August 27

August 27 is the 239th day of the year (240th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 126 days remaining until the end of the year.

• 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 410 – Vandal sack of Rome ends after three days.
• 1172 – Henry the Young King and Margaret of France crowned as junior king and queen of England.
• 1593 – Pierre Barriere fails in his attempt to kill King Henry IV of France.
• 1597 – Japan defeats Korea in the Naval Battle of Chilchonryang during the Imjin War, following several mistakes by the Korean admiral Won Gyun.
• 1664 – After officially taking control of the former Dutch colony of New Amsterdam, British colonists rename it New York.
• 1664 – The French East India Company is officially founded by Louis XIV of France.
• 1728 – On this date in the Gregorian calendar, Vitus Bering lands on the Diomede Islands in the now-named Bering Strait between Alaska, now in the US, and the Russian far east.
• 1776 – Battle of Long Island, in present-day Brooklyn, New York British forces under General William Howe defeat Americans under General George Washington.
• 1793 – French Revolutionary Wars: The city of Toulon revolts against the French Republic.
• 1810 – The French Navy defeats the British Royal Navy, preventing them from taking the harbor of Grand Port and Ile de France.
• 1813 – Napoleon defeats the Austrians, Russians and Prussians at the Battle of Dresden.
• 1820 – Along with two other people, Josef Naus becomes the first person to climb Zugspitze, the highest mountain in Germany.
• 1828 – The Russians defeat the Turks at Akhaltzikke.
• 1832 – Black Hawk, leader of the Sauk tribe of Native Americans, surrenders to US forces.
• 1859 – Petroleum discovered in Titusville, Pennsylvania - the world's first successful oil well.
• 1861 – American Civil War: Union forces attack Cape Hatteras, North Carolina.
• 1883 – The after effects caused by the Krakatoa explosion in Indonesia kill over 36,000 people, as the eruption ends in a loud explosion, which causes deadly tsunamis.
• 1896 – The shortest war in the world - 9:02 - 9:40 between the United Kingdom and Zanzibar
• 1900 – British defeat Boer commandos at Bergendal.

• 1912 – The novel Tarzan of the Apes by Edgar Rice Burroughs goes on sale.
• 1914 – World War I: French and British troops occupy the then-German colony of Togoland.
• 1916 – World War I: Romania declares war on Austria-Hungary.
• 1921 – The British Faisal I as King of Iraq.
• 1927 – Five Canadian women file a petition to the Supreme Court of Canada asking whether the word 'persons' in Section 24 of the British North America Act of 1867, includes female persons.
• 1928 – The Kellogg-Briand Pact, outlawing war, is signed by sixty nations.
• 1939 – First jet aircraft flight.
• 1943 – World War II: Japanese forces evacuate New Georgia Island in the Pacific Theater of Operations during the war.
• 1952 – Reparation negotiations between West Germany and Israel end in Luxembourg; West Germany to pay 3 billion Deutschmarks.
• 1955 – The Guinness Book of Records goes on sale for the first time.
• 1957 – The Constitution of Malaysia comes into force.
• 1962 – The Mariner 2 space probe is launched.
• 1971 – A failed military coup occurs in Chad.
• 1975 – The Governor of Portuguese Timor (now East Timor) abandons his capital, Dili, and flees to Atauro Island, leaving control to a rebel group.
• 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.
• 1982 – Turkish military diplomat Colonel Atilla Altikat is shot dead in Ottawa, Canada. The group Justice Commandos Against Armenian Genocide claims responsibility.
• 1985 – The Nigerian government is peacefully overthrown by army chief Ibrahim Babangida.
• 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 Gouhou Dam in Gonghe, Qinghai province, breaks, resulting in 240 deaths.
• 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.
• 2000 – Ostankino Tower in Moscow catches fire, and three people are killed.

• 2003 – Mars makes closest approach to Earth in nearly 60,000 years, passing approximately 34,646,416 miles (55,758,006 kilometers) from Earth.
• 2005 – The Turning Torso in Malmo, Sweden, which is the tallest residential building in Europe, is opened.
• 2005 – Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama declare a State of Emergency in preparation for Hurricane Katrina.
• 2006 – Comair Flight 5191 crashes on take-off at Lexington, Kentucky, with 49 people out of the 50 on board being confirmed dead within hours of the crash.
• 2010 – Kenya promulgates a new constitution under Mwai Kibaki
• 2011 – Hurricane Irene strikes the east coast of the United States.

• 551 BC – Confucius, Chinese philosopher (died 479 BC)
• 865 – Rhazes, Persian polymath (died 925)
• 1407 – Ashikaga Yoshikazu, Ashikaga shogun (died 1425)
• 1471 – George, Duke of Saxony (died 1539)
• 1487 – Anne of Brandenburg (died 1514)
• 1545 – Alexander Farnese, Duke of Parma (died 1592)
• 1619 – Anne Genevieve de Bourbon (died 1679)
• 1624 – Koxinga, Chinese Ming dynasty loyalist (died 1662)
• 1630 – Maria van Oosterwijk, Dutch painter (died 1693)
• 1669 – Anne Marie d'Orléans, Duchess of Saxony (died 1728)
• 1724 – Joan Joachim Zubly, Swiss pastor, planter and statesman (died 1781)
• 1730 – Johann Georg Hamann, German philosopher and writer (died 1788)
• 1770 – Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, German philosopher (died 1831)
• 1781 – Finnur Magnusson, Icelandic philologist (died 1847)
• 1785 – Agustin Gamarra, Peruvian general and President (died 1841)
• 1803 – Edward Beecher, American theologian (died 1895)
• 1809 – Hannibal Hamlin, 15th Vice President of the United States and 26th Governor of Maine (died 1891)
• 1812 – Bertalan Szemere, 3rd Prime Minister of Hungary (died 1869)
• 1827 – Charles Lilley, English-Australian politician, 4th Premier of Queensland (died 1897)
• 1845 – Friedrich Martens, Russian diplomat (died 1909)

• 1858 – Giuseppe Peano, Italian mathematician (died 1932)
• 1862 – Abram Arkhipov, Russian artist (died 1930)
• 1864 – Helena Patursson, Faroese actress and writer (died 1916)
• 1865 – James Henry Breasted, American Egyptologist (died 1935)
• 1865 – Charles G. Dawes, 30th Vice President of the United States (died 1951)
• 1868 – Hong Beom-do, Korean activist (died 1943)
• 1869 – Karl Haushofer, German geographer (died 1946)
• 1870 – Amado Nervo, Mexican journalist, poet and diplomat (died 1919)
• 1871 – Theodore Dreiser, American writer (died 1945)
• 1872 – Giovanni Nasalli Rocca di Corneliano, Archbishop of Bologna (died 1952)
• 1873 – Maud Allan, Canadian-American dancer (died 1956)
• 1874 – Carl Bosch, German chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1940)
• 1875 – Katharine McCormick, American women's rights activist (died 1967)
• 1877 – Charles Rolls, British co-founder of Rolls-Royce (died 1910)
• 1877 – Ernst Wetter, Swiss Federal Councillor (died 1963)
• 1878 – Pyotr Nikolayevich Wrangel, Russian military figure (died 1928)
• 1881 – Sigurd Islandsmoen, Norwegian composer (died 1964)
• 1884 – Vincent Auriol, President of France (died 1966)
• 1884 – Alfredo Baldomir, President of Uruguay (died 1948)
• 1886 – Eric Coates, English composer (died 1957)
• 1886 – Rebecca Clark, English composer (died 1979)
• 1887 – Jimmy Finlayson, Scottish-born American actor (died 1953)
• 1890 – Man Ray, American photographer and artist (died 1976)
• 1896 – Faina Rainevskaya, Russian actress (died 1984)
• 1896 – Zygmunt Berling, Polish general and politician (died 1980)
• 1896 – Léon Theremin, Russian physicist and inventor (died 1993)
• 1899 – C. S. Forester, British writer (died 1966)
• 1899 – Byron Foulger, American actor (died 1970)

• 1904 – Norah Lofts, writer (died 1983)
• 1905 – Aris Velouchiotis, Greek military leader (died 1945)
• 1906 – Ed Gein, American serial killer (died 1984)
• 1908 – Don Bradman, Australian cricketer (died 2001)
• 1908 – Lyndon B. Johnson, 36th President of the United States (died 1973)
• 1908 – Frank Leahy, American football coach (died 1945)
• 1909 – Lester Young, American jazz musician (died 1959)
• 1911 – Kay Walsh, British actress (died 2005)
• 1913 – Nina Schenk von Stauffenberg, wife of Claus Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg (died 2006)
• 1914 – Heidi Kabel, German actress (died 2010)
• 1915 – Norman Foster Ramsey, Jr., American physicist (died 2011)
• 1916 – Martha Raye, American actress (died 1994)
• 1917 – Peanuts Lowrey, American baseball player, coach and manager (died 1986)
• 1918 – Jelle Zijlstra, Prime Minister of the Netherlands (died 2001)
• 1920 – James Molyneaux, Baron Molyneaux of Killead, Northern Irish politician (died 2015)
• 1921 – Georg Alexander, Duke of Mecklenburg (died 1996)
• 1921 – Leo Penn, American actor and director (died 1998)
• 1925 – Nat Lofthouse, English footballer (died 2011)
• 1925 – Andrea Cordero Lanza di Montezemolo, Italian cardinal (died 2017)
• 1926 – Pat Coombs, English actress (died 2002)
• 1926 – Kristen Nygaard, Norwegian mathematician (died 2002)
• 1928 – Osamu Shimomura, Japanese biochemist
• 1928 – Péter Boross, Hungarian politician and Prime Minister
• 1928 – Mangosuthu Buthelezi, South African politician
• 1928 – Othmar Schneider, Austrian skier (died 2012)
• 1929 – Ira Levin, American writer (died 2007)
• 1931 – Sri Chinmoy, Indian spiritual leader (died 2007)
• 1931 – Sven Tumba, Swedish footballer, ice hockey player and golfer (died 2011)
• 1932 – Saye Zerbo, Burkina Faso politician (died 2013)
• 1932 – Karekin I, former Armenian Apostolic Church leader
• 1932 – Antonia Fraser, British writer
• 1933 – Kerstin Ekman, Swedish writer
• 1935 – Frank Yablans, American movie producer
• 1937 – Alice Coltrane, American pianist and composer (died 2007)
• 1937 – Tommy Sands, American actor and singer
• 1939 – Edward Patten, American singer, songwriter and producer (died 2005)
• 1941 – Bohdan Stupka, Ukrainian actor and Minister of Culture (died 2012)
• 1941 – Cesaria Evora, Cape Verdean singer
• 1941 – Janos Konrad, Hungarian water polo player and swimmer
• 1942 – Brian Peckford, Canadian politician
• 1942 – Robert Marion Berry, American politician
• 1942 – Daryl Dragon, American songwriter (Captain & Tennille) (d. 2019)
• 1943 – Tuesday Weld, American actress
• 1943 – Bob Kerrey, 36th Governor of Nebraska
• 1943 – Wolfgang Nordwig, German high jumper
• 1945 – Jan Sloot, Dutch inventor (died 1999)
• 1946 – Peter Tobin, Scottish serial killer
• 1947 – Barbara Bach, American actress
• 1948 – Philippe Vallois, French screenwriter and director
• 1950 – Neil Murray, Scottish bass player and songwriter

• 1952 – Paul Reubens (Pee-Wee Herman), American actor
• 1953 – Alex Lifeson, Canadian rock guitarist (Rush)
• 1953 – Peter Stormare, Swedish actor, director, playwright and musician
• 1954 – John Lloyd, British tennis player and coach
• 1957 – Bernhard Langer, German golfer
• 1957 – Jeff Grubb, American game designer and author
• 1958 – Sergei Krikalev, Russian cosmonaut
• 1958 – Marcos Paqueta, Brazilian football manager
• 1958 – Hugh Orde, English senior police officer
• 1959 – Yves Rossy, Swiss pilot, aviation enthusiast and inventor
• 1959 – Juan Fernando Cobo, Colombian painter and sculptor
• 1959 – Jeanette Winterson, English novelist
• 1959 – Jürgen Becker, German comedian and performer
• 1961 – Yolanda Adams, American singer, producer and actress
• 1961 – Tom Ford, American fashion designer and director
• 1962 – Sjon, Icelandic writer and artist
• 1965 – Cheryl Fergison, English actress
• 1965 – Paulo Silas, Brazilian footballer
• 1966 – Juhan Parts, former Prime Minister of Estonia
• 1968 – Daphne Koller, Israeli-American computer scientist
• 1969 – Cesar Millan, Mexican-American dog trainer
• 1969 – Christine O'Donnell, American politician
• 1969 – Chandra Wilson, American actress
• 1970 – Peter Ebdon, English snooker player
• 1970 – Jim Thome, American baseball player
• 1970 – Tony Kanal, English-American musician, songwriter and producer
• 1970 – Karl Unterkircher, Italian mountaineer (died 2008)
• 1972 – Denise Lewis, British athlete
• 1972 – Jimmy Pop, American musician (Bloodhound Gang)
• 1973 – Dietmar Hamann, German footballer
• 1974 – José Vidro, Major League Baseball player
• 1974 – Mohammad Yousuf, Pakistani cricketer
• 1975 – Jonny Moseley, American skier

• 1976 – Sarah Chalke, Canadian actress
• 1976 – Carlos Moya, Spanish tennis player
• 1976 – Mark Webber, Australian race car driver
• 1977 – Deco, Brazilian-Portuguese footballer
• 1979 – Karel Rachunek, Czech ice hockey player (died 2011)
• 1981 – Alessandro Gamberini, Italian footballer
• 1981 – Collin Samuel, Trinidadian footballer
• 1983 – Jamala, Ukrainian singer
• 1984 – David Bentley, English footballer
• 1984 – Sulley Muntari, Ghanaian footballer
• 1985 – Nikica Jelavic, Croatian footballer
• 1985 – Daniel Küblböck, German singer and actor
• 1985 – Alexandra Nechita, Romanian-American artist
• 1986 – Mario, American R&B singer
• 1986 – Sebastian Kurz, Austrian politician, Chancellor of Austria
• 1988 – Alexa Vega, American actress
• 1990 – Taylor Mitchell, Canadian singer-songwriter (died 2009)
• 1990 – Luuk de Jong, Dutch footballer
• 1993 – Sarah Hecken, German figure skater

• 542 – Caesarius of Arles, Archbishop of Arles and Roman Catholic Saint (b. 470)
• 827 – Pope Eugene II
• 1312 – Arthur II, Duke of Brittany (b. 1262)
• 1394 – Emperor Chokei of Japan (b. 1343)
• 1521 – Josquin des Prez, French-Flemish composer (b. 1450)
• 1577 – Titian, Italian painter
• 1590 – Pope Sixtus V (b. 1521)
• 1635 – Lope de Vega, Spanish poet and playwright (b. 1562)
• 1773 – Friedrich Wilhelm von Seydlitz, Prussian general (b. 1721)
• 1828 – Eise Eisinga, Dutch astronomer (b. 1744)
• 1865 – Thomas Chandler of Haliburton, Canadian writer (b. 1796)
• 1871 – William Whiting Boarding, American politician (b. 1794)
• 1874 – Stefan Golescu, Romanian statesman (b. 1809)
• 1875 – William Chapman Ralston, founder of the Bank of California (b. 1826)
• 1879 – Rowland Hill, English postal reformer (b. 1795)

• 1909 – Emil Christian Hansen, Danish physiologist (b. 1842)
• 1919 – Louis Botha, South African politician (b. 1862)
• 1937 – Walter Rothschild, 2nd Baron Rothschild, British banker and zoologist (b. 1868)
• 1937 – Andrew W. Mellon, United States Secretary of the Treasury (b. 1855)
• 1944 – Georg von Boeselager, German aristocrat (b. 1915)
• 1948 – Charles Evans Hughes, American Supreme Court Justice (b. 1862)
• 1950 – Cesare Pavese, Italian poet, novelist, critic and translator (b. 1908)
• 1958 – Ernest Lawrence, American physicist (b. 1901)
• 1963 – W. E. B. Du Bois, American civil rights activist and scholar (b. 1868)
• 1964 – Gracie Allen, American actress (b. 1895)
• 1965 – Le Corbusier, Swiss architect (b. 1887)
• 1967 – Brian Epstein, British music manager (b. 1934)
• 1968 – Princess Marina of Greece and Denmark (b. 1906)
• 1968 – Robert Z. Leonard, American movie director, actor, producer and screenwriter (b. 1889)
• 1969 – Erika Mann, German actress and singer (b. 1905)
• 1975 – Haile Selassie I, Emperor of Ethiopia (b. 1892)
• 1976 – Mukesh, Indian singer (b. 1923)
• 1979 – Louis Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma, British statesman (b. 1900)
• 1980 – Douglas Kenney, American actor and writer (b. 1947)
• 1981 – Valeri Kharlamov, Soviet ice hockey player (b. 1948)
• 1982 – Atilla Altikat, Turkish military diplomat
• 1990 – Stevie Ray Vaughan, American musician (b. 1954)
• 1999 – Helder Camara, Brazilian archbishop (b. 1909)

• 2001 – Abu Ali Mustafa, Palestinian leader (b. 1938)
• 2006 – Maria Esther de Capovilla, Ecuadorean supercentenarian, World's oldest woman (b. 1889)
• 2006 – Jesse Pintado, British musician (b. 1969)
• 2009 – Sergey Mikhalkov, Russian writer (b. 1913)
• 2010 – Anton Geesink, Dutch judoka (b. 1934)
• 2011 – Stetson Kennedy, American writer and Civil Rights activist (b. 1916)
• 2012 – Russell Scott, American TV personality (b. 1920)
• 2012 – Malcolm Browne, American journalist and photographer (b. 1931)
• 2013 – Anatoly Onoprienko, Ukrainian serial killer (b. 1959)
• 2014 – Valeri Petrov, Bulgarian writer (b. 1920)
• 2014 – Sandy Wilson, English composer (b. 1924)
• 2014 – Peret, Spanish musician (b. 1935)
• 2014 – Yehezkel Braun, German-born Israeli composer (b. 1922)
• 2014 – Benno Pludra, German writer (b. 1925)
• 2014 – Jan Groth, Norwegian rock music singer (b. 1946)
• 2014 – Jacques Friedel, French physicist (b. 1921)
• 2015 – Darryl Dawkins, American basketball player (b. 1957)
• 2015 – Joan Garriga, Spanish motorcycle racer (b. 1963)
• 2017 – Yitzhak Pundak, Polish-born Israeli military officer and diplomat (b. 1913)
• 2017 – Ebrahim Yazdi, Iranian politician and diplomat (b. 1931)
• 2018 – Dale M. Cochran, American politician (b. 1928)
• 2018 – Mirka Mora, French-born Australian artist (b. 1928)
• 2018 – Fredd Wayne, American actor and columnist (b. 1924)
• 2018 – Murray Westgate, Canadian actor (b. 1918)

• Independence Day (Moldova)
• Lyndon Baines Johnson Day (Texas)