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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. 1904 - The Abbey Theatre opens. 1918 - Beginning of Great Poland Uprising 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, Swiss 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 - William Masters, sexologist (d. 2001) 1925 - Michel Piccoli, actor 1927 - Agnes Nixon, soap opera producer, director, writer 1934 - Larisa Latynina, Soviet gymnast 1939 - John Amos, actor 1943 - Cokie Roberts, journalist 1948 - Gérard Depardieu, French actor 1960 - Maryam d'Abo, actress 1965 - Salman Khan, actor, India 1973 - Wilson Cruz, actor 1975 - Heather O'Rourke, child actress (Poltergeist) (d. 1988) 1979 - Carson Palmer, American football quarterback, Heisman Trophy winner Deaths 1836 - Stephen F. Austin, American pioneer (b. 1793) 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) 1953 - Julian Tuwim, Polish poet (b. 1894) 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 - Ivan Calderon, baseball player (b. 1962) (murdered) 2003 - Bob Monkhouse, English comedian and game show host Holidays and Observances The third day of Christmas in Western Christianity. Feast of the Holy Innocents, Eastern Orthodox. December 26 - December 28 - November 27 - January 27 -- listing of all days FAVORITE ARTICLES: History of the World    History of the United States    History of Europe    Ancient History    History    Military History    World War I    Bombing of Dresden    California    US Constitution    Frank Sinatra    Boston    Marbury v. Madison This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License at http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html You may copy and modify it as long as the entire work (including additions) remains under this license. You must provide a link to http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html To view or edit this article at Wikipedia go to http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/December_27