December 27

December 27 is the 361st day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. (362nd in a leap year). There are 4 days remaining.

Events

• 1703 - Portugal and England sign the Methuen Treaty which gives preference to Portuguese imported wines into England.
• 1831 - Charles Darwin embarks on his historic journey aboard the HMS Beagle.
• 1836 - The worst ever avalanche in England occurs at Lewes, Sussex, killing 8 people.
• 1845 - Ether anesthetic is used for childbirth for the first time (Dr. Crawford Williamson Long in Jefferson, Georgia).
• 1904 - James Barrie's play Peter Pan premiers in London.
• 1932 - Radio City Music Hall opens
• 1945 - The World Bank is created with the signing of an agreement by 28 nations.
• 1945 - Korea is divided
• 1947 - Howdy Doody, a children's television program, makes its debut (NBC).
• 1949 - Queen Juliana of the Netherlands grants Indonesia sovereignty.
• 1968 - The long-running radio program The Breakfast Club signs off for the last time (ABC radio).
• 1978 - Spain becomes a democracy after 40 years of dictatorship.
• 1979 - The Soviet Union seizes control of Afghanistan and Babrak Karmal replaces overthrown and executed President Hafizullah Amin.
• 1985 - Palestinian guerrillas kill twenty people inside Rome and Vienna airports.
• 1985 - American naturalist Dian Fossey is found murdered in Rwanda.
• 1996 - Taliban forces retake the strategic Bagram air base which solidifies their buffer zone around Kabul.
• 1997 - Protestant paramilitary leader Billy Wright is assassinated in Northern Ireland.
• 2001 - The People's Republic of China is granted permanent normal trade status with the United States.
• 2002 - Two truck bombs kill 72 and wound 200 at the pro-Moscow headquarters of the Chechen government in Grozny, Chechnya.

Births

• 1571 - Johannes Kepler, astronomer (d. 1630)
• 1654 - Jacob Bernoulli, switzerland mathematician (d. 1705)
• 1717 - Pope Pius VI (d. 1799)
• 1773 - George Cayley, naturalist, physical scientist, engineer, inventor, politician (d. 1857)
• 1822 - Louis Pasteur, French scientist d. 1895)
• 1851 - Percy Gilchrist, metallurgist (d. 1935)
• 1860 - David Hendricks Bergey, bacteriologist (d. 1937)
• 1879 - Sydney Greenstreet, actor (d. 1954)
• 1891 - Sir Mackenzie Bowell, fifth Prime Minister of Canada (d. 1896)
• 1888 - Thea von Harbou, author and actress (d. 1954)
• 1896 - Carl Zuckmayer, author and dramatist (d. 1977)
• 1896 - Louis Bromfield, writer (d. 1956)
• 1900 - Hans Stuck, automobile racer (d. 1978)
• 1901 - Marlene Dietrich, actress and singer (d. 1992)
• 1906 - Oscar Levant, composer, actor (d. 1972)
• 1907 - Sebastian Haffner, publicist (d. 1999)
• 1915 - Louis Masters, sexologist (d. 2001)
• 1925 - Michel Piccolo, actor
• 1927 - Agnes Nixon, soap opera producer, director, writer
• 1934 - Larisa Latynina, Soviet gymnast
• 1943 - Cokie Roberts, journalist
• 1948 - Gérard Depardieu, French actor
• 1965 - Salman Khan, actor, India

Deaths

• 1896 - John Brown, manufacturer
• 1900 - William George Armstrong, inventor, industrialist and engineer (b. 1810)
• 1914 - Charles Martin Hall, chemist, inventor
• 1938 - Calvin Bridges, geneticist (b. 1889)
• 1950 - Max Beckmann, painter (b. 1884)
• 1968 - Victor Ernest Shelford, zoologist
• 1972 - Lester B. Pearson, fourteenth Prime Minister of Canada (b. 1897)
• 1981 - Hoagy Carmichael, composer, singer (b. 1899)
• 1988 - Hal Ashby, film director (b. 1929)
• 1997 - Billy Wright, Protestant paramilitary leader (b. 1960)
• 2002 - George Roy Hill, film director (b. 1922)
• 2002 - Carla Henius, singer
• 2003 - Alan Bates, British actor (b. 1934)
• 2003 - Ivan Calderon, baseball player (b. 1962)

Holidays and Observances

• The third day of Christmas in Western Christianity.
• Feast of the Holy Innocents, Eastern Orthodox.

Recorded this date

• 1911 "Love Is Mine" (w. Edward Teschemacher m. Clarence G. Gartner)
  - Enrico Caruso
  
• 1917 "'N' Everything" (w.m. Al Jolson, B. G. De Sylva & Gus Kahn)
  - Al Jolson
  
• 1917 "There's A Lump Of Sugar Down In Dixie" (w. Alfred Bryan & Jack Yellen m. Albert Gumble)
  - Al Jolson
  
• 1924 "I'll See You In My Dreams" (w. Gus Kahn m. Isham Jones)
  - Irving Kaufman with Ben Bernie & his Orchestra
  
• 1928 "I Faw Down And Go Boom!" (w.m. James Brockman, Leonard Stevens & B.B.B. Donaldson)
  - Bob Borger, Bob Rice, Erwin McGee & Jack Gifford with George Olsen & his Music
  
• 1928 "Futuristic Rhythm" (w. Dorothy Fields m. Jimmy McHugh)
  - Mildred Roselle with Mills' Musical Clowns
  
• 1932 "Hold Me" (w.m. Jack Little, Dave Oppenheim & Ira Schuster)
  - Paul Small with Ben Selvin & his Orchestra
  
• 1932 "New Orleans" (w.m. Hoagy Carmichael)
  - Clarence Hutchinrider with Casa Loma Orchestra
  
• 1935 "Moon Over Miami" (w. Edgar Leslie m. Joe Burke)
  - Dick Robertson
  
• 1939 "Are You Havin' Any Fun?" (w. Jack Yellen m. Sammy Fain)
  - Flanagan & Allen with O/Ronnie Munro
  
• 1939 "On The Outside Always Lookin' In" (w.m. Michael Carr)
  - Flanagan & Allen
  
• 1939 "Busy As A Bee" (w.m. Carl Sigman, Bob Russell & Joseph Meyer)
  - Helen Forrest with Benny Goodman & his Orchestra
  
• 1944 "You Was Right Baby" (w.m. Dave Barbour & Peggy Lee)
  - Peggy Lee with O/Dave Barbour
  
• 1944 "What More Can A Woman Do?" (w.m. Dave Barbour & Peggy Lee)
  - Peggy Lee with O/Dave Barbour
  
• 1945 "You Sang My Love Song to Somebody Else" (w.m. Allan Roberts & Doris Fisher)
  - Bing Crosby & The Jesters with Bob Haggart & his Orchestra
  
• 1945 "Sioux City Sue" (w. Ray Freedman m. Dick Thomas)
  - Bing Crosby w. Jesters with O/Bob Haggart
  
• 1947 "Fine Brown Frame" (w.m. Guadalupe Cartiero & J. Mayo Williams)
  - Nellie Lutcher & her Rhythm
  
• 1947 "A Little Imagination" (w.m. Inez James & Sidney Miller)
  - Ray Noble & his Orchestra
  
• 1947 "Ev'ry Day I Love You" (w. Sammy Cahn m. Jule Styne)
  - Dick Haymes with O/Vic Schoen
  
• 1947 "Busy Doing Nothing" (w. Johnny Burke m. James Van Heusen)
  - Bing Crosby, William Bendix & Sir Cedric Hardwicke with O/Victor Young
  
• 1947 "Once And For Always" (w. Johnny Burke m. James Van Heusen)
  - Bing Crosby & Ken Darby Choir with O/Victor Young
  
• 1947 "All Of A Sudden My Heart Sings" (w. (Eng) Harold Rome (Fr) Jean Marie Blanvillain m. Henri Herpin)
  - Kathryn Grayson with O/Georgie Stoll
  
• 1947 "Waltz Serenade" (Earl Brent, Peter Tchaikovsky)
  - Kathryn Grayson with O/Georgie Stoll
  
• 1947 "Four Brothers" (m. Jimmy Giuffre)
  - Woody Herman & his Orchestra
  
• 1947 "Put 'Em In A Box, Tie 'Em With A Ribbon, And Throw 'Em In The Deep Blue Sea" (w. Sammy Cahn m. Jule Styne)
  - Frankie Laine with O/Harry Geller
  
• 1947 "Alexander's Ragtime Band" (w.m. Irving Berlin)
  - Andrews Sisters
  
• 1947 "A Little Imagination(1)" (w.m. Inez James & Sidney Miller)
  - Dick Haymes with O/Vic Schoen
  
• 1947 "The Maharajah Of Magador" (w.m. Lewis Harris & John Jacob Loeb)
  - Ziggy Talent with Vaughn Monroe & his Orchestra
  
• 1947 "It's Magic" (w. Sammy Cahn m. Jule Styne)
  - Sarah Vaughan with O/Richard Maltby
  
• 1948 "No Orchids For My Lady" (w.m. Jack Strachey & Alan Stranks)
  - Tony Martin w. Jud Conlon Singers with O/Earle Hagen
  
• 1948 "So In Love" (w.m. Cole Porter)
  - Dinah Shore with O/Harry Zimmerman
  
• 1948 "Always True To You In My Fashion" (w.m. Cole Porter)
  - Dinah Shore & Starlighters with O/Harry Zimmerman
  
• 1949 "I'll Remember April" (w. Don Raye & Patricia Johnston m. Gene De Paul)
  - George Shearing Quintet
  
• 1953 "Something Cool" (w.m. Bill Barnes)
  - June Christy with O/Pete Rugolo
  
• 1957 "Gigi" (w. Alan Jay Lerner m. Frederick Loewe)
  - Bing Crosby with O/Pete King
  
• 1960 "One Mint Julep" (w.m. Rudolph Toombs)
  - Ray Charles
  

December 26 - December 28 - November 27 - January 27 -- listing of all days