Did you know about Carrie Fisher
Carrie Fisher's other film credits include Shampoo (1975), The Blues Brothers (1980), Hannah and Her Sisters (1986), The 'Burbs (1989), When Harry Met Sally...
Notable Deaths on December 27
December 27 has 125 recorded notable deaths across history, from 683 to 2024. This focused page highlights 20 people with the strongest available profile context.
2016 — Carrie Fisher
American actress, screenwriter, author, producer, and speaker (born 1956)
By thisDay.info Editorial Team · — Wikipedia
Notable Deaths
125 source records
683 – 2024
Today in history
Major events on December 27
See what else happened on this day in history.
- 1657 The Flushing Remonstrance articulates for the first time in North American history that freedom of religion is a fundamental right. Source
- 2007 Riots erupt in Mombasa, Kenya, after Mwai Kibaki is declared the winner of the presidential election, triggering a political, economic, and humanitarian crisis. Source
Did you know about Jack Swigert
In April 1970, as command module pilot of Apollo 13, he became one of 24 Apollo astronauts who reached the Moon.
Did you know about Gustave Eiffel
A graduate of École Centrale des Arts et Métiers, he made his name with various bridges for the French railway network, most famously the Garabit Viaduct.
Did you know about Gaston Glock
When he entered the 1980 competition for a new Austrian service pistol, he hired two engineers who had worked on the development of HK's first two polymer-frame pistols, the VP70 and P9 models.
Did you know about Helen Frankenthaler
Helen Frankenthaler was included in the 1964 Post-Painterly Abstraction exhibition curated by Clement Greenberg that introduced a newer generation of abstract painting that came to be known as color field.
More major people who died on December 27
Notable people are ranked by substantive profile depth and public notability.
1982
Jack Swigert
American pilot, astronaut, and politician (born 1931)
John Leonard Swigert Jr. was an American NASA astronaut, test pilot, mechanical engineer, aerospace engineer, United States Air Force pilot, and politician. In April 1970, as command module pilot of Apollo 13, he became one of 24 Apollo astronauts who reached the Moon. Due to the "slingshot" route around the Moon they chose to safely return to Earth, the Apollo 13 astronauts flew farther away from Earth than any other astronauts until the Artemis II lunar flyby in 2026, though they had to abort the Moon landing.
1923
Gustave Eiffel
French architect and engineer, co-designed the Eiffel Tower (born 1832)
Alexandre Gustave Eiffel was a French civil engineer. A graduate of École Centrale des Arts et Métiers, he made his name with various bridges for the French railway network, most famously the Garabit Viaduct. He is best known for the Eiffel Tower, designed by his company and built for the 1889 Universal Exposition in Paris, and his contribution to building the Statue of Liberty in New York. After his retirement from engineering, Eiffel focused on research into meteorology and aerodynamics, making significant contributions in both fields.
2023
Gaston Glock
Austrian firearm engineer and founder of Glock (born 1929)
Gaston Glock was an Austrian engineer and businessman. He founded the company Glock in 1963. When he entered the 1980 competition for a new Austrian service pistol, he hired two engineers who had worked on the development of HK's first two polymer-frame pistols, the VP70 and P9 models. The first Glock pistol, chambered in 9x19mm and named the Glock 17 because of it being Gaston Glock's 17th patent, and not because it holds 17 rounds, entered Austrian military and police service in 1982. It became one of the most influential and popular handguns of the 20th century, leading to a succession of other models in a variety of sizes and chamberings as well as an industry-wide trend toward polymer-frame, striker-fired pistols.
2011
Helen Frankenthaler
American painter and educator (born 1928)
Helen Frankenthaler was an American abstract expressionist painter. She was a major contributor to the history of postwar American painting. Having exhibited her work for over six decades, she spanned several generations of abstract painters while continuing to produce vital and ever-changing new work. Frankenthaler began exhibiting her large-scale abstract expressionist paintings in contemporary museums and galleries in the early 1950s. She was included in the 1964 Post-Painterly Abstraction exhibition curated by Clement Greenberg that introduced a newer generation of abstract painting that came to be known as color field. Born in Manhattan, she was influenced by Greenberg, Hans Hofmann, and Jackson Pollock's paintings. Her work has been the subject of several retrospective exhibitions, including a 1989 retrospective at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City, and been exhibited worldwide since the 1950s. In 2001, she was awarded the National Medal of Arts.
1950
Max Beckmann
German-American painter and sculptor (born 1884)
Max Carl Friedrich Beckmann was a German painter, draftsman, printmaker, sculptor, and writer. Although he is classified as an Expressionist artist, he rejected both the term and the movement. In the 1920s, he was associated with the New Objectivity, an outgrowth of Expressionism that opposed its introverted emotionalism. Even when dealing with light subject matter like circus performers, Beckmann often had an undercurrent of moodiness or unease in his works. By the 1930s, his work became more explicit in its horrifying imagery and distorted forms with combination of brutal realism and social criticism, coinciding with the rise of Nazism in Germany.
2014
Ben Ammi Ben-Israel
American-Israeli religious leader, founded the African Hebrew Israelites of Jerusalem (born 1939)
Ben Ammi Ben-Israel was an American-born Israeli spiritual leader. Inspired by the Black Hebrew Israelites in the United States, he founded the African Hebrew Israelite Nation of Jerusalem, which claims that African Americans originate from the Land of Israel. The community's initial members claimed Israelite descent and undertook a major initiative to immigrate to the State of Israel during and after the 1960s. Ben Ammi stated that Black people were descended from the Twelve Tribes of Israel and thus were the "true inheritors" of Israel, and created a new religious movement that he claimed was authentically Hebrew or Israelite in theology and practice. Though he was born a Baptist Christian, he denounced Judaism and Christianity as false religions, but maintained that the Jewish Bible was still divine.
1683
Maria Francisca of Savoy
Queen consort of Portugal (born 1646)
Dona Maria Francisca Isabel of Savoy was Queen of Portugal during her marriage to King Dom Afonso VI from 2 August 1666 to 24 March 1668 and, as the wife of Afonso's brother King Dom Peter II, from 12 September 1683 until her death in December that year. She married Afonso VI at the age of 20; because the marriage was never consummated, she was able to obtain an annulment. On 28 March 1668, she married the King's brother Infante Dom Peter, Duke of Beja, who was appointed prince regent the same year due to Afonso's perceived incompetence. She became queen a second time when Afonso died and Peter succeeded his brother, but she herself died three months later.
2019
Maria Creveling
American League of Legends player (born 1995)
Maria Creveling, better known as Remilia, was an American professional League of Legends player. She was the first woman and first transgender person to compete in the North American League of Legends Championship Series, debuting in the 2016 spring split as the support for Renegades. However, she took a sudden hiatus from professional play a few weeks into her debut season due to onstage pressure and online harassment. During her career she was particularly known for her mastery of the character Thresh, which earned her the nicknames "Thresh Queen" and "MadWife".
1914
Charles Martin Hall
American chemist and engineer (born 1863)
Charles Martin Hall was an American inventor, businessman, and chemist. He is best known for his invention in 1886 of an inexpensive method for producing aluminium, which became the first metal to attain widespread use since the prehistoric discovery of iron. He was one of the founders of Alcoa, along with Alfred E. Hunt; Hunt's partner at the Pittsburgh Testing Laboratory, George Hubbard Clapp; Hunt's chief chemist, W. S. Sample; Howard Lash, head of the Carbon Steel Company; Millard Hunsiker, sales manager for the Carbon Steel Company; and Robert Scott, a mill superintendent for the Carnegie Steel Company. Together they raised $20,000 to launch the Pittsburgh Reduction Company, which was later renamed Aluminum Company of America and then shortened to Alcoa.
1953
Julian Tuwim
Polish poet and author (born 1894)
Julian Tuwim, known also under the pseudonym Oldlen as a lyricist, was a Polish poet, born in Łódź, then part of the Russian Partition. He was educated in Łódź and in Warsaw where he studied law and philosophy at Warsaw University. After Poland's return to independence in 1918, Tuwim co-founded the Skamander group of experimental poets with Antoni Słonimski and Jarosław Iwaszkiewicz. He was a major figure in Polish literature, admired also for his contribution to children's literature. He was a recipient of the prestigious Golden Laurel of the Polish Academy of Literature in 1935.
2011
Johnny Wilson
Canadian-American ice hockey player and coach (born 1929)
John Edward Wilson was a Canadian professional ice hockey player and head coach. He played in the National Hockey League (NHL) with the Detroit Red Wings, Chicago Black Hawks, Toronto Maple Leafs, and New York Rangers between 1950 and 1962. With Detroit, Wilson won the Stanley Cup four times. After his playing career, he coached in the NHL with the Los Angeles Kings, Detroit, the Colorado Rockies, and Pittsburgh Penguins between 1969 and 1980. He also coached the Michigan Stags/Baltimore Blades and Cleveland Crusaders of the World Hockey Association between 1974 and 1976, and the Canadian national team at the 1977 World Championship. Wilson was born in Kincardine, Ontario, but grew up in Shawinigan Falls, Quebec.
1938
Zona Gale
American novelist, short story writer, and playwright (born 1874)
Zona Gale, also known by her married name, Zona Gale Breese, was an American novelist, short story writer, and playwright. She became the first woman to win the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1921. The close relationship she had with her parents influenced both her writing and personal life. Her books, based on her hometown, were noted for their charm and intimate realism, capturing the underlying emotions and motivations of her characters. All of her works were published under her maiden name, Zona Gale.
2013
Farooq Sheikh
Indian actor, philanthropist and a popular television presenter (born 1948)
Farooq Sheikh was an Indian actor, philanthropist and television presenter. He was best known for his work in Hindi films from 1973 to 1993 and for his work in television between 1988 and 2002. He returned to acting in films in 2008 and continued to do so until his death on 28 December 2013. His major contribution was in Parallel Cinema or the New Indian Cinema. He worked with directors like Satyajit Ray, Sai Paranjpye, Muzaffar Ali, Hrishikesh Mukherjee, Ayan Mukherjee and Ketan Mehta.
1953
Şükrü Saracoğlu
Turkish soldier and politician, 6th Prime Minister of Turkey (born 1887)
Mehmet Şükrü Saracoğlu was a Turkish politician, the fifth prime minister of Turkey and the Turkish Minister of Foreign Affairs during the early stages of World War II. He signed the German–Turkish Treaty of Friendship in 1941, which would prevent Turkish involvement in the war. He was also the chairman of the Turkish sports club Fenerbahçe S.K. for 16 years between 1934 and 1950, including holding that post concurrently with his time as prime minister from 1942 to 1946.
2012
Salt Walther
American race car driver (born 1947)
David "Salt" Walther was a driver in the USAC and CART Championship Car series. He also drove NASCAR stock cars and unlimited hydroplane boats, and was a car owner in USAC. Walther is best remembered for a crash at the start of the 1973 Indianapolis 500 that left him critically injured. He recovered from his injuries, returned in 1974, and placed 9th in the 1976 race. He also co-drove a car with Bob Harkey to 10th place in 1975.
1987
Rewi Alley
New Zealand writer and political activist (born 1897)
Rewi Alley was a New Zealand-born writer and political activist. A member of the Chinese Communist Party, he dedicated 60 years of his life to the cause and was a key figure in the establishment of Chinese Industrial Cooperatives and technical training schools, including the Bailie Schools and Peili Vocational Institute, both named after his mentor Joseph Bailie. Alley was a prolific writer about 20th century China, and especially the communist revolution. He also translated numerous Chinese poems.
1836
Stephen F. Austin
American soldier and politician (born 1793)
Stephen Fuller Austin was an American-born empresario, i.e. a person granted the right to settle on land in exchange for recruiting and taking responsibility for settling the eastern areas of the Tejas region of Mexico in the early nineteenth century. Known as the "Father of Texas" and the founder of Anglo Texas, he led the second and, ultimately, the successful colonization of the region by bringing 300 families and their slaves from the United States in 1825.
1782
Henry Home
Lord Kames, Scottish judge and philosopher (born 1697)
Henry Home, Lord Kames was a Scottish writer, philosopher and judge who played a major role in Scotland's Agricultural Revolution. A central figure of the Scottish Enlightenment, he was a founding member of the Philosophical Society of Edinburgh and active in The Select Society. Home acted as patron to some of the most influential thinkers of the Scottish Enlightenment, including philosopher David Hume, economist Adam Smith, writer James Boswell, philosopher William Cullen and naturalist John Walker.
2024
Greg Gumbel
American sportscaster (born 1946)
Gregory Girard Gumbel was an American television sportscaster. He was best known for his various assignments for CBS Sports. Gumbel became the first African-American announcer to call play-by-play of a major sports championship in the United States when he announced Super Bowl XXXV for the CBS network in 2001. From 1998 through 2023, Gumbel was the studio host for CBS' men's college basketball coverage and was a play-by-play broadcaster for the NFL on CBS.