On This Day
What Happened on February 27 in History
9 events that happened on February 27, oldest first. Every entry is written in our own words and links to its source.
Colonial America and the Revolution
1776
Patriot militia routed Loyalist troops at the Battle of Moores Creek Bridge in North Carolina.
The Loyalists charged across a partly dismantled bridge into heavy fire. The victory ended British hopes of an early Loyalist rising in the colony.
Source: nps.gov; battlefields.org
The Young Republic and the Civil War Era
1860
Abraham Lincoln gave his Cooper Union address in New York City.
The speech argued that the nation's founders meant to limit the spread of slavery. A portrait taken by Mathew Brady the same day was widely reproduced during Lincoln's campaign.
Source: history.com
The Early 1900s and the World Wars
1922
The Supreme Court upheld the 19th Amendment in Leser v. Garnett.
The justices unanimously rejected a challenge to women's voting rights in Maryland. The ruling confirmed that the amendment had been validly ratified.
Source: history.com; law.cornell.edu
1933
Fire gutted the Reichstag, the German parliament building in Berlin.
The Nazi leadership blamed a communist plot and used the fire to justify an emergency decree that suspended civil liberties. It was a key step in Hitler's seizure of total power.
Source: encyclopedia.ushmm.org
1935
Shirley Temple received a special miniature Oscar at the age of six.
The juvenile award recognized her outstanding contribution to films in 1934. It was presented at the seventh Academy Awards ceremony.
Source: history.com
1939
The Supreme Court ruled sit-down strikes illegal in NLRB v. Fansteel Metallurgical Corp.
The justices held that an employer could fire workers who seized its plant. The decision took away one of organized labor's most effective tactics of the 1930s.
Source: law.cornell.edu; millercenter.org
1942
The aging U.S. aircraft carrier Langley was sunk by Japanese bombers south of Java.
Langley had been the U.S. Navy's first aircraft carrier before serving as a seaplane tender. It was carrying fighter planes to Java when it was attacked.
Source: history.com
The Cold War
1973
American Indian Movement activists began a 71-day occupation of Wounded Knee, South Dakota.
Armed Oglala Lakota and AIM members seized the village on the Pine Ridge Reservation, site of the 1890 massacre. The standoff with federal agents drew national attention to Native American grievances.
Source: history.com; usmarshals.gov
1991
President George H. W. Bush announced that Kuwait was liberated and suspended combat in the Gulf War.
In a televised address, Bush said Iraq's army was defeated and coalition offensive operations would stop at midnight. The ground war had lasted about 100 hours.
Source: presidency.ucsb.edu; archive.nytimes.com