On this day: December 27

Events on December 27

• 537 The reconstructed Hagia Sophia in Constantinople was inaugurated; built as a church, it later became a mosque and a museum. Wikipedia
• 1521 A period of unrest in Wittenberg following the arrival of three men of the Radical Reformation, known as the Zwickau prophets, was quelled after Martin Luther's release from custody. Wikipedia
• 1657 Citizens of New Netherland presented the Flushing Remonstrance to Peter Stuyvesant, the director general of the colonial province, requesting an exemption to his ban on Quaker worship. Wikipedia
• 1831 HMS Beagle departed Plymouth, England, on a voyage to South America that established Charles Darwin as a naturalist. Wikipedia
• 1845 Having coined the phrase "manifest destiny" the previous July, journalist John L. O'Sullivan argued in his newspaper New York Morning News that the United States had the right to claim the entire Oregon Country. Wikipedia
• 1845 Ether anesthetic is used for childbirth for the first time by Dr. Crawford Long in Jefferson, Georgia. Wikipedia
• 1911 "Jana Gana Mana", the national anthem of India, is first sung in the Calcutta Session of the Indian National Congress. Wikipedia
• 1922 The Imperial Japanese Navy commissioned Hōshō, the world's first purpose-built aircraft carrier. Wikipedia
• 1932 New York City's Radio City Music Hall opened with the world's largest auditorium at the time. Wikipedia
• 1939 A magnitude 7.8 earthquake struck central Turkey, destroying 90 per cent of the buildings in the area, and causing over 32,000 deaths. Wikipedia
• 1945 The International Monetary Fund is created with the signing of an agreement by 29 nations. Wikipedia
• 1949 Indonesian National Revolution: Queen Juliana of the Netherlands signed papers that relinquished sovereignty of most of the Dutch East Indies, officially recognising the independence of Indonesia. Wikipedia
• 1968 Apollo program: Apollo 8 splashes down in the Pacific Ocean, ending the first orbital crewed mission to the Moon. Wikipedia
• 1978 Spain becomes a democracy after 40 years of fascist dictatorship. Wikipedia
• 1979 Soviet–Afghan War: Soviet troops stormed Tajbeg Palace outside Kabul and killed Afghan president Hafizullah Amin and his 100–150 elite guards. Wikipedia
• 1985 The body of murdered American primatologist Dian Fossey was discovered inside her cabin in Volcanoes National Park, Rwanda. Wikipedia
• 1989 The Romanian Revolution concludes, as the last minor street confrontations and stray shootings abruptly end in the country's capital, Bucharest. Wikipedia
• 1991 Scandinavian Airlines System Flight 751 crashes in Gottröra in the Norrtälje Municipality in Sweden, injuring 92. Wikipedia
• 1997 Loyalist Volunteer Force leader Billy Wright was assassinated in HM Prison Maze by members of the Irish National Liberation Army. Wikipedia
• 2002 The human-cloning company Clonaid claimed to have performed the first reproductive cloning of a human, but provided no evidence for the claim. Wikipedia
• 2007 Riots erupted in Mombasa, Kenya, after Mwai Kibaki was declared the winner of the presidential election—the first event in a political, economic, and humanitarian crisis. Wikipedia
• 2007 Former prime minister Benazir Bhutto was assassinated while leaving a Pakistan People's Party political rally at Liaqat National Bagh in Rawalpindi. Wikipedia
• 2008 Operation Cast Lead: Israel launches three-week operation on Gaza. Wikipedia
• 2009 During protests in Tehran against the recent presidential election, Iranian security forces opened fire on demonstrators. Wikipedia
• 2019 Bek Air Flight 2100 crashes during takeoff from Almaty International Airport in Almaty, Kazakhstan, killing 13. Wikipedia
• 2024 Acting president and prime minister of South Korea Han Duck-soo was impeached by the National Assembly. Wikipedia

Born on December 27

• 1459 John I Albert, King of Poland (died 1501) Wikipedia
• 1571 Johannes Kepler, German mathematician, astronomer, and astrologer (died 1630) Wikipedia
• 1595 Bohdan Khmelnytsky, hetman of Ukraine (died 1657) Wikipedia
• 1797 Ghalib, Indian poet (died 1869) Wikipedia
• 1822 Louis Pasteur, French chemist and microbiologist (died 1895) Wikipedia
• 1896 Carl Zuckmayer, German author and playwright (died 1977) Wikipedia
• 1901 Marlene Dietrich, German-American actress and singer (died 1992) Wikipedia
• 1925 Michel Piccoli, French actor, singer, director, and producer (died 2020) Wikipedia
• 1934 Larisa Latynina, Ukrainian gymnast and coach Wikipedia
• 1948 Gérard Depardieu, French-Russian actor Wikipedia
• 1951 Ernesto Zedillo, Mexican economist and politician, 54th President of Mexico Wikipedia
• 1961 Guido Westerwelle, German lawyer and politician, 15th Vice-Chancellor of Germany (died 2016) Wikipedia
• 1965 Salman Khan, Indian film actor and producer Wikipedia
• 1969 Chyna, American professional wrestler and actress (died 2016) Wikipedia
• 1981 Emilie de Ravin, Australian actress Wikipedia
• 1984 Gilles Simon, French tennis player Wikipedia
• 1985 Adil Rami, French footballer Wikipedia
• 1986 Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, Jamaican sprinter Wikipedia
• 1988 Hayley Williams, American singer-songwriter Wikipedia
• 1990 Milos Raonic, Canadian tennis player Wikipedia
• 1993 Olivia Cooke, English actress Wikipedia
• 1995 Timothée Chalamet, French-American actor Wikipedia

Died on December 27

• 1834 Charles Lamb, English essayist and poet (born 1775) Wikipedia
• 1923 Gustave Eiffel, French architect and engineer, co-designed the Eiffel Tower (born 1832) Wikipedia
• 1936 Mehmet Akif Ersoy, Turkish poet, academic, and politician (born 1873) Wikipedia
• 1938 Osip Mandelstam, Polish-Russian poet and critic (born 1891) Wikipedia
• 1950 Max Beckmann, German-American painter and sculptor (born 1884) Wikipedia
• 1953 Julian Tuwim, Polish poet and author (born 1894) Wikipedia
• 1972 Lester B. Pearson, Canadian historian and politician, 14th Prime Minister of Canada, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1897) Wikipedia
• 1978 Houari Boumediene, Algerian colonel and politician, 2nd President of Algeria (born 1932) Wikipedia
• 1979 Hafizullah Amin, Afghan educator and politician, 2nd General Secretary of the People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan (born 1929) Wikipedia
• 1982 Jack Swigert, American pilot, astronaut, and politician (born 1931) Wikipedia
• 2007 Benazir Bhutto, Pakistani politician, Prime Minister of Pakistan (born 1953) Wikipedia
• 2012 Norman Schwarzkopf, Jr., American general and engineer (born 1934) Wikipedia
• 2016 Carrie Fisher, American actress, screenwriter, author, producer, and speaker (born 1956) Wikipedia
• 2024 Olivia Hussey, Argentinian-English actress (born 1951) Wikipedia

Holidays and observances

• Christian feast day: Blessed Francesco Spoto Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Blessed Sára Salkaházi Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Fabiola Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: John the Apostle Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Pope Maximus of Alexandria Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Nicarete Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Theodorus and Theophanes Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: December 27 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics) Wikipedia
• Constitution Day (North Korea) Wikipedia
• Emergency Rescuer's Day (Russia) Wikipedia
• Saint Stephen's Day (Eastern Orthodox Church; a public holiday in Romania) Wikipedia
• The third of the Twelve Days of Christmas (Western Christianity) Wikipedia

Sources

• Wikipedia — “December 27” — events, births, deaths and observances (text under CC BY-SA 4.0) (checked 2026-10-15)
• Wikipedia — “Selected anniversaries/December 27” — the anniversaries editors chose for the date and the article each one is about (checked 2026-10-15)
• Wikidata — in how many language editions each entry's own article exists, used to fill the lists (CC0) (checked 2026-10-15)
• vacanza/holidays (open-source holiday rules, MIT licence) — holiday rules used to build the lists (checked 2026-10-15)

The events, births, deaths and observances above are from the English Wikipedia article “December 27” and the articles it links to (authors and history), retrieved 2026-10-15 through the Wikimedia “On this day” feed. They are licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0; this selection is shared under the same licence. Every anniversary that Wikipedia's editors selected for December 27 stays on the list; the remaining places, up to 26 events, 22 births and 14 deaths, go to the entries whose own article — about the event itself, or else the person or thing it is about — appears in the most language editions (counted from Wikidata); an article about a person or thing, which covers far more than one day, counts half. An entry with no article of its own counts, also at half, by the least covered article it links, and one that links only places counts for nothing. Each list runs by year, and the wording is unchanged apart from removing references to pictures, audio and video.