compareyourlife
On May 27
2 indexed birthdays · 20 historic events
Born today
Historic events
- 2014-05-27SportsThe football club Kerala Blasters FC and its first supporters' group Manjappada were formed.
- 2006-05-27DisasterAn earthquake registering 6.4 Mw struck near the city of Yogyakarta on the southern side of the Indonesian island of Java, killing more than 5,700 people.
- 2001-05-27ConflictTwenty tourists were kidnapped by Abu Sayyaf militants in Palawan, Philippines, triggering a hostage crisis that lasted for more than a year.
- 1997-05-27DisasterA destructive F5-rated tornado tracked through a subdivision of homes northwest of Jarrell, Texas, killing 27 people.
- 1995-05-27ConflictBosnian War: Forces of the Army of Republika Srpska captured a United Nations post at Vrbanja Bridge in Sarajevo; six soldiers of both sides were killed when French forces retook the post later in the day.
- 1995-05-27DisasterAmerican actor Christopher Reeve was thrown from his horse, leaving him quadriplegic; he later became an activist on behalf of people with spinal cord injuries.
- 1983-05-27DisasterAn explosion at an illegal fireworks factory near Benton, Tennessee, killed eleven people.
- 1975-05-27DisasterThe deadliest road accident in England took place when the brakes on a coach failed and it crashed in North Yorkshire, killing 32 people.
- 1967-05-27GeneralAustralians voted overwhelmingly to include Indigenous Australians in population counts for constitutional purposes and to allow the federal government to make special laws affecting them in states.
- 1963-05-27Arts & CultureAmerican singer Bob Dylan (pictured) released The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan, his first album to include a significant number of original songs.
- 1962-05-27DisasterA fire at a landfill in Centralia, Pennsylvania, spread to an abandoned coal mine, where it continues burning today.
- 1958-05-27Science & TechThe F-4 Phantom II, the principal air superiority jet fighter for both the U.S. Navy and Air Force, made its first flight.
- 1954-05-27GeopoliticsThe security clearance of American nuclear physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer, head of Project Y, was revoked.
- 1941-05-27ConflictWorld War II: The German battleship Bismarck was sunk by gun and torpedo fire by the British battleships HMS Rodney and HMS King George V and supporting cruisers.
- 1940-05-27ConflictWorld War II: Ninety-seven soldiers of the British Royal Norfolk Regiment were killed after surrendering to German forces.
- 1937-05-27Arts & CultureThe Golden Gate Bridge, at the time the world's longest suspension bridge by span, opened between San Francisco and Marin County, California.
- 1935-05-27GeopoliticsThe United States Supreme Court ruled in A.L.A. Schechter Poultry Corp. v. United States that the National Industrial Recovery Act, a major component of the New Deal, was unconstitutional.
- 1930-05-27Arts & CultureStanding at 1,047 ft (319 m), New York City's Chrysler Building opened as the world's tallest building before it was surpassed by the Empire State Building 11 months later.
- 1923-05-27SportsFrench drivers André Lagache and René Léonard completed the most laps during the first edition of the sports car race the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
- 1917-05-27GeneralPope Benedict XV (pictured) promulgated the Pio-Benedictine Code, the first official comprehensive codification of Latin canon law.