August 27 in History

410 – The sacking of Rome by the Visigoths ended after three days.

1813 – French Emperor Napoleon I defeated a larger force of Austrians, Russians, and Prussians at the Battle of Dresden.

1859 – Petroleum was discovered in Titusville, Pennsylvania, leading to the world’s first commercially successful oil well.

1893 – Sea Islands Hurricane, Georgia, South Carolina.

1896 – The  Shortest War in recorded history was the Anglo-Zanzibar War. The conflict lasted between 38 and 45 minutes. Zanzibar lost.

1939 – Germany’s first flight of the turbojet-powered Heinkel He 178, the world’s first jet aircraft.

1955 – The first copy of the Guinness Book of Records was issued.

1962 – The Mariner 2 unmanned space mission was launched to Venus by NASA.

1967 – Beatles manager Brian Epstein died of an accidental Carbitral overdose.

#1 Hit August 27, 1988 – September 9, 1988: George Michael – Monkey

#1 Hit August 27, 1994 – December 2, 1994: Boyz II Men – I’ll Make Love To You

2003 – The first 6-party talks involving South and North Korea, the United States, China, Japan, and Russia convened to resolve the security concerns due to the North Korean nuclear weapons program.

2003 – Mars made its closest approach to Earth in nearly 60,000 years, passing just 34,646,418 miles away.

#1 Hit August 27, 2011 – September 9, 2011: Katy Perry – Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.)

2011 (Hurricane) Irene struck the United States east coast, killing 47 people.