Historical Events on February 27

  • 1776: At the Battle of Moore’s Creek Bridge during the American Revolutionary War, American troops defeat British forces. This ended the authority of the British in North Carolina and also helped to disband a Loyalist militia.
  • 1782: In Great Britain, the House of Commons votes against further war in the Americas.
  • 1812: Poet Lord Byron gives his first speech as a member of the House of Lords.
  • 1860: Abraham Lincoln gives a now famous speech at Cooper Union in New York City. It’s believed that this speech helped cement his win during the Presidential election.
  • 1864: Union prisoners first arrive at the Confederate Prison Camp located in Andersonville, Georgia during the American Civil War.
  • 1870: The flag that is currently the flag of Japan, is first adopted as the flag for Japanese merchant ships on this day.
  • 1922: in the case of Leser v. Garnett, the challenge to the 19th Amendment of the U.S Constitution is rebuffed.
  • 1933: The Reichstag – the parliament building of Germany in Berlin – is set ablaze. Nazis take this opportunity to increase and solidify their power, as well as eliminate their political rivals: the communists.
  • 1939: The United States Supreme Court rules that sit-down strikes are a violation of private property rights and as such, are illegal.
  • 1943: Over eighteen hundred Jewish men are arrested by the Gestapo in Berlin. This leads to the Rosenstrasse Protest conducted by their German wives.

Famous Birthdays on February 27

  • American singer Marian Anderson is born in 1897.
  • American author, journalist and Nobel Prize laureate, John Steinbeck is born in 1902.
  • American author and poet, James T. Farrell is born in 1904.
  • American singer Mildred Bailey is born in 1907.
  • American actress Joanne Woodward is born in 1930.
  • American actress Elizabeth Taylor is born in 1932.
  • American lawyer and activist, Ralph Nader is born in 1934.