February 27 is the 58th day of the year in the
Gregorian Calendar. There are 307 days remaining, 308 in
leap years.
- 1594 - Henry IV is crowned King of France.
- 1700 - The island of New Britain is discovered.
- 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.
- 1807 - Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, poet (+ 1882)
- 1861 - Rudolf Steiner, anthroposoph (+ 1925)
- 1873 - Enrico Caruso, opera singer (+ 1921)
- 1886 - Hugo Black, associate justice of the United States Supreme Court (+ 1971)
- 1887 - Marian Anderson, singer (+ 1993)
- 1888 - Lotte Lehmann[?], singer (+ 1976)
- 1891 - David Sarnoff, broadcasting pioneer (+ 1971)
- 1892 - William Demarest[?], actor (+ 1983)
- 1899 - Charles Best, medical scientist (+ 1978)
- 1902 - John Steinbeck, writer, winner of the Nobel Prize in literature 1962 (+ 1968)
- 1902 - Gene Sarazen, golfer
- 1903 - Grethe Weiser[?], actress (+ 1970)
- 1905 - Franchot Tone, actor (+ 1968)
- 1907 - Mildred Bailey[?], jazz performer (+ 1951)
- 1910 - Joan Bennett[?], actress (+ 1990)
- 1912 - Lawrence Durrell, writer (+ 1990)
- 1913 - Irwin Shaw[?], writer (+ 1984)
- 1923 - Dexter Gordon, jazz saxophone player (+ 1990)
- 1928 - Ariel Sharon, Prime Minister of Israel
- 1928 - Alfred Hrdlicka[?], sculptor and graphic artist
- 1930 - Joanne Woodward, actress
- 1932 - Elizabeth Taylor, actress
See Also:
February 26 - February 28 - January 27 - March 27 -- listing of all days
January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December