On August 27

The Myanmar military junta and ethnic armies began three days of violent clashes in the region of Kokang.

Comair Flight 5191 crashed while inadvertently attempting to take off from the wrong runway at Blue Grass Airport in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49 of the 50 people on board, and causing the Federal Aviation Administration to modify air traffic control rules.

American musician Stevie Ray Vaughan, one of the most influential guitarists in the revival of blues in the 1980s, was killed in a helicopter crash.

The Troubles: the IRA ambushed and killed 18 British soldiers near Warrenpoint, and assassinated Lord Mountbatten on his boat at Mullaghmore.

South Vietnamese junta leader Nguyễn Khánh entered into a triumvirate power-sharing arrangement with rival generals Trần Thiện Khiêm and Dương Văn Minh, both of whom had been involved in plots to unseat Khánh.

The first edition of the Guinness Book of Records was published.

In the shortest recorded war in history, the Sultanate of Zanzibar surrendered to the United Kingdom after less than an hour of conflict.

Black Hawk (pictured), the leader of the Sauk tribe of Native Americans, surrendered to U.S. authorities to end the Black Hawk War.

Napoleonic Wars: The French Navy defeated the Royal Navy, preventing them from capturing the harbour of Grand Port on Mauritius.

British forces led by William Howe defeated the Continental Army under George Washington at the Battle of Long Island, the largest battle of the American Revolutionary War.

The sacking of Rome by the Visigoths ended after three days.