Events in History on December 27

537 Hagia Sophia inaugurated by the Emperor Justinian I as an Eastern Orthodox cathedral

795 Leo III begins his reign as Pope after his election the previous day
1437 Albrecht II von Habsburg becomes king of Bohemia
1512 Spanish Crown issues the Laws of Burgos, governing the conduct of settlers with regards to native Indians in the New World
1521 The "Zwickau Prophets" appear in Wittenberg

1657 "Flushing Remonstrance" petition signed in the Dutch colony of New Netherland, protesting the ban on Quaker worship

1679 Dutch troops capture Madurees prince Trunudjojo in Java
1703 England & Portugal sign Methuen-Asiento-trade agreement
1741 Prussian forces took Olmutz, Czechoslovakia
1814 Destruction of schooner Carolina, the last of Commodore Daniel Patterson's makeshift fleet that fought a series of delaying actions that contributed to Andrew Jackson's victory at the Battle of New Orleans.

1831 HMS Beagle with Charles Darwin on board departs England for a survey of South America, a voyage Darwin later said "determined my whole career"

1836 Worst English avalanche kills 8 of 15 buried (Lewes Sussex)
1845 Ether 1st used in childbirth in US in Jefferson, Georgia
1850 Hawaiian Fire Department established
1862 Battle of Chickasaw Bluffs, MS (Chickasaw Bayou)
1862 Battle of Elizabethtown, Kentucky
1867 Ontario & Quebec legislatures hold 1st meeting
1884 Netherlands recognizes King Leopold II's Congo Free State
1892 Foundation Stone of Cathedral of St John laid (NYC)
1900 Carrie Nation's 1st public smashing of a bar (Carey Hotel, Wichita, Kansas)
1904 Stage play "Peter Pan" by J. M. Barrie premieres at the Duke of York Theatre in London
1904 W B Yeats and Lady Gregory's "On Baile's Strand" premieres in Dublin
1906 1st annual meeting of American Sociological Society, Providence, Rhode Island
1915 US Iron and Steel workers begin a 3-week strike in Ohio for a eight-hour-day; they are successful as the US needs steel for armaments
1918 The Great Poland Uprising against the Germans begins.
1924 Albania is declared a dictatorship under Ahmed Beg Zofu
1924 The US signs a treaty with the Dominican Republic, which supersedes that of 1907: in July, the Us had withdrawn its Marines and ended its occupation
1926 Depot Square in Bronx renamed Botanical Square
1926 Latkin Square in Bronx named for 1st US Jewish soldier to die in WW I
1927 Philip Barry's "Paris Bound" premieres in NYC

1932 Emperor Hirohito of Japan narrowly evades an assassination attempt by a Korean independence activist, Lee Bong-chang

1934 Shah of Persia Mohammad Reza Pahlavi declares Persia now Iran

1939 1st American skimobiles (North Conway, NH)
1939 Between 20,000 and 40,000 die in magnitude 8 earthquake in Erzincam, Turkey
1941 Japan bombs Manila even though it was declared an "open city"
1942 1st Japanese women camp (Ambarawa) goes into use
1942 The Union of Pioneers of Yugoslavia is founded.
1943 France transfers most of her powers in Lebanon to Lebanese government
1943 German warship "Scharnhorst" sinks in Barents Sea

1943 Montgomery discusses Overlord with Eisenhower & Bedell Smith

1945 International Monetary Fund formally established by 29 member countries based on ideas of Harry Dexter White and John Maynard Keynes

1945 The World Bank was created with the signing of an agreement by 28 nations.
1949 Queen Juliana of the Netherlands grants independence to Indonesia
1960 France performs nuclear test
1961 Belgium & Congo resume diplomatic relations
1968 Apollo 8 returns to Earth
1968 China performs nuclear test at Lop Nor, PRC
1972 Belgium recognizes German DR
1972 New North Korean constitution comes into effect
1974 FSLN seizes government hostages at a private Managua party
1974 USSR performs nuclear test at Eastern Kazakh/Semipalitinsk USSR
1975 Explosion at Chasnala Colliery collapses drowning 350 in Dhanbad, India
1976 Albania constitution goes into effect
1978 Spain becomes a democracy after 40 years of dictatorship as King Juan Carlos ratifies Spain's 1st democratic constitution
1979 After invading Afghanistan two days earlier Soviet forces pull off a coup in Kabul, killing President Hafizullah Amin
1981 USSR performs nuclear test at Eastern Kazakh/Semipalitinsk USSR

1983 Pope John Paul II pardons man who shot him (Mehmet Ali Agca)

1985 Terrorists kill 20 and wound 110 attacking El Al at Rome and Vienna airports. President Reagan blames Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi.

1987 USSR performs nuclear test at Eastern Kazakh/Semipalitinsk USSR
1988 Bulgaria stops jamming Radio Free Europe after more than 3 decades
1992 13th United Negro College Fund raises $11,000,000
1993 Dow-Jones hits record 3792.93
1996 Carquest Bowl 7: Miami beats Virginia, 31-21
1996 Taliban forces retake the strategic Bagram air base which solidifies their buffer zone around Kabul.
1997 Protestant paramilitary leader Billy Wright is assassinated in Northern Ireland.
2001 The People's Republic of China is granted permanent normal trade relations with the United States.
2002 Kenyan General Election: National Rainbow Coalition headed by Mwai Kibaki wins, overthrowing 39 year rule by the Kenya African National Union
2002 Two truck bombs kill 72 and wound 200 at the pro-Moscow headquarters of the Chechen government in Grozny, Chechnya.
2004 Radiation from an explosion on the magnetar SGR 1806-20 reaches Earth. It is the brightest extrasolar event known to have been witnessed on the planet.

2007 Former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto is assassinated by a suicide bomber in Rawalpindi

2008 Israel launches Operation Cast Lead in the Gaza Strip, beginning with an airstrike that hits 100 targets in 220 seconds killing around 250 people
2009 The World Health Organization says 208 countries, territories and communities have reported H1N1 cases, including at least 12,220 deaths
2012 NASA unveils plans to capture a 500 ton asteroid in 2025
2013 29 people are killed after a bus plunged off the Huay Tong Bridge, Thailand
2015 Iraqi forces retake IS held city of Ramadi (ISIS first captured in May)