From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
March 27 is the 86th day of the year (87th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 279 days remaining.
[edit] Events
- 1513 (not 1512 as often cited) - Explorer Juan Ponce de León sights North America (specifically Florida) for the first time, mistaking it for another island.
- 1613 - First English child born in Canada at Cuper's Cove, Newfoundland to Nicholas Guy.
- 1625 - Charles I becomes King of England, Scotland and Ireland as well as claiming the title King of France.
- 1782 - Charles Watson-Wentworth, 2nd Marquess of Rockingham becomes Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.
- 1794 - The government of the United States establishes a permanent United States Navy and authorizes the building of six frigates.
- 1794 - Denmark and Sweden form a neutrality compact.
- 1814 - War of 1812: In central Alabama, United States forces under General Andrew Jackson defeat the Creek at the Battle of Horseshoe Bend.
- 1834 - Andrew Jackson is censured by the U.S. Senate for his actions regarding the U.S. National Bank.
- 1836 - Texas Revolution: Goliad massacre - Antonio López de Santa Anna orders the Mexican army to kill about 400 Texans at Goliad, Texas.
- 1846 - Mexican-American War: Siege of Fort Texas.
- 1851 - First reported case of Europeans seeing Yosemite Valley.
- 1854 - Crimean War: United Kingdom declares war on Russia.
- 1868 - ??The Lake Ontario Shore Railroad Company is organized in Oswego, New York.
- 1871 - First international rugby football match, England v. Scotland, played in Edinburgh at Raeburn Place.
- 1881 - Rioting takes place in Basingstoke in protest against the daily vociferous promotion of rigid Temperence by the Salvation Army
- 1890 - A tornado strikes Louisville, Kentucky, killing 76 and injuring 200.
- 1906 - Founding of the Alpine Club of Canada in Winnipeg, Manitoba.
- 1918 - Moldova and Bessarabia join Romania.
- 1938 - Battle of Tai er zhuang.
- 1941 - World War II: Yugoslavian Air Force officers topple the pro-axis government in a bloodless coup.
- 1942 -World War II: United Kingdom forces raid the U-boat base at St. Nazaire, France.
- 1943 - World War II: Battle of the Komandorski Islands - In the Aleutian Islands the battle begins when United States Navy forces intercept Japanese attempting to reinforce a garrison at Kiska.
- 1945 - World War II: Operation Starvation, the aerial mining of Japan's ports and waterways begins.
- 1948 - The Second Congress of the Workers Party of North Korea is convened.
- 1955 - NBC Color Center (Now NBC Studios) in Burbank, is dedicated.
- 1958 - Nikita Khrushchev becomes Premier of the Soviet Union.
- 1963 - Dr. Richard Beeching issues a report calling for huge cuts to the United Kingdom's rail network. See Beeching axe.
- 1964 - The Good Friday Earthquake, the most powerful earthquake in U.S. history at a magnitude of 9.2 strikes South Central Alaska, killing 125 people and inflicting massive damage to the city of Anchorage.
- 1969 - Mariner 7 is launched.
- 1970 - The Concorde makes its first supersonic flight
- 1971 - SS Texaco Oklahoma breaks in half and sinks off Cape Hatteras, killing 31 of 44 aboard.
- 1976 - The first 4.6 miles of the Washington, DC Metro system is opened.
- 1977 - Tenerife disaster: Two Boeing 747 airliners collide on a foggy runway on Tenerife in the Canary Islands, killing 583.
- 1980 - The Norwegian oil platform Alexander Kielland collapses in the North Sea, killing 123 of its crew of 212.
- 1980 - Silver Thursday market crash.
- 1986 - Car bomb explodes at Russell Street Police HQ in Melbourne, killing 1 police officer, Angela Taylor, and injuring 21 people.
- 1988 - Moudud Ahmed becomes Prime Minister of Bangladesh.
- 1990 - The United States begins broadcasting TV Martí to Cuba in an effort to bridge the information blackout imposed by the Castro regime.
- 1993 - Jiang Zemin is appointed President of the People's Republic of China.
- 1993 - Albert Zafy becomes President of Madagascar.
- 1993 - Mahamane Ousmane becomes President of Niger.
- 1994 - One of the biggest tornado outbreaks in recent memory hits the Southeastern United States. One tornado slams into a church in Piedmont, Alabama during Palm Sunday services killing 20 and injuring 90.
- 1998 - The Food and Drug Administration approves Viagra for use as a treatment for male impotence, the first pill to be approved for this condition in the United States.
- 1999 - Kosovo War: Army of Yugoslavia downed F117A nighthawk.
- 2002 - Passover Massacre: A suicide bomber kills 29 people in Netanya, Israel.
- 2004 - HMS Scylla, a decommissioned Leander frigate, is sunk as an artificial reef off Cornwall, the first of its kind in Europe.
- 2006 - The UN Commission on Human Rights holds its final meeting.
- 2007 - Michael Phelps breaks world record in 200m freestyle with time of 1:43.86 in Melbourne Australia
[edit] Births
- 972 - King Robert II of France (d. 1031)
- 1416 - Antonio Squarcialupi, Italian composer (d. 1480)
- 1627 - Stephen Fox, English politician (d. 1716)
- 1676 - Francis II Rákóczi, leader of the Hungarian uprising against the Habsburg (d. 1735)
- 1696 - Antoine Court, French Huguenot minister (d. 1760)
- 1702 - Johann Ernst Eberlin, German composer (d. 1762)
- 1712 - Claude Bourgelat, French veterinary surgeon (d. 1779)
- 1714 - Francesco Antonio Zaccaria, Italian theologian and historian (d. 1795)
- 1730 - Thomas Tyrwhitt, English classical scholar (d. 1786)
- 1746 - Michael Bruce, Scottish poet (d. 1767)
- 1765 - Franz Xaver von Baader, German philosopher and theologian (d. 1841)
- 1785 - King Louis XVII of France (d. 1795)
- 1797 - Alfred de Vigny, French author (d. 1863)
- 1809 - Baron Haussmann, French civic planner (d. 1891)
- 1810 - William Hepworth Thompson, English classical scholar (d. 1886)
- 1813 - Nathaniel Currier, American illustrator (d. 1888)
- 1817 - Karl Wilhelm von Nägeli, Swiss biologist (d. 1891)
- 1845 - Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen, German physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1923)
- 1847 - Otto Wallach, German chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1931)
- 1851 - Vincent d'Indy, French composer and teacher (d. 1931)
- 1857 - Karl Pearson, English statistician (d. 1936)
- 1859 - George Giffen, Australian cricketer (d. 1927)
- 1860 - Frank Frost Abbott, American classical scholar (d. 1924)
- 1863 - Sir Henry Royce, English automobile pioneer (d. 1933)
- 1869 - James McNeill, Irish politician (d. 1938)
- 1871 - Heinrich Mann, German writer (d. 1950)
- 1879 - Miller Huggins, American baseball player and manager (d. 1929)
- 1883 - Marie Under, Estonian author and poet (d. 1980)
- 1886 - Sergey Kirov, Russian bolshevik leader (d. 1934)
- 1886 - Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, German architect (d. 1969)
- 1892 - Ferde Grofé, American composer (d. 1972)
- 1893 - Karl Mannheim, Hungarian sociologist (d. 1947)
- 1899 - Gloria Swanson, American actress (d. 1983)
- 1897 - Douglas Hartree, English mathematical physicist (d. 1958)
- 1901 - Carl Barks, American illustrator (d. 2000)
- 1901 - Sasaki Naojiro, Japanese author (d. 1943)
- 1901 - Erich Ollenhauer, German politician (d. 1963)
- 1901 - Eisaku Sato, Prime Minister of Japan, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (d. 1975)
- 1901 - Kenneth Slessor, Australian poet (d. 1971)
- 1902 - Charles Lang, American cinematographer (d. 1998)
- 1905 - Elsie MacGill, Canadian aeronautical engineer (d. 1980)
- 1906 - Pee Wee Russell, American musician (d. 1969)
- 1909 - Golo Mann, German historian (d. 1994)
- 1909 - Ben Webster, American jazz saxophonist (d. 1973)
- 1912 - James Callaghan, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (d. 2005)
- 1913 - Theodor Dannecker, SS officer (d. 1945)
- 1914 - Richard Denning, American actor (d. 1998)
- 1914 - Budd Schulberg, American screenwriter and novelist
- 1915 - Robert Lockwood Jr., American blues guitarist (d. 2006)
- 1917 - Cyrus Vance, American politician (d. 2002)
- 1920 - Robin Jacques, illustrator (d. 1995)
- 1921 - Harold Nicholas, American dancer (d. 2000)
- 1922 - Stefan Wul, French author (d. 2003)
- 1923 - Endo Shusaku, Japanese author (d. 1996)
- 1923 - Louis Simpson, Jamaican-born poet
- 1924 - Sarah Vaughan, American singer (d. 1990)
- 1927 - Mstislav Rostropovich, Russian cellist and conductor (d. 2007)
- 1931 - David Janssen, American actor (d. 1980)
- 1935 - Abelardo Castillo, Argentine writer
- 1935 - Julian Glover, British actor
- 1937 - Thomas Aquinas Daly, American painter
- 1939 - Cale Yarborough, American race car driver
- 1941 - Ivan Gašparovič, President of Slovakia
- 1942 - John E. Sulston, British chemist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
- 1942 - Michael York, English actor
- 1946 - Olaf Malolepski, German musician (Die Flippers)
- 1947 - Brian Jones, British balloonist
- 1950 - Tony Banks, English musician (Genesis)
- 1950 - Lynn McGlothen, American baseball player (d. 1984)
- 1952 - Maria Schneider, French actress
- 1952 - Richard Séguin, Quebec singer and songwriter
- 1956 - Leung Kwok Hung, Hong Kong activist
- 1956 - Thomas Wassberg, Swedish cross-country skier
- 1957 - Nick Hawkins, British politician
- 1959 - Andrew Farriss, Australian musician (INXS)
- 1960 - Hans Pflügler, German footballer
- 1961 - Tak Matsumoto, Japanese guitarist (B'z)
- 1961 - Tony Rominger, Swiss cyclist
- 1962 - Jann Arden, Canadian musician
- 1963 - Charly Alberti, Argentinian musician
- 1963 - Randall Cunningham American football player
- 1963 - Quentin Tarantino, American director, writer, and producer
- 1963 - Xuxa, Brazilian television personality
- 1964 - Glenn Carter, English actor and singer-songwriter
- 1966 - Paula Trickey, American actress
- 1967 - Paul Adams, American celebrity
- 1967 - Talisa Soto, American actress
- 1968 - Sandra Hess, Swiss-born actress and model
- 1969 - Keith Flint, member of British group The Prodigy
- 1969 - Pauley Perrette, American actress, photographer, poet, writer
- 1970 - Mariah Carey, American singer
- 1970 - Brendan Hill, British drummer (Blues Traveler)
- 1970 - Princess Leila of Iran (d. 2001)
- 1970 - Elizabeth Mitchell, American actress
- 1971 - Thom Barron, German porn star
- 1971 - David Coulthard, Scottish Formula One driver
- 1971 - Nathan Fillion, Canadian actor
- 1972 - Charlie Haas, professional wrestler
- 1972 - Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink, Dutch footballer
- 1974 - Russ Haas, wrestler (d. 2001)
- 1974 - Gaizka Mendieta, Spanish footballer
- 1975 - Stacy "Fergie" Ferguson, American musician (Black Eyed Peas)
- 1976 - Carl Ng, Hong Kong/British actor and model
- 1977 - Violet Blue, American porn star
- 1977 - Vitor Meira, Brazilian racing driver
- 1979 - Michael Cuddyer, Minnesota Twins baseball player
- 1981 - Lin Jun Jie, Chinese Singer
- 1981 - Terry McFlynn, Northern Irish footballer
- 1982 - Kurara Chibana, Japanese beauty queen, first runner-up Miss Universe 2006
- 1985 - Caroline Winberg, Swedish supermodel
- 1986 - Valerie "So Cal Val" Wyndham, American professional wrestling valet
- 1987 - Chad Denny, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1988 - Brenda Song, American actress
- 1995 - Taylor Atelian, American actress
- 1997 - Princess Sara bint Al Faisal, of Jordan
- 1997 - Princess Aisha bint Al Faisal, of Jordan
[edit] Deaths
- 973 - Herman, Duke of Saxony
- 1191 - Pope Clement III
- 1350 - King Alfonso XI of Castile (b. 1312)
- 1378 - Pope Gregory XI
- 1462 - Vasili II of Russia, Grand Prince of Moscow (b. 1415)
- 1482 - Mary of Burgundy, daughter of Charles the Bold; wife of Maximilian I (b. 1457)
- 1555 - William Hunter, Protestant martyr
- 1572 - Girolamo Maggi, Italian Renaissance man (b. abt. 1523)
- 1625 - King James I of England and Ireland, James VI of Scotland (b. 1566)
- 1635 - Robert Naunton, English politician (b. 1563)
- 1697 - Simon Bradstreet, English colonial magistrate (b. 1603)
- 1757 - Johann Stamitz, Czech-born composer (b. 1717)
- 1770 - Giovanni Battista Tiepolo, Italian artist (b. 1696)
- 1809 - Joseph-Marie Vien, French painter (b. 1716)
- 1827 - François Alexandre Frédéric, French social reformer (b. 1747)
- 1836 - James Fannin, Texas revolutionary (b. 1804)
- 1843 - Karl Salomo Zachariae von Lingenthal, German jurist (b. 1769)
- 1849 - Archibald Acheson, 2nd Earl of Gosford (b. 1776)
- 1850 - Wilhelm Beer, German astronomer (b. 1797)
- 1864 - Jean-Jacques Ampère, French scholar (b. 1800)
- 1865 - Petrus Hoffman Peerlkamp, Dutch scholar (b. 1786)
- 1873 - Amedée Simon Dominique Thierry, French journalist and historian (b. 1797)
- 1875 - Edgar Quinet, French historian (b. 1803)
- 1878 - Sir George Gilbert Scott, English architect (b. 1811)
- 1889 - John Bright, English statesman (b. 1811)
- 1898 - Sir Syed Ahmad Khan, Indian Muslim intellectual (b. 1817)
- 1910 - Alexander Emanuel Agassiz, American scientist; son of Louis Agassiz (b. 1835)
- 1918 - Henry Adams, American historian (b. 1838)
- 1923 - Sir James Dewar, Scottish chemist (b. 1842)
- 1924 - Walter Parratt, English composer (b. 1841)
- 1926 - Georges Vézina, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1887)
- 1927 - Joe Start, American baseball player (b. 1842)
- 1931 - Arnold Bennett, British novelist (b. 1867)
- 1940 - Michael Joseph Savage, Prime Minister of New Zealand (b. 1872)
- 1967 - Jaroslav Heyrovský, Czech chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1890)
- 1967 - Jim Thompson, American designer (disappeared) (b. 1906)
- 1968 - Yuri Gagarin, Soviet cosmonaut (b. 1934)
- 1972 - Sharkey Bonano, American musician (b. 1904)
- 1972 - M.C. Escher, Dutch artist (b. 1898)
- 1977 - A. P. Hamann, American politician
- 1977 - Diana Hyland, American actress (b. 1936)
- 1981 - Mao Dun, Chinese writer (b. 1895)
- 1989 - May Allison, American actress (b. 1890)
- 1989 - Jack Starrett, American actor and film director (b. 1936)
- 1991 - Ralph Bates, British actor (b. 1940)
- 1991 - Aldo Ray, American actor (b. 1926)
- 1992 - Easley Blackwood, American bridge player (b. 1903)
- 1993 - Clifford Jordan, American saxophonist and bandleader (b. 1931)
- 1993 - Paul László, Hungarian interior designer and architect (b. 1900)
- 1998 - David McClelland, American psychologist (b. 1917)
- 1998 - Ferry Porsche, Austrian automobile manufacturer (b. 1909)
- 2000 - Ian Dury, English musician (b. 1942)
- 2002 - Milton Berle, American actor and comedian (b. 1908)
- 2002 - Dudley Moore, British actor (b. 1935)
- 2002 - Billy Wilder, American director (b. 1906)
- 2003 - Daniel Ceccaldi, French actor (b. 1927)
- 2003 - Ricardo Munguia, Salvadoran aid worker
- 2003 - Paul Zindel, American writer (b. 1936)
- 2004 - Adán Sánchez, Mexican-American singer (b. 1984)
- 2005 - Wilfred Bigelow, Canadian heart surgeon (b. 1913)
- 2005 - Bob Casey, American baseball announcer (b. 1925)
- 2005 - Grant Johannesen, American concert pianist (b. 1921)
- 2006 - Dan Curtis, American television producer and director (b. 1928)
- 2006 - Stanisław Lem, Polish writer (b. 1921)
- 2006 - Ruari McLean, British typographer (b. 1917)
- 2006 - Lyn Nofziger, American journalist and political advisor to Ronald Reagan (b. 1924)
- 2007 - Paul Lauterbur, American chemist, Nobel laureate (b. 1929)
[edit] Holidays and observances
[edit] Liturgical feasts
[edit] External links
