Today March 27th in history click read more below to view detail events, deaths, births, Holidays and observances, and video clips in hisotry. Please comments, last database updated: Jan 17th, 2009
Events
196 BC – Ptolemy V ascends to the throne of Egypt.
1309 – Pope Clement V excommunicates Venice and all its population.
1329 – Pope John XXII issues his In Agro Dominico condemning some writings of Meister Eckhart as heretical.
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 – The 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.
1642 – The sixth Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia Joseph takes office.
1782 – Charles Watson-Wentworth, 2nd Marquess of Rockingham becomes Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.
1794 – The United States Government establishes a permanent navy and authorizes the building of six frigates.
1794 – Denmark and Sweden form a neutrality compact.
1814 – War of 1812: In central Alabama, U.S. forces under General Andrew Jackson defeat the Creek at the Battle of Horseshoe Bend.
1836 – Texas Revolution: Goliad massacre – Antonio López de Santa Anna orders the Mexican army to kill about 400 Texans at Goliad, Texas.
1836 – Kirtland Temple in Ohio is dedicated in an 8 hour long service led by Joseph Smith, Jr. and Sidney Rigdon.
1846 – Mexican-American War: Siege of Fort Texas.
1851 – First reported case of Europeans seeing Yosemite Valley.
1854 – Crimean War: The United Kingdom declares war on Russia.
1868 – The Lake Ontario Shore Railroad Company is organized in Oswego, New York.
1871 – The first international rugby football match, England v. Scotland, is played in Edinburgh at Raeburn Place.
1881 – Rioting takes place in Basingstoke in protest against the daily vociferous promotion of rigid Temperance 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
1910 – Fire during a barn-dance in Ököritófülpös, Hungary, killed 312
1918 – Moldova and Bessarabia join Romania.
1938 – The Battle of Taierzhuang takes place.
1941 – World War II: Yugoslavian Air Force officers topple the pro-axis government in a bloodless coup.
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.
1958 – Nikita Khrushchev becomes Premier of the Soviet Union.
1963 – Beeching axe: Dr. Richard Beeching issues a report calling for huge cuts to the United Kingdom s rail network.
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.
1976 – The first 4.6 miles of the Washington Metro subway system opens.
1977 – Tenerife disaster: Two Boeing 747 airliners collide on a foggy runway on Tenerife in the Canary Islands, killing 583 (all 248 on KLM and 335 on Pan Am) and 61 survived on the Pan Am flight.
1980 – The Norwegian oil platform Alexander Kielland collapses in the North Sea, killing 123 of its crew of 212.
1986 – A car bomb explodes at Russell Street Police HQ in Melbourne, killing 1 police officer and injuring 21 people.
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 – Italian former minister and Christian Democracy leader Giulio Andreotti is accused of mafia allegiance by the tribunal of Palermo.
1994 – TV tycoon Silvio Berlusconi s right-wing coalition wins the general elections in Italy.
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.
1994 – The Eurofighter takes its first flight in Manching, Germany.
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 – An F-117 Nighthawk is shot down during the Kosovo War.
2000 – Phillips explosion of 2000 kills 1 and injures 71 in Pasadena, Texas.
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 United Nations Commission on Human Rights holds its final meeting.
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 – 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
1935 – Fr. Stanley Rother, Roman Catholic Priest, Martyr and Missionary to Guatemala (d. 1981)
1937 – Thomas Aquinas Daly, American painter
1939 – Cale Yarborough, American race car driver
1940 – Janis Martin, American singer (d. 2007)
1940 – Austin Pendleton, American actor
1941 – Ivan Gašparovic, President of Slovakia
1942 – John E. Sulston, British chemist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
1942 – Michael York, English actor
1942 – Michael Jackson, English writer (d. 2007)
1943 – Phil Frank, American cartoonist (d. 2007)
1944 – Khosrow Shakibai, Iranian actor (d. 2008)
1946 – Olaf Malolepski, German musician (Die Flippers)
1947 – Brian Jones, British balloonist
1947 – Walt Mossberg, the highest-paid journalist at the Wall Street Journal
1950 – Tony Banks, English musician (Genesis)
1950 – Petros Efthimiou, Greek politician
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
1957 – Billy Mackenzie, Scottish musician (Associates) (d. 1997)
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 – David Bavaro, American football player
1967 – Talisa Soto, American actress
1967 – Kenta Kobashi, Japanese professional wrestler
1968 – Sandra Hess, Swiss-born actress and model
1969 – Kevin Corrigan, American actor
1969 – Pauley Perrette, American actress, photographer, poet, writer
1970 – Mariah Carey, American soul/dance-pop singer
1970 – Brent Fitz, Canadian musician (Theory of a Deadman)
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 Ferguson, American pop singer (The Black Eyed Peas)
1975 – Tom Goegebuer, Belgian weightlifter
1975 – Chakrit Yamnam, Thai film and television actor
1976 – Djamel Belmadi, Algerian footballer
1976 – Carl Ng, Hong Kong/British actor and model
1977 – Violetta Blue, American porn star
1977 – Vitor Meira, Brazilian racing driver
1977 – Adrian Anca, Romanian footballer
1979 – Michael Cuddyer, Minnesota Twins baseball player
1981 – Carey Davis, National Football League fullback
1981 – Lin Jun Jie, Chinese Singer
1981 – Terry McFlynn, Northern Irish footballer
1982 – Kurara Chibana, Japanese beauty queen, first runner-up Miss Universe 2006
1984 – Laura Critchley, British singer/song writer
1985 – Dario Baldauf, Austrian footballer
1985 – Stijn De Smet, Belgian footballer
1985 – Caroline Winberg, Swedish supermodel
1986 – Valerie So Cal Val Wyndham, American professional wrestling valet
1986 – Ramani, Indian Girl
1987 – Chad Denny, Canadian ice hockey player
1988 – Brenda Song, American actress
1990 – Scott Selwood, Australian rules footballer
1995 – Taylor Atelian, American actress
Deaths
710 – Rupert of Salzburg
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. c. 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)
1897 – Andreas Anagnostakis, Greek physician (b. 1826)
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)
1934 – Francis William Reitz, 5th State President of the Orange Free State (b. 1844)
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)
1977 – Jacob Veldhuyzen van Zanten, Dutch Aviator (b. 1927)
1981 – Mao Dun, Chinese writer (b. 1895)
1988 – Renato Salvatori, Italian actor (b. 1934)
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 bridgeplayer (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 – Ian Hamilton Finlay, Scottish poet, writer, artist and gardener (b. 1925)
2006 – Stanislaw 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)
2008 – Jean-Marie Balestre, French president of motor sport s FIA (b. 1921)
2008 – George Pruteanu, Romanian literary critic and politician (b. 1947)
Holidays and observances
Angolan Victory Day
Osweiler in Luxembourg
