Wikipedia: February 27

February 27
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

February 27 is the 58th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. There are 307 days remaining, 308 in leap years.

Events

1594 - Henry IV is crowned King of France.
1700 - The island of New Britain is discovered.
1793 - The Giles resolutions are introduced to the United States House of Representatives asking the House to condemn Alexander Hamilton's handling of loans.
1801 - Washington, DC is placed under the jurisdiction of the United States Congress.
1827 - The first Mardi Gras is celebrated in New Orleans, Louisiana.
1844 - The Dominican Republic gains independence from Haiti.
1861 - A crowd in Warsaw protesting Russian rule over Poland is fired upon by Russian troops killing five protesters.
1864 - American Civil War: The first Northern prisoners arrive at the Confederate prison at Andersonville, Georgia.
1900 - Boer War: In South Africa, British military leaders receive an unconditional notice of surrender from Boer General Piet Cronje.
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.
1933 - Germany's parliament building in Berlin, the Reichstag, is set on fire (see: Reichstag fire).
1939 - Sit-down strikes are outlawed by the Supreme Court of the United States.
1942 - World War II: the USS Langley, the first United States aircraft carrier, is sunk by Japanese warplanes.
1951 - The Twenty-second Amendment to the United States Constitution, limiting Presidents to two terms, is ratified.
1964 - The government of Italy asks for help to keep the Leaning Tower of Pisa from toppling over.
1967 - Dominica gains independence from the United Kingdom.
1973 - The American Indian Movement occupies Wounded Knee, South Dakota.
1974 - People magazine is published for the first time.
1986 - The United States Senate allows its debates to be televised on a trial basis.
1990 - Exxon Valdez oil spill: Exxon and its shipping company are indicted on five criminal counts.
1991 - Gulf War: President of the United States George Bush announces that "Kuwait is liberated."
1999 - While trying to circumnavigate the world in a hot air balloon, Colin Prescot and Andy Elson set a new endurance record after being in a hot air balloon for 233 hours and 55 minutes.
1999 - Olusegun Obasanjo becomes Nigeria's first elected president since mid-1983.
2003 - Rowan Williams is enthroned as the 104th Archbishop of Canterbury in the Anglican church.

Births

1807 - Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, poet, (d. 1882)
1861 - Rudolf Steiner, anthroposoph, (d. 1925)
1873 - Enrico Caruso, opera singer, (d. 1921)
1886 - Hugo Black, associate justice of the United States Supreme Court, (d. 1971)
1887 - Marian Anderson, singer, (d. 1993)
1888 - Lotte Lehmann, singer, (d. 1976)
1891 - David Sarnoff, broadcasting pioneer, (d. 1971)
1892 - William Demarest, actor, (d. 1983)
1899 - Charles Best, medical scientist, (d. 1978)
1902 - John Steinbeck, writer, winner of the Nobel Prize in literature 1962, (d. 1968)
1902 - Gene Sarazen, golfer, (d. 1999)
1903 - Grethe Weiser, actress, (d. 1970)
1905 - Franchot Tone, actor, (d. 1968)
1907 - Mildred Bailey, jazz performer, (d. 1951)
1910 - Joan Bennett, actress, (d. 1990)
1912 - Lawrence Durrell, writer, (d. 1990)
1913 - Irwin Shaw, writer, (d. 1984)
1923 - Dexter Gordon, jazz saxophone player, (d. 1990)
1928 - Ariel Sharon, Prime Minister of Israel
1928 - Alfred Hrdlicka, sculptor and graphic artist
1930 - Joanne Woodward, actress
1932 - Elizabeth Taylor, actress
1934 - Ralph Nader, consumer activist
1941 - Paddy Ashdown, British politician
1957 - Adrian Smith, musician (Iron Maiden)
1980 - Chelsea Clinton, daughter of President Bill Clinton

Deaths

1706 - John Evelyn, diarist, (b. 1620)
1844 - Nicholas Biddle, President of the Second Bank of the United States, (b. 1786)
1887 - Alexander Borodin, composer, (b. 1833)
1964 - Orry-Kelly, costume designer
1978 - Vadim Salmanov, composer
1985 - Henry Cabot Lodge, politician, candidate for Vice President of the United States, (b. 1850)
1986 - Jacques Plante, ice hockey star, (b. 1929)
1989 - Konrad Lorenz, (b. 1903)
1993 - Lillian Gish, actress, (b. 1893)
1998 - J.T. Walsh, actor
2002 - Spike Milligan, comedian, (b. 1918)

Holidays and observances

Roman Empire - Equirria, horse races in honor of Mars were held.
Bahá'í Faith - Day 2 of Ayyám-i-Há (Intercalary Days) - days in the Bahá'í calendar devoted to service and gift giving.
Dominican Republic - National Day

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