27th November

Events

• 399 - St. Anastius I becomes Pope.
• 1703 - The first Eddystone Lighthouse destroyed in storm.
• 1839 - In Boston, Massachusetts, the American Statistical Association is founded.
• 1863 - American Civil War: Confederate cavalry leader John Hunt Morgan and several of his men escape the Ohio state prison and return safely to the South.
• 1868 - Indian Wars: Battle of the Washita River - In the early morning, United States Army Lieutenant Colonel George Armstrong Custer leads an attack on a band of peaceful Cheyenne living on reservation land with Chief Black Kettle, killing 103 Cheyenne (this was later regarded as the first substantial US victory in the war).
• 1895 - At the Swedish-Norwegian Club in Paris, Alfred Nobel signs his last will and testament, setting aside his estate to establish the Nobel Prize after he dies (he died of a cerebral hemorrhage on December 10, 1896).
• 1912 - Spain declares a protectorate over the north shore of Morocco.
• 1924 - In the New York City the first Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade is held.
• 1926 - In Williamsburg, Virginia, the restoration of Colonial Williamsburg begins.
• 1934 - A running gun battle between FBI agents and bank robber Baby Face Nelson results in the death of one FBI agent and the mortal wounding of special agent Sam Cowley, who is still able to mortally shoot Nelson.
• 1940 - In Romania, coup leader General Ion Antonescu's Iron Guard arrests and executes over 60 of exiled king Carol II of Romania's aides. Among the dead is former minister and acclaimed historian Nicolae Iorga.
• 1946 - Cold War: Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru appeals to the United States and the Soviet Union to end nuclear testing and to start nuclear disarmament, stating that such an action would "save humanity from the ultimate disaster."
• 1965 - Vietnam War: The Pentagon tells US President Lyndon B. Johnson that if planned major sweep operations needed to neutralize Viet Cong forces during the next year were to succeed, the number of American troops in Vietnam has to be increased from 120,000 to 400,000.
• 1973 - The United States Senate votes 92 to 3 to confirm Gerald Ford as Vice President of the United States (on December 6, the House confirmed him 387 to 35).
• 1978 - In San Francisco, California, city mayor George Moscone and openly gay city supervisor Harvey Milk are assassinated by former supervisor Dan White.
• 1983 - A Colombian Boeing 747 crashes near Barajas Airport, in Madrid killing 183
• 1990 - The UK Conservative party chooses John Major to succeed Margaret Thatcher as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.
• 1991 - The United Nations Security Council unanimously adopts UN Security Council Resolution 721, leading the way to the establishment of peacekeeping operations in Yugoslavia. [1]

Births

• 1701 - Anders Celsius, inventor, astronomer (d. 1744)
• 1710 - Robert Lowth, bishop of the Church of England (d. 1787)
• 1746 - Robert Livingston, politician (d. 1813)
• 1804 - Julius Benedict, composer (d. 1885)
• 1809 - Fanny Kemble, actress (d. 1893)
• 1843 - Cornelius Vanderbilt, businessman, philanthropist (d. 1899)
• 1857 - Charles Scott Sherrington, physiologist, winner of 1932 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (d. 1952)
• 1865 - Jose Asuncion Silva, poet (d. 1896)
• 1867 - Charles Koechlin, composer (d. 1950)
• 1874 - Chaim Weizmann, first President of Israel (d. 1952)
• 1874 - Charles A. Beard, historian (d. 1948)
• 1900 - Leon Barzin, conductor (d. 1999)
• 1901 - Ted Husing, sportscaster (d. 1962)
• 1903 - Johnny Blood, American football player (d. 1986)
• 1903 - Mona Washbourne, actress (d. 1988)
• 1907 - L. Sprague de Camp, science fiction writer (d. 2000)
• 1909 - James Agee, writer (d. 1955)
• 1911 - David Merrick, Broadway producer (d. 2000)
• 1916 - Chick Hearn, sports announcer (d. 2002)
• 1917 - Buffalo Bob Smith, television host (Howdy Doody) (d. 1998)
• 1921 - Alexander Dubcek, Czech politician (d. 1992)
• 1925 - Ernie Wise, comedian (d. 1999)
• 1925 - Marshall Thompson, actor (d. 1992)
• 1925 - Michael Tolan, actor
• 1932 - Benigno Aquino Jr., Phillipine opposition leader (d. 1983)
• 1936 - Jacqueline Danno, actress
• 1937 - Gail Sheehy, writer
• 1940 - Bruce Lee, actor, martial arts expert (d. 1973)
• 1942 - Jimi Hendrix, musician (d. 1970)
• 1944 - Eddie Rabbitt, singer (d. 1998)
• 1945 - Barbara Anderson, actress
• 1951 - Jayne Kennedy, sportscaster, actress
• 1952 - James D Wetherbee, astronaut
• 1954 - Curtis Armstrong, actor
• 1957 - Caroline Kennedy Schlossberg, journalist
• 1959 - Charlie Burchill, musician
• 1960 - Ken O'Brien, American football player
• 1962 - Charlie Benante, musician
• 1963 - Fisher Stevens, actor
• 1964 - Robin Givens, actress
• 1965 - Fiachna O'Broanain, musician
• 1968 - Michael Vartan, actor
• 1971 - Edward Schocker, composer
• 1976 - Jaleel White, actor
• 1976 - Tyrone Sutton

Deaths

• 8 BC Horace, poet, satirist, dies
• 450 - Galla Placidia, daughter and mother of Roman Emperors
• 511 - Clovis I, king of the Franks
• 1811 - Andrew Meikle, mechanical engineer
• 1895 - Alexandre Dumas fils, author
• 1934 - Baby Face Nelson, gangster
• 1953 - Eugene O'Neill, playwright
• 1955 - Arthur Honegger, composer
• 1975 - Ross McWhirter, Guinness Book of Records keeper
• 1978 - George Moscone, politician
• 1978 - Harvey Milk, politician
• 1981 - Lotte Lenya, singer, actress
• 1984 - Percy Norris, deputy high commissioner of India
• 1986 - Steve Tracy, actor
• 1988 - John Carradine, actor
• 1992 - Ivan Generalić, painter naive art, Croatia

Holidays

• USA-Thanksgiving (if a Thursday)

See also

November 26 - November 28 - October 27 - December 27 - more historical anniversaries