August 27: Day of the year

August 27 is the 239th day of the year (240th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 126 days remaining until the end of the year.

Up to 1900

• 479 BC – Battle of Plataea ends the Persian invasion of Greece, Mardonius routed by Pausanias, the Spartan commander of the Greek army.
• 55 BC – Julius Caesar Lands in Britain for the first time.
• AD 410 – Vandal sack of Rome ends after three days.
• 1172 – Henry the Young King and Margaret of France crowned as junior king and queen of England.
• 1593 – Pierre Barriere fails in his attempt to kill King Henry IV of France.
• 1597 – Japan defeats Korea in the Naval Battle of Chilchonryang during the Imjin War, following several mistakes by the Korean admiral Won Gyun.
• 1664 – After officially taking control of the former Dutch colony of New Amsterdam, British colonists rename it New York.
• 1664 – The French East India Company is officially founded by Louis XIV of France.
• 1728 – On this date in the Gregorian calendar, Vitus Bering lands on the Diomede Islands in the now-named Bering Strait between Alaska, now in the US, and the Russian far east.
• 1776 – Battle of Long Island, in present-day Brooklyn, New York British forces under General William Howe defeat Americans under General George Washington.
• 1793 – French Revolutionary Wars: The city of Toulon revolts against the French Republic.
• 1810 – The French Navy defeats the British Royal Navy, preventing them from taking the harbor of Grand Port and Ile de France.
• 1813 – Napoleon defeats the Austrians, Russians and Prussians at the Battle of Dresden.
• 1820 – Along with two other people, Josef Naus becomes the first person to climb Zugspitze, the highest mountain in Germany.
• 1828 – The Russians defeat the Turks at Akhaltzikke.
• 1832 – Black Hawk, leader of the Sauk tribe of Native Americans, surrenders to US forces.
• 1859 – Petroleum discovered in Titusville, Pennsylvania - the world's first successful oil well.
• 1861 – American Civil War: Union forces attack Cape Hatteras, North Carolina.
• 1883 – The after effects caused by the Krakatoa explosion in Indonesia kill over 36,000 people, as the eruption ends in a loud explosion, which causes deadly tsunamis.
• 1896 – The shortest war in the world - 9:02 - 9:40 between the United Kingdom and Zanzibar
• 1900 – British defeat Boer commandos at Bergendal.

1901 – 2000

• 1912 – The novel Tarzan of the Apes by Edgar Rice Burroughs goes on sale.
• 1914 – World War I: French and British troops occupy the then-German colony of Togoland.
• 1916 – World War I: Romania declares war on Austria-Hungary.
• 1921 – The British Faisal I as King of Iraq.
• 1927 – Five Canadian women file a petition to the Supreme Court of Canada asking whether the word 'persons' in Section 24 of the British North America Act of 1867, includes female persons.
• 1928 – The Kellogg-Briand Pact, outlawing war, is signed by sixty nations.
• 1939 – First jet aircraft flight.
• 1943 – World War II: Japanese forces evacuate New Georgia Island in the Pacific Theater of Operations during the war.
• 1952 – Reparation negotiations between West Germany and Israel end in Luxembourg; West Germany to pay 3 billion Deutschmarks.
• 1955 – The Guinness Book of Records goes on sale for the first time.
• 1957 – The Constitution of Malaysia comes into force.
• 1962 – The Mariner 2 space probe is launched.
• 1971 – A failed military coup occurs in Chad.
• 1975 – The Governor of Portuguese Timor (now East Timor) abandons his capital, Dili, and flees to Atauro Island, leaving control to a rebel group.
• 1979 – An IRA bomb kills Lord Mountbatten and 3 others on holiday in Sligo, Republic of Ireland. Another near Warrenpoint, Northern Ireland kills 18 British soldiers.
• 1982 – Turkish military diplomat Colonel Atilla Altikat is shot dead in Ottawa, Canada. The group Justice Commandos Against Armenian Genocide claims responsibility.
• 1985 – The Nigerian government is peacefully overthrown by army chief Ibrahim Babangida.
• 1990 – The British Broadcasting Corporation launches BBC Radio Five Live at 9am GMT with a mixture of sports, news, and children's programming. The station broadcasts for eighteen hours per day.
• 1991 – The European Community recognizes the independence of the Baltic states: Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania.
• 1991 – Moldova declares independence from the USSR.
• 1993 – The Gouhou Dam in Gonghe, Qinghai province, breaks, resulting in 240 deaths.
• 1993 – The Florida DOT decides to cease producing its distinctive colored U.S. Highway shields so that it can make use of Federal funds for those signs.
• 2000 – Ostankino Tower in Moscow catches fire, and three people are killed.

From 2001

• 2003 – Mars makes closest approach to Earth in nearly 60,000 years, passing approximately 34,646,416 miles (55,758,006 kilometers) from Earth.
• 2005 – The Turning Torso in Malmo, Sweden, which is the tallest residential building in Europe, is opened.
• 2005 – Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama declare a State of Emergency in preparation for Hurricane Katrina.
• 2006 – Comair Flight 5191 crashes on take-off at Lexington, Kentucky, with 49 people out of the 50 on board being confirmed dead within hours of the crash.
• 2010 – Kenya promulgates a new constitution under Mwai Kibaki
• 2011 – Hurricane Irene strikes the east coast of the United States.

Up to 1850

• 551 BC – Confucius, Chinese philosopher (died 479 BC)
• 865 – Rhazes, Persian polymath (died 925)
• 1407 – Ashikaga Yoshikazu, Ashikaga shogun (died 1425)
• 1471 – George, Duke of Saxony (died 1539)
• 1487 – Anne of Brandenburg (died 1514)
• 1545 – Alexander Farnese, Duke of Parma (died 1592)
• 1619 – Anne Genevieve de Bourbon (died 1679)
• 1624 – Koxinga, Chinese Ming dynasty loyalist (died 1662)
• 1630 – Maria van Oosterwijk, Dutch painter (died 1693)
• 1669 – Anne Marie d'Orléans, Duchess of Saxony (died 1728)
• 1724 – Joan Joachim Zubly, Swiss pastor, planter and statesman (died 1781)
• 1730 – Johann Georg Hamann, German philosopher and writer (died 1788)
• 1770 – Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, German philosopher (died 1831)
• 1781 – Finnur Magnusson, Icelandic philologist (died 1847)
• 1785 – Agustin Gamarra, Peruvian general and President (died 1841)
• 1803 – Edward Beecher, American theologian (died 1895)
• 1809 – Hannibal Hamlin, 15th Vice President of the United States and 26th Governor of Maine (died 1891)
• 1812 – Bertalan Szemere, 3rd Prime Minister of Hungary (died 1869)
• 1827 – Charles Lilley, English-Australian politician, 4th Premier of Queensland (died 1897)
• 1845 – Friedrich Martens, Russian diplomat (died 1909)

1851 – 1900

• 1858 – Giuseppe Peano, Italian mathematician (died 1932)
• 1862 – Abram Arkhipov, Russian artist (died 1930)
• 1864 – Helena Patursson, Faroese actress and writer (died 1916)
• 1865 – James Henry Breasted, American Egyptologist (died 1935)
• 1865 – Charles G. Dawes, 30th Vice President of the United States (died 1951)
• 1868 – Hong Beom-do, Korean activist (died 1943)
• 1869 – Karl Haushofer, German geographer (died 1946)
• 1870 – Amado Nervo, Mexican journalist, poet and diplomat (died 1919)
• 1871 – Theodore Dreiser, American writer (died 1945)
• 1872 – Giovanni Nasalli Rocca di Corneliano, Archbishop of Bologna (died 1952)
• 1873 – Maud Allan, Canadian-American dancer (died 1956)
• 1874 – Carl Bosch, German chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1940)
• 1875 – Katharine McCormick, American women's rights activist (died 1967)
• 1877 – Charles Rolls, British co-founder of Rolls-Royce (died 1910)
• 1877 – Ernst Wetter, Swiss Federal Councillor (died 1963)
• 1878 – Pyotr Nikolayevich Wrangel, Russian military figure (died 1928)
• 1881 – Sigurd Islandsmoen, Norwegian composer (died 1964)
• 1884 – Vincent Auriol, President of France (died 1966)
• 1884 – Alfredo Baldomir, President of Uruguay (died 1948)
• 1886 – Eric Coates, English composer (died 1957)
• 1886 – Rebecca Clark, English composer (died 1979)
• 1887 – Jimmy Finlayson, Scottish-born American actor (died 1953)
• 1890 – Man Ray, American photographer and artist (died 1976)
• 1896 – Faina Rainevskaya, Russian actress (died 1984)
• 1896 – Zygmunt Berling, Polish general and politician (died 1980)
• 1896 – Léon Theremin, Russian physicist and inventor (died 1993)
• 1899 – C. S. Forester, British writer (died 1966)
• 1899 – Byron Foulger, American actor (died 1970)

1901 – 1950

• 1904 – Norah Lofts, writer (died 1983)
• 1905 – Aris Velouchiotis, Greek military leader (died 1945)
• 1906 – Ed Gein, American serial killer (died 1984)
• 1908 – Don Bradman, Australian cricketer (died 2001)
• 1908 – Lyndon B. Johnson, 36th President of the United States (died 1973)
• 1908 – Frank Leahy, American football coach (died 1945)
• 1909 – Lester Young, American jazz musician (died 1959)
• 1911 – Kay Walsh, British actress (died 2005)
• 1913 – Nina Schenk von Stauffenberg, wife of Claus Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg (died 2006)
• 1914 – Heidi Kabel, German actress (died 2010)
• 1915 – Norman Foster Ramsey, Jr., American physicist (died 2011)
• 1916 – Martha Raye, American actress (died 1994)
• 1917 – Peanuts Lowrey, American baseball player, coach and manager (died 1986)
• 1918 – Jelle Zijlstra, Prime Minister of the Netherlands (died 2001)
• 1920 – James Molyneaux, Baron Molyneaux of Killead, Northern Irish politician (died 2015)
• 1921 – Georg Alexander, Duke of Mecklenburg (died 1996)
• 1921 – Leo Penn, American actor and director (died 1998)
• 1925 – Nat Lofthouse, English footballer (died 2011)
• 1925 – Andrea Cordero Lanza di Montezemolo, Italian cardinal (died 2017)
• 1926 – Pat Coombs, English actress (died 2002)
• 1926 – Kristen Nygaard, Norwegian mathematician (died 2002)
• 1928 – Osamu Shimomura, Japanese biochemist
• 1928 – Péter Boross, Hungarian politician and Prime Minister
• 1928 – Mangosuthu Buthelezi, South African politician
• 1928 – Othmar Schneider, Austrian skier (died 2012)
• 1929 – Ira Levin, American writer (died 2007)
• 1931 – Sri Chinmoy, Indian spiritual leader (died 2007)
• 1931 – Sven Tumba, Swedish footballer, ice hockey player and golfer (died 2011)
• 1932 – Saye Zerbo, Burkina Faso politician (died 2013)
• 1932 – Karekin I, former Armenian Apostolic Church leader
• 1932 – Antonia Fraser, British writer
• 1933 – Kerstin Ekman, Swedish writer
• 1935 – Frank Yablans, American movie producer
• 1937 – Alice Coltrane, American pianist and composer (died 2007)
• 1937 – Tommy Sands, American actor and singer
• 1939 – Edward Patten, American singer, songwriter and producer (died 2005)
• 1941 – Bohdan Stupka, Ukrainian actor and Minister of Culture (died 2012)
• 1941 – Cesaria Evora, Cape Verdean singer
• 1941 – Janos Konrad, Hungarian water polo player and swimmer
• 1942 – Brian Peckford, Canadian politician
• 1942 – Robert Marion Berry, American politician
• 1942 – Daryl Dragon, American songwriter (Captain & Tennille) (d. 2019)
• 1943 – Tuesday Weld, American actress
• 1943 – Bob Kerrey, 36th Governor of Nebraska
• 1943 – Wolfgang Nordwig, German high jumper
• 1945 – Jan Sloot, Dutch inventor (died 1999)
• 1946 – Peter Tobin, Scottish serial killer
• 1947 – Barbara Bach, American actress
• 1948 – Philippe Vallois, French screenwriter and director
• 1950 – Neil Murray, Scottish bass player and songwriter

1951 – 1975

• 1952 – Paul Reubens (Pee-Wee Herman), American actor
• 1953 – Alex Lifeson, Canadian rock guitarist (Rush)
• 1953 – Peter Stormare, Swedish actor, director, playwright and musician
• 1954 – John Lloyd, British tennis player and coach
• 1957 – Bernhard Langer, German golfer
• 1957 – Jeff Grubb, American game designer and author
• 1958 – Sergei Krikalev, Russian cosmonaut
• 1958 – Marcos Paqueta, Brazilian football manager
• 1958 – Hugh Orde, English senior police officer
• 1959 – Yves Rossy, Swiss pilot, aviation enthusiast and inventor
• 1959 – Juan Fernando Cobo, Colombian painter and sculptor
• 1959 – Jeanette Winterson, English novelist
• 1959 – Jürgen Becker, German comedian and performer
• 1961 – Yolanda Adams, American singer, producer and actress
• 1961 – Tom Ford, American fashion designer and director
• 1962 – Sjon, Icelandic writer and artist
• 1965 – Cheryl Fergison, English actress
• 1965 – Paulo Silas, Brazilian footballer
• 1966 – Juhan Parts, former Prime Minister of Estonia
• 1968 – Daphne Koller, Israeli-American computer scientist
• 1969 – Cesar Millan, Mexican-American dog trainer
• 1969 – Christine O'Donnell, American politician
• 1969 – Chandra Wilson, American actress
• 1970 – Peter Ebdon, English snooker player
• 1970 – Jim Thome, American baseball player
• 1970 – Tony Kanal, English-American musician, songwriter and producer
• 1970 – Karl Unterkircher, Italian mountaineer (died 2008)
• 1972 – Denise Lewis, British athlete
• 1972 – Jimmy Pop, American musician (Bloodhound Gang)
• 1973 – Dietmar Hamann, German footballer
• 1974 – José Vidro, Major League Baseball player
• 1974 – Mohammad Yousuf, Pakistani cricketer
• 1975 – Jonny Moseley, American skier

From 1976

• 1976 – Sarah Chalke, Canadian actress
• 1976 – Carlos Moya, Spanish tennis player
• 1976 – Mark Webber, Australian race car driver
• 1977 – Deco, Brazilian-Portuguese footballer
• 1979 – Karel Rachunek, Czech ice hockey player (died 2011)
• 1981 – Alessandro Gamberini, Italian footballer
• 1981 – Collin Samuel, Trinidadian footballer
• 1983 – Jamala, Ukrainian singer
• 1984 – David Bentley, English footballer
• 1984 – Sulley Muntari, Ghanaian footballer
• 1985 – Nikica Jelavic, Croatian footballer
• 1985 – Daniel Küblböck, German singer and actor
• 1985 – Alexandra Nechita, Romanian-American artist
• 1986 – Mario, American R&B singer
• 1986 – Sebastian Kurz, Austrian politician, Chancellor of Austria
• 1988 – Alexa Vega, American actress
• 1990 – Taylor Mitchell, Canadian singer-songwriter (died 2009)
• 1990 – Luuk de Jong, Dutch footballer
• 1993 – Sarah Hecken, German figure skater

Up to 1900

• 542 – Caesarius of Arles, Archbishop of Arles and Roman Catholic Saint (b. 470)
• 827 – Pope Eugene II
• 1312 – Arthur II, Duke of Brittany (b. 1262)
• 1394 – Emperor Chokei of Japan (b. 1343)
• 1521 – Josquin des Prez, French-Flemish composer (b. 1450)
• 1577 – Titian, Italian painter
• 1590 – Pope Sixtus V (b. 1521)
• 1635 – Lope de Vega, Spanish poet and playwright (b. 1562)
• 1773 – Friedrich Wilhelm von Seydlitz, Prussian general (b. 1721)
• 1828 – Eise Eisinga, Dutch astronomer (b. 1744)
• 1865 – Thomas Chandler of Haliburton, Canadian writer (b. 1796)
• 1871 – William Whiting Boarding, American politician (b. 1794)
• 1874 – Stefan Golescu, Romanian statesman (b. 1809)
• 1875 – William Chapman Ralston, founder of the Bank of California (b. 1826)
• 1879 – Rowland Hill, English postal reformer (b. 1795)

1901 – 2000

• 1909 – Emil Christian Hansen, Danish physiologist (b. 1842)
• 1919 – Louis Botha, South African politician (b. 1862)
• 1937 – Walter Rothschild, 2nd Baron Rothschild, British banker and zoologist (b. 1868)
• 1937 – Andrew W. Mellon, United States Secretary of the Treasury (b. 1855)
• 1944 – Georg von Boeselager, German aristocrat (b. 1915)
• 1948 – Charles Evans Hughes, American Supreme Court Justice (b. 1862)
• 1950 – Cesare Pavese, Italian poet, novelist, critic and translator (b. 1908)
• 1958 – Ernest Lawrence, American physicist (b. 1901)
• 1963 – W. E. B. Du Bois, American civil rights activist and scholar (b. 1868)
• 1964 – Gracie Allen, American actress (b. 1895)
• 1965 – Le Corbusier, Swiss architect (b. 1887)
• 1967 – Brian Epstein, British music manager (b. 1934)
• 1968 – Princess Marina of Greece and Denmark (b. 1906)
• 1968 – Robert Z. Leonard, American movie director, actor, producer and screenwriter (b. 1889)
• 1969 – Erika Mann, German actress and singer (b. 1905)
• 1975 – Haile Selassie I, Emperor of Ethiopia (b. 1892)
• 1976 – Mukesh, Indian singer (b. 1923)
• 1979 – Louis Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma, British statesman (b. 1900)
• 1980 – Douglas Kenney, American actor and writer (b. 1947)
• 1981 – Valeri Kharlamov, Soviet ice hockey player (b. 1948)
• 1982 – Atilla Altikat, Turkish military diplomat
• 1990 – Stevie Ray Vaughan, American musician (b. 1954)
• 1999 – Helder Camara, Brazilian archbishop (b. 1909)

From 2001

• 2001 – Abu Ali Mustafa, Palestinian leader (b. 1938)
• 2006 – Maria Esther de Capovilla, Ecuadorean supercentenarian, World's oldest woman (b. 1889)
• 2006 – Jesse Pintado, British musician (b. 1969)
• 2009 – Sergey Mikhalkov, Russian writer (b. 1913)
• 2010 – Anton Geesink, Dutch judoka (b. 1934)
• 2011 – Stetson Kennedy, American writer and Civil Rights activist (b. 1916)
• 2012 – Russell Scott, American TV personality (b. 1920)
• 2012 – Malcolm Browne, American journalist and photographer (b. 1931)
• 2013 – Anatoly Onoprienko, Ukrainian serial killer (b. 1959)
• 2014 – Valeri Petrov, Bulgarian writer (b. 1920)
• 2014 – Sandy Wilson, English composer (b. 1924)
• 2014 – Peret, Spanish musician (b. 1935)
• 2014 – Yehezkel Braun, German-born Israeli composer (b. 1922)
• 2014 – Benno Pludra, German writer (b. 1925)
• 2014 – Jan Groth, Norwegian rock music singer (b. 1946)
• 2014 – Jacques Friedel, French physicist (b. 1921)
• 2015 – Darryl Dawkins, American basketball player (b. 1957)
• 2015 – Joan Garriga, Spanish motorcycle racer (b. 1963)
• 2017 – Yitzhak Pundak, Polish-born Israeli military officer and diplomat (b. 1913)
• 2017 – Ebrahim Yazdi, Iranian politician and diplomat (b. 1931)
• 2018 – Dale M. Cochran, American politician (b. 1928)
• 2018 – Mirka Mora, French-born Australian artist (b. 1928)
• 2018 – Fredd Wayne, American actor and columnist (b. 1924)
• 2018 – Murray Westgate, Canadian actor (b. 1918)

• Independence Day (Moldova)
• Lyndon Baines Johnson Day (Texas)