On This Day: 27 July

St. Joseph of Arimathea dies		82
Siward, Earl of Northumbria, invades Scotland and defeats Macbeth, King of Scotland, somewhere north of the Firth of Forth		1054
During the Third Crusade, Friedrich Barbarossa arrives at Niš, the capital of Serbian King Stefan Nemanja		1189
Imperial, English and Flemish armies suffer a decisive defeat at the hands of Philip II of France in the Battle of Bouvines, effectively ending England's Angevin Empire (possessions in France, held since the reign of Henry II)		1214
Albert I, son of Rudolf of Habsburg, is crowned Holy Roman Emperor		1298
Osman I, leader of the Ottoman Turks, invades the territory of Nicomedia (an ancient Greek city in what is now Turkey, and the former Eastern capital of the Roman Empire), according to English historian Edward Gibbon; this is usually regarded as the founding of the Ottoman state		1299
The city council in Rugusa (now Dubroknik) passes a law saying that newcomers from plague areas must isolate for 30 days (later increased to 40 days – quaranta in Italian)		1377
A decisive Ottoman victory over the Byzantines, in the Battle of Bapheus, opens up Bithynia (northern Anatolia, on the southern shore of the Black Sea) for Turkish conquest		1302
Nicolaus Copernicus is formally installed as a canon of Frombork (Frauenburg) Cathedral		1501
Jesuit priest Francis Xavier reaches Japan, where he would become the first Christian missionary; but despite calling at several ports, he is not allowed to land until 15 August		1549
Walter Raleigh and his crew bring the first commercial crop of tobacco to England from Virginia		1586
Colonel Oliver Cromwell distinguishes himself as a cavalry leader at the Battle of Gainsborough, as Parliamentarian forces foil a Royalist attempt to recapture the Lincolnshire town		1643
Benedict Spinoza is excommunicated by Jewish religious authorities in Amsterdam		1656
Parliament passes the second Navigation Act, requiring that all goods bound for the American colonies have to be sent in English ships from English ports. Following the Acts of Union 1707, Scotland would be included in the Act		1663
John Graham, Viscount Dundee, leads the Jacobites to victory over a government army commanded by the Whig General Hugh Mackay, in the Battle of Killiecrankie – but loses his life in the battle, after which he would be known as 'Bonnie Dundee'		1689
Parliament grants a 12–year charter to the Bank of England		1694
During the American War of Independence, the British and French fleets fight to a standoff in the First Battle of Ushant, in the mouth of the English Channel – the first major naval engagement in the Anglo–French War (which would last until 1783)		1778
Maximilien Robespierre, Jacobin leader, joins the Committee of Public Safety		1783
Thomas Jefferson is appointed as the first head of the US Department of Foreign Affairs – the first US federal government agency; it would later be renamed the Department of State		1789
The Paris Convention votes to arrest Robespierre and his followers, after he/they encouraged the execution of more than 17,000 "enemies of the Revolution"		1794
During the Seminole Wars, the Battle of Negro Fort ends when a hot shot cannonball fired by US Navy Gunboat No. 154 explodes the fort's Powder Magazine. The fort is filled with fugitive slaves, free blacks, and Choctaw (Native Americans), approximately 275 of whom are killed; this is considered the deadliest single cannon shot in US history.		1816
Revolution breaks out in Paris, opposing the laws of Charles X		1830
The city of Adelaide, South Australia, is founded		1836
Chartist riots break out in Birmingham and elsewhere		1839
The eight–day Siege of Arrah begins as 18 civilians and 50 members of the Bengal Military Police Battalion defend a fortified outbuilding (in modern Bihar, in eastern India) against a force of between 2,500 and 3,000 mutinying sepoys and 8,000 irregular forces		1857
Around 40,000 lives are lost when a hurricane hits the Chinese city of Canton		1862
As Argentina's government encourages emigration from Europe to populate the country outside the Buenos Aires region, Welsh settlers arrive in Chubut, Patagonia; they would establish a colony there, whose influence persists to this day		1865
The first permanent Atlantic cable, laid by the Great Eastern – from Valentia Island in Ireland to Heart's Content, Newfoundland – is completed		1866
During the Second Anglo–Afghan War, Afghan forces led by Mohammad Ayub Khan defeat a much smaller British contingent in the Battle of Maiwand		1880
Vincent van Gogh shoots himself (he dies two days later)		1890
Kaiser Wilhelm II makes a speech comparing Germans to Huns (a nomadic people who lived in Central Asia, the Caucasus, and Eastern Europe between the 4th and 6th century AD, and established a vast, if short–lived, dominion in Europe in the 5th century). For years afterwards, 'Hun' would be a disparaging name for Germans		1900
SS Waratah, a passenger and cargo steamship on only her second voyage – from London to Adelaide – is seen for the last time, after leaving Durban bound for Cape Town. No trace of the ship, or any of the 211 passengers and crew aboard, has ever been found		1909
British captain Charles Fryatt is executed by the German authorities for attempting to ram a German submarine with his ship the SS Brussels		1916
Allied troops reach the Yser Canal, in the prelude to the Battle of Passchendaele		1917
Race riots erupt in Chicago after an incident on a South Side beach, leading to 38 fatalities and 537 injuries over a five–day period		1917
The first women's national athletics championships take place in Vienna		1918
Radio compass is used for the first time to direct the navigation of an aircraft		1920
Sir Frederick Banting and Charles Best, at Toronto University, isolate insulin and prove that it regulates blood sugar		1921
The third Geneva Convention – the Convention Relating to the Treatment of Prisoners of War – is signed by 53 nations		1929
Russian emigré Paul Gorgulov is sentenced to death for the assassination of French President Paul Doumer		1932
Bugs Bunny appears in a "fully developed role" for the first time, in the animated short film A Wild Hare (prototypes had been appearing since 1938)		1940
German troops enter the Ukraine; Japan invades Indo–China		1941
The First Battle of El Alamein comes to an end, with the result that Allied forces successfully halt the final Axis advance into Egypt		1942
The De Havilland Comet – the first jet airliner – makes its first test flight		1949
Representatives of the United Nations Command, North Korea and the (Chinese) People's Volunteer Army sign an armistice in Panmunjom to end hostilities in the Korean War. Syngman Rhee, President of South Korea, refuses to sign but pledges to observe the armistice		1953
The Austrian State Treaty, re–establishing Austria as a sovereign state (signed on 15 May), comes into force		1955
All 58 people on board lose their lives when El Al Flight 402 (from London to Tel Aviv, via Vienna and Istanbul) is shot down by two fighter jets after straying into Bulgarian air space. The reasons for the plane veering off its intended course would never be established		1955
Footballer Billy Wright marries Joy Beverley, one of the Beverley Sisters		1958
Winston Churchill makes his last appearance in the House of Commons		1964
Five thousand more American "military advisers" are sent to South Vietnam, bringing the total number of US military personnel in Vietnam to 21,000		1964
Edward Heath becomes leader of the opposition Conservative Party, succeeding Sir Alec Douglas Home		1965
Antonio de Oliveira Salazar, Prime Minister and dictator of Portugal, dies		1970
The Judiciary Committee of the US House of Representatives votes, by a majority of 27 to 11, to recommend the first article of impeachment (for obstruction of justice) against President Richard Nixon		1974
Greece's military junta hands power to civilian government		1974
John Lennon gets his green card		1976
British balloonists Don Cameron (39) and Major Christopher Davey (34) report technical difficulties – still 1,000 miles short in their attempt to make the first Atlantic crossing by balloon. They would ditch into the sea next day, and be picked up by a fishing vessel		1978
Seven men, including Irish–born mercenary leader 'Colonel Mad Mike' Hoare – described in court as "an unscrupulous man with a highly cavalier attitude to the truth" – are found guilty of hijacking a plane to escape from an aborted coup attempt in the Seychelles		1982
Eighteen Tamil political prisoners at the Welikada high security prison in Colombo are massacred by Sinhalese prisoners – the second such massacre in two days, during the Black July riots		1983
Milton Obote, president of Uganda, is overthrown by a military coup		1985
Greg Lemond (USA) becomes the first non–European winner of the Tour de France		1986
British pole vaulter Jeff Gutteridge is banned for life after failing two drug tests		1988
While attempting to land at Tripoli International Airport, Korean Air Flight 803 crashes just short of the runway. Seventy–five of the 199 passengers and crew, and four people on the ground, lose their lives; this is the second accident involving a Douglas DC–10 in eight days (see 19 July)		1989
The Supreme Soviet of the Belarusian Soviet Republic declares independence from the Soviet Union. Until 1996 the day is celebrated as the country's Independence Day; after a referendum held that year the celebration is moved to 3 June		1989
During the Atlanta Olympics, two people lose their lives (one later as a result of a heart attack) and over 100 are injured, when a bomb is detonated in Centennial Olympic Park		1996
In Algeria, at the height of a period of civil unrest that has already lasted for five years, around 50 people are massacred in their homes following an electricity outage in the town of Larbaa		1997
Tony Blair's first reshuffle: Peter Mandelson, Stephen Byers and Baroness Jay replace Gavin Strang, David Clark and Lord Richard		1998
The UK Government announces its 10–year plan for modernising the NHS – promising increased funding, more beds, more doctors and nurses, and reduced waiting times		2000
77 people lose their lives and more than 500 others are injured, in the deadliest air show disaster in history, when a Sukhoi Su–27 fighter crashes during an air show at Lviv, Ukraine		2002
English–born American comedy legend Bob Hope dies, just two months after celebrating his 100th birthday		2003
One day into the 114th Space Shuttle mission – the first since the loss of Columbia, two and a half years earlier – NASA postpones all future Space Shuttle flights after debris is seen falling from the vehicle during ascent. STS–114 would continue however, ending on 9 August; the 115th mission would launch on 4 July in the following year		2005
The Phonak cycling team announces that Floyd Landis, who won the Tour de France on 23 July, tested positive for an unusually high level of testosterone after winning the 17^th (Mountain) stage on 20 July		2006
US presidential candidate Donald Trump publicly expresses the hope that Russian technicians can recover over 30,000 emails that were deleted from the personal server of rival candidate Hillary Clinton, which he claims contained classified information		2006

You are here:

On This Day: 27 July