What Happened on May 27
Important Events
- 1679 Habeaus Corpus Act (strengthening person's right to challenge unlawful arrest & imprisonment) passes in England
- 1703 Saint Petersburg (Leningrad) founded by Russian Tsar Peter the Great
- 1873 Heinrich Schliemann discovers "Priam's Treasure" a cache of gold and other objects in Hisarlik (Troy) in Anatolia
- 1905 Japanese fleet destroys the Russian East Sea fleet in the Battle of Tsushima, the only decisive clash between modern steel battleships in history
- 1940 British and Allied forces begin the evacuation of Dunkirk (Operation Dynamo) during WWII
- 1963 Jomo Kenyatta elected 1st Prime Minister of Kenya
- 1999 The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia indicts Slobodan Milošević and four others for war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in Kosovo
- 2006 Earthquake strikes Java, Indonesia at 5:53:58 AM local time (22:53:58 UTC May 26) devastating Bantul and the city of Yogyakarta, killing over 6,600 people
May 27 in Film & TV
- 1933 Walt Disney's short film "3 Little Pigs" released (Academy Award Best Animated film 1934)
- 1977 The Sex Pistols release "God Save the Queen", sparking major controversy and leading to a ban on the song by the BBC
May 27 in Music
May 27 in Sport
- 1961 Fiorentina of Italy win 1st European Cup Winner's Cup against Glasgow Rangers 4-2 in Florence (2nd leg)
Did You Know?Famous Birthdays
Wild Bill Hickok
(1837 - 1876)- Rachel Carson
(1907 - 1964) - Sam Snead
(1912 - 2002) - Christopher Lee
(1922 - 2015) - Henry Kissinger
97 Years Old - Pat Cash
55 Years Old
Wild Bill Hickok
Rachel Carson
Sam Snead
Christopher Lee
Henry Kissinger
Pat CashFamous Weddings
- 1916 Naval commander Karl Donitz (24) weds nurse Ingeborg Weber
- 1929 Aviator Charles Lindbergh (27) weds author Anne Morrow (22) in Englewood, New Jersey
- 1980 President of Haiti Jean-Claude Duvalier (28) weds Michele Bennett in Haiti
Famous Divorces
- 2003 Actress Angelina Jolie (26) divorces actor Billy Bob Thornton (47) due to irreconcilable differences
Ludovico Sforza
John Calvin
Robert Koch
Jawaharlal Nehru
Ezzard Charles
Maurice RichardArticles, Photos and Quiz
Battle of Tsushima
Admiral Tōgō Heihachirō on the bridge of Mikasa, at the beginning of the Battle of Tsushima in 1905.
May 27, 1905Ship that Changed the Face of Britain
Britain was on its knees after the Second World War, its economy and infrastructure in tatters. For help the Mother Country turned to the Commonwealth.
May 27, 1948Weekly Quiz for May 25 - 31
In 1720 a ship brought the last epidemic of what disease to Europe? Which athlete broke 4 world records in 45 mins in 1935? What year was Star Wars released?
May in History
Westminster Bridge Defies a King and the Church
London's present Westminster Bridge was opened on this day, bringing to an end years of conflict which even involved the payment of a big bribe to the King.
May 24, 1862Ali Floors The Bear in Just Two Minutes
It was the Muhammad Ali punch that few people saw, but on this day ex-champion Sonny Liston, known as The Bear, certainly felt it in a first-round sensation
May 25, 1965A Modern Major-General of Light Entertainment
William Gilbert, celebrated as the unique lyricist behind the highly popular Gilbert and Sullivan comic operas, met his death in highly unexpected circumstances.
May 29, 1911Voltaire: Writer, Wit, Philosopher and Rebel
They burned his books, sent him to the Bastille and into exile, but Voltaire, who died on this day, remained rich, successful – and defiant.
May 30, 1778
