February 27

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.
   * 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 (+ 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

   * 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

   * 1844 - Nicholas Biddle, President of the Second Bank of the United
     States
   * 1887 - Alexander Borodin, composer
   * 1964 - Orry-Kelly, costume designer
   * 1985 - Henry Cabot Lodge, politician, candidate for Vice President of
     the United States
   * 1986 - Jacques Plante, ice hockey star
   * 1989 - Konrad Lorenz
   * 1993 - Lillian Gish, actress
   * 1998 - J.T. Walsh, actor
   * 2002 - Spike Milligan, comedian

Holidays and observances

   * Roman Empire - Equirria, horse races in honor of Mars were held.
   * Bah‡'’ Faith - Day 2 of Ayy‡m-i-H‡ (Intercalary Days) - days in the
     Bah‡'’ calendar devoted to service and gift giving.
   * Dominican Republic - National Day

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