February 27Birthdays & History

On this day: February 27 in history

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

1. 380Edict of Thessalonica: Emperor Theodosius I and his co-emperors Gratian and Valentinian II declare their wish that all Roman citizens convert to Nicene Christianity.Europe
2. 425The University of Constantinople is founded by Emperor Theodosius II at the urging of his wife Aelia Eudocia.Middle East
3. 907Abaoji, chieftain of the Yila tribe, is named khagan of the Khitans.Asia
4. 1560The Treaty of Berwick is signed by England and the Lords of the Congregation of Scotland, establishing the terms under which English armed forces were to be permitted in Scotland in order to expel occupying French troops.Europe
5. 1594Henry IV is crowned King of France.Europe
6. 1617Sweden and the Tsardom of Russia sign the Treaty of Stolbovo, ending the Ingrian War and shutting Russia out of the Baltic Sea.Europe
7. 1626Yuan Chonghuan is appointed Governor of Liaodong, after leading the Chinese into a great victory against the Manchurians under Nurhaci.Asia
8. 1776American Revolutionary War: The Battle of Moore's Creek Bridge in North Carolina breaks up a Loyalist militia.North America
9. 1782American Revolutionary War: The House of Commons of Great Britain votes against further war in America.North AmericaEurope
10. 1801Pursuant to the District of Columbia Organic Act of 1801, Washington, D.C. is placed under the jurisdiction of the U.S. Congress.North America
11. 1809Action of 27 February 1809: Captain Bernard Dubourdieu captures HMS Proserpine.Europe
12. 1812Poet 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.Europe
13. 1812Argentine War of Independence: Manuel Belgrano raises the Flag of Argentina in the city of Rosario for the first time.Latin America
14. 1844The Dominican Republic gains independence from Haiti.Latin America
15. 1859United States representative Daniel Sickles, after learning of an affair between his wife and United States Attorney Philip Barton Key II, murders him in Washington, D.C.North America
16. 1860Abraham Lincoln makes a speech at Cooper Union in the city of New York that plays an important role in his election to the Presidency.North America
17. 1864American Civil War: The first Northern prisoners arrive at the Confederate prison at Andersonville, Georgia.North America
18. 1870The current flag of Japan is first adopted as the national flag for Japanese merchant ships.Asia
19. 1881First Boer War: The Battle of Majuba Hill takes place.Africa
20. 1898King George I of Greece survives an assassination attempt.Europe
21. 1900Second Boer War: In South Africa, British military leaders receive an unconditional notice of surrender from Boer General Piet Cronjé at the Battle of Paardeberg.AfricaEurope
22. 1900Fußball-Club Bayern München is founded.Europe
23. 1900The British Labour Party is founded.Europe
24. 1902Second Boer War: Australian soldiers Harry "Breaker" Morant and Peter Handcock are executed in Pretoria after being convicted of war crimes.AfricaOceania
25. 1916Ocean liner SS Maloja strikes a mine near Dover and sinks with the loss of 155 lives.Europe
26. 1921The International Working Union of Socialist Parties is founded in Vienna.Europe
27. 1922A 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 in Leser v. Garnett.North America
28. 1932The Mäntsälä rebellion begins when members of the far-right Lapua Movement start shooting at the social democrats' event in Mäntsälä, Finland.Europe
29. 1933Reichstag fire: Germany's parliament building in Berlin, the Reichstag, is set on fire; Marinus van der Lubbe, a young Dutch Communist claims responsibility.Europe
30. 1939United States labor law: The U.S. Supreme Court rules in NLRB v. Fansteel Metallurgical Corp. that the National Labor Relations Board has no authority to force an employer to rehire workers who engage in sit-down strikes.North America
31. 1940Martin Kamen and Sam Ruben discover carbon-14.North America
32. 1942World War II: During the Battle of the Java Sea, an Allied strike force is defeated by a Japanese task force in the Java Sea in the Dutch East Indies.AsiaAsiaEurope
33. 1942World War II: Operation Biting launches its overnight raid on the German coastal radar station at Bruneval to retrieve a Würzburg installation.Europe
34. 1943The Holocaust: In Berlin, the Gestapo arrest 1,800 Jewish men with German wives, leading to the Rosenstrasse protest.Europe
35. 1943The Smith Mine #3 in Bearcreek, Montana, explodes, killing 74 men.North America
36. 1951The Twenty-second Amendment to the United States Constitution, limiting Presidents to two terms, is ratified.North America
37. 1961The first congress of the Spanish Trade Union Organisation is inaugurated.Europe
38. 1962Vietnam War: Two dissident Republic of Vietnam Air Force pilots bomb the Independence Palace in Saigon in a failed attempt to assassinate South Vietnam President Ngô Đình Diệm.Asia
39. 1963The Dominican Republic receives its first democratically elected president, Juan Bosch, since the end of the dictatorship led by Rafael Trujillo.Latin America
40. 1964The Government of Italy asks for help to keep the Leaning Tower of Pisa from toppling over.Europe
41. 1971Doctors in the first Dutch abortion clinic (the Mildredhuis in Arnhem) start performing artificially-induced abortions.Europe
42. 1973The American Indian Movement occupies Wounded Knee in protest of the federal government.North America
43. 1976The former Spanish territory of Western Sahara, under the auspices of the Polisario Front declares independence as the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic.EuropeMiddle East
44. 1988Sumgait pogrom: The Armenian community in Sumgait, Azerbaijan is targeted in a violent pogrom.Europe
45. 1991Gulf War: U.S. President George H. W. Bush announces that "Kuwait is liberated".Middle EastNorth America
46. 2001Loganair Flight 670A crashes while attempting to make a water landing in the Firth of Forth in Scotland.Europe
47. 2002Ryanair Flight 296 catches fire at London Stansted Airport causing minor injuries.Europe
48. 2002Godhra train burning: A Muslim mob torches a train returning from Ayodhya, killing 59 Hindu pilgrims.Asia
49. 2004A bombing of a SuperFerry by Abu Sayyaf in the Philippines' worst terrorist attack kills more than 100 passengers.Asia
50. 2004Shoko Asahara, the leader of the Japanese doomsday cult Aum Shinrikyo, is sentenced to death for masterminding the 1995 Tokyo subway sarin attack.Asia
51. 2007Chinese stock bubble of 2007: The Shanghai Stock Exchange falls 9%, the largest daily fall in ten years, following speculation about a crackdown on illegal share offerings and trading, and fears about accelerating inflation.Asia
52. 2008Jemaah Islamiyah terrorist Mas Selamat Kastari escapes from a detention center in Singapore, hiding in Johor, Malaysia until he was recaptured over a year later.Asia
53. 2010An earthquake measuring 8.8 on the moment magnitude scale strikes central parts of Chile leaving over 500 victims, and thousands injured. The quake triggers a tsunami which strikes Hawaii shortly after.Latin AmericaNorth America
54. 2013A shooting takes place at a factory in Menznau, Switzerland, in which five people (including the perpetrator) are killed and five others injured.Europe
55. 2015Russian politician Boris Nemtsov is assassinated in Moscow while out walking with his girlfriend.Europe
56. 2019Pakistan Air Force JF-17 Thunder downs Indian pilot Abhinandan Varthaman's Mig-21 in an aerial dogfight and captures him after conducting airstrikes in Jammu and Kashmir.Asia

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