27th May is the 147th day of the year (148th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. 218 days remain until the end of the year. Today also marks Children’s Day in Nigeria. Find out some important events that occurred on this day, 27th May, in history.

 

Historical events

1120 — Richard III of Capua is anointed as prince two weeks before his untimely death.

1529 — 30 Jews of Posing, Hungary, charged with blood ritual, burned at stake.

1679 — Habeaus Corpus Act (strengthening a person’s right to challenge unlawful arrest and imprisonment) passes in England.

1692 — Court of Oyer and Terminer (“to hear and determine”) established by Governor of Massachusetts to hear accusations of witchcraft.

1796 — James S McLean patents his piano.

1849 — Opening of the Great Hall at Euston station in London.

1850 — Mormon Temple in Nauvoo, Illinois, destroyed by a tornado.

1854 — Marine Telegraph from Fort Point to San Francisco completed.

1856 — Doctor William Palmer (the Rugeley Poisoner ) found guilty of poisoning in Stafford, England.

1873 — Archaeologist Heinrich Schliemann discovers “Priam’s Treasure” a cache of gold and other objects in Hisarlik (Troy) in Anatolia.

1896 — Tornado hit St Louis, killing 255, leaving thousands homeless.

 

27th May in the 20th Century

1900 — Lord Roberts’ army fights the Vaal in South Africa.

1905 — Japanese fleet destroys the Russian East Sea fleet in the Battle of Tsushima, the only decisive clash between modern steel battleships in history.

1906 — The first outlining of Gustav Mahler’s 6th symphony, in Essen.

1907 — Bubonic Plague breaks out in San Francisco.

1908 — Maulana Hakeem Noor-Ud-Din iss elected the first Khalifa of Ahmadiyya Muslim Community.

1910 — Reform of Prussian three-class voting system fails.

1930 — Richard Drew invents masking tape.

1930 — The 1,046-foot (319-meter) Chrysler Building in New York City, the tallest man-made structure at the time, opens to the public.

1931 — The first full-scale wind tunnel for testing airplanes at Langley Field, Virginia.

1931 — Swiss Auguste Piccard and Paul Kipfer make its first flight into the stratosphere, by balloon from Augsburg, Germany.

1933 — Austrian communist party banned.

1933 — Walt Disney’s short film “3 Little Pigs” released (Academy Award Best Animated film 1934).

1937 — Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco opens to pedestrians.

1942 — Dictator of Nazi Germany Adolf Hitler orders 10,000 Czechs murdered.

1942 — Nazi leader Reinhard Heydrich is shot and mortally wounded by Czech rebels in Prague during Operation Anthropoid.

1948 — Arabs blow up Jewish synagogue Hurvat Rabbi Yehudah he-Hasid.

1948 — Ship that Changed the Face of Britain. Britain was on its knees after the Second World War, its economy and infrastructure left in tatters. For help, the Mother Country turned to the Commonwealth.

1949 — Martin Canine, cartoon character, spoofs Martin Kane.

 

More 27th May dates

1958 — Ernest Green becomes the first African-American to graduate from Little Rock’s Central High School.

1961 — The first black light sold.

1963 — Jomo Kenyatta elected the first Prime Minister of Kenya.

1964 — Children’s Day established as a public holiday in Nigeria for Primary and Secondary school children.

1967 — Australians vote in favour of a constitutional referendum granting the Australian government the power to make laws to benefit Indigenous Australians and count them in the national census.

1969 — Walt Disney World construction begins at Bay Lake and Lake Buena Vista, Florida.

1971 — 24th Cannes Film Festival: “The Go-Between” directed by Joseph Losey wins the Grand Prix du Festival International du Film.

1975 — Worst motor vehicle disaster in the UK; bus full of elderly women plunge into Dibble’s Bridge Yorkshire, killing 38.

1977 — The S*x Pistols release “God Save the Queen”, sparking major controversy and leading to a ban on the song by the BBC.

1979 — Pope John Paul II ordains John J O’Connor as a bishop.

1980 — South Korean police end people’s uprising; 2,000 killed.

1981 — John Hinckley, who attempted to assassinate US President Reagan, attempts suicide by overdosing on Tylenol.

1985 — Britain agrees to return Hong Kong to China in 1997.

1994 — Flintstones live-action film opens.

1994 — Larry King ends his radio show.

1995 — Actor Christopher Reeve is paralyzed from the neck down after falling from his horse in a riding competition in Culpeper, Virginia.

1997 — The first all-female (20 British women) team reach the North Pole

1998 — Oklahoma City bombing: Michael Fortier is sentenced to 12 years in prison and fined $200,000 for failing to warn authorities about the terrorist plot.

 

 

27th May in the 21st Century

2003 — Actress Angelina Jolie (26) divorces actor Billy Bob Thornton (47) due to irreconcilable differences.

2005 — DreamWorks computer-animated film “Madagascar” with voices by Ben Stiller, Chris Rock, David Schwimmer and Jada Pinkett Smith releases.

2009 — South Africa enters the global recession; the first recession for South Africa in 17 years.

2012 — 65th Cannes Film Festival: “Amour” directed by Michael Haneke wins the Palme d’Or.

2013 — 75 people are killed and 200 are injured in a wave of bombings across Iraq.

2013 — The largest flag ever, made at 5 tons with 44 miles of thread, unveils in Romania.

2014 — The director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Christine Lagarde calls for “tougher regulation and tighter supervision” of the banking sector.

2017 — English FA Cup Final, Wembley Stadium, London: Arsenal beats Chelsea, 2-1; Aaron Ramsey scores 79′ winner as Arsène Wenger becomes the most successful manager in FA Cup history, winning his 7th title.

2017 — In Bangalore, India, white puffy toxic foam begins spilling out of Varthur Lake onto city streets.

2018 — Indianapolis 500: Will Power becomes the first Australian driver to win the event.