December 27

Historic Events

2025

An estimated €30 million were stolen from a Sparkasse bank in Gelsenkirchen, Germany. ›

2019

Bek Air Flight 2100 crashes during takeoff from Almaty International Airport in Almaty, Kazakhstan, killing 13. ›

2009

Iranian election protests: On the Day of Ashura in Tehran, Iran, government security forces fire upon demonstrators. ›

2008

Operation Cast Lead: Israel launches three-week operation on Gaza. ›

2007

Former Pakistani prime minister Benazir Bhutto is assassinated in a shooting incident. ›

2007

Riots erupt in Mombasa, Kenya, after Mwai Kibaki is declared the winner of the presidential election, triggering a political, economic, and humanitarian crisis. ›

2004

Radiation from an explosion on the magnetar SGR 1806-20 reaches Earth. It is the brightest extrasolar event known to have been witnessed on the planet. ›

2002

Two truck bombs kill 72 and wound 200 at the pro-Moscow headquarters of the Chechen government in Grozny, Chechnya, Russia. ›

1999

Burger King and the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission order a recall of plastic Poké Ball containers after they are determined to be a choking hazard. ›

1997

Protestant paramilitary leader Billy Wright is assassinated in Northern Ireland, United Kingdom. ›

1996

Taliban forces retake the strategic Bagram Airfield which solidifies their buffer zone around Kabul, Afghanistan. ›

1991

Scandinavian Airlines System Flight 751 crashes in Gottröra in the Norrtälje Municipality in Sweden, injuring 92. ›

1989

The Romanian Revolution concludes, as the last minor street confrontations and stray shootings abruptly end in the country's capital, Bucharest. ›

1985

Palestinian guerrillas kill eighteen people inside the airports of Rome, Italy, and Vienna, Austria. ›

1983

Pope John Paul II visits Mehmet Ali Ağca in Rebibbia's prison and personally forgives him for the 1981 attack on him in St. Peter's Square. ›

1978

Spain becomes a democracy after 40 years of fascist dictatorship. ›

1968

Apollo program: Apollo 8 splashes down in the Pacific Ocean, ending the first orbital crewed mission to the Moon. ›

1968

North Central Airlines Flight 458 crashes at O'Hare International Airport, killing 28. ›

1966

The Cave of Swallows, the largest known cave shaft in the world, is discovered in Aquismón, San Luis Potosí, Mexico. ›

1949

Indonesian National Revolution: The Netherlands officially recognizes Indonesian independence. End of the Dutch East Indies. ›

1945

The International Monetary Fund is created with the signing of an agreement by 29 nations. ›

1939

The 7.8 Mw Erzincan earthquake shakes eastern Turkey with a maximum Mercalli intensity of XI (Extreme). At least 32,700 people were killed. ›

1939

Winter War: Finland holds off a Soviet attack in the Battle of Kelja. ›

1935

Regina Jonas is ordained as the first female rabbi in the history of Judaism. ›

1932

Radio City Music Hall, "Showplace of the Nation", opens in New York City. ›

1929

Soviet General Secretary Joseph Stalin orders the "liquidation of the kulaks as a class". ›

1927

Kern and Hammerstein's musical play Show Boat, considered to be the first true American musical play, opens at the Ziegfeld Theatre on Broadway. ›

1922

Japanese aircraft carrier Hōshō becomes the first purpose-built aircraft carrier to be commissioned in the world. ›

1918

The Great Poland Uprising against the Germans begins. ›

1918

Ukrainian War of Independence: The Revolutionary Insurgent Army of Ukraine occupies Yekaterinoslav and seizes seven airplanes from the UPRAF, establishing an Insurgent Air Fleet. ›

1911

"Jana Gana Mana", the national anthem of India, is first sung in the Calcutta Session of the Indian National Congress. ›

1845

Ether anesthetic is used for childbirth for the first time by Dr. Crawford Long in Jefferson, Georgia. ›

1845

Having coined the phrase "manifest destiny" the previous July, journalist John L. O'Sullivan argued in his newspaper New York Morning News that the United States had the right to claim the entire Oregon Country. ›

1836

The worst ever avalanche in England occurs at Lewes, Sussex, killing eight people. ›

1831

Charles Darwin embarks on his journey aboard HMS Beagle, during which he will begin to formulate his theory of evolution. ›

1814

War of 1812: The destruction of the schooner USS Carolina brings to an end Commodore Daniel Patterson's makeshift fleet, which fought a series of delaying actions that contributed to Andrew Jackson's victory at the Battle of New Orleans. ›

1703

Portugal and England sign the Methuen Treaty which allows Portugal to export wines to England on favorable trade terms. ›

1657

The Flushing Remonstrance articulates for the first time in North American history that freedom of religion is a fundamental right. ›

1655

Second Northern War/the Deluge: Monks at the Jasna Góra Monastery in Częstochowa are successful in fending off a month-long siege. ›

1521

The Zwickau prophets arrive in Wittenberg, disturbing the peace and preaching the Apocalypse. ›

1512

The Spanish Crown issues the Laws of Burgos, governing the conduct of settlers with regard to native Indians in the New World. ›

537

The second Hagia Sophia in Constantinople is consecrated. ›