August 27
1776 - The Battle of Long Island began during the Revolutionary War as British troops attacked American forces who ended up being forced to retreat two days later.
1859 - Edwin Drake drilled the first successful oil well in the U.S. near Titusville, Pennsylvania.
1883 - The island volcano Krakatoa erupted with a series of cataclysmic explosions. The resulting tidal waves in Indonesia’s Sunda Strait claimed some 36,000 lives in Java and Sumatra.
1894 - Congress passed the Wilson-Gorman Tariff Act, which contained a provision for a graduated income tax that was later struck down by the Supreme Court.
1939 - The first turbojet-powered aircraft, the Heinkel He 178, went on its first full-fledged test flight over Germany.
1945 - U.S. troops landing in Japan after Japan's surrender in World War II.
1949 - A violent white mob prevented an outdoor concert headlined by Paul Robeson from taking place near Peekskill, New York.
1962 - The U.S. launched the Mariner 2 space probe.
1967 - Brian Epstein, manager of the Beatles, was found dead in his London flat from an accidental overdose of sleeping pills at age 32.
1979 - British war hero Lord Louis Mountbatten and three other people, including his 14-year-old grandson Nicholas, were killed off the coast of Ireland in a boat explosion claimed by the Irish Republican Army.
2003 - Mars made its closest approach to Earth in 60,000 years.
2004 - President George W. Bush signed executive orders designed to strengthen the CIA director’s power over the nation’s intelligence agencies and create a national counterterrorism center.
2005 - Coastal residents jammed freeways and gas stations as they rushed to get out of the way of Hurricane Katrina, which was headed toward New Orleans.
2008 - Barack Obama was nominated for president by the Democratic National Convention in Denver.
2013 - Maj. Nidal Hasan, the Army psychiatrist who days earlier was convicted of fatally shooting 13 people and injuring 30 more at Fort Hood, Texas, in 2009, rested his case without presenting any evidence during his trial’s penalty phase. (Hasan would later be sentenced to death.)
2020 - Speaking on the White House South Lawn, President Donald Trump accepted his party’s renomination, blasting Joe Biden as a hapless career politician who would endanger Americans’ safety and painting a grim portrait of violence in American cities run by Democrats.
Birthdays
20 - Savannah Paige Rae (actress)
27 - Stefanie Giesinger (model)
28 - Jessie Mei Li (actress)
29 - Breanna Stewart (basketball player)
31 - Kim Petras (singer)
35 - Alexa PenaVega (actress)
39 - Amanda Fuller (actress)
42 - Karla Mosley (actress)
42 - Patrick J. Adams (actor)
43 - Kyle Lowder (actor)
44 - Shaun Weiss (actor)
44 - Aaron Paul (actor)
47 - Sarah Chalke (actress)
51 - The Great Khali (professional wrestler)
54 - Chandra Wilson (actress)
54 - Colt Ford (singer)
62 - Yolanda Adams (singer)
66 - Bernhard Langer (golfer)
70 - Peter Stormare (actor)
79 - G.W. Bailey (actor)
86 - Tommy Sands (actor)
=========================================
Today in Sports History - August 27
1918 - Christy Mathewson resigns as Cincinnati Reds manager to accept a commission as a captain in chemical warfare branch of US Army.
1921 - The owner of Acme Packing Company bought a pro football team for Green Bay, WI. J.E. Clair paid tribute to those who worked in his plant by naming the team the Green Bay Packers.
1976 - Transsexual Renee Richards barred from competing in US Tennis Open
1982 - Rickey Henderson steals his 112th base of the season, breaking Lou Brock's single-season record.
1985 - Mary Joe Fernández at 14 years 8 days old becomes youngest player to win at the US Tennis Open; beats England's Sara Gomer 6-1, 6-4 in a 1st round match
1986 - Nolan Ryan, while with the Houston Astros, earned his 250th career win against the Chicago Cubs.
1988 - #2 Nebraska opens the season with a 23-14 win over #10 Texas A&M.
2004 - In a huge upset in the men's basketball semi final at the Athens Olympics, Argentina beats a star-studded but unsettled US team 89-81; they go on to take gold and US bronze.
2017 - Former world champion Floyd Mayweather Jr. defeats MMA fighter Conor McGregor in the 10th round in his boxing debut.
2018 - Simona Halep lost in the first round of the U.S. Open to Kaia Kanepi of Estonia, becoming the first top-seeded woman to lose her opening match at the tournament in the half-century of the professional era.
2022 - Northwestern defeats Nebraska 31-28 in Dublin, Ireland.
1776 - The Battle of Long Island began during the Revolutionary War as British troops attacked American forces who ended up being forced to retreat two days later.
1859 - Edwin Drake drilled the first successful oil well in the U.S. near Titusville, Pennsylvania.
1883 - The island volcano Krakatoa erupted with a series of cataclysmic explosions. The resulting tidal waves in Indonesia’s Sunda Strait claimed some 36,000 lives in Java and Sumatra.
1894 - Congress passed the Wilson-Gorman Tariff Act, which contained a provision for a graduated income tax that was later struck down by the Supreme Court.
1939 - The first turbojet-powered aircraft, the Heinkel He 178, went on its first full-fledged test flight over Germany.
1945 - U.S. troops landing in Japan after Japan's surrender in World War II.
1949 - A violent white mob prevented an outdoor concert headlined by Paul Robeson from taking place near Peekskill, New York.
1962 - The U.S. launched the Mariner 2 space probe.
1967 - Brian Epstein, manager of the Beatles, was found dead in his London flat from an accidental overdose of sleeping pills at age 32.
1979 - British war hero Lord Louis Mountbatten and three other people, including his 14-year-old grandson Nicholas, were killed off the coast of Ireland in a boat explosion claimed by the Irish Republican Army.
2003 - Mars made its closest approach to Earth in 60,000 years.
2004 - President George W. Bush signed executive orders designed to strengthen the CIA director’s power over the nation’s intelligence agencies and create a national counterterrorism center.
2005 - Coastal residents jammed freeways and gas stations as they rushed to get out of the way of Hurricane Katrina, which was headed toward New Orleans.
2008 - Barack Obama was nominated for president by the Democratic National Convention in Denver.
2013 - Maj. Nidal Hasan, the Army psychiatrist who days earlier was convicted of fatally shooting 13 people and injuring 30 more at Fort Hood, Texas, in 2009, rested his case without presenting any evidence during his trial’s penalty phase. (Hasan would later be sentenced to death.)
2020 - Speaking on the White House South Lawn, President Donald Trump accepted his party’s renomination, blasting Joe Biden as a hapless career politician who would endanger Americans’ safety and painting a grim portrait of violence in American cities run by Democrats.
Birthdays
20 - Savannah Paige Rae (actress)
27 - Stefanie Giesinger (model)
28 - Jessie Mei Li (actress)
29 - Breanna Stewart (basketball player)
31 - Kim Petras (singer)
35 - Alexa PenaVega (actress)
39 - Amanda Fuller (actress)
42 - Karla Mosley (actress)
42 - Patrick J. Adams (actor)
43 - Kyle Lowder (actor)
44 - Shaun Weiss (actor)
44 - Aaron Paul (actor)
47 - Sarah Chalke (actress)
51 - The Great Khali (professional wrestler)
54 - Chandra Wilson (actress)
54 - Colt Ford (singer)
62 - Yolanda Adams (singer)
66 - Bernhard Langer (golfer)
70 - Peter Stormare (actor)
79 - G.W. Bailey (actor)
86 - Tommy Sands (actor)
=========================================
Today in Sports History - August 27
1918 - Christy Mathewson resigns as Cincinnati Reds manager to accept a commission as a captain in chemical warfare branch of US Army.
1921 - The owner of Acme Packing Company bought a pro football team for Green Bay, WI. J.E. Clair paid tribute to those who worked in his plant by naming the team the Green Bay Packers.
1976 - Transsexual Renee Richards barred from competing in US Tennis Open
1982 - Rickey Henderson steals his 112th base of the season, breaking Lou Brock's single-season record.
1985 - Mary Joe Fernández at 14 years 8 days old becomes youngest player to win at the US Tennis Open; beats England's Sara Gomer 6-1, 6-4 in a 1st round match
1986 - Nolan Ryan, while with the Houston Astros, earned his 250th career win against the Chicago Cubs.
1988 - #2 Nebraska opens the season with a 23-14 win over #10 Texas A&M.
2004 - In a huge upset in the men's basketball semi final at the Athens Olympics, Argentina beats a star-studded but unsettled US team 89-81; they go on to take gold and US bronze.
2017 - Former world champion Floyd Mayweather Jr. defeats MMA fighter Conor McGregor in the 10th round in his boxing debut.
2018 - Simona Halep lost in the first round of the U.S. Open to Kaia Kanepi of Estonia, becoming the first top-seeded woman to lose her opening match at the tournament in the half-century of the professional era.
2022 - Northwestern defeats Nebraska 31-28 in Dublin, Ireland.
