On This Day — 27 August

2011

Hurricane Irene strikes the United States east coast, killing 47 and causing an estimated $15.6 billion in damage.

Hurricane Irene

2009

Internal conflict in Myanmar: The Burmese military junta and ethnic armies begin three days of violent clashes in the Kokang Special Region.

Myanmar conflict

2006

Comair Flight 5191 crashes on takeoff from Blue Grass Airport in Lexington, Kentucky, bound for Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport in Atlanta. Of the passengers and crew, 49 of 50 are confirmed dead in the hours following the crash.

Comair Flight 5191

2003

Mars makes its closest approach to Earth in nearly 60,000 years, passing 34,646,418 miles (55,758,005 km) distant.

Mars

2003

The first six-party talks, involving South and North Korea, the United States, China, Japan and Russia, convene to find a peaceful resolution to the security concerns of the North Korean nuclear weapons program.

Six-party talks

1992

Aeroflot Flight 2808 crashes on approach to Ivanovo Yuzhny Airport, killing all 84 aboard.

Aeroflot Flight 2808

1991

The European Community recognizes the independence of the Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.

European Economic Community

1991

Moldova declares independence from the USSR.

Moldova

1985

Major General Muhammadu Buhari, Chairman of the Supreme Military Council of Nigeria, is ousted from power in a coup d'état led by Major General Ibrahim Babangida.

Muhammadu Buhari

1985

Space Shuttle Discovery is launched on STS-51-I to deploy three communication satellites and repair a fourth malfunctioning one.

Space Shuttle Discovery

1982

Turkish military diplomat Colonel Atilla Altıkat is shot and killed in Ottawa. Justice Commandos of the Armenian Genocide claim to be avenging the massacre of 1+1⁄2 million Armenians in the 1915 Armenian genocide.

Military attaché

1980

South Korean presidential election: After successfully staging the Coup d'état of May Seventeenth, General Chun Doo-hwan, running unopposed, has the National Conference for Unification elect him President of the Fourth Republic of Korea.

1980 South Korean presidential election

1979

The Troubles: Eighteen British soldiers are killed at the Warrenpoint ambush by the Provisional Irish Republican Army near Warrenpoint, Northern Ireland, in the deadliest attack on British forces during Operation Banner. An IRA bomb also kills British royal family member Lord Mountbatten and three others on his boat at Mullaghmore, Republic of Ireland.

The Troubles

1975

The Governor of Portuguese Timor abandons its capital, Dili, and flees to Atauro Island, leaving control to a rebel group.

Portuguese Timor

1971

An attempted coup d'état fails in the African nation of Chad. The Government of Chad accuses Egypt of playing a role in the attempt and breaks off diplomatic relations.

Coup d'état

1964

South Vietnamese junta leader Nguyễn Khánh enters into a triumvirate power-sharing arrangement with rival generals Trần Thiện Khiêm and Dương Văn Minh, who had both been involved in plots to unseat Khánh.

Army of the Republic of Vietnam

1963

An explosion at the Cane Creek potash mine near Moab, Utah kills 18 miners.

Intrepid Potash

1962

The Mariner 2 unmanned space mission is launched to Venus by NASA.

Mariner 2

1956

The nuclear power station at Calder Hall in the United Kingdom was connected to the national power grid becoming the world's first commercial nuclear power station to generate electricity on an industrial scale.

Calder Hall nuclear power station

1955

The first edition of the Guinness Book of Records is published in Great Britain.

Guinness World Records

1943

World War II: Japanese forces evacuate New Georgia Island in the Pacific Theater of Operations during World War II.

World War II

1943

World War II: Aerial bombardment by the Luftwaffe razes to the ground the village of Vorizia in Crete.

Luftwaffe

1942

First day of the Sarny Massacre, perpetrated by Germans and Ukrainians.

Sarny massacre

1939

First flight of the turbojet-powered Heinkel He 178, the world's first jet aircraft.

Turbojet

1933

The first Afrikaans Bible is introduced during a Bible Festival in Bloemfontein.

Bible translations into Afrikaans

1928

The Kellogg–Briand Pact outlawing war is signed by fifteen nations. Ultimately sixty-one nations will sign it.

Kellogg–Briand Pact

1927

Five Canadian women file a petition to the Supreme Court of Canada, asking: "Does the word 'Persons' in Section 24 of the British North America Act, 1867, include female persons?"

The Famous Five (Canada)

1922

Greco-Turkish War: The Turkish army takes the Aegean city of Afyonkarahisar from the Kingdom of Greece.

Greco-Turkish War (1919–1922)

1918

Mexican Revolution: Battle of Ambos Nogales: U.S. Army forces skirmish against Mexican Carrancistas as part of the Mexican Border War.

Mexican Revolution

1916

World War I: The Kingdom of Romania declares war on Austria-Hungary, entering the war as one of the Allied nations.

Kingdom of Romania

1915

Attempted assassination of Bishop Patrick Heffron, bishop of the Diocese of Winona, by Rev. Louis M. Lesches.

Assassination

1914

World War I: Battle of Étreux: A British rearguard action by the Royal Munster Fusiliers during the Great Retreat.

World War I

1914

World War I: Siege of Tsingtao: A Japanese fleet commanded by Vice Admiral Sadakichi Kato imposes a blockade along the whole coastline of German Tsingtao, initiating the Siege of Tsingtao.

Siege of Tsingtao

1908

The Qing dynasty promulgates the Qinding Xianfa Dagang, the first constitutional document in the history of China, transforming the Qing empire into a constitutional monarchy.

Qing dynasty

1896

Anglo-Zanzibar War: The shortest war in world history (09:02 to 09:40), between the United Kingdom and Zanzibar.

Anglo-Zanzibar War

1895

Japanese invasion of Taiwan: Battle of Baguashan: The Empire of Japan decisively defeats a smaller Formosan army at Changhua, crippling the short-lived Republic of Formosa and leading to its surrender two months later.

1895 Japanese invasion of Taiwan

1893

The Sea Islands hurricane strikes the United States near Savannah, Georgia, killing between 1,000 and 2,000 people.

1893 Sea Islands hurricane

1883

Eruption of Krakatoa: Four enormous explosions almost completely destroy the island of Krakatoa and cause years of climate change.

1883 eruption of Krakatoa

1881

The Georgia hurricane makes landfall near Savannah, Georgia, resulting in an estimated 700 deaths.

1881 Atlantic hurricane season

1859

Petroleum is discovered in Titusville, Pennsylvania, leading to the world's first commercially successful oil well.

Petroleum

1832

Black Hawk, leader of the Sauk tribe of Native Americans, surrenders to U.S. authorities, ending the Black Hawk War.

Black Hawk (Sauk leader)

1828

Brazil and Argentina recognize the sovereignty of Uruguay in the Treaty of Montevideo.

Preliminary Peace Convention (1828)

1813

French Emperor Napoleon I defeats a larger force of Austrians, Russians, and Prussians at the Battle of Dresden.

Napoleon

1810

Napoleonic Wars: The French Navy defeats the British Royal Navy, preventing them from taking the harbour of Grand Port on Île de France.

Napoleonic Wars

1798

Wolfe Tone's United Irish and French forces clash with the British Army in the Battle of Castlebar, part of the Irish Rebellion of 1798, resulting in the creation of the French puppet Republic of Connacht.

Wolfe Tone

1793

French Revolutionary Wars: The city of Toulon revolts against the French Republic and admits the British and Spanish fleets to seize its port, leading to the Siege of Toulon by French Revolutionary forces.

French Revolutionary Wars

1791

French Revolution: Frederick William II of Prussia and Leopold II, Holy Roman Emperor, issue the Declaration of Pillnitz, declaring the joint support of the Holy Roman Empire and Prussia for the French monarchy, agitating the French revolutionaries and contributing to the outbreak of the War of the First Coalition.

French Revolution

1776

American Revolutionary War: Members of the 1st Maryland Regiment repeatedly charged a numerically superior British force during the Battle of Long Island, allowing General Washington and the rest of the American troops to escape.

1st Maryland Regiment

1689

The Treaty of Nerchinsk is signed by Russia and the Qing Empire (Julian calendar).

Treaty of Nerchinsk

1600

Ishida Mitsunari's Western Army commences the Siege of Fushimi Castle, which is lightly defended by a much smaller Tokugawa garrison led by Torii Mototada.

Ishida Mitsunari

1597

Jeongyu War: Battle of Chilcheollyang: A Japanese fleet of 500 ships destroys Joseon commander Wŏn Kyun's fleet of 200 ships at Chilcheollyang.

Imjin War

1593

Pierre Barrière failed in an attempt to assassinate Henry IV of France.

Pierre Barrière

1557

The Battle of St. Quentin results in Emmanuel Philibert becoming Duke of Savoy.

Battle of St. Quentin (1557)

1353

War of the Straits and Sardinian–Aragonese war: The Battle of Alghero results in a crushing victory of the allied Aragonese and Venetian fleet over the Genoese fleet, most of which is captured.

War of the Straits

1232

Shikken Hojo Yasutoki of the Kamakura shogunate promulgates the Goseibai Shikimoku, the first Japanese legal code governing the samurai class.

Shikken

1172

Henry the Young King and Margaret of France are crowned junior king and queen of England.

Henry the Young King

410

The sacking of Rome by the Visigoths ends after three days.

Sack of Rome (410)