On this day: August 27

Events on August 27

• 410 The sacking of Rome by the Visigoths ends after three days. Wikipedia
• 1689 The Treaty of Nerchinsk is signed by Russia and the Qing Empire (Julian calendar). Wikipedia
• 1776 British forces led by William Howe defeated the Continental Army under George Washington at the Battle of Long Island, the largest battle of the American Revolutionary War. Wikipedia
• 1776 American Revolutionary War: British forces under General William Howe flank and defeat the Continental Army under General George Washington during the Battle of Long Island, with the 1st Maryland Regiment sustaining heavy casualties to cover retreating American troops. Wikipedia
• 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. Wikipedia
• 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. Wikipedia
• 1810 Napoleonic Wars: The French Navy defeats the British Royal Navy, preventing them from taking the harbour of Grand Port on Île de France. Wikipedia
• 1813 French Emperor Napoleon I defeats a larger force of Austrians, Russians, and Prussians at the Battle of Dresden. Wikipedia
• 1859 Petroleum is discovered in Titusville, Pennsylvania, leading to the world's first commercially successful oil well. Wikipedia
• 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. Wikipedia
• 1914 World War I: Battle of Étreux: A British rearguard action by the Royal Munster Fusiliers during the Great Retreat. Wikipedia
• 1915 Attempted assassination of Bishop Patrick Heffron, bishop of the Diocese of Winona, by Rev. Louis M. Lesches. Wikipedia
• 1916 World War I: The Kingdom of Romania declares war on Austria-Hungary, entering the war as one of the Allied nations. Wikipedia
• 1933 The first Afrikaans Bible is introduced during a Bible Festival in Bloemfontein. Wikipedia
• 1942 The Holocaust: first day of the Sarny Massacre, perpetrated by German military forces. Wikipedia
• 1943 World War II: Japanese forces evacuate New Georgia Island in the Pacific Theater of Operations during World War II. Wikipedia
• 1943 World War II: Aerial bombardment by the Luftwaffe razes to the ground the village of Vorizia in Crete. Wikipedia
• 1962 The Mariner 2 unmanned space mission is launched to Venus by NASA. Wikipedia
• 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. Wikipedia
• 1975 The Governor of Portuguese Timor abandons its capital, Dili, and flees to Atauro Island, leaving control to a rebel group. Wikipedia
• 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. Wikipedia
• 1990 American musician Stevie Ray Vaughan, one of the most influential guitarists in the revival of blues in the 1980s, was killed in a helicopter crash. Wikipedia
• 1991 The European Community recognizes the independence of the Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. Wikipedia
• 1991 Moldova declares independence from the USSR. Wikipedia
• 2003 Mars makes its closest approach to Earth in nearly 60,000 years, passing 34,646,418 miles (55,758,005 km) distant. Wikipedia
• 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. Wikipedia

Born on August 27

• 865 Rhazes, Persian polymath (died 925) Wikipedia
• 1770 Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, German philosopher and academic (died 1831) Wikipedia
• 1809 Hannibal Hamlin, American publisher and politician, 15th Vice President of the United States (died 1891) Wikipedia
• 1822 William Hayden English, American politician, U.S. Representative from Indiana and Democratic vice-presidential nominee (died 1896) Wikipedia
• 1856 Ivan Franko, Ukrainian author and poet (died 1916) Wikipedia
• 1858 Giuseppe Peano, Italian mathematician and philosopher (died 1932) Wikipedia
• 1865 Charles G. Dawes, American general and politician, 30th Vice President of the United States, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1951) Wikipedia
• 1871 Theodore Dreiser, American novelist and journalist (died 1945) Wikipedia
• 1874 Carl Bosch, German chemist and engineer, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1940) Wikipedia
• 1878 Pyotr Nikolayevich Wrangel, Russian general (died 1928) Wikipedia
• 1884 Vincent Auriol, French lawyer and politician, President of the French Republic (died 1966) Wikipedia
• 1890 Man Ray, American-French photographer and painter (died 1976) Wikipedia
• 1908 Lyndon B. Johnson, American commander and politician, 36th President of the United States (died 1973) Wikipedia
• 1915 Norman Foster Ramsey Jr., American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 2011) Wikipedia
• 1931 Sri Chinmoy, Indian-American guru and poet (died 2007) Wikipedia
• 1941 Cesária Évora, Cape Verdean singer (died 2011) Wikipedia
• 1952 Paul Reubens, American actor and comedian (died 2023) Wikipedia
• 1976 Mark Webber, Australian race car driver Wikipedia
• 1977 Deco, Brazilian-Portuguese footballer Wikipedia
• 1979 Aaron Paul, American actor and producer Wikipedia
• 1984 Sulley Muntari, Ghanaian footballer Wikipedia
• 1986 Sebastian Kurz, Austrian politician, 25th Chancellor of Austria Wikipedia

Died on August 27

• 827 Pope Eugene II Wikipedia
• 923 Ageltrude, queen of Italy and Holy Roman Empress Wikipedia
• 1576 Titian, Italian painter and educator (born 1488) Wikipedia
• 1590 Pope Sixtus V (born 1521) Wikipedia
• 1611 Tomás Luis de Victoria, Spanish composer (born c. 1548) Wikipedia
• 1635 Lope de Vega, Spanish poet and playwright (born 1562) Wikipedia
• 1664 Francisco de Zurbarán, Spanish painter and educator (born 1598) Wikipedia
• 1950 Cesare Pavese, Italian author, poet, and critic (born 1908) Wikipedia
• 1958 Ernest Lawrence, American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1901) Wikipedia
• 1963 W. E. B. Du Bois, American sociologist, historian, and activist (born 1868) Wikipedia
• 1965 Le Corbusier, Swiss-French architect and urban planner, designed the Philips Pavilion (born 1887) Wikipedia
• 1975 Haile Selassie, Ethiopian emperor (born 1892) Wikipedia
• 1979 Louis Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma, English admiral and politician, 44th Governor-General of India (born 1900) Wikipedia
• 2026 Ratko Mladić, Bosnian Serb military officer and war criminal (born 1942) Wikipedia

Holidays and observances

• Christian feast day: Baculus of Sorrento Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Caesarius of Arles Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: David Lewis Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Decuman Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Gebhard of Constance Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Euthalia Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: John of Pavia Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Lycerius (or: Glycerius, Lizier) Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Máel Ruba (or Rufus) (Scotland) Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Margaret the Barefooted Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Monica of Hippo, mother of Augustine of Hippo Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Narnus Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Our Lady of La Vang Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Phanourios of Rhodes Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Rufus and Carpophorus Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Syagrius of Autun Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Thomas Gallaudet and Henry Winter Syle (Episcopal Church) Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: August 27 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics) Wikipedia
• Independence Day (Republic of Moldova), celebrates the independence of Moldova from the USSR in 1991. Wikipedia
• Lyndon Baines Johnson Day (Texas, United States) Wikipedia

The events, births, deaths and observances above are from the English Wikipedia article “August 27” and the articles it links to (authors and history), retrieved 2026-10-09 through the Wikimedia “On this day” feed. They are licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0; this selection is shared under the same licence. We picked the 26 events, 22 births and 14 deaths with the widest coverage across Wikipedia's language editions (counted from Wikidata) and sorted them by year; the wording is unchanged apart from removing references to pictures.