EVENTS
- 27 – The Roman Empire is established. One of the events marking the beginning of the Imperium Romanum was the Roman Senate’s granting of the honorific Augustus to Octavian on this day.
- 1412 – The Medici family are made official bankers of the Papacy.
- 1547 – Ivan the Terrible becomes Tsar of Russia.
- 1556 – Philip II becomes King of Spain.
- 1581 – English Parliament outlaws Roman Catholicism.
- 1909 – The magnetic South Pole is found
- 1919 – The 18th amendment (prohibition) is passed in the US constitution.
- 1979 – The Shah of Iran departed his country amid mass demonstrations and the revolt of Islamic fundamentalists led by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. The Shah had ruled Iran since 1941 and had unsuccessfully attempted to westernize its culture.
- 1991 – The war against Iraq began as Allied aircraft conducted a major raid against Iraqi air defenses. The air raid on Baghdad was broadcast live to a global audience by CNN correspondents as operation Desert Shield became Desert Storm.
- 1995 – The first episode of Star Trek: Voyager airs.
- 1992 – The twelve-year civil war in El Salvador ended with the signing of a peace treaty in Mexico City. The conflict had claimed over 75,000 lives.
- 2005 – Adriana Iliescu gives birth at the age of 66. The Romanian university lecturer broke the record for the world’s oldest birth mother.
BIRTHDAYS
- 1853 – French industrialist Andre Michelin (1853-1931) was born in Paris. He started the Michelin Tire Company in 1888, pioneering the use of pneumatic tires on autos.
- 1909 – Ethel Merman (Singer)
- 1911 – Dizzy Dean (Baseball Player)
- 1932 – Dian Fossey (American zoologist)
- 1933 – Susan Sontag (American author)
- 1944 – Ronnie Milsap (Country Singer)
- 1948 – John Carpenter (American director)
- 1959 – Sade (Singer)
- 1974 – Kate Moss (Model)
- 1979 – Aaliyah (Singer and Actress)
- 1980 – Albert Pujols (Baseball Player)
- 1980 – Lin-Manuel Miranda (Actor, playright, and composer)
DEATHS
- 1917 – George Dewey (American Admiral)
- 1957 – Arturo Toscanini (Italian conductor)
- 1979 – Ted Cassidy (American actor)
- 1986 – Herbert W. Armstrong (American evangelist, author, publisher)
- 2009 – John Mortimer (English lawyer, author)