On this day in History - Dec. 27

• 0418 - Zosimus dies. Greek pope.
• 0537 - The Hagia Sophia is completed.
• 1076 - Prince Svyatoslav II of Kiev dies (b. 1027).
• 1381 - Edmund de Mortimer, 3rd Earl of March dies. English politician.
• 1390 - Anne de Mortimer was born (d. 1411). Claimant to the English throne.
• 1437 - Albrecht II von Habsburg becomes king of Bohemia.
• 1492 - Cristóbal Colón descubre la isla de Cuba, a la que llama "Juana" y después "Fernandina", pero que mantendrá finalmente su nombre autóctono.
• 1512 - Ferdinand II issued the Laws of Burgos to “regulate the relations” between Spaniards and Indians in Spain's American colonies.
• 1548 - Francesco Spiera dies (b. 1502).Italian Protestant jurist.
• 1571 - Johannes Kepler was born (d. 1630). German astronomer .
• 1585 - Pierre de Ronsard dies (b. 1524). French poet.
• 1603 - Thomas Cartwright dies. English Puritan clergyman.
• 1654 - Jacob Bernoulli was born (d. 1705). Swiss mathematician.
• 1657 - The Flushing Remonstrance is signed.
• 1683 - Conyers Middleton was born (d. 1750). English minister.
• 1683 - D. Maria Francisca Isabel de Sabóia dies (b. 21 Jun 1646). Queen of Portugal.
• 1703 - Portugal and England sign the Methuen Treaty which gives preference to Portuguese imported wines into England. (Ler em português Tratado de Methuen).
• 1707 - Jean Mabillon dies (b. 1632). French palaeograopher and diplomat.
• 1714 - Kristijonas Donelaitis was born (d. 1780). Lithuanian poet.
• 1715 - Philippe de Noailles, duc de Mouchy was born (d. 1794). French soldier.
• 1717 - Pope Pius VI was born (d. 1799)
• 1721 - François Hemsterhuis was born (d. 1790). Dutch philosopher.
• 1726 - St. John of Cross is canonized by Pope Benedict XIII.
• 1726 - Saint Francis Solanus (1549-1610) is canonized on this day by Pope Benedict XIII
• 1726 - Saint Peregrine Laziosi (1260-1345) is canonized on this day by Pope Benedict XIII
• 1732 - Em Portugal região de Loulé no Algarve ficou parcialmente destruída, como consequência de um sismo devastador.
• 1737 - William Bowyer dies (b. 1663). English printer.
• 1743 - Hyacinthe Rigaud dies (b. 1659). French painter.
• 1761 - Michael Andreas Barclay de Tolly was born (d. 1818). Russian military commander.
• 1763 - Tratado de paz de Fontainebleau, por el que los británicos devuelven Manila a los españoles.
• 1771 - Henri Pitot dies (b. 1695). French engineer.
• 1773 - Sir George Cayley was born (d. 1857). English scientist and aerial navigator.
• 1776 - Nikolay Kamensky was born (d. 1811). Russian general.
• 1782 - Henry Home, Lord Kames dies (b. 1697). Scottish philosopher.
• 1796 - Mirza Ghalib was born in Agra, Awadh (d. 1869). Indian poet of Urdu and Farsi.
• 1797 - Marquesa de Santos (Domitília de Castro do Canto e Mello), was born in São Paulo -SP. Brazilian nobless personality.
• 1800 - Hugh Blair dies (b. 1718). Scottish preacher and man of letters.
• 1801 - After conquering Italy, Napoleon established the Republic of Lucca.
• 1802 - Jørgensen “Jens” Juel dies (b. 12 May 1745). Danish painter.
• 1803 - François-Marie-Thomas Chevalier de Lorimier was born (d. 1839). French Canadian Patriote.
• 1812 - Shneur Zalman of Liadi dies (b. 1745). Lithuanian rabbi and founder of Chabad Hasidism
• 1812 - Joanna Southcott dies (b. 1750). English religious prophetess.
• 1814 - Destruction of schooner Carolina, the last of Commodore Daniel Patterson's make-shift fleet that fought a series of delaying actions that contributed to Andrew Jackson's victory at the Battle of New Orleans.
• 1822 - Louis Pasteur was born in Dole, France (d. 1895). French scientist, chemist and microbiologist whose contributions were among the most varied and valuable in the history of science and industry.
• 1823 - Sir Mackenzie Bowell was born (d. 1896). Fifth Prime Minister of Canada.
• 1831 - Charles Darwin embarks on his journey aboard the HMS Beagle, during which he will begin to formulate the theory of evolution.
  
• 1832 - Pavel Tretyakov was born (d. 1897). Russian businessman and patron of art.
• 1834 - Charles Lamb dies (b. 1775). English essayist.
• 1836 - The worst ever avalanche in England occurs at Lewes, Sussex, killing 8 people.
• 1836 - Stephen F. Austin dies (b. 1793). American pioneer.
• 1845 - Ether anesthetic is used for childbirth for the first time (Dr. Crawford Williamson Long in Jefferson, Georgia).
• 1849 - Jacques Laurent Agasse dies in London (b. 24 Mar 1767). Swiss English painter specialized in animals. [White Horse in Pasture (1807)].
• 1845 - Augusto de Oliveira Machado was born in Lisbon (d. 26 Mar 1924). Portuguese composer.
• 1852 - Dom João G da Câmara was born. Portuguese journalist/songwriter.
• 1858 - Alexandre Pierre François Boëly dies (b. 1785). French composer.
• 1864 - Hood's army crosses the Tennessee River.
• 1864 - René Georges Hermann-Paul was born. French artist.
• 1871 - World's 1st Cat show (Crystal Palace, London).
• 1879 - Sydney Greenstreet was born (d. 1954). English actor.
• 1881 - António Joaquim Granjo was born in Chaves (d. 19 Oct. 1921). Portuguese politician.
• 1882 - Mina Loy was born (d. 1966). English poet and painter.
• 1883 - Cyrus S. Eaton was born (d. 1979). Canadian-American financier, industrialist and philanthropist.
• 1884 - Netherlands recognizes king Leopold II's Congo Free State.
• 1888 - Thea von Harbou was born (d. 1954). German author and actress.
• 1892 - Alfred Edwin McKay was born (d. 1917). Canadian World War One flying ace.
• 1896 - Carl Zuckmayer was born (d. 1977). German author and dramatist.
• 1896 - Louis Bromfield was born (d. 1956). American writer.
• 1896 - Maurice De Waele was born (d. 1952). Belgian cyclist.
• 1896 - John Brown dies (b. 1816). British manufacturer.
• 1897 - Afonso da Rocha e Castro was born in Vila Real. Portuguese poet.
  
• 1897 – Tudor Vianu was born (d. 21 May 1964). Romanian poet.
• 1899 - Concepción Michel (Concha) dies (b. 1899). Mexican singer, musicologist and politic activist.
• 1900 - Militant prohibitionist Carry A. Nation carried out her first public smashing of a bar, at the Carey Hotel in Wichita, Kan.
• 1900 - Hans Stuck was born (d. 1978). German race car driver.
• 1900 - William George Armstrong dies (b. 1810). English inventor, industrialist, and engineer.
• 1901 - Marlene Dietrich was born (d. 1992). German actress and singer.
• 1901 - Irene Handl was born (d. 1987). English actress.
  
• 1904 - Peter Pan, by James Barrie, opens in London.
• 1904 - The Abbey Theatre opens.
• 1904 - El Banfield Athletic Club se refunda como Club Atlético Banfield (Argentina).
• 1906 - Bernardo de Irigoyen dies in Buenos Aires. Argentine politician.
• 1906 - Oscar Levant was born (d. 1972). American pianist, composer and actor.
• 1907 - Conrad L. Raiford was born (d. 2002). Goodwill Ambassador.
• 1907 - Sebastian Haffner was born (d. 1999). German journalist and writer.
• 1907 - Willem van Otterloo was born (d. 1978). Dutch conductor and composer.
• 1909 - Club Atlético Concepción, de Tucumán is founded.
• 1910 - Charles Olson was born (d. 1970). American poet.
• 1911 - Anna Russell was born (d. 2006). English-born Canadian singer and comedian.
  
• 1912 - Manuel do Nascimento was born in Monchique (d. in Lisbon 30 Dec 1966). Portuguese writer, journalist and editor.
  
• 1914 - Charles Martin Hall dies (b. 1863). American chemist and inventor.
• 1915 - Mary Kornman was born (d. 1973). American actress.
• 1915 - Gyula Zsengellér was born. Hungarian football player
• 1915 - William Masters was born [d. 2001]; William H(owell) Masters made with his wife, Virginia Johnson, an American research team, and, respectively, physician and psychologist, noted for their studies of human sexuality.
• 1916 - Werner Baumbach was born (d. 1953). German bomber pilot.
• 1917 - Onni Palaste was born. Finnish writer.
• 1918 - Beginning of Great Poland Uprising, the Poles in Greater Poland (or Grand Duchy of Poznań) rise against the Germans.
• 1918 - John Celardo was born. American comic strip artist.
• 1920 - Bruce Hobbs was born (d. 2005). American jockey.
• 1922 - Japanese aircraft carrier Hōshō becomes the first purpose built aircraft carrier to be commissioned in the world.
• 1923 - Namba Daisuke, a Japanese student, tried to assassinate the Prince Regent Hirohito
• 1923 - Lagoa Henriques was born in Lisbon. Portuguese sculptor.
• 1923 - Gustave Eiffel dies (b. 1832). French engineer and architect.
• 1924 - William Archer dies in London (b. 23 Sep 1856). Scottish critic and playwright (Green Goddess).
• 1925 - Michel Piccoli was born in Paris. French actor (Topaz, Peril, May Fools).
• 1925 - Sergei Yesenin dies (b. 1895). Russian poet.
• 1926 - Jerome Courtland was born. American actor, director and producer.
• 1927 - the musical play "Show Boat," with music by Jerome Kern and libretto by Oscar Hammerstein II, opened at the Ziegfeld Theater in New York.
• 1927 - Leon Trotsky expelled from the Communist Party.
• 1927 - Antony Gardner was born. British politician.
• 1927 - Agnes Nixon was born. American television producer, director and writer.
• 1929 - Leon Trotsky is deported from the Soviet Union in February 1929. His first station in exile was at Büyükada off the coast of Istanbul, where he stayed four years.
• 1930 - José de Ribamar Fiquene was born in Itapecuru-mirim (MA). Brazilian writer and politician.
• 1930 - Wilfrid Sheed was born. English-born American writer.
• 1931 - Scotty Moore was born. American guitarist.
• 1932 - The Radio City Music Hall in New York City opens.
• 1932 - The internal passport system, previously denounced by Vladimir Ilich Lenin as one of the worst stigmas of tsarist backwardness and despotism, was reinstated in the Soviet Union by Joseph Stalin.
• 1934 - Persia comienza a denominarse Irán, por disposición del Gobierno.
• 1934 - Isaac Karabtchewsky was born. Brazilian conductor.
• 1934 - Larissa Latynina was born. Russian gymnast.
• 1936 - Iris Zavala was born in Puerto Rico. Writer (Breve historia feminista de la literatura española).
• 1938 - Calvin Bridges dies (b. 1889). American geneticist.
• 1938 - Osip Mandelstam dies (b. 1891). Russian poet.
• 1939 - Erzincan, Turkey is hit by an earthquake magnitude 8 : 20.0000 - 40,000 die.
• 1939 - John Amos was born. American actor.
• 1940 - Louis Hayet dies (b. 29 Aug 1864). French painter and writer.
• 1941 - Michael Pinder was born. British musician (Moody Blues).
• 1941 - Nolan Richardson was born. American basketball coach.
• 1941 - Les Maguire was born. British keyboardist (Gerry & the Pacemakers).
• 1942 - The Union of Pioneers of Yugoslavia is founded.
• 1942 - Byron Browne was born. Baseball player.
• 1942 - Charmian Carr was born. American actress.
• 1942 - Thomas Menino was born. American politician.
• 1943 - Cokie Roberts was born. American journalist.
• 1943 - Joan Manuel Serrat was born. Spanish musician.
• 1943 - Peter Sinfield was born. British lyricist and producer.
• 1943 - Maurício Tapajós was born in Rio de Janeiro (d. 21 Apr 1995). Brazilian violinist ans popular composer.
• 1943 - German warship "Scharnhorst" sinks in Barents Sea.
• 1944 - Barry Elliot was born. British actor.
• 1944 - Mick Jones was born. British musician (Foreigner).
• 1945 - The World Bank was created with an agreement signed by 28 nations.
• 1945 - Belgium joins to United Nations.
• 1946 - Janet Street-Porter was born. British journalist, producer and presenter.
• 1946 - Lenny Kaye was born. American guitarist.
• 1947 - the children’s television program "Howdy Doody" made its debut on NBC.
• 1947 - In Italy is promulgated the first Constitution after The World War.
• 1947 - Bill Eadie was born. Professional wrestler known as "Ax" of Demolition.
  
• 1947 - Janet Perry was born. American soprano.
• 1947 - Mickey Redmond was born. National Hockey League player.
• 1947 - Tracy Nelson was born. American blues singer.
• 1947 - Willy Polleunis was born. Belgian athlete.
• 1948 - Gerard Depardieu was born. French actor.
• 1949 - Einstein’s Theory of Gravitation - Albert Einstein published his extended theory of gravitation in the "New York Times".
• 1949 - T.S. Monk was born. Jazz singer-musician.
• 1949 - Indonesian National Revolution: Queen Juliana of the Netherlands grants Indonesia sovereignty.
• 1949 - Carson Kievman was born. American composer.
• 1950 - Roberto Bettega was born. Italian football player.
• 1950 - Max Beckmann was born (d. 1884). German painter.
• 1950 - Terry Bozzio was born. American drummer (Missing Persons).
• 1950 - Max Beckmann dies (b. 1884). German painter.
• 1951 - 40th Davis Cup: Australia beats USA in Sydney (3-2) .
• 1951 - Ernesto Zedillo was born. President of Mexico (1994-2000).
• 1952 - Karla Bonoff was born. American singer and songwriter.
• 1952 - Jay Hill was born. Canadian politician.
• 1952 - David Knopfler was born. British musician and composer (Dire Straits).
• 1952 - Tovah Feldshuh was born. American actress.
• 1952 - Patrick Joseph Hartigan dies (b. 1878). Australian Roman Catholic priest.
• 1953 - Julian Tuwim dies (b. 1894). Polish poet.
• 1955 - Barbara Olson was born (d. 2001). American political commentator.
• 1955 - Brad Murphey was born. Australian racing driver.
• 1955 - Alfred Francis Blakeney Carpenter dies (b. 1881). English soldier.
• 1955 - Brad Murphey was born. Australian racing driver.
• 1956 - 5.580 Egyptian prisoners of war are exchanged for four Israelis held by Egypt following the Tripartite Invasion.
• 1956 - Lambert McKenna dies (b. 1870). Irish editor and lexicographer.
• 1957 - The biggest abattoir in the north of England has been shut down after foot-and-mouth disease was found in cattle waiting to be slaughtered.
• 1957 - James Sanford was born. American runner (world record 50m indoor).
• 1959 - Andre Tippett was born. American football player.
• 1959 - Gerina Dunwich was born. American author.
• 1959 - Andre Tippett was born. American football player.
• 1959 - Alfonso Reyes dies (b. 17 May 1889). Mexican poet, historian and diplomat.
• 1960 - France detonates its third atomic device in the Sahara.
• 1960 - Maryam d'Abo was born. British actress.
• 1960 - Donald Nally was born. American choral conductor.
• 1960 - Victoria Paige Meyerink was born. American actress and producer.
• 1962 - Mark Few was born. American basketball coach.
• 1962 - Barbara Crampton was born. American actress.
• 1962 - Bill Self was born. American basketball coach.
• 1962 - Sherri Steinhauer was born. American golfer.
• 1963 - Gaspar Noé was born. Argentinian-born director.
• 1964 - Ian Gomez was born. American actor.
• 1964 - Theresa Randle was born. American actress.
• 1965 - Andrew Ettingshausen was born. Australian rugby player.
• 1965 - Chris Mainwaring was born (d. 2007). Australian rules footballer.
• 1965 - Salman Khan was born. Indian actor.
• 1965 - Edgar Ende dies (b. 1901). German painter.
• 1966 - Bill Goldberg was born. American football player and professional wrestler.
• 1966 - Eva LaRue was born. American actress.
• 1966 - Fabian Núñez was born. American politician.
• 1966 - John Harrington was born. American photographer and author.
• 1966 - Wendy Coakley-Thompson was born. American writer.
• 1966 - Guillermo Stábile dies (b. 1906). Argentine footballer and National coach.
• 1968 - Apollo Program: Apollo 8 splashes down in the Pacific Ocean, ending the first orbital manned mission to the Moon.
• 1968 - The long-running radio program The Breakfast Club signs off for the last time (ABC radio).
• 1969 - Chyna was born. American professional wrestler.
• 1969 - Jean-Christophe Boullion was born. French race car driver.
• 1969 - Sarah Vowell was born. American author and journalist.
• 1969 - Serafim Leite dies (b. 1880). Portuguese Jesuit and historian.
• 1970 - Brendon Cook was born. Australian racing driver.
• 1970 - Lorenzo Neal was born. American football player.
• 1971 - Chyna was born. American professional wrestler.
• 1971 - Bryan Smolinski was born. American ice hockey player.
• 1971 - Duncan Ferguson was born. Scottish footballer.
• 1971 - Joanie Laurer was born. American professional wrestler.
• 1972 - Colin Charvis was born. Rugby union player.
• 1972 - Matt Slocum was born. American musician (Sixpence None The Richer)
• 1972 - Thomas Wilson Brown was born. American actor.
• 1972 - Lester B. Pearson dies (b. 1897). Fourteenth Prime Minister of Canada, recipient of the 1957 Nobel Peace Prize.
• 1973 - Kristoffer Zegers was born. Dutch composer.
• 1973 - Dee Ferris was born. British painter.
• 1973 - Ruy Ventura was born in Portalegre. Portuguese poet.
  
• 1973 - Wilson Cruz was born. Puerto Rican actor.
• 1974 - Jay Pandolfo was born. American ice hockey player.
• 1974 - Masi Oka was born. Japanese-American actor.
• 1974 - Vladimir Aleksandrovich Fock dies (b. 1898). Russian physicist.
• 1975 - Heather O'Rourke was born (d. 1988). American actress.
• 1976 - Aaron Stanford was born. American actor.
• 1976 - Fernando Pisani was born. Canadian/Italian hockey player.
• 1977 - Jacqueline Pillon was born. Canadian actress.
• 1978 - King Juan Carlos ratifies Spain's 1st democratic constitution.
• 1978 - Spain adopted a new constitution and became a democracy after 40 years of dictatorship.
• 1978 - Bob Luman dies (b. 1937). American Country and Rockabilly singer.
• 1978 - Houari Boumédienne dies (b. 1932). President of Algeria
• 1979 - The Soviet Union took control of Afghanistan, installing Afghan politician Babrak Karmal as president.
• 1979 - Carson Palmer was born. American football player.
• 1979 - David Dunn was born. English football player.
• 1979 - Hafizullah Amin dies (b. 1929). Second President of Afghanistan.
  
• 1980 - Claudio Castagnoli was born. Swiss wrestler.
• 1980 - Cas Haley was born. American singer and guitarist.
• 1981 - David Aardsma was born. American baseball player.
• 1981 - Emilie de Ravin was born. Australian actress.
• 1981 - Javine was born. British singer.
• 1981 - Hoagy Carmichael dies (b. 1899). American composer and singer.
• 1982 - James Mead was born. American guitarist (Kutless).
• 1982 - Terji Skibenæs was born. Faroese guitarist, (Týr).
• 1982 - John Swigert dies (b. 1931). American astronaut.
• 1983 - Cole Hamels was born. American baseball player.
• 1983 - Marc Zoro was born. Ivory Coast football player
  
• 1984 - Gilles Simon was born. French tennis player.
• 1984 - Pleasure P was born. American R&B Singer. Former member of Pretty Ricky.
  
• 1985 - Palestinian guerrillas opened fire inside the Rome and Vienna airports; a total of 20 people were killed, including five of the attackers, who were slain by police and security personnel.
• 1985 - American naturalist Dian Fossey is found murdered in Rwanda.
• 1985 - Logan Bailly was born. Belgian football goalkeeper.
• 1985 - Paul Stastny was born. Canadian-American ice hockey player.
• 1985 - Telma Monteiro was born. Portuguese judok.
• 1987 - Geoffrey D Lloyd dies (b. 1933). Chairman of the guild of British Newspaper editors.
• 1988 - Hayley Williams was born. American Singer (Paramore).
• 1988 - Rick Porcello was born. American baseball player.
• 1988 - Hal Ashby dies (b. 1929). American film director (Shampoo, 8 Million Ways to Die, Coming Home (see My top 5 movies).
• 1990 - Luis Trujillo was born. Peruvian football player.
• 1992 - Kay Boyle dies (b. 1902). American writer.
• 1993 - Dow-Jones hits record 3792.93 .
• 1993 - British customs officials seize £70m of Colombian cocaine thought to be linked to the Mafia.
• 1993 - André Pilette dies (b. 1918). Belgian racing driver.
• 1994 - Four Roman Catholic priests — three French and a Belgian — were shot to death in their rectory in Algiers, a day after French commandos killed four radicals who’d hijacked an Air France jet from Algiers to Marseille.
• 1994 - Fanny Cradock dies (b. 1909). English food writer and broadcaster.
  
• 1994 - J. B. L. Reyes dies (b. 1902). Filipino jurist.
  
• 1995 - Shura Cherkassky dies (b. 1909). Ukrainian classical pianist.
• 1996 - Rwanda's first genocide trial opened for the 1994 slaughter of 800,000 Tutsis.
• 1996 - Taliban forces retake the strategic Bagram air base which solidifies their buffer zone around Kabul.
• 1997 - Protestant paramilitary leader Billy Wright is assassinated in prison in Northern Ireland.
• 1997 - Brendan Gill dies (b. 1914). American columnist and humorist.
• 1997 - Billy Wright dies (b. 1960). Irish Protestant paramilitary leader.
• 2000 - Antonio Rodríguez Valdivieso dies (b. 1918). Spanish painter.
• 2001 - The U.S. announced plans to hold Taliban and al-Qaeda prisoners at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
• 2001 - The People's Republic of China is granted permanent normal trade relations with the United States.
• 2002 - Two truck bombs kill 72 and wound 200 at the pro-Moscow headquarters of the Chechen government in Grozny, Chechnya.
• 2002 - George Roy Hill dies (b. 1922). American film director.
• 2003 - Alan Bates dies (b. 1934). English actor.
• 2003 - Ivan Calderon dies murdered (b. 1962). Puerto Rican Major League Baseball player.
• 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.
• 2004 - Yushchenko wins Ukraine election re-run
• 2004 - Hank Garland dies (b. 1930). American musician.
• 2005 - Portugal: César Peixoto, portuguese footballer and Isabel Figueira, Portuguese model and TV personality, get married at Igreja do Mosteiro de Santa Maria da Costa, na Pousada de Guimarães.
• 2005 - Jacinto Figueira Jr. dies (b. 04 Dec 1927). Brazilian journalist, singer and TV presenter.
• 2005 - William Doody dies (b. 1931). Canadian politician.
• 2006 - Gerald Ford dies in Rancho Mirage, California (b. 1913). Thirty-Eighth President of United States of America (1974-1977).
• 2007 - Benazir Bhutto (b. 1953) is killed in suicide attack; Former Prime-Minister and Pakistan's opposition leader Benazir Bhutto is assassinated in a suicide attack that also killed at least 20 others at a campaign rally.
• 2007 - Jerzy Kawalerowicz dies (b. 1922). Polish film director.
  
• 2007 - Jaan Kross dies (b. 1920). Estonian writer.
• 2008 – Israel launches 3-week operation on Gaza - Operation Cast Lead.
  
• 2008 – Delaney Bramlett dies (b. 1939). American musician.
  
• The third day of Christmas in Western Christianity.
• R.C. Saints - John the Apostle and Evangelist.
• St. Stephen's Day, a public holiday in Romania.