February 27

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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