugal to export wines to England on favorable trade terms.Europe
7. 1814War of 1812: The destruction of the schooner USS Carolina brings to an end Commodore Daniel Patterson's makeshift fleet, which fought a series of delaying actions that contributed to Andrew Jackson's victory at the Battle of New Orleans.North America
8. 1831Charles Darwin embarks on his journey aboard HMS Beagle, during which he will begin to formulate his theory of evolution.Europe
9. 1836The worst ever avalanche in England occurs at Lewes, Sussex, killing eight people.Europe
10. 1845Having coined the phrase "manifest destiny" the previous July, journalist John L. O'Sullivan argued in his newspaper New York Morning News that the United States had the right to claim the entire Oregon Country.North America
11. 1845Ether anesthetic is used for childbirth for the first time by Dr. Crawford Long in Jefferson, Georgia.North America
12. 1911"Jana Gana Mana", the national anthem of India, is first sung in the Calcutta Session of the Indian National Congress.AsiaNorth America
13. 1918The Great Poland Uprising against the Germans begins.Europe
14. 1918Ukrainian War of Independence: The Revolutionary Insurgent Army of Ukraine occupies Yekaterinoslav and seizes seven airplanes from the UPRAF, establishing an Insurgent Air Fleet.Europe
15. 1922Japanese aircraft carrier Hōshō becomes the first purpose-built aircraft carrier to be commissioned in the world.Asia
16. 1927Kern and Hammerstein's musical play Show Boat, considered to be the first true American musical play, opens at the Ziegfeld Theatre on Broadway.North America
17. 1929Soviet General Secretary Joseph Stalin orders the "liquidation of the kulaks as a class".Europe
18. 1932Radio City Music Hall, "Showplace of the Nation", opens in New York City.North America
19. 1935Regina Jonas is ordained as the first female rabbi in the history of Judaism.Europe
20. 1939The 7.8 Mw Erzincan earthquake shakes eastern Turkey with a maximum Mercalli intensity of XI (Extreme). At least 32,700 people were killed.Middle East
21. 1939Winter War: Finland holds off a Soviet attack in the Battle of Kelja.Europe
22. 1945The International Monetary Fund is created with the signing of an agreement by 29 nations.North America
23. 1949Indonesian National Revolution: The Netherlands officially recognizes Indonesian independence. End of the Dutch East Indies.AsiaEurope
24. 1966The Cave of Swallows, the largest known cave shaft in the world, is discovered in Aquismón, San Luis Potosí, Mexico.Latin America
25. 1968North Central Airlines Flight 458 crashes at O'Hare International Airport, killing 28.North America
26. 1968Apollo program: Apollo 8 splashes down in the Pacific Ocean, ending the first orbital crewed mission to the Moon.World
27. 1978Spain becomes a democracy after 40 years of fascist dictatorship.Europe
28. 1983Pope John Paul II visits Mehmet Ali Ağca in Rebibbia's prison and personally forgives him for the 1981 attack on him in St. Peter's Square.Europe
29. 1985Palestinian guerrillas kill eighteen people inside the airports of Rome, Italy, and Vienna, Austria.Middle EastEurope
30. 1989The Romanian Revolution concludes, as the last minor street confrontations and stray shootings abruptly end in the country's capital, Bucharest.Europe
31. 1991Scandinavian Airlines System Flight 751 crashes in Gottröra in the Norrtälje Municipality in Sweden, injuring 92.Europe
32. 1996Taliban forces retake the strategic Bagram Airfield which solidifies their buffer zone around Kabul, Afghanistan.Asia
33. 1997Protestant paramilitary leader Billy Wright is assassinated in Northern Ireland, United Kingdom.Europe
34. 1999Burger King and the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission order a recall of plastic Poké Ball containers after they are determined to be a choking hazard.North America
35. 2002Two truck bombs kill 72 and wound 200 at the pro-Moscow headquarters of the Chechen government in Grozny, Chechnya, Russia.Europe
36. 2004Radiation from an explosion on the magnetar SGR 1806-20 reaches Earth. It is the brightest extrasolar event known to have been witnessed on the planet.World
37. 2007Riots erupt in Mombasa, Kenya, after Mwai Kibaki is declared the winner of the presidential election, triggering a political, economic, and humanitarian crisis.Africa
38. 2007Former Pakistani prime minister Benazir Bhutto is assassinated in a shooting incident.Asia
39. 2008Operation Cast Lead: Israel launches three-week operation on Gaza.Middle East
40. 2009Iranian election protests: On the Day of Ashura in Tehran, Iran, government security forces fire upon demonstrators.Middle East
41. 2019Bek Air Flight 2100 crashes during takeoff from Almaty International Airport in Almaty, Kazakhstan, killing 13.Asia
42. 2025An estimated €30 million were stolen from a Sparkasse bank in Gelsenkirchen, Germany.Europe

Source: Wikipedia "December 27" / CC BY-SA 4.0