On This Day: 27 December

27 December in Indian history

• 1911"Jana Gana Mana", the national anthem of India, is first sung in the Calcutta Session of the Indian National Congress.India

27 December in world history

• 2024Acting president and prime minister of South Korea Han Duck-soo was impeached by the National Assembly.
• 2009During protests in Tehran against the recent presidential election, Iranian security forces opened fire on demonstrators.
• 2007Former prime minister Benazir Bhutto was assassinated while leaving a Pakistan People's Party political rally at Liaqat National Bagh in Rawalpindi.
• 2007Riots erupted in Mombasa, Kenya, after Mwai Kibaki was declared the winner of the presidential election—the first event in a political, economic, and humanitarian crisis.
• 2004Radiation from an explosion on the magnetar SGR 1806-20 reaches Earth. It is the brightest extrasolar event known to have been witnessed on the planet.
• 1999Burger King and the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission order a recall of plastic Poké Ball containers after they are determined to be a choking hazard.
• 1996Taliban forces retake the strategic Bagram Airfield which solidifies their buffer zone around Kabul, Afghanistan.
• 1991Scandinavian Airlines System Flight 751 crashes in Gottröra in the Norrtälje Municipality in Sweden, injuring 92.
• 1989The Romanian Revolution concludes, as the last minor street confrontations and stray shootings abruptly end in the country's capital, Bucharest.
• 1983Pope John Paul II visits Mehmet Ali Ağca in Rebibbia's prison and personally forgives him for the 1981 attack on him in St. Peter's Square.
• 1979Soviet–Afghan War: Soviet troops stormed Tajbeg Palace outside Kabul and killed Afghan president Hafizullah Amin and his 100–150 elite guards.
• 1939The 7.8 Mw Erzincan earthquake shakes eastern Turkey with a maximum Mercalli intensity of XI (Extreme). At least 32,700 people were killed.
• 1918Ukrainian War of Independence: The Revolutionary Insurgent Army of Ukraine occupies Yekaterinoslav and seizes seven airplanes from the UPRAF, establishing an Insurgent Air Fleet.
• 1845Having coined the phrase "manifest destiny" the previous July, journalist John L. O'Sullivan argued in his newspaper New York Morning News that the United States had the right to claim the entire Oregon Country.
• 1831HMS Beagle departed Plymouth, England, on a voyage to South America that established Charles Darwin as a naturalist.
• 1657Citizens of New Netherland presented the Flushing Remonstrance to Peter Stuyvesant, the director general of the colonial province, requesting an exemption to his ban on Quaker worship.
• 537The reconstructed Hagia Sophia in Constantinople was inaugurated; built as a church, it later became a mosque and a museum.

Born on 27 December

• 1990Milos Raonic, Canadian tennis player
• 1965Salman Khan, Indian film actor and producerIndia
• 1948Gérard Depardieu, French-Russian actor
• 1927Nityanand Swami, Indian lawyer and politician, 1st Chief Minister of Uttarakhand (died 2012)India
• 1901Marlene Dietrich, German-American actress and singer (died 1992)
• 1797Ghalib, Indian poet (died 1869)India

Died on 27 December

• 2023Gaston Glock, Austrian firearm engineer and founder of Glock (born 1929)
• 2014Ben Ammi Ben-Israel, American-Israeli religious leader, founded the African Hebrew Israelites of Jerusalem (born 1939)
• 2013Farooq Sheikh, Indian actor, philanthropist and a popular television presenter (born 1948)India
• 2011Helen Frankenthaler, American painter and educator (born 1928)

Frequently asked questions

What happened on 27 December in history?

2024: Acting president and prime minister of South Korea Han Duck-soo was impeached by the National Assembly. 2009: During protests in Tehran against the recent presidential election, Iranian security forces opened fire on demonstrators. 2007: Former prime minister Benazir Bhutto was assassinated while leaving a Pakistan People's Party political rally at Liaqat National Bagh in Rawalpindi. 2007: Riots erupted in Mombasa, Kenya, after Mwai Kibaki was declared the winner of the presidential election—the first event in a political, economic, and humanitarian crisis.

What happened on 27 December in Indian history?

1911: "Jana Gana Mana", the national anthem of India, is first sung in the Calcutta Session of the Indian National Congress.

Which famous people were born on 27 December?

Milos Raonic, Canadian tennis player (1990); Salman Khan, Indian film actor and producer (1965); Gérard Depardieu, French-Russian actor (1948); Nityanand Swami, Indian lawyer and politician, 1st Chief Minister of Uttarakhand (died 2012) (1927).

Which day is observed on 27 December?

Constitution Day (North Korea); Emergency Rescuer's Day (Russia); Saint Stephen's Day (Eastern Orthodox Church; a public holiday in Romania); The third of the Twelve Days of Christmas (Western Christianity).