February 27: Today in History – Historical Events
Early Centuries – February 27 Historic Events – Before the 1700s
1. 27th Feb 1557: The first Russian Embassy was opened in London on this day.
2. 27th Feb 1563: The English composer William Byrd was on this day appointed as the organist at Lincoln Cathedral.
3. 27th Feb 1670: Jews were on this day expelled from Austria by order of Leopold I.
18th Century – What Happened on February 27 – The 1700s
4. 27th Feb 1700: On this day the Pacific Island of New Britain, the largest group of islands in the South Pacific was discovered.
5. 27th Feb 1713: The French troops on this day bombed Willemstad Curacao.
19th Century – February 27 This Day That Year – The 1800s
6. 27th Feb 1801: Washington DC was on this day, placed under the jurisdiction of the Congress.
7. 27th Feb 1813: This day marks the enactment of the first federal vaccination legislation.
8. 27th Feb 1813: US Congress on this day authorized the transportation of mail by steamboats.
9. 27th Feb 1814: Composer Ludwig von Beethoven’s 8th symphony in F premiered today.
10. 27th Feb 1816: The Dutch defeated Napoleon on this day and regained Surinam from the French.
11. 27th Feb 1827: The first Mardi Gras celebrations were held in New Orleans.
12. 27th Feb 1844: The Dominican Republic on this day became independent from Haiti.
13. 27th Feb 1860: Abraham Lincoln on this day delivered a speech at the Cooper Union in New York City, which is considered responsible for his getting elected as president.
14. 27th Feb 1861: Poles protesting Russian rule in Poland were shot at by the Russians in Castle Square, Warsaw.
15. 27th Feb 1861: US Congress on this day authorized the first stamped newspaper wrappers for mailing.
16. 27th Feb 1864: Today was the last day of the 6-day battle at Dalton in Georgia. There were 600 casualties.
17. 27th Feb 1865: Confederate raider William Quantrill and his bushwhackers attacked Hickman in Kentucky, shooting women and children.
18. 27th Feb 1865: A civil war skirmish took place on this day near Sturgeon, Kentucky.
19. 27th Feb 1869: John Menard was the first black to make a speech in the US Congress.
20. 27th Feb 1872: Charlotte Ray graduated from the Howard University. She was the first Black woman lawyer in the United States of America.
21. 27th Feb 1873: Dutch socialist Samuel van Wooden on this day demanded a law against child labor.
22. 27th Feb 1874: Baseball was played in England for the first time. It was played in the Lord’s cricket grounds.
23. 27th Feb 1879: An artificial sweetener “saccharine” was discovered today by Constantine Fahlberg.
24. 27th Feb 1883: The cigar-rolling machine was patented on this day by Oscar Hammerstein.
20th Century – Important Events On This Day February 27th – The 1900s
25. 27th Feb 1900: The Trades Union Congress and the Independent Labor Party met in London, resulting in a Labor Representative Committee, which later became the Labor Party.
26. 27th Feb 1901: A general committee of the National Liberal Federation met today and adopted a resolution condemning the continuation of war in South Africa. They also condemned the British Government’s insistence on unconditional surrender by Boers.
27. 27th Feb 1905: Japanese cross the Sha River after pushing the Russians back.
28. 27th Feb 1906: The French and the British agree to joint control of New Hebrides.
29. 27th Feb 1908: The 46th star was added to the US flag on this day. This signified Oklahoma’s admission to statehood.
30. 27th Feb 1912: Lord Kitchener opened the Khartoum-El Obeid (Nyala) railway.
31. 27th Feb 1918: It was reported that the hospital ship Glenart Castel sank in the waters of Bristol Canal after it was torpedoed.
32. 27th Feb 1919: The American Association for Hard of Hearing was formed on this day.
33. 27th Feb 1920: The U.S. on this day rejected the Soviet peace offer as propaganda,
34. 27th Feb 1921: In Vienna, the International Working Union of Socialist Parties was formed on this day.
35. 27th Feb 1921: A riot was incited by the Fascists in Florence Italy.
36. 27th Feb 1922: The first National Radio Conference was convened on this day by US President Herbert Hoover.
37. 27th Feb 1922: The 22nd amendment to the US Constitution, Women’s Right to Vote was on this day unanimously upheld by the US Supreme Court.
38. 27th Feb 1924: Tunis government in Belgium falls.
39. 27th Feb 1925: The NSDAP political party was resurrected by Adolf Hitler in Munich today.
40. 27th Feb 1925: On this day the Glacier Bay National Monument was dedicated to Alaska.
41. 27th Feb 1929: Turkey signed the Litvinov pact.
42. 27th Feb 1932: There was an explosion in the coalmine Boissevain in Virginia, USA. 38 people were killed.
43. 27th Feb 1933: The Parliament building of Germany’s “Reichstag” caught fire on this day. The Nazis blamed it on the communists and used the fire as the pretext for curbing civil liberties.
44. 27th Feb 1937: After 14 weeks of discussion, the state of Alabama today decided on a heavier tax regime such as a 2% increase in general sales tax and whiskey bill.
45. 27th Feb 1938: Spanish Dictator Francisco Franco’s government was on this day recognized by Britain and France.
46. 27th Feb 1938: Abnormally heavy rainfalls resulted in swelling of the rivers and caused floods and mud landslides in Los Angeles. The floods destroyed thousands of homes and killed about 120 people.
47. 27th Feb 1939: Sit-down strike was outlawed by the Supreme Court.
48. 27th Feb 1940: Carbon-14 was discovered on this day by Martin Kamen and Sam Ruben.
49. 27th Feb 1941: Jewish musicians in Germany came together in Berlin and performed Gustav Mahler’s Second Symphony.
50. 27th Feb 1942: British commandos on this day raided a German radar station at Bruneval on the French coast. The warrior spies of the German intelligence agency “Abwehr “ were Brandenburg commandoes.
51. 27th Feb 1942: Radio emission from the Sun, discovered on this day by J C Hey.
52. 27th Feb 1942: The first transport of French Jews left for Nazi Germany on this day.
53. 27th Feb 1943: Today the Rosenstrasse protest started in Berlin.
54. 27th Feb 1943: There was an explosion in a coal mine belonging to the Montana Coal and Iron Company. It killed 74 miners who were trapped in the mine.
55. 27th Feb 1949: Chaim Weizmann became the first President of Israel today.
56. 27th Feb 1950: Chinese political and military leader Chiang Kai-Shek was on this day elected as the President of Nationalist China.
57. 27th Feb 1951: The 22nd amendment to the constitution was on this day ratified. According to the amended law, no man or woman may serve for more than 10 years (two terms) of office as president of the United States.
58. 27th Feb 1956: Female suffrage was on this day granted in Egypt.
59. 27th Feb 1957: Mao on this day delivered his speech “On Correct Handling of Contradictions Among People”, to the Supreme State Conference.
60. 27th Feb 1958: USSR On this day performed a nuclear test at Novaya Zemlya in the USSR.
61. 27th Feb 1960: At the Winter Games the US Olympic hockey team defeated Russia by three goals to two. The US team went on to win the Olympic gold medal.
62. 27th Feb 1960: The oil pipeline between Rotterdam and Ruhrgebied opened on this day.
63. 27th Feb 1961: The first congress of the Spanish Trade Union Organization was inaugurated on this day.
64. 27th Feb 1962: President Ngo Dinah Diem of South Vietnam escaped unhurt today when his palace in Saigon was bombed today. A US national was killed in the bombing.
65. 27th Feb 1963: The USSR on this day announced that 10,000 troops would remain in Cuba.
66. 27th Feb 1964: The Italian government announced on this day that the Leaning Tower of Pisa was in danger of collapsing in an earthquake or storm. They called for suggestions on how to save the monument, which is the biggest tourist attraction in Italy.
67. 27th Feb 1965: France on this day performed an underground nuclear test at a test site at Ecker Algeria.
68. 27th Feb 1967: Dominica gains independence from England.
69. 27th Feb 1967: Antigua and Christopher-Nevis on this day became associated states of the United Kingdom.
70. 27th Feb 1969: President Nixon on this day arrived in Rome from West Berlin among protest by thousands of students.
71. 27th Feb 1973: More than 200 members of the American Indian Movement moved in to occupy the reservation area of Wounded Knee by force. The occupation lasted till May.
72. 27th Feb 1973: The US Supreme Court on this day ruled that Virginia Pool Club could not bar residents based on color.
73. 27th Feb 1974: United States on this day performed a nuclear test at the Nevada test site.
74. 27th Feb 1975: The $21.3 billion anti-recession tax-cut bill was on this day passed by the US House of Representatives.
75. 27th Feb 1976: This day was the day of the final meeting between took place between President Nixon and Mao Tse Tung.
76. 27th Feb 1978: France on this day performed a nuclear test at Muruora Island.
77. 27th Feb 1980: Israel and Egypt exchanged ambassadors today.
78. 27th Feb 1980: Robert Mugabe’s NANU-PF won the general elections in Nigeria on this day.
79. 27th Feb 1980: The Dominican Embassy in Bogota was occupied by terrorists.
80. 27th Feb 1982: France performs the nuclear test on Muruora Island.
81. 27th Feb 1984: Olympic sprinter and long jumper Carl Lewis jumps a world record 8.675 M in indoor games.
82. 27th Feb 1985: The Irwin Memorial Blood Bank in San Francisco said on this day that 80 Bay area residents have received blood from donors who have contracted AIDS.
83. 27th Feb 1986: The US Senate on this day approved on this day that its debates can be telecast on a trial basis.
84. 27th Feb 1987: Donald Regan on this day resigned as White House Chief of Staff.
85. 27th Feb 1989: President Bush in his address to South Korea’s National Assembly before returning home warned of what he called the “fools gold” of trade protectionism.
86. 27th Feb 1989: The hike in gasoline prices and public transportation fares triggered a riot in Caracas Venezuela. Hundreds of people were killed in the riot, most of them shot by security forces trying to restore order.
87. 27th Feb 1990: The US Supreme Court ruled on this day that prison authorities can force inmates to take powerful anti-psychotic drugs without the consent of a judge.
88. 27th Feb 1991: President George Bush on this day declared that “Kuwait is liberated, Iraq’s army is defeated”. He also announced that allies would suspend combat operations at midnight.
89. 27th Feb 1997: Divorce on this day became legal in the predominantly catholic country of Ireland.
90. 27th Feb 1998: Queen Elizabeth II on this day agreed to a proposal to end male preference while determining succession. This means that the monarch’s firstborn daughter could claim the throne even if a son was born later.
91. 27th Feb 1999: In Nigeria the 15-year military rule was brought to an end when the people of Nigeria elected a civilian president Olusegun Obasanjo.
21st Century – February 27 This Day In History – The 2000s
92. 27th Feb 2002: Sabarmati Express train, bound for Ahmadabad from Ayodhya in India was set on fire by a mob of Muslims, killing 57 Hindu pilgrims.
93. 27th Feb 2004: After failing in their earlier attempt to extort protection money from the ferry company, the Abu Sayyaf terrorist group blew up Superferry 14 which had sailed in from Manila with 900 passengers.
94. 27th Feb 2006: Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmedinejad called today for the Middle East to be nuclear weapons-free. He said that nuclear weapons are a threat to the stability of the region and reiterated that his country’s nuclear program is for peaceful purposes.
95. 27th Feb 2007: U.S. Vice-President Al Gore was accused of hypocrisy for consuming huge amounts of energy while he lectured on climate change. The average gas and electricity consumption of his home was estimated to be 20 times higher than the national average.
96. 27th Feb 2008: The UK was on this day struck by an earthquake of 5.2 magnitude, which was the biggest in 25 years, which shook homes in Newcastle, Yorkshire, London, Cumbria, the Midlands, and part of Wales.
97. 27th Feb 2010: A very heavy earthquake measuring 8.8 magnitude struck Chile. More than 70% of the country experienced the quake. The earthquake left 500,000 houses uninhabitable leaving two million people homeless, 600 dead and many more injured.
98. 27th Feb 2011: Torrential rain in the Bolivian city of La Paz destroyed 300 houses through landslides and flooding. Thousands of people were left homeless.
99. 27th Feb 2014: Governor of Arizona, Jan Brewer on this day vetoed the bill that provided for business owners in the state to turn away gay citizens if they cited as in conflict with their religious beliefs.
100. 27th Feb 2015: Russian politician Boris Nemtsov was on this day assassinated in Moscow.
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