March 27 is the 86th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (87th in Leap years). There are 279 days remaining.
Events
- 1513 (not 1512 as often cited) - Explorer Juan Ponce de Leon sights North America (specifically Florida) for the first time mistaking it for another island. Later, on April 2, he landed somewhere on the east coast of the newly discovered land.
- 1625 - Charles I becomes King of England and Scotland
- 1794 - The United States Government established a permanent United States Navy and authorized the building of six vessels (in 1797 the first three frigates, USS United States, USS Constellation and USS Constitution went into service).
- 1814 - War of 1812: In northern Alabama, United States forces under General Andrew Jackson defeat Creek Native Americans at the Battle of Horseshoe Bend.
- 1836 - Texas Revolution: Goliad massacre - Santa Ana orders the Mexican army to kill about 400 Texans at Goliad, Texas
- 1851 - First reported case of White men seeing Yosemite Valley.
- 1941 - Attack on Pearl Harbor: Japanese spy Takeo Yoshikawa arrives in Honolulu, Hawaii and begins to study the United States fleet at Pearl Harbor.
- 1942 - World War II: United Kingdom forces raid the U-boat base at St. Nazaire, France
- 1952 - Sun Records begins operations
- 1958 - Nikita Khrushchev becomes Premier of the Soviet Union
- 1963 - In the United Kingdom, Dr Beeching issues report calling for huge cuts to the UK's rail network See Beeching axe.
- 1964 - The Good Friday Earthquake, the most powerful earthquake in U.S. history at a magnitude of 9.2 strikes South Central Alaska killing 125 people and inflicting massive damage to the city of Anchorage
- 1976 - The first 4.6 miles of the Washington, DC subway system opens.
- 1977 - Tenerife disaster: Two jumbo jets collide on a foggy runway on Tenerife in the Canary Islands killing 583
- 1990 - Propoganda: The United States begins broadcasting TV Marti to Cuba
- 1993 - Jiang Zemin is appointed President of the People's Republic of China.
- 1998 - The FDA approves Viagra for use as a treatment for male impotence, becoming the first pill to be approved to treat this condition in the United States.
Births
- 1765 - Franz Xaver von Baader - German philosopher and theologian (+ 1841)
- 1785 - King Louis XVII of France (+ 1795)
- 1797 - Alfred de Vigny, author (+ 1863)
- 1813 - Nathaniel Currier, illustrator
- 1836 - Sir Henry Royce, automobile pioneer
- 1845 - Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen, physicist, winner of the first Nobel Prize in physics 1901 (+ 1923)
- 1871 - Heinrich Mann, narrator, dramatist and essayist (+ 1950)
- 1886 - Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, architect (+ 1969)
- 1897 - Gloria Swanson, actress (+ 1983)
- 1901 - Carl Barks, Donald Duck illustrator (+ 2000)
- 1901 - Erich Ollenhauer, politician (+ 1963)
- 1909 - Golo Mann, historian and publicist (+ 1994)
- 1910 - John Pierce, electrical engineer
- 1912 - James Callaghan, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
- 1917 - Cyrus Vance, United States politician (+ 2002)
- 1923 - Louis Simpson, poet
- 1924 - Sarah Vaughan, singer (+ 1990)
- 1927 - Mstislav Rostropovich, conductor, musician
- 1930 - David Janssen, actor (+ 1980)
- 1939 - Cale Yarborough, NASCAR racer
- 1942 - Michael York, actor
- 1963 - Quentin Tarantino, actor, director, writer, producer
- 1963 - Xuxa, television personality
- 1970 - Mariah Carey, singer
- 1970 - Princess Leila of Iran (+ 2001)
Deaths
- 1350 - King Alfonso XI of Castile
- 1878 - Sir George Gilbert Scott, architect
- 1918 - Henry Adams, historian and novelist
- 1923 - Sir James Dewar, chemist
- 1968 - Yuri Gagarin, the first human to orbit the earth
- 1969 - B. Traven, writer
- 1972 - M. C. Escher, Dutch artist
- 1995 - Maurizio Gucci
- 2000 - Ian Dury, 57, English rock musician
- 2002 - Milton Berle, actor, comedian
- 2002 - Dudley Moore, actor, musician
- 2002 - Billy Wilder, director
Holidays and observances
See Also:
March 26 - March 28 - February 27 - April 27 -- listing of all days
January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December