August 27

1557 – During the 8 year war between the Kingdom of France and the Spanish Empire over territory in modern Italy, a decisive engagement between a Habsburg Spanish force under Duke Emmanuel Philibert of Savoy defeating a French force under Duke Louis Gonzaga of Nevers, results in Philibert recovering the province of Savoy from French domination.

1776 – Battle of Long Island: In what is now Brooklyn, New York, British forces under General William Howe inflict a defeat on American troops under General George Washington. Acting a a rear guard, the 1st Maryland Regiment repeatedly charges the numerically superior British force during the battle, allowing General Washington and the rest of the American troops to escape.

1803 – Reverend Edward Beecher is born in East Hampton, New York

1828 – Brazil and Argentina recognize the sovereignty of Uruguay in the Treaty of Montevideo

1832 – Chief Black Hawk of the Sauk tribe surrenders to the U.S., ending the Black Hawk War.

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

1881 – A category 2 hurricane makes landfall near Savannah, Georgia, killing an estimated 700 people.

1883 – Four enormous explosions so violent and loud that they are heard 3,000 miles away, nearly destroys the island of Krakatoa, causing an estimated 120,000 deaths due to the effects of pyroclastic flows, volcanic ash falls, and tsunamis.

1893 – A category 3 hurricane makes landfall near Savannah, Georgia, killing an estimated 2,000 people.

1916 – Romania declares war on Austria-Hungary

1918 – U.S. Army forces skirmish against Mexican Carrancistas near Nogales, the only battle of World War I fought on American soil

1928 – The Kellogg–Briand Pact, titled The General Treaty for Renunciation of War as an Instrument of National Policy is signed by fifteen nations.

1943 – Japanese forces evacuate New Georgia in the Solomon islands.

1975 – Ethiopian Emperor Tafari Makonnen, Haile Selassie I, dies while imprisoned at the National Palace in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

1979 –Admiral of the Fleet, Louis, Earl Mountbatten of Burma is assassinated by a bomb planted aboard his fishing boat in Mullaghmore, County Sligo, Ireland by members of the Provisional Irish Republican Army.

2003 – Mars makes its closest approach to Earth in nearly 60,000 years, passing 34,646,418 miles distant. No invasion by Martians is noted.

2006 – Comair Flight 5191, a Bombardier CRJ-100, crashes on takeoff from Blue Grass Airport in Lexington, Kentucky bound for Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport in Atlanta, killing all 47 passengers and 2 of the 3 crew aboard.

2011 – Hurricane Irene , a category 3 storm, strikes the U.S east coast, killing 47 and causing an estimated $15.6 billion in damage.