# What happened on May 27 in history?

**Date:** May 27  
**Events recorded:** 55  
**Years spanned:** 1096 – 2018  
**Full page:** https://thisday.info/events/may/27/

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## Featured Event

**2001** — Members of Abu Sayyaf, an Islamist separatist group, seize twenty hostages from an affluent island resort on Palawan in the Philippines; the hostage crisis would not be resolved until June 2002.

[Read more on Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abu_Sayyaf)

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## Events on this date

- **1096** — Count Emicho enters Mainz, where his followers massacre Jewish citizens. At least 600 Jews are killed. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emicho_(crusader)))
- **1120** — Richard III of Capua is anointed as Prince two weeks before his untimely death. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_III_of_Capua))
- **1153** — Malcolm IV becomes King of Scotland. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malcolm_IV_of_Scotland))
- **1199** — John is crowned King of England. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John%2C_King_of_England))
- **1257** — Richard of Cornwall, and his wife, Sanchia of Provence, are crowned King and Queen of the Germans at Aachen Cathedral. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_of_Cornwall))
- **1595** — A Gaelic Irish army successfully ambushes an English force in the battle of Clontibret during the Nine Years' War. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Clontibret))
- **1644** — Manchu regent Dorgon defeats rebel leader Li Zicheng of the Shun dynasty at the Battle of Shanhai Pass, allowing the Manchus to enter and conquer the capital city of Beijing. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manchu_people))
- **1703** — Tsar Peter the Great founds the city of Saint Petersburg. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_the_Great))
- **1798** — The Pitt–Tierney duel takes place on Putney Heath outside London. A bloodless duel between the prime minister of Great Britain William Pitt the Younger and his political opponent George Tierney. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pitt%E2%80%93Tierney_duel))
- **1798** — The Battle of Oulart Hill takes place in Wexford, Ireland; Irish rebel leaders defeat and kill a detachment of militia. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Oulart_Hill))
- **1799** — War of the Second Coalition: Austrian forces defeat the French at Winterthur, Switzerland. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_of_the_Second_Coalition))
- **1813** — War of 1812: In Canada, American forces capture Fort George. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_of_1812))
- **1832** — An Egyptian army under Ibrahim Pasha captures Acre from the Ottomans after a five-months siege. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ibrahim_Pasha_of_Egypt))
- **1860** — Giuseppe Garibaldi begins the Siege of Palermo, part of the wars of Italian unification. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giuseppe_Garibaldi))
- **1863** — American Civil War: The first Union infantry assault of the Siege of Port Hudson occurs. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Civil_War))
- **1874** — The first group of Dorsland trekkers under the leadership of Gert Alberts leaves Pretoria. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dorsland_Trek))
- **1883** — Alexander III is crowned Tsar of Russia. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_III_of_Russia))
- **1896** — The F4-strength St. Louis–East St. Louis tornado hits in St. Louis, Missouri, and East St. Louis, Illinois, killing at least 255 people and causing over $10 million in damage. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fujita_scale))
- **1905** — Russo-Japanese War: The Battle of Tsushima begins. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russo-Japanese_War))
- **1915** — HMS Princess Irene explodes and sinks off Sheerness, Kent, with the loss of 352 lives. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Princess_Irene))
- **1917** — Pope Benedict XV promulgates the 1917 Code of Canon Law, the first comprehensive codification of Catholic canon law in the legal history of the Catholic Church. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pope_Benedict_XV))
- **1919** — The NC-4 aircraft arrives in Lisbon after completing the first transatlantic flight. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curtiss_NC-4))
- **1927** — The Ford Motor Company ceases manufacture of the Ford Model T and begins to retool plants to make the Ford Model A. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_Motor_Company))
- **1930** — The 1,046 feet (319 m) Chrysler Building in New York City, the tallest man-made structure at the time, opens to the public. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chrysler_Building))
- **1933** — New Deal: The U.S. Federal Securities Act is signed into law requiring the registration of securities with the Federal Trade Commission. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Deal))
- **1935** — New Deal: The Supreme Court of the United States declares the National Industrial Recovery Act to be unconstitutional in A.L.A. Schechter Poultry Corp. v. United States, (295 U.S. 495). ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supreme_Court_of_the_United_States))
- **1937** — In California, the Golden Gate Bridge opens to pedestrian traffic, creating a vital link between San Francisco and Marin County, California. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California))
- **1940** — World War II: In the Le Paradis massacre, 99 soldiers from a Royal Norfolk Regiment unit are shot after surrendering to German troops; two survive. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_War_II))
- **1941** — World War II: U.S. president Franklin D. Roosevelt proclaims an "unlimited national emergency". ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franklin_D._Roosevelt))
- **1941** — World War II: The German battleship Bismarck is sunk in the North Atlantic, killing almost 2,100 men. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_battleship_Bismarck))
- **1942** — World War II: In Operation Anthropoid, Reinhard Heydrich is fatally wounded in Prague; he dies of his injuries eight days later. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assassination_of_Reinhard_Heydrich))
- **1950** — The Linnanmäki amusement park is opened for the first time in Helsinki. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linnanm%C3%A4ki))
- **1958** — First flight of the McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McDonnell_Douglas_F-4_Phantom_II))
- **1960** — In Turkey, a military coup removes President Celâl Bayar and the rest of the democratic government from office. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turkey))
- **1962** — The Centralia mine fire is ignited in the town's landfill above a coal mine. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Centralia_mine_fire))
- **1965** — Vietnam War: American warships begin the first bombardment of National Liberation Front targets within South Vietnam. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vietnam_War))
- **1967** — Australians vote in favor of a constitutional referendum granting the Australian government the power to make laws to benefit Indigenous Australians and to count them in the national census. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1967_Australian_referendum_(Aboriginals)))
- **1967** — The U.S. Navy aircraft carrier USS John F. Kennedy is launched by Jacqueline Kennedy and her daughter Caroline. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_John_F._Kennedy_(CV-67)))
- **1971** — The Dahlerau train disaster, the worst railway accident in West Germany, kills 46 people and injures 25 near Wuppertal. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dahlerau_train_disaster))
- **1971** — Pakistani forces massacre over 200 civilians, mostly Bengali Hindus, in the Bagbati massacre. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bengali_Hindus))
- **1975** — Dibbles Bridge coach crash near Grassington, in North Yorkshire, England, kills 33, the highest ever death toll in a road accident in the United Kingdom. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1975_Dibbles_Bridge_coach_crash))
- **1977** — A plane crash at José Martí International Airport in Havana, Cuba, kills 67. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aeroflot_Flight_331))
- **1980** — The Gwangju Massacre: Airborne and army troops of South Korea retake the city of Gwangju from civil militias, killing at least 207 and possibly many more. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gwangju_Uprising))
- **1984** — The Danube–Black Sea Canal is opened, in a ceremony attended by the Ceaușescus. It had been under construction since the 1950s. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Danube%E2%80%93Black_Sea_Canal))
- **1988** — Somaliland War of Independence: The Somali National Movement launches a major offensive against Somali government forces in Hargeisa and Burao, then the second- and third-largest cities of Somalia. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somaliland_War_of_Independence))
- **1996** — First Chechen War: Russian president Boris Yeltsin meets with Chechen rebels for the first time and negotiates a cease-fire. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Chechen_War))
- **1997** — The 1997 Central Texas tornado outbreak occurs, spawning multiple tornadoes in Central Texas, including the F5 that killed 27 in Jarrell. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1997_Central_Texas_tornado_outbreak))
- **1998** — Oklahoma City bombing: Michael Fortier is sentenced to 12 years in prison and fined $200,000 for failing to warn authorities about the terrorist plot. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oklahoma_City_bombing))
- **1999** — Space Shuttle Discovery is launched on STS-96, the first shuttle mission to dock with the International Space Station. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_Shuttle_Discovery))
- **2001** — Members of Abu Sayyaf, an Islamist separatist group, seize twenty hostages from an affluent island resort on Palawan in the Philippines; the hostage crisis would not be resolved until June 2002. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abu_Sayyaf))
- **2006** — The 6.4 Mw  Yogyakarta earthquake shakes central Java with an MSK intensity of VIII (Damaging), leaving more than 5,700 dead and 37,000 injured. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2006_Yogyakarta_earthquake))
- **2014** — The football club Kerala Blasters FC and its first supporters' group Manjappada are formed. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kerala_Blasters_FC))
- **2016** — Barack Obama is the first president of the United States to visit Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park and meet Hibakusha. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barack_Obama))
- **2017** — Andrew Scheer takes over after Rona Ambrose as the leader of the Conservative Party of Canada. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_Scheer))
- **2018** — Maryland Flood Event: A flood occurs throughout the Patapsco Valley, causing one death, destroying the entire first floors of buildings on Main Street in Ellicott City, and causing cars to overturn. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2018_Central_Maryland_Flood))

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## Notable births on May 27

- **2003** — **Franco Colapinto** — Argentine racing driver ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franco_Colapinto))
- **2002** — **Jérémy Doku** — Belgian footballer ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J%C3%A9r%C3%A9my_Doku))
- **2002** — **Gabri Veiga** — Spanish footballer ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gabri_Veiga))
- **2000** — **Abner Vinícius** — Brazilian footballer ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abner_Vin%C3%ADcius))
- **1999** — **Matheus Cunha** — Brazilian footballer ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matheus_Cunha))
- **1999** — **Lily-Rose Depp** — French-American actress and model ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lily-Rose_Depp))
- **1998** — **Josep Martínez** — Spanish footballer ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Josep_Mart%C3%ADnez))
- **1997** — **Anna Bondar** — Hungarian tennis player ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anna_Bond%C3%A1r))
- **1997** — **Daniel Jones** — American football player ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniel_Jones_(American_football)))
- **1997** — **Konrad Laimer** — Austrian footballer ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Konrad_Laimer))

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## Notable deaths on May 27

- **2025** — **Freddie Aguilar** — Filipino musician and singer-songwriter (born 1953) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freddie_Aguilar))
- **2024** — **Elizabeth MacRae** — American actress (born 1936) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elizabeth_MacRae))
- **2024** — **Bill Walton** — American basketball player and sportscaster (born 1952) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Walton))
- **2021** — **Poul Schlüter** — former Prime Minister of Denmark (born 1929) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poul_Schl%C3%BCter))
- **2020** — **Larry Kramer** — American playwright, public health advocate and LGBT rights activist (born 1935) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Larry_Kramer))
- **2018** — **Gardner Dozois** — American science fiction author and editor (born 1947) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gardner_Dozois))
- **2017** — **Gregg Allman** — American musician, singer and songwriter (born 1947) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gregg_Allman))
- **2015** — **Erik Carlsson** — Swedish rally driver (born 1929) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erik_Carlsson))
- **2015** — **Nils Christie** — Norwegian sociologist, criminologist, and author (born 1928) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nils_Christie))
- **2015** — **Andy King** — English footballer and manager (born 1956) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andy_King_(footballer%2C_born_1956)))

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## About this page

This is a machine-readable Markdown summary of [thisday.info/events/may/27/](https://thisday.info/events/may/27/).  
Historical data is sourced from [Wikipedia/Wikimedia](https://www.wikipedia.org) under [CC BY-SA](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/).  
Editorial framing and site content © thisday.info.