February 27

Historic Events

2019

Pakistan 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. ›

2015

Russian politician Boris Nemtsov is assassinated in Moscow while out walking with his girlfriend. ›

2013

A shooting takes place at a factory in Menznau, Switzerland, in which five people (including the perpetrator) are killed and five others injured. ›

2010

An 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. ›

2008

Jemaah Islamiyah terrorist Mas Selamat Kastari escapes from a detention center in Singapore, hiding in Johor, Malaysia until he was recaptured over a year later. ›

2007

Chinese 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. ›

2004

A bombing of a SuperFerry by Abu Sayyaf in the Philippines' worst terrorist attack kills more than 100 passengers. ›

2004

Shoko Asahara, the leader of the Japanese doomsday cult Aum Shinrikyo, is sentenced to death for masterminding the 1995 Tokyo subway sarin attack. ›

2002

Ryanair Flight 296 catches fire at London Stansted Airport causing minor injuries. ›

2002

Godhra train burning: A Muslim mob torches a train returning from Ayodhya, killing 59 Hindu pilgrims. ›

2001

Loganair Flight 670A crashes while attempting to make a water landing in the Firth of Forth in Scotland. ›

1991

Gulf War: U.S. President George H. W. Bush announces that "Kuwait is liberated". ›

1988

Sumgait pogrom: The Armenian community in Sumgait, Azerbaijan is targeted in a violent pogrom. ›

1976

The former Spanish territory of Western Sahara, under the auspices of the Polisario Front declares independence as the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic. ›

1973

The American Indian Movement occupies Wounded Knee in protest of the federal government. ›

1971

Doctors in the first Dutch abortion clinic (the Mildredhuis in Arnhem) start performing artificially-induced abortions. ›

1964

The Government of Italy asks for help to keep the Leaning Tower of Pisa from toppling over. ›

1963

The Dominican Republic receives its first democratically elected president, Juan Bosch, since the end of the dictatorship led by Rafael Trujillo. ›

1962

Vietnam 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. ›

1961

The first congress of the Spanish Trade Union Organisation is inaugurated. ›

1951

The Twenty-second Amendment to the United States Constitution, limiting Presidents to two terms, is ratified. ›

1943

The Smith Mine #3 in Bearcreek, Montana, explodes, killing 74 men. ›

1943

The Holocaust: In Berlin, the Gestapo arrest 1,800 Jewish men with German wives, leading to the Rosenstrasse protest. ›

1942

World War II: Operation Biting launches its overnight raid on the German coastal radar station at Bruneval to retrieve a Würzburg installation. ›

1942

World 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. ›

1940

Martin Kamen and Sam Ruben discover carbon-14. ›

1939

United 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. ›

1933

Reichstag fire: Germany's parliament building in Berlin, the Reichstag, is set on fire; Marinus van der Lubbe, a young Dutch Communist claims responsibility. ›

1932

The Mäntsälä rebellion begins when members of the far-right Lapua Movement start shooting at the social democrats' event in Mäntsälä, Finland. ›

1922

A 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. ›

1921

The International Working Union of Socialist Parties is founded in Vienna. ›

1916

Ocean liner SS Maloja strikes a mine near Dover and sinks with the loss of 155 lives. ›

1902

Second Boer War: Australian soldiers Harry "Breaker" Morant and Peter Handcock are executed in Pretoria after being convicted of war crimes. ›

1900

Second Boer War: In South Africa, British military leaders receive an unconditional notice of surrender from Boer General Piet Cronjé at the Battle of Paardeberg. ›

1900

The British Labour Party is founded. ›

1900

Fußball-Club Bayern München is founded. ›

1898

King George I of Greece survives an assassination attempt. ›

1881

First Boer War: The Battle of Majuba Hill takes place. ›

1870

The current flag of Japan is first adopted as the national flag for Japanese merchant ships. ›

1864

American Civil War: The first Northern prisoners arrive at the Confederate prison at Andersonville, Georgia. ›

1860

Abraham Lincoln makes a speech at Cooper Union in the city of New York that plays an important role in his election to the Presidency. ›

1859

United 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. ›

1844

The Dominican Republic gains independence from Haiti. ›

1812

Argentine War of Independence: Manuel Belgrano raises the Flag of Argentina in the city of Rosario for the first time. ›

1812

Poet 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. ›

1809

Action of 27 February 1809: Captain Bernard Dubourdieu captures HMS Proserpine. ›

1801

Pursuant to the District of Columbia Organic Act of 1801, Washington, D.C. is placed under the jurisdiction of the U.S. Congress. ›

1782

American Revolutionary War: The House of Commons of Great Britain votes against further war in America. ›

1776

American Revolutionary War: The Battle of Moore's Creek Bridge in North Carolina breaks up a Loyalist militia. ›

1626

Yuan Chonghuan is appointed Governor of Liaodong, after leading the Chinese into a great victory against the Manchurians under Nurhaci. ›

1617

Sweden and the Tsardom of Russia sign the Treaty of Stolbovo, ending the Ingrian War and shutting Russia out of the Baltic Sea. ›

1594

Henry IV is crowned King of France. ›

1560

The 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. ›

907

Abaoji, chieftain of the Yila tribe, is named khagan of the Khitans. ›

425

The University of Constantinople is founded by Emperor Theodosius II at the urging of his wife Aelia Eudocia. ›

380

Edict of Thessalonica: Emperor Theodosius I and his co-emperors Gratian and Valentinian II declare their wish that all Roman citizens convert to Nicene Christianity. ›