December 27th in History

Michael Dobson | December 27

The Hagia Sophia is completed, December 27, 537 CE

Today in History

  • The Hagia Sophia is completed (537)
  • Charles Darwin starts his voyage aboard HMS Beagle (1831)
  • Ether anesthetic is used in childbirth for the first time (1845)
  • The phrase “manifest destiny” appears in print for the first time (1845)
  • The first purpose-built aircraft carrier (Japan’s RJN 鳳翔, Hōshō) is commissioned (1922)
  • The first true musical play, Show Boat, opens on Broadway (1927)
  • Stalin orders the “liquidation of kulaks as a class” (1929)
  • Radio City Music Hall opens (1932)
  • The World Bank and the International Monetary Fund are created (1945)
  • Apollo 8 splashes down in the Pacific (1968)
  • The Soviet Union invades Afghanistan (1979)

Birthdays

  • Johannes Kepler, astronomer (1571)
  • Louis Pasteur, microbiologist (1822)
  • Sydney Greenstreet, actor (1879)
  • Thea von Harbou, actress (1888)
  • Marlene Dietrich, actress (1901)
  • Oscar Levant, musician, actor, and writer (1906)
  • William Masters, sex researcher (1915)
  • Cokie Roberts, journalist (1943)
  • Gérard Depardieu, actor (1948)
  • David Knopfler, singer-songwriter, member of Dire Straits (1952)
  • Greg Mortenson, humanitarian, author of Three Cups of Tea (1957)
  • Chyna (Joan Marie Laurer), wrestler (1970)
  • 岡 政偉 (Masi Oka), actor and digital effects artist, Hiro Nakamura on Heroes (1974)
  • Heather O’Rourke, child star, known for Poltergeist (1975)

Deaths

  • Henri Pitot, inventor of the Pitot tube (1771)
  • Charles Lamb, author (1834)
  • Stephen F. Austin, soldier and businessman, namesake of the city of Austin, Texas (1836)
  • Gustave Eiffel, architect and engineer, co-designer of the Eiffel Tower (1923)
  • Harry Warner, film producer, co-founder of Warner Brothers (1958)
  • Amy Vanderbilt, etiquette author (1974)
  • Hoagy Carmichael, singer-songwriter (1981)
  • Jack Swigert, astronaut (1982)
  • Brendan Gill, writer for The New Yorker (1997)
  • George Roy Hill, filmmaker (2002)
  • بينظير بھٹو (Benazir Bhutto), 11th Prime Minister of Pakistan, first female leader of a Muslim country (2007)
  • Delaney Bramlett, singer-songwriter, known for Delaney & Bonnie (2008)
  • Norman Schwarzkopf, Jr., US general (2012)
  • Jesco von Puttkamer, aerospace engineer, NASA executive (2012)

Holidays and Celebrations

  • Constitution Day (North Korea)
  • Emergency Rescuers Day (Russia)
  • St. Stephen’s Day (Eastern Orthodox Christianity)
Informal and made-up holidays include Make Cut Out Snowflakes Day and National Fruitcake Day.

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December 27 is the 361st day of the year (362nd in leap years). There are 4 days remaining until the end of the year.