Did you know
Louis Mountbatten subsequently oversaw the transition of British India to independence as the last Viceroy and the first Governor‑General of independent India.
Notable Deaths on August 27
1979 — Louis Mountbatten
1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma, English admiral and politician, 44th Governor-General of India (born 1900)
August 27 has 95 recorded notable deaths across history, from 542 to 2024. This focused page highlights 20 people with the strongest available profile context.
By thisDay.info Editorial Team · — Wikipedia
Notable Deaths
95 source records
542 – 2024
Today in history
Major events on August 27
See what else happened on this day in history.
- 1980 South Korean presidential election: After successfully staging the Coup d'état of May Seventeenth, General Chun Doo-hwan, running unopposed, has the National Conference for Unification elect him President of the Fourth Republic of Korea. Source
- 1791 French Revolution: Frederick William II of Prussia and Leopold II, Holy Roman Emperor, issue the Declaration of Pillnitz, declaring the joint support of the Holy Roman Empire and Prussia for the French monarchy, agitating the French revolutionaries and contributing to the outbreak of the War of the First Coalition. Source
- 1813 French Emperor Napoleon I defeats a larger force of Austrians, Russians, and Prussians at the Battle of Dresden. Source
- 1859 Petroleum is discovered in Titusville, Pennsylvania, leading to the world's first commercially successful oil well. Source
Did you know
W. E. B. Du Bois completed graduate work at Harvard University, where he was the first African American to earn a doctorate.
Did you know
In 1934, she married Prince George, Duke of Kent, the fourth son of King George V and Queen Mary.
Did you know
In 1930, she became the first foreign photographer granted official access to document industrial sites in the Soviet Union during the first five-year plan.
Did you know
Kharlamov was a speedy, intelligent, skilled and dominant player, being named the Soviet Championship League most valuable player in 1972 and 1973.
More major people who died on August 27
Notable people are ranked by substantive profile depth and public notability.
1963
W. E. B. Du Bois
American sociologist, historian, and activist (born 1868)
William Edward Burghardt Du Bois was an American sociologist, writer, historian, and Pan-Africanist civil rights activist.
1968
Princess Marina of Greece and Denmark (born 1906)
Princess Marina of Greece and Denmark, later Duchess of Kent, was a Greek and Danish princess by birth and a British princess by marriage.
1971
Margaret Bourke-White
American photographer and journalist (born 1906)
Margaret Bourke-White was an American documentary photographer and photojournalist.
1981
Valeri Kharlamov
Russian ice hockey player (born 1948)
Valeri Borisovich Kharlamov was a Russian ice hockey forward who played for CSKA Moscow in the Soviet League from 1967 until his death in 1981.
1521
Josquin des Prez
Flemish composer (born 1450)
Josquin Lebloitte dit des Prez was a composer of Renaissance music, who is variously described as French or Franco-Flemish.
1857
Rufus Wilmot Griswold
American anthologist, poet, and critic (born 1815)
Rufus Wilmot Griswold was an American anthologist, editor, poet, and critic. Born in Vermont, Griswold left home when he was 15 years old.
1611
Tomás Luis de Victoria
Spanish composer (born c. 1548)
Tomás Luis de Victoria was the most famous Spanish composer of the Renaissance.
1922
Reşat Çiğiltepe
Turkish colonel (born 1879)
Reşat Çiğiltepe was an officer of the Ottoman Army and the Turkish Army, having fought in the Balkan wars, and in World War 1 during the Gallipoli campaign and the Battle of Muş.
1978
Helmi Üprus
Estonian art historian (born 1911)
Helmi Üprus was an Estonian architectural and art historian. She trained in romance languages, studied English and ethnography, and earned a master's degree in art history from the University of Tartu in 1936.
2024
Leonard Riggio
American businessman (born 1941)
Leonard Stephen Riggio was an American businessman. He served as executive chairman of book store chain Barnes & Noble and was its largest shareholder from 1971 until the sale of the company to the hedge fund Elliott…
2012
Art Heyman
American basketball player (born 1941)
Arthur Bruce Heyman was an American professional basketball player.
542
Caesarius of Arles
French bishop and saint (born 470)
Caesarius of Arles, sometimes called "of Chalon" from his birthplace Chalon-sur-Saône, was the foremost ecclesiastic of his generation in Merovingian Gaul.
1891
Samuel C. Pomeroy
American businessman and politician (born 1816)
Samuel Clarke Pomeroy was a United States senator from Kansas in the mid-19th century. He served in the United States Senate during the American Civil War.
2006
Hrishikesh Mukherjee
Indian director, producer, and screenwriter (born 1922)
Hrishikesh Mukherjee was an Indian film director, editor and writer. He is regarded as one of the greatest filmmakers of Indian cinema.
1948
Charles Evans Hughes
American lawyer and politician, 11th Chief Justice of the United States (born 1862)
Charles Evans Hughes was an American politician, academic, and jurist who served as the 11th chief justice of the United States from 1930 to 1941.
1965
Le Corbusier
Swiss-French architect and urban planner, designed the Philips Pavilion (born 1887)
Charles-Édouard Jeanneret, known as Le Corbusier, was a French-Swiss architectural designer, painter, urban planner and writer who was one of the pioneers of what is now regarded as modern architecture.
1990
Stevie Ray Vaughan
American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer (born 1954)
Stephen Ray Vaughan, also known abbreviated as SRV, was an American musician, best known as the guitarist and frontman of the blues rock trio Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble.
2016
Cookie
Australian Major Mitchell's cockatoo, oldest recorded parrot (born 1933)
Cookie was a male pink cockatoo residing at Brookfield Zoo, near Chicago, Illinois, United States.
1590
Pope Sixtus V (born 1521)
Pope Sixtus V, born Felice Piergentile, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 24 April 1585 to his death, in August 1590.