27 August 2024 (MIA)

 

1793 – French Revolutionary Wars: The city of Toulon revolts against the French Republic and admits the British and Spanish fleets to seize its port, leading to the Siege of Toulon by French Revolutionary forces.

 

1810 – Napoleonic Wars: The French Navy defeats the British Royal Navy, preventing them from taking the harbor of Grand Port on Île de France.

 

1813 – French Emperor Napoleon I defeats a larger force of Austrians, Russians, and Prussians at the Battle of Dresden.

 

1828 – Uruguay is formally proclaimed independent at preliminary peace talks brokered by the United Kingdom between Brazil and Argentina during the Cisplatine War.

 

1859 – Petroleum is discovered in Titusville, Pennsylvania, leading to the world’s first commercially successful oil well.

 

1881 – The Georgia hurricane makes landfall near Savannah, Georgia, resulting in an estimated 700 deaths.

 

1883 – Eruption of Krakatoa: Four enormous explosions destroy the island of Krakatoa and cause years of climate change.

 

1896 – Anglo-Zanzibar War: The shortest war in world history (09:00 to 09:45), between the United Kingdom and Zanzibar.

 

1916 – The Kingdom of Romania declares war on Austria-Hungary, entering World War I as one of the Allied nations.

 

1921 – The British install the son of Sharif Hussein bin Ali (leader of the Arab Revolt of 1916 against the Ottoman Empire) as King Faisal I of Iraq.

 

1922 – Greco-Turkish War: The Turkish army takes the Aegean city of Afyonkarahisar from the Kingdom of Greece.

 

1939 – First flight of the turbojet-powered Heinkel He 178, the world’s first jet aircraft.

 

1943 – World War II: Japanese forces evacuate New Georgia Island in the Pacific Theater of Operations during World War II.

 

1957 – Malaysia’s constitution comes into force.

 

1962 – The Mariner 2 crewless space mission is launched to Venus by NASA.

 

1964 – South Vietnamese junta leader Nguyễn Khánh enters into a triumvirate power-sharing arrangement with rival generals Trần Thiện Khiêm and Dương Văn Minh, who had both been involved in plots to unseat Khánh.

 

1971 – An attempted coup d’état fails in the African nation of Chad. The Government of Chad accuses Egypt of playing a role in the attempt and breaks off diplomatic relations.

 

1975 – The Governor of Portuguese Timor abandons its capital, Dili, and flees to Atauro Island, leaving control to a rebel group.

 

1979 – A Provisional Irish Republican Army bomb kills British retired admiral Lord Mountbatten and three others while they are boating on holiday in Sligo, Republic of Ireland. Shortly after, 18 British Army soldiers are killed in an ambush near Warrenpoint, Northern Ireland.

 

1980 – A massive bomb planted by extortionist John Birges explodes at Harvey’s Resort Hotel in Stateline, Nevada after a failed disarming attempt by the FBI. Although the hotel is damaged, no one is injured.

 

1982 – Turkish military diplomat Colonel Atilla Altıkat is shot and killed in Ottawa. Justice Commandos of the Armenian Genocide claim to be avenging the massacre of 1.5 million Armenians in the 1915 Armenian Genocide.

 

1985 – The Nigerian government is peacefully overthrown by Army Chief of Staff Major General Ibrahim Babangida.

 

1991 – The European Community recognizes the independence of the Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania.

 

1991 – Moldova declares independence from the USSR.

 

2001 – Operation Essential Harvest, officially launched on Aug. 22, starts on Aug. 27 in Macedonia. This 30-day mission involves the sending of approx. 3,500 NATO troops, with logistical support, to disarm ethnic Albanian groups and destroy their weapons.

 

2003 – Mars makes its closest approach to Earth in nearly 60,000 years, passing 34,646,418 miles (55,758,005 km) distant.

 

2003 – The first six-party talks, involving South and North Korea, the United States, China, Japan, and Russia, convene to find a peaceful resolution to the security concerns as a result of the North Korean nuclear weapons program.

 

2006 – Comair Flight 5191 crashes on takeoff from Blue Grass Airport in Lexington, Kentucky bound for Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport in Atlanta. Of the passengers and crew, 49 of 50 are confirmed dead in the hours following the crash.

 

2008 – Barack Obama becomes the first African-American to be nominated by a major political party for President of the United States.

 

2009 – Internal conflict in Burma: The Burmese military junta and ethnic armies begin three days of violent clashes in the Kokang Special Region.

 

2011 – Hurricane Irene strikes the United States east coast, killing 47 and causing an estimated $15.6 billion in damage.

 

2013 – The riots between two religious communities started at Muzaffarnagar, Uttar Pradesh, India.

 

2015 – Greek President Prokopis Pavlopoulos names top Supreme Court judge, Vassiliki Thanou caretaker Prime Minister – Greece’s 1st female Prime Minister.

 

2020 – Australian terrorist Brenton Tarrant sentenced to life without parole, for the killing of 51 mosque worshippers in Christchurch, New Zealand, 1st time the country imposes the sentence.