History of Today in India – 27 May

Explore the history of today 27 May in India, including important events, famous personalities, and milestones for UPSC SSC,Banking & PSC exams.

Last updated on 27 May 2026, 04:22 AM

📜 Important Events on 27 May in World History

• 27 May 2018: Maryland Flood Event: A flood occurs throughout the Patapsco Valley, causing one death, destroying the entire first floors of buildings on Main Street in Ellicott City, and causing cars to overturn. Read more
• 27 May 2017: Andrew Scheer takes over after Rona Ambrose as the leader of the Conservative Party of Canada. Read more
• 27 May 2016: Barack Obama is the first president of the United States to visit Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park and meet Hibakusha. Read more
• 27 May 2014: The football club Kerala Blasters FC and its first supporters' group Manjappada are formed. Read more
• 27 May 2006: The 6.4 Mw  Yogyakarta earthquake shakes central Java with an MSK intensity of VIII (Damaging), leaving more than 5,700 dead and 37,000 injured. Read more
• 27 May 2001: Members of Abu Sayyaf, an Islamist separatist group, seize twenty hostages from an affluent island resort on Palawan in the Philippines; the hostage crisis would not be resolved until June 2002. Read more
• 27 May 1999: Space Shuttle Discovery is launched on STS-96, the first shuttle mission to dock with the International Space Station. Read more
• 27 May 1998: Oklahoma City bombing: Michael Fortier is sentenced to 12 years in prison and fined $200,000 for failing to warn authorities about the terrorist plot. Read more
• 27 May 1997: The 1997 Central Texas tornado outbreak occurs, spawning multiple tornadoes in Central Texas, including the F5 that killed 27 in Jarrell. Read more
• 27 May 1996: First Chechen War: Russian president Boris Yeltsin meets with Chechen rebels for the first time and negotiates a cease-fire. Read more
• 27 May 1988: Somaliland War of Independence: The Somali National Movement launches a major offensive against Somali government forces in Hargeisa and Burao, then the second- and third-largest cities of Somalia. Read more
• 27 May 1984: The Danube–Black Sea Canal is opened, in a ceremony attended by the Ceaușescus. It had been under construction since the 1950s. Read more
• 27 May 1980: The Gwangju Massacre: Airborne and army troops of South Korea retake the city of Gwangju from civil militias, killing at least 207 and possibly many more. Read more
• 27 May 1977: A plane crash at José Martí International Airport in Havana, Cuba, kills 67. Read more
• 27 May 1975: Dibbles Bridge coach crash near Grassington, in North Yorkshire, England, kills 33 – the highest ever death toll in a road accident in the United Kingdom. Read more
• 27 May 1971: The Dahlerau train disaster, the worst railway accident in West Germany, kills 46 people and injures 25 near Wuppertal. Read more
• 27 May 1971: Pakistani forces massacre over 200 civilians, mostly Bengali Hindus, in the Bagbati massacre. Read more
• 27 May 1967: Australians vote in favor of a constitutional referendum granting the Australian government the power to make laws to benefit Indigenous Australians and to count them in the national census. Read more
• 27 May 1967: The U.S. Navy aircraft carrier USS John F. Kennedy is launched by Jacqueline Kennedy and her daughter Caroline. Read more
• 27 May 1965: Vietnam War: American warships begin the first bombardment of National Liberation Front targets within South Vietnam. Read more
• 27 May 1962: The Centralia mine fire is ignited in the town's landfill above a coal mine. Read more
• 27 May 1960: In Turkey, a military coup removes President Celâl Bayar and the rest of the democratic government from office. Read more
• 27 May 1958: First flight of the McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II. Read more
• 27 May 1950: The Linnanmäki amusement park is opened for the first time in Helsinki. Read more
• 27 May 1942: World War II: In Operation Anthropoid, Reinhard Heydrich is fatally wounded in Prague; he dies of his injuries eight days later. Read more
• 27 May 1941: World War II: U.S. president Franklin D. Roosevelt proclaims an "unlimited national emergency". Read more
• 27 May 1941: World War II: The German battleship Bismarck is sunk in the North Atlantic, killing almost 2,100 men. Read more
• 27 May 1940: World War II: In the Le Paradis massacre, 99 soldiers from a Royal Norfolk Regiment unit are shot after surrendering to German troops; two survive. Read more
• 27 May 1937: In California, the Golden Gate Bridge opens to pedestrian traffic, creating a vital link between San Francisco and Marin County, California. Read more
• 27 May 1935: New Deal: The Supreme Court of the United States declares the National Industrial Recovery Act to be unconstitutional in A.L.A. Schechter Poultry Corp. v. United States, (295 U.S. 495). Read more
• 27 May 1933: New Deal: The U.S. Federal Securities Act is signed into law requiring the registration of securities with the Federal Trade Commission. Read more
• 27 May 1930: The 1,046 feet (319 m) Chrysler Building in New York City, the tallest man-made structure at the time, opens to the public. Read more
• 27 May 1927: The Ford Motor Company ceases manufacture of the Ford Model T and begins to retool plants to make the Ford Model A. Read more
• 27 May 1919: The NC-4 aircraft arrives in Lisbon after completing the first transatlantic flight. Read more
• 27 May 1917: Pope Benedict XV promulgates the 1917 Code of Canon Law, the first comprehensive codification of Catholic canon law in the legal history of the Catholic Church. Read more
• 27 May 1915: HMS Princess Irene explodes and sinks off Sheerness, Kent, with the loss of 352 lives. Read more
• 27 May 1905: Russo-Japanese War: The Battle of Tsushima begins. Read more
• 27 May 1896: The F4-strength St. Louis–East St. Louis tornado hits in St. Louis, Missouri, and East St. Louis, Illinois, killing at least 255 people and causing over $10 million in damage. Read more
• 27 May 1883: Alexander III is crowned Tsar of Russia. Read more
• 27 May 1874: The first group of Dorsland trekkers under the leadership of Gert Alberts leaves Pretoria. Read more
• 27 May 1863: American Civil War: The first Union infantry assault of the Siege of Port Hudson occurs. Read more
• 27 May 1860: Giuseppe Garibaldi begins the Siege of Palermo, part of the wars of Italian unification. Read more
• 27 May 1832: An Egyptian army under Ibrahim Pasha captures Acre from the Ottomans after a five-months siege. Read more
• 27 May 1813: War of 1812: In Canada, American forces capture Fort George. Read more

🎂 Important Births on 27 May in World History

• 27 May 2003: Franco Colapinto, Argentine racing driver Franco Alejandro Colapinto is an Argentine racing driver who competes in Formula One for Alpine. Read more
• 27 May 2002: Jérémy Doku, Belgian footballer Jérémy Baffour Doku is a Belgian professional footballer who plays as a winger for Premier League club Manchester City and the Belgium national team. He is most known for his speed and dribbling ability. Read more
• 27 May 2002: Gabri Veiga, Spanish footballer Gabriel Veiga Novas is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder for Primeira Liga club Porto. Read more
• 27 May 2000: Abner Vinícius, Brazilian footballer Abner Vinícius da Silva Santos, known as Abner Vinícius or simply Abner, is a Brazilian professional footballer who plays as a left-back for Ligue 1 club Lyon and the Brazil national team. Read more
• 27 May 1999: Matheus Cunha, Brazilian footballer Matheus Santos Carneiro da Cunha is a Brazilian professional footballer who plays as a forward, attacking midfielder, or winger for Premier League club Manchester United and the Brazil national team. Read more
• 27 May 1999: Lily-Rose Depp, French-American actress and model Lily-Rose Melody Depp is a French and American actress and singer. Born to actors Johnny Depp and Vanessa Paradis, she began her acting career in film with a minor role in Tusk (2014) and pursued a career as a fashion model. She appeared in the period dramas The Dancer (2016) and The King (2019), and the romantic comedy A Faithful Man (2018). Read more
• 27 May 1998: Josep Martínez, Spanish footballer Josep Martínez Riera is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Serie A club Inter Milan. He made one appearance for the Spain national team in 2021. Read more
• 27 May 1997: Anna Bondar, Hungarian tennis player Anna Bondár is a Hungarian professional tennis player. She has a career-high singles ranking of No. 50 by the WTA, achieved on 18 July 2022 and a best doubles ranking of No. 43, reached on 30 January 2023. She is currently the No. 1 singles player from Hungary. Read more
• 27 May 1997: Daniel Jones, American football player Daniel Stephen Jones III, nicknamed "Danny Dimes" and "Indiana Jones", is an American professional football quarterback for the Indianapolis Colts of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Duke Blue Devils and was selected sixth overall by the New York Giants in the 2019 NFL draft. Read more
• 27 May 1997: Konrad Laimer, Austrian footballer Konrad Laimer is an Austrian professional footballer who plays as a right-back, left-back or midfielder for Bundesliga club Bayern Munich and the Austria national team. He previously played for Red Bull Salzburg and RB Leipzig. He was selected as Austrian Footballer of the Year in 2025. Read more
• 27 May 1996: Kim Jae-hwan, South Korean singer Kim Jae-hwan, known mononymously as Jaehwan (재환), is a South Korean singer-songwriter, known for finishing fourth in Produce 101 . He is a former member of the South Korean boy group Wanna One. As the group promoted for a year and a half, it achieved both critical and commercial success with all four of its albums topping South Korea's Gaon Album Chart and all five of its lead singles ranking in the top three of South Korea's Gaon Digital Chart. Read more
• 27 May 1995: Yoán Moncada, Cuban baseball player Yoán Manuel Moncada Olivera is a Cuban professional baseball third baseman for the Los Angeles Angels of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has previously played in MLB for the Boston Red Sox and Chicago White Sox. He made his MLB debut with the Red Sox in 2016, and was traded to the White Sox during the 2016–2017 offseason. He is one of the first active MLB players to represent the Cuban national team in international competition. Read more
• 27 May 1994: Maximilian Arnold, German footballer Maximilian Arnold is a German professional footballer who plays as a defensive midfielder for Bundesliga club VfL Wolfsburg, which he captains. An academy graduate of Wolfsburg, Arnold became the club's youngest ever debutant in 2011 and has since made over 400 league appearances for the club. Read more
• 27 May 1994: João Cancelo, Portuguese footballer João Pedro Cavaco Cancelo is a Portuguese professional footballer who plays as a full-back for La Liga club Barcelona, on loan from Saudi Pro League club Al Hilal, and the Portugal national team. Read more
• 27 May 1994: Aymeric Laporte, French-Spanish footballer Aymeric Jean Louis Gérard Alphonse Laporte is a professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for La Liga club Athletic Bilbao. Born in France, he plays for the Spain national team. Read more
• 27 May 1992: Aaron Brown, Canadian sprinter Aaron Brown is a Canadian sprinter who specializes in the 100 and 200 metres. As part of Canada's 4 × 100 m relay team, he is the 2024 Olympic gold medallist, 2020 Olympic silver medallist, 2016 Olympic bronze medallist and the 2022 World champion. Brown has also won two World bronze medals as part of Canada's 4 × 100 m relay teams in 2013 and 2015. Read more
• 27 May 1992: Jeison Murillo, Colombian footballer Jeison Fabián Murillo Cerón is a Colombian professional footballer who plays as a central defender for Qatari club Al-Shamal. Read more
• 27 May 1992: Laurence Vincent-Lapointe, Canadian canoer Laurence Vincent Lapointe is a Canadian sprint canoer. She has won eleven gold medals at the ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships, starting with the 2010 Poznań Championships, and most recently three gold medals at the 2018 Montemor-o-Velho Championships. She has also won a gold medal at the 2015 Pan American Games, and silver and bronze medals at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo. Read more
• 27 May 1991: Sebastien Dewaest, Belgian footballer Sébastien Dewaest is a Belgian professional footballer who plays as centre-back for Challenger Pro League club Francs Borains. Read more
• 27 May 1991: Tim Lafai, Samoan rugby league player Timoteo Lafai is a retired Samoan rugby league footballer, who last played as a centre for the Salford Red Devils in the Super League, and Samoa at international level.. Read more
• 27 May 1991: Ksenia Pervak, Russian tennis player Ksenia Yuryevna Pervak is a former tennis player from Russia. Read more
• 27 May 1991: Mário Rui, Portuguese footballer Mário Rui Silva Duarte, known as Mário Rui, is a Portuguese professional footballer who plays as a left-back. Read more
• 27 May 1991: Armando Sadiku, Albanian footballer Armando Sadiku is an Albanian professional footballer who plays as a striker for Swiss Challenge League club Bellinzona. Read more
• 27 May 1991: Eneli Vals, Estonian footballer Eneli Kutter is an Estonian footballer, who plays as a midfielder for Naiste II liiga club JK Poseidon. Read more
• 27 May 1990: Yenew Alamirew, Ethiopian runner Yenew Alamirew Getahun is an Ethiopian middle and long-distance runner. He represented his country at the 2012 Summer Olympics as well as two indoor and one outdoor World Championships. Read more
• 27 May 1990: Chris Colfer, American actor and singer Christopher Paul Colfer is an American actor, singer, and author. He gained international recognition for his portrayal of Kurt Hummel on the television musical Glee (2009–2015). Colfer's portrayal of Kurt received critical praise and won him several awards, including the 2011 Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor in a Series, Miniseries or Television Film, three consecutive People's Choice Awards for Favorite Comedic TV Actor from 2013 to 2015, two Primetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series nominations and one Grammy Award nomination. In April 2011, Colfer was named one of the Time 100, Time's list of the 100 most influential people in the world. Read more
• 27 May 1990: Jonas Hector, German footballer Jonas Armin Hector is a German former professional footballer who played as a left-back and midfielder. Read more
• 27 May 1990: Marcus Kruger, Swedish ice hockey player Marcus Viktor Krüger is a Swedish professional ice hockey player who is a centre and captain for Djurgårdens IF of the Swedish Hockey League (SHL). He was drafted by the Chicago Blackhawks in the fifth round, 149th overall, in the 2009 NHL entry draft. He is a two-time Stanley Cup champion with the Blackhawks in 2013 and 2015. Read more
• 27 May 1989: Igor Morozov, Estonian footballer Igor Morozov is an Estonian football manager and former professional player who played as a centre-back. Read more
• 27 May 1989: Peakboy, South Korean rapper, record producer, and singer-songwriter Kwon Sung-hwan, known professionally as Peakboy, is a South Korean rapper, singer-songwriter and record producer. He released his debut single "Gin & Tonic" in 2017 via SoundCloud and first mini-album Portrait the following year. Since signing with Neuron Music, he has released two additional mini-albums and numerous stand-alone singles. Read more
• 27 May 1988: Celso Borges, Costa Rican footballer Celso Borges Mora is a Costa Rican professional footballer who plays as a central midfielder for Liga FPD club Alajuelense. With 164 international appearances, he is the most capped player in Costa Rica's history. Read more
• 27 May 1988: Vontae Davis, American football player (died 2024) Vontae Ottis Davis was an American professional football player who was a cornerback in the National Football League (NFL) for 10 seasons. He played college football for the Illinois Fighting Illini and was selected by the Miami Dolphins in the first round of the 2009 NFL draft. Davis also played for the Indianapolis Colts and Buffalo Bills. He made two Pro Bowls in his career. Read more
• 27 May 1988: Irina Davydova, Russian hurdler Irina Andreyevna Davydova is a Russian athlete who competes in the 400 metres hurdles with a personal best time of 53.77 seconds. Read more
• 27 May 1988: Garrett Richards, American baseball pitcher Garrett Thomas Richards is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Los Angeles Angels, San Diego Padres, Boston Red Sox, and Texas Rangers. Read more
• 27 May 1988: Tyler Sash, American football player (died 2015) Tyler Jordan Sash was an American professional football safety for the University of Iowa Hawkeyes and the New York Giants of the National Football League (NFL). He was selected by the Giants in the sixth round of the 2011 NFL draft. Read more
• 27 May 1987: Gervinho, Ivorian footballer Gervais Lombe Yao Kouassi, known as Gervinho, is an Ivorian former professional footballer who plays as a forward. Read more
• 27 May 1987: Bella Heathcote, Australian actress Isabella Heathcote is an Australian actress. Following her film debut in Acolytes (2008), she had a recurring role as Amanda Fowler on the television soap opera Neighbours (2009). She gained further recognition for her dual roles as Victoria Winters and Josette du Pres in the dark fantasy film Dark Shadows (2012), and Olive Byrne in the biographical drama film Professor Marston and the Wonder Women (2017). Read more
• 27 May 1987: Bora Paçun, Turkish basketball player Bora Hun Paçun is a Turkish former professional basketball player who played as a center. He is 6 ft 10.75 in tall. Read more
• 27 May 1987: Matt Prior, Australian rugby league player Matthew Prior is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played as prop and loose forward for the Leeds Rhinos in the Super League. Read more
• 27 May 1987: Martina Sáblíková, Czech speed skater and cyclist Martina Sáblíková is a Czech former speed skater, specializing in long track speed skating. She is a three-time Olympic gold medal winner and a multiple European and World allround champion. She became the first Czech to win two Olympic gold medals at one Winter Games in 2010. Sáblíková also competes in inline speed skating and road cycling races as a part of her summer preparation for the skating season. In cycling, she focuses on individual time trial discipline in which Sáblíková holds multiple Czech Republic National Championships titles and belongs to the world's top 15 female time-trialists. Sáblíková is the elder sister of fellow speedskater Milan Sáblík. Read more
• 27 May 1986: Conor Cummins, Manx motorcycle racer Conor Cummins is a Manx motorcycle road racer who rides in British racing events, competing in the British Superstock Championship, as well as in specialist closed-road events at his home Isle of Man TT races and in Northern Ireland. A part-time seasonal racer, his normal income is derived from his business as a barista and coffeemaker supplier. Read more
• 27 May 1986: Bamba Fall, Senegalese basketball player Bamba Fall is a Senegalese professional basketball player who currently plays for Fundación CB Granada of the Spanish LEB Oro league. He played college basketball for the Southern Methodist University and represents the Senegal national basketball team in international competition. Read more
• 27 May 1986: Lasse Schöne, Danish footballer Lasse Schöne is a Danish former professional footballer who played mainly as a defensive midfielder. A versatile player, he had been deployed as a box-to-box midfielder, holding midfielder and winger in his career. He was also known for his set piece abilities. Read more
• 27 May 1985: Chiang Chien-ming, Taiwanese baseball player Chiang Chien-ming is a Taiwanese former professional baseball starting pitcher who played for the Yomiuri Giants of Nippon Professional Baseball. He was initially signed in 2005, becoming the fifth Taiwanese player to ever play for the Yomiuri Giants. His NPB debut was on June 14, 2006, first start was on August 22, on which day he got his first win. Read more
• 27 May 1985: Roberto Soldado, Spanish footballer Roberto Soldado Rillo is a Spanish former professional footballer who played as a striker. Read more
• 27 May 1984: Blake Ahearn, American basketball player Daniel Blake Ahearn is an American professional basketball coach and former player who was an assistant coach for the Memphis Grizzlies of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for Missouri State. Read more
• 27 May 1984: Miguel González, Mexican baseball pitcher Miguel Ángel González Martínez, also known by his nickname El Mariachi, is a Mexican former professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 2012 to 2018 for the Baltimore Orioles, Chicago White Sox, and Texas Rangers. He played college baseball at Los Angeles Mission College. Read more
• 27 May 1982: Natalya, Canadian professional wrestler Natalie Katherine Neidhart-Wilson is a Canadian-American professional wrestler. She is signed to WWE, where she performs on the Raw brand under the ring name Nattie. She also wrestles on the independent circuit – predominantly for Game Changer Wrestling (GCW) during their Bloodsport events – under her real name. She is a two-time women's champion, having won the WWE Divas Championship and WWE SmackDown Women's Championship once each. She is also a former one-time WWE Women's Tag Team Champion. Read more
• 27 May 1982: Mariano Pavone, Argentine footballer Hugo Mariano Pavone is an Argentine former professional footballer who last played for Quilmes Atlético Club as a striker. Read more
• 27 May 1981: Alina Cojocaru, Romanian ballerina Alina Cojocaru is a Romanian ballet dancer. She was previously a principal dancer with The Royal Ballet and a lead principal with the English National Ballet. Read more
• 27 May 1981: Johan Elmander, Swedish footballer Johan Erik Calvin Elmander is a Swedish former professional footballer who played as a striker. Beginning his career with Holmalunds IF in the late 1990s, he went on to play professionally in the Netherlands, Sweden, Denmark, France, England, and Turkey before retiring at Örgryte IS in 2017. A full international between 2002 and 2015, he scored 20 goals in 85 games for the Sweden national team, and represented his country at the 2006 FIFA World Cup, UEFA Euro 2008 and UEFA Euro 2012. Read more
• 27 May 1980: Craig Buntin, Canadian figure skater Craig Buntin is a Canadian former pair skater. He is the co-founder and CEO of Sportlogiq, a sports analytics company based in Montreal, Quebec. With former partner Meagan Duhamel, he is the 2009 Canadian silver medallist, the 2008 & 2010 Canadian bronze medallist, and the 2010 Four Continents bronze medallist. With Valérie Marcoux, he represented Canada at the 2006 Winter Olympics, where they placed 11th. Read more
• 27 May 1979: Michael Buonauro, American author and illustrator (died 2004) Michael A. Buonauro was an American webcomic artist, and author. Best known for his webcomic Marvelous Bob, Buonauro had co-created various other webcomics in collaboration with Jeff Lofvers. Read more
• 27 May 1979: Mile Sterjovski, Australian footballer Mile Sterjovski is an Australian former professional soccer player. He played predominantly as a right winger or as a second striker, but also played as a left winger and central midfielder. Sterjovski is the current head coach of A-League club Macarthur FC. Read more
• 27 May 1978: Adin Brown, American soccer player Adin Brown is an American soccer coach and former player. He is currently the goalkeeping coach for San Jose Earthquakes in Major League Soccer. Read more
• 27 May 1977: Abderrahmane Hammad, Algerian high jumper Abderrahmane Hammad Zaheer is the Algerian Minister of Youth and Sports and a former track and field athlete who competed in the high jump. He represented his country at the Summer Olympics in 2000, taking the bronze medal and made a second appearance at the 2004 Athens Olympics. His personal best of 2.34 m is the Algerian record for the event. He retired from the sport in 2010. In 2020, he became the President of the Algerian Olympic Committee. Hammad was appointed as minister on 16 March 2023. Read more
• 27 May 1977: Mahela Jayawardene, Sri Lankan cricketer Denagamage Praboth Mahela de Silva Jayawardene is a Sri Lankan former professional cricketer, captain, and batsman of the Sri Lankan national cricket team. Read more
• 27 May 1976: Marcel Fässler, Swiss racing driver Marcel Fässler is a Swiss former racing driver. From 2010 to 2016 he competed in the FIA World Endurance Championship as part of Audi Sport Team Joest with co-drivers André Lotterer and Benoît Tréluyer, winning the 24 Hours of Le Mans three times and capturing the World Endurance Drivers' Championship in 2012. Read more
• 27 May 1975: André 3000, American rapper André Lauren Benjamin, known professionally as André 3000, is an American rapper, singer, record producer and actor. Born and raised in Atlanta, Georgia, he is one half of the hip-hop duo Outkast along with rapper Big Boi, which they formed in 1992. Often recognized for his early use of rap-singing, he is widely regarded as one of the greatest rappers of all time. In 2025, Benjamin was inducted into Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of Outkast. Read more
• 27 May 1975: Michael Hussey, Australian cricketer Michael Edward Killeen Hussey is an Australian cricket coach, commentator and former international cricketer, who played all forms of the game. Hussey is also widely known by his nickname 'Mr Cricket'. Hussey was a relative latecomer to both the Australian one-day international and Test teams, debuting at 28 and 30 years of age in the respective formats, with 15,313 first-class runs before making his Test debut. With his time representing Australia, Hussey won multiple ICC titles with the team: the 2007 Cricket World Cup, the 2006 ICC Champions Trophy, and the 2009 ICC Champions Trophy. Read more
• 27 May 1975: Jadakiss, American rapper Jason Terrance Phillips, better known by his stage name Jadakiss, is an American rapper who began his career in the 1990s and formed the hip hop trio the Lox alongside Styles P and Sheek Louch in 1994. The group signed with Puff Daddy's Bad Boy Records, an imprint of Arista Records to release their debut studio album, Money, Power & Respect (1998); their second album, We Are the Streets (2000) was released by Ruff Ryders Entertainment, an imprint of Interscope Records. Both peaked within the top five of the Billboard 200 and yielded critical praise; their two subsequent albums, Filthy America… It's Beautiful (2016) and Living Off Xperience (2020) were both released by Jay-Z's Roc Nation and met with continued praise. Read more
• 27 May 1975: Jamie Oliver, English chef and author James Trevor Oliver is an English celebrity chef, restaurateur and cookbook author. He is known for his casual approach to cuisine, and he has fronted many television shows and opened numerous restaurants. Read more
• 27 May 1975: Feryal Özel, Turkish astrophysicist, astronomer, and academic Feryal Özel is a Turkish American astrophysicist born in Istanbul, Turkey, specializing in the physics of compact objects and high energy astrophysical phenomena. As of 2022, Özel is the department chair and a professor at the Georgia Institute of Technology School of Physics in Atlanta. She was previously a professor at the University of Arizona in Tucson, in the Astronomy Department and Steward Observatory. Read more
• 27 May 1974: Skye Edwards, British singer-songwriter Skye Edwards, sometimes simply Skye, is a British singer. Her career began in the mid-1990s when she and the Godfrey brothers formed the band Morcheeba, which released five albums with Edwards as lead vocalist. In 2003, the band split, after which she released two solo albums: Mind How You Go in 2006, and Keeping Secrets in 2009. In 2010, Edwards returned to Morcheeba, again as lead vocalist. In 2012, she released her third solo album, Back to Now, and in 2015 she released her fourth album, In a Low Light. Read more
• 27 May 1974: Denise van Outen, English actress, singer, and television host Denise van Outen is an English actress, singer, dancer and presenter. She presented The Big Breakfast, played Roxie Hart in the musical Chicago both in the West End and on Broadway and finished as runner-up in the tenth series of the BBC One dancing show Strictly Come Dancing. Read more
• 27 May 1974: Derek Webb, American singer-songwriter and guitarist Derek Walsh Webb is an American singer-songwriter of independent and Christian music who first entered the music industry as a member of the band Caedmon's Call, and later embarked on a successful solo career. As a member of the Houston, Texas-based Caedmon's Call, Webb has seen career sales approaching 1 million records, along with 10 GMA Dove Award nominations and three Dove Award wins and six No. 1 Christian radio hits. Read more
• 27 May 1974: Danny Wuerffel, American football player Daniel Carl Wuerffel is an American former football quarterback who played college football for the Florida Gators and professional football in the National Football League (NFL). At Florida, he was a prolific passer under head coach Steve Spurrier. Wuerffel led the NCAA in touchdown passes in 1995 and 1996 and set numerous school and conference records during his career. During his senior year in 1996, he won the Heisman Trophy while leading the Gators to their first national championship. In 2013, he was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame. Read more
• 27 May 1973: Jack McBrayer, American actor and comedian Jack McBrayer is an American actor and comedian. He gained national exposure for his portrayal of Kenneth Parcell in 30 Rock. For his role in 30 Rock, McBrayer was nominated for Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series at the 61st Primetime Emmy Awards. He voiced characters such as Fix-It Felix Jr. in the 2012 film Wreck-It Ralph and its 2018 sequel, as well as the title character Wander in the Disney XD series Wander Over Yonder. He has had recurring roles on Phineas and Ferb, Puppy Dog Pals, Amphibia, The Middle, Star Trek: Lower Decks, and the Netflix series Big Mouth. Read more
• 27 May 1973: Tana Umaga, New Zealand rugby player and coach Jonathan Ionatana Falefasa Umaga is a New Zealand rugby union coach and former player and captain of the New Zealand national team, the All Blacks. He is head coach of Moana Pasifika in the Super Rugby competition, and defence coach for the All Blacks. He was granted and uses the Samoan chiefly honorific title of Faʻalogo, meaning "the listener". Read more
• 27 May 1972: Todd Demsey, American golfer Todd Demsey is an American professional golfer on the PGA Tour and 1993 NCAA champion. Read more
• 27 May 1972: Antonio Freeman, American football player Antonio Michael Freeman is an American former professional football player who was a wide receiver in the National Football League (NFL), most notably for the Green Bay Packers. He attended the Baltimore Polytechnic Institute and Virginia Tech. Read more
• 27 May 1972: Maxim Sokolov, Russian ice hockey player Maxim Anatolievich Sokolov is a former professional ice hockey goalie who most recently played for Nizhnekamsk Neftekhimik of the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL). Read more
• 27 May 1971: Mathew Batsiua, Nauruan politician Mathew Jansen Batsiua is a Nauruan politician. Batsiua, a former health minister and former foreign minister of Nauru, has served as a member of parliament for the constituency of Boe since 2004. Read more
• 27 May 1971: Paul Bettany, English actor Paul Bettany is an English actor. He is best known for his roles as J.A.R.V.I.S. and Vision in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, including the Disney+ series WandaVision (2021), which garnered him a Primetime Emmy Award nomination. Read more
• 27 May 1971: Wayne Carey, Australian footballer and coach Wayne Francis Carey is a former Australian rules footballer who played with the North Melbourne Football Club and Adelaide Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). Read more
• 27 May 1971: Kaur Kender, Estonian author Kaur Kender is an Estonian author, entrepreneur, and advertising executive. Kender entered the Estonian literary scene in 1998 with his debut novel, Independence Day (transl. Iseseisvuspäev), which has been translated into Finnish (2001) and Russian (2003). Read more
• 27 May 1971: Lisa Lopes, American rapper and dancer (died 2002) Lisa Nicole Lopes, also known by her stage name Left Eye, was an American rapper and singer-songwriter. She was a member of the R&B girl group TLC, alongside Tionne "T-Boz" Watkins and Rozonda "Chilli" Thomas. Besides rapping on TLC recordings, Lopes was the creative force behind the group, receiving more co-writing credits than the other members. She also designed some of their outfits and the stage for their FanMail Tour and contributed to the group's image, album titles, artworks, and music videos. Through her work with TLC, Lopes won four Grammy Awards. Read more
• 27 May 1971: Lee Sharpe, English footballer Lee Stuart Sharpe is an English former professional footballer, sports television pundit, reality television personality and golfer. Read more
• 27 May 1971: Grant Stafford, South African tennis player Grant Stafford is a former tennis player from South Africa. Read more
• 27 May 1971: Sophie Walker, British politician, leader of the Women's Equality Party Sophie Walker is a British political activist who was the founding leader of the Women's Equality Party (WE) in the United Kingdom. Read more
• 27 May 1971: Petroc Trelawny, British radio and television broadcaster James Edward Petroc Trelawny is a British classical music radio and television broadcaster. Since 1998 he has been a presenter on BBC Radio 3. Read more
• 27 May 1970: Michele Bartoli, Italian cyclist Michele Bartoli is a retired Italian road racing cyclist. Bartoli was a professional cyclist from 1992 until 2004 and was one of the most successful single-day classics specialists of his generation, especially in the Italian and Belgian races. On his palmarès are three of the five monuments of cycling—five in total: the 1996 Tour of Flanders, the 1997 and 1998 Liège–Bastogne–Liège and the 2002 and 2003 Giro di Lombardia. He won the UCI Road World Cup in 1997 and 1998. From 10 October 1998 until 6 June 1999, Bartoli was number one on the UCI Road World Rankings. Read more
• 27 May 1970: Tim Farron, English educator and politician Timothy James Farron is a British politician who served as Leader of the Liberal Democrats from 2015 to 2017. He has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Westmorland and Lonsdale since 2005 and is the Liberal Democrat spokesperson for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. Before entering politics, he worked in higher education. Read more
• 27 May 1970: Joseph Fiennes, English actor Joseph Alberic Twisleton-Wykeham-Fiennes, known as Joseph Fiennes, is an English actor. His numerous accolades include one Screen Actors Guild Award as well as nominations for a BAFTA Award and a Laurence Olivier Award. Read more
• 27 May 1970: Alex Archer, American-born Australian musician Chad Alexander Archer is an American-born Australian musician. Archer is best known for his violin work in the Fremantle based Alt country/rock band The Kill Devil Hills. Read more
• 27 May 1969: Todd Hundley, American baseball player Todd Randolph Hundley is an American former Major League Baseball catcher and outfielder. He was a two-time All-Star who played for 14 seasons with the New York Mets, Los Angeles Dodgers, and Chicago Cubs. Read more
• 27 May 1969: Jeremy Mayfield, American race car driver Jeremy Allen Mayfield is an American semi-retired professional stock car racing driver who competes part-time in the IHRA Stock Car Series driving the No. 19 car for D2 Motorsports. He drove cars for the Sadler brothers, T.W. Taylor, Cale Yarborough, Michael Kranefuss, Roger Penske, Ray Evernham, Bill Davis, and Gene Haas. In 2009, he drove for his own team, Mayfield Motorsports. Read more
• 27 May 1969: Craig Federighi, American computer scientist and engineer Craig Federighi is an American engineer and business executive who is the senior vice president (SVP) of software engineering at Apple Inc. He oversees the development of Apple's operating systems. His teams are responsible for delivering the software of Apple's products, including the user interface, applications, and frameworks. Read more
• 27 May 1968: Jeff Bagwell, American baseball player and coach Jeffrey Robert Bagwell is an American former professional baseball player and coach. A first baseman, he spent his entire 15-year Major League Baseball (MLB) playing career with the Houston Astros. Read more
• 27 May 1968: Rebekah Brooks, English journalist Rebekah Mary Brooks is a British media executive and former journalist and newspaper editor. She has been chief executive officer of News UK since 2015. She was previously CEO of News International from 2009 to 2011 and was the youngest editor of a British national newspaper at News of the World, from 2000 to 2003, and the first female editor of The Sun, from 2003 to 2009. Brooks married actor Ross Kemp in 2002. They divorced in 2009 and she married former racehorse trainer and author Charlie Brooks. Read more
• 27 May 1968: Harun Erdenay, Turkish basketball player and coach Hakkı Harun Erdenay is a Turkish former professional basketball player, and he is a Vice President of the Turkish Basketball Federation. As a player, he was famous for his spectacular 3-point shooting. At a height of 1.91 m tall, he played in shooting guard and small forward positions. Read more
• 27 May 1968: Frank Thomas, American baseball player and sportscaster Frank Edward Thomas Jr., nicknamed "the Big Hurt," is an American former baseball designated hitter and first baseman in Major League Baseball (MLB). He played for three American League (AL) teams from 1990 to 2008, all but the last three years with the Chicago White Sox. A five-time All-Star, he is the only player in major league history to have seven consecutive seasons (1991–1997) with at least a .300 batting average, 100 runs batted in (RBI), 100 runs scored, 100 walks, and 20 home runs. Thomas also won the AL batting title in 1997 with a .347 mark. Thomas is a two-time AL MVP and won a World Series in 2005 although he was injured during the regular season and World Series. Thomas is widely considered one of the greatest right-handed hitters in MLB history. Read more
• 27 May 1967: Paul Gascoigne, English international footballer, coach, and manager Paul John Gascoigne, nicknamed Gazza, is an English former professional footballer who played as an attacking midfielder. Regarded as one of the best playmakers of his generation and one of the best English footballers of all time, Gascoigne is described by the National Football Museum as "widely recognised as the most naturally talented English footballer of his generation". Gascoigne was immensely popular during his playing career, with television broadcaster Terry Wogan calling him "probably the most popular man in Britain today" in September 1990, and public interest in and adoration for him came to be known as "Gazzamania". Read more
• 27 May 1967: Eddie McClintock, American actor Edward Theodore McClintock is an American actor. He is best known for his role of Secret Service agent Pete Lattimer on the Syfy series Warehouse 13. McClintock's other television roles include the sitcom Stark Raving Mad and the action thriller Shooter. In 2023, he made his film directorial debut with Miracle at Manchester, in which he also starred. Read more
• 27 May 1966: Heston Blumenthal, English chef and author Heston Marc Blumenthal is an English celebrity chef, television personality and food writer. His restaurants include the Fat Duck in Bray, Berkshire, a three-Michelin-star restaurant that was named the world's best by the World's 50 Best Restaurants in 2005. Read more
• 27 May 1965: Todd Bridges, American actor Todd Anthony Bridges is an American actor. He portrayed Willis Jackson on the sitcom Diff'rent Strokes and had a recurring role as Monk on the sitcom Everybody Hates Chris. Bridges worked as a commentator on the television series World's Dumbest… from 2008 to 2013. Read more
• 27 May 1965: Pat Cash, Australian-English tennis player and sportscaster Patrick Hart Cash is an Australian former professional tennis player and coach. He reached a career-high ATP singles ranking of world No. 4 in May 1988 and a career-high ATP doubles ranking of world No. 6 in August 1988. Upon winning the 1987 singles title at Wimbledon, Cash climbed into the stands to celebrate, starting a tradition that has continued ever since. Read more
• 27 May 1964: Adam Carolla, American actor, producer, and screenwriter Adam Carolla is an American radio personality, comedian, actor and podcaster. He hosts The Adam Carolla Show, a talk show distributed as a podcast. Read more
• 27 May 1963: Gonzalo Rubalcaba, Cuban pianist and composer Gonzalo Rubalcaba is a Cuban jazz pianist and composer. Read more
• 27 May 1963: Maria Walliser, Swiss skier Maria Walliser is a Swiss former alpine skier. Read more
• 27 May 1962: Marcelino Bernal, Mexican footballer Marcelino Bernal Pérez is a Mexican former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. Read more
• 27 May 1962: Ray Borner, Australian basketball player Raymond Helmut Borner OAM is an Australian basketball coach and former player who is currently the head coach of the Ballarat Miners of the NBL1 South. He played 22 seasons in the National Basketball League (NBL), earning the NBL Most Valuable Player Award in 1985 and winning an NBL championship in 1989, both as a member of the Coburg / North Melbourne Giants. He also played for the Illawarra/Wollongong Hawks, Geelong Supercats and Canberra Cannons. Read more
• 27 May 1962: Steven Brill, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter Steven Brill is an American actor, film producer, director, and screenwriter. He directed and co-wrote Little Nicky and directed Mr. Deeds, Without a Paddle, Heavyweights, and Drillbit Taylor. He has had cameo roles in all three Mighty Ducks movies, and appeared in The Wedding Singer, Mr. Deeds, and Knocked Up, although his role in the latter has been miscredited to Judd Apatow. He also appeared as the Barfly in Sex, Lies, and Videotape. Read more
• 27 May 1962: Anthony A. Hyman, Israeli-English biologist and academic Anthony Arie Hyman is a British scientist, Director General of the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL), and director at the Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics. Read more
• 27 May 1962: David Mundell, Scottish lawyer and politician, Secretary of State for Scotland David Gordon Mundell, is a Scottish Conservative Party politician and solicitor who has served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale since 2005. He previously served as Secretary of State for Scotland from 2015 to 2019. Mundell was the first openly gay Conservative cabinet minister, coming out in 2016. Read more
• 27 May 1962: Ravi Shastri, Indian cricketer, coach and sportscaster Ravishankar Jayadritha Shastri is an Indian cricket commentator, former professional cricketer and former head coach of the India national cricket team. As a player, he played for the India national cricket team between 1981 and 1992 in both Test matches and One Day Internationals. Although he started his career as a left arm spin bowler, he later transformed into a batting all-rounder. Shastri was a member of the Indian team that won the 1983 Cricket World Cup. He won the C. K. Nayudu Lifetime Achievement Award at the Indian cricket team annual award show NAMAN in 2024. Read more
• 27 May 1961: José Luíz Barbosa, Brazilian runner and coach José Luíz Barbosa, known as Zequinha Barbosa is a Brazilian former middle-distance runner who specialized in the 800 metres. José participated in 4 Olympic Games: 1984 Los Angeles; 1988 Soul Korea; 1992 Barcelona and 1996 Atlanta. He is the 1987 World Indoor Champion, and a two-time World Championship medallist, winning silver in 1991 and bronze in 1987. 1995 Pan American gold medalist 800 m 1987 Silver medalist, 1983 Silver medalist 800 m and Silver 4 × 400 m. Jose was ranked number one in the world in the 800 m in 1991. Read more
• 27 May 1961: Peri Gilpin, American actress Peri Gilpin is an American actress who portrayed Roz Doyle in the NBC sitcom Frasier and Kim Keeler in the ABC Family drama series Make It or Break It. Read more
• 27 May 1960: Gaston Therrien, Canadian ice hockey player and sportscaster Gaston Therrien is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player who played 22 games in the National Hockey League for the Quebec Nordiques between 1981 and 1983. He works for Réseau des sports (RDS), a sportscasting channel in Quebec. Therrien was born in Montreal, Quebec. As a youth, he played in the 1973 Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament with a minor ice hockey team from Rosemont, Quebec. Read more
• 27 May 1958: Nick Anstee, English accountant and politician, 682nd Lord Mayor of London Nicholas John Anstee is the former Lord Mayor of the City of London; he was the 682nd person to serve as mayor and his term was from 2009 to 2010. He served as Alderman for the Ward of Aldersgate having previously been its representative in the City since his election as a Common Councilman in 1987. Read more
• 27 May 1958: Neil Finn, New Zealand singer-songwriter and musician Neil Mullane Finn is a New Zealand singer-songwriter and musician. He is best known for being a principal member of Split Enz and for being the lead singer of Crowded House. He was also a member of Fleetwood Mac from 2018 until 2022. Ed O'Brien of Radiohead has hailed Finn as popular music's "most prolific writer of great songs". Read more
• 27 May 1958: Jesse Robredo, Filipino politician, 23rd Secretary of the Interior and Local Government (died 2012) Jesus "Jesse" Manalastas Robredo was a Filipino politician who served as 23rd Secretary of the Interior and Local Government in the administration of President Benigno Aquino III from 2010 until his death in 2012. Robredo was a member of the Liberal Party. Read more
• 27 May 1957: Dag Terje Andersen, Norwegian politician, Norwegian Minister of Labour Dag Terje Andersen is a Norwegian politician for the Norwegian Labour Party. In addition to professional politics he has worked at a steel mill and as a lumberjack, something that has given him a reputation for politically representing the average citizen. Read more
• 27 May 1957: Nitin Gadkari, Indian lawyer and politician, Indian Minister of Transport Nitin Jairam Gadkari is an Indian politician who is serving as the 40th Minister of Road Transport & Highways since 2014. He is also the longest serving Minister for Road Transport & Highways, currently in his tenure for over twelve years, and is the only person to serve under a single portfolio for three consecutive terms. A senior leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), he served as the President of his party from 2009 to 2013. Read more
• 27 May 1957: Eddie Harsch, Canadian-American keyboard player and bass player (died 2016) Eddie Harsch was a Canadian keyboardist and member of Detroit-based jam band Bulldog. Previous to that he was The Black Crowes' keyboardist from 1991 to 2006. Harsch was replaced on keyboards by Rob Clores and then Adam MacDougall. Harsch first joined Bulldog during The Black Crowes' hiatus, which lasted from early 2002 to early 2005. During that time, he also played bass in the Detroit Cobras. In the 1980s, Harsch was a member of James Cotton's band. Read more
• 27 May 1957: Siouxsie Sioux, English singer-songwriter, musician, and producer Susan Janet Ballion, known as Siouxsie Sioux, is an English singer and songwriter. She came to prominence as the singer and main lyricist of the rock band Siouxsie and the Banshees. They released 11 studio albums from 1978 to 1995, and had several UK top twenty singles including "Hong Kong Garden" (1978), "Happy House" (1980) and "Peek-a-Boo" (1988), plus a top 25 single in the US Billboard Hot 100 with "Kiss Them for Me" (1991). Read more
• 27 May 1956: Cynthia McFadden, American journalist Cynthia McFadden is an American television journalist who was the senior legal and investigative correspondent for NBC News. She was an anchor and correspondent for ABC News who co-anchored Nightline, and occasionally appeared on ABC News special Primetime. She was with ABC News from 1994 to 2014 and NBC News from March 2014 to May 2024. Read more
• 27 May 1956: Rosemary Squire, English producer and manager, co-founded Ambassador Theatre Group Dame Rosemary Anne Squire, DBE is a British commercial theatre owner and entrepreneur. She is the founder of the Ambassador Theatre Group (ATG) LTD, and co-founder of Trafalgar Entertainment. Read more
• 27 May 1956: Giuseppe Tornatore, Italian director and screenwriter Giuseppe Tornatore is an Italian film director and screenwriter. He is considered one of the directors who brought critical acclaim back to Italian cinema. In a career spanning over 30 years he is best known for directing and writing drama films such as Everybody's Fine, The Legend of 1900, Malèna, Baarìa and The Best Offer. His most noted film is Cinema Paradiso, for which Tornatore won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. He has also directed several advertising campaigns for Dolce & Gabbana. Read more
• 27 May 1955: Eric Bischoff, American wrestler, manager, and producer Eric Aaron Bischoff is an American television producer, professional wrestling booker, promoter, and performer. Currently, he is the chief media officer for Real American Freestyle. He is best known for serving as Executive Producer and later Senior Vice President of World Championship Wrestling (WCW) and subsequently, the on-screen General Manager of WWE's Raw brand. Bischoff has also worked with Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) where he served as Executive Producer of TNA iMPACT!. He was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2021. Read more
• 27 May 1955: Richard Schiff, American actor, director, and producer Richard Schiff is an American actor. He is best known for playing Toby Ziegler on The West Wing, a role for which he received an Emmy Award. Schiff made his television directorial debut with The West Wing, directing an episode titled "Talking Points". He is on the National Advisory Board of the Council for a Livable World. He had a recurring role on the HBO series Ballers. He had a leading role in ABC's medical drama The Good Doctor, as Dr. Aaron Glassman, and portrayed Odin in Santa Monica Studio's God of War: Ragnarök, released in 2022. Read more
• 27 May 1955: Ian Tracey, English organist and conductor Ian Graham Tracey DL is an English organist and choirmaster who has served as Organist of Liverpool Cathedral since 1980. Read more
• 27 May 1954: Pauline Hanson, Australian businesswoman, activist, and politician Pauline Lee Hanson is an Australian politician who is the leader of One Nation. She has been a senator for Queensland since 2016, and was the member of Parliament (MP) for the Queensland division of Oxley from 1996 to 1998. Read more
• 27 May 1954: Jackie Slater, American football player and coach Jackie Ray Slater, nicknamed "Big Bad Jackie", is an American former professional football player who was an offensive tackle for 20 seasons in the National Football League (NFL). He played his entire career with the Rams franchise: 19 seasons in Los Angeles, from 1976 to 1994, and one game in St. Louis in 1995. Slater holds the record amongst all offensive linemen who have played the most seasons with one franchise. Read more
• 27 May 1951: John Conteh, English boxer John Anthony Conteh, is a British former professional boxer who competed from 1971 to 1980. He held the WBC light-heavyweight title from 1974 to 1977, and regionally the European, British and Commonwealth titles between 1973 and 1974. As an amateur, he represented England and won a gold medal in the middleweight division at the 1970 British Commonwealth Games. In 2017, Conteh was awarded an MBE for services to boxing at the Queen's Birthday Honours. Read more
• 27 May 1950: Dee Dee Bridgewater, American singer-songwriter and actress Dee Dee Bridgewater is an American jazz singer and actress. She is a three-time Grammy Award-winning singer-songwriter, as well as a Tony Award-winning stage actress. For 23 years, she was the host of National Public Radio's syndicated radio show JazzSet with Dee Dee Bridgewater. She is a United Nations Goodwill Ambassador for the Food and Agriculture Organization. Read more
• 27 May 1950: Makis Dendrinos, Greek basketball player and coach (died 2015) Gerasimos "Makis" Dendrinos was a Greek professional basketball player and basketball coach. He was a 1.80 m tall point guard. His nickname as a player was "Buddha". Read more
• 27 May 1949: Hugh Lowther, 8th Earl of Lonsdale, English politician (died 2021) Hugh Clayton Lowther, 8th Earl of Lonsdale was the eldest son of James Lowther, 7th Earl of Lonsdale, and the only son by his first wife Tuppina Cecily Bennet. Read more
• 27 May 1949: Christa Vahlensieck, German runner Christa Vahlensieck is a German former long distance runner and pioneer in the marathon for women. During her running career, from 1973 to 1989, she simultaneously achieved a world record in the 10,000 metres, in the 25k road race and the marathon; she holds 17 German championship titles. Read more
• 27 May 1948: Wubbo de Boer, Dutch civil servant (died 2017)
  Wubbo de Boer was a Dutch civil servant. Read more
• 27 May 1948: Pete Sears, English bass player Peter Roy Sears is an English rock musician. In a career spanning more than six decades, he has been a member of many bands and has moved through a variety of musical genres, from early R&B, psychedelic improvisational rock of the 1960s, folk, country music, arena rock in the 1970s, and blues. He usually plays bass, keyboards, or both in bands. Read more
• 27 May 1948: Morning Glory Zell-Ravenheart, American occultist and author (died 2014) Morning Glory Zell-Ravenheart, born as Diana Moore, subsequently known as Morning Glory Ferns, Morning Glory Zell and briefly Morning G'Zell, was an American community leader, writer, and lecturer in Neopaganism, as well as a priestess of the Church of All Worlds. An advocate of polyamory, she is credited with coining the word. With her husband Oberon Zell-Ravenheart, she designed deity images. Read more
• 27 May 1947: Peter DeFazio, American politician Peter Anthony DeFazio is an American politician who served as the U.S. representative for Oregon's 4th congressional district from 1987 to 2023. He is a member of the Democratic Party and is a founder of the Congressional Progressive Caucus. A native of Massachusetts and a veteran of the United States Air Force Reserve, he previously served as a county commissioner in Lane County, Oregon. On December 1, 2021, DeFazio announced he would not seek reelection in 2022. Read more
• 27 May 1947: Marty Kristian, German-Australian singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actor Marty Kristian is a German-born, British-based musician. He grew up, and started his musical career, in Australia, as a solo artist. He is a singer-songwriter-guitarist and, in the 1970s, he became a heartthrob as a founding member of the New Seekers. Read more
• 27 May 1947: Branko Oblak, Slovenian footballer and coach Branko Oblak is a Slovenian football coach and former international player. He usually played as an attacking midfielder or deep-lying playmaker. Read more
• 27 May 1947: Riivo Sinijärv, Estonian politician, 19th Estonian Minister of Foreign Affairs Riivo Sinijärv is an Estonian politician and a former Minister of Foreign Affairs. Read more
• 27 May 1946: Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen, Danish bassist and composer (died 2005) Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen, also known by his abbreviated nickname NHØP, was a Danish jazz double bassist. Read more
• 27 May 1946: John Williams, English motorcycle racer (died 1978) John Glen Williams was an English motorcycle short-circuit road racer who also entered selected Grands Prix on the near-continent. He mostly raced as a "privateer" having a personal sponsor, Gerald Brown. Williams died in Northern Ireland, following an accident when racing at an event held on closed public roads near Dundrod. Read more
• 27 May 1945: Bruce Cockburn, Canadian singer-songwriter and guitarist Bruce Douglas Cockburn is a Canadian singer-songwriter and guitarist. His song styles range from folk to folk- and jazz-influenced rock to soundscapes accompanying spoken stories. His lyrics reflect interests in spirituality, human rights, environmental issues, and relationships, and describe his experiences in Central America and Africa. Read more
• 27 May 1944: Christopher Dodd, American lawyer and politician Christopher John Dodd is an American lobbyist, lawyer, and Democratic Party politician who served as a United States senator from Connecticut from 1981 to 2011. Dodd is the longest-serving senator in Connecticut's history. He previously served in the United States House of Representatives from 1975 to 1981. Read more
• 27 May 1944: Karen Fladset, Norwegian handball player Karen Fladset is a Norwegian former team handball player and coach. She played for the club IL Vestar and the Norway women's national handball team. With Vestar she became Norwegian Champion both as player and coach, and she was top scorer in the Norwegian league for four seasons. After her playing career she was head coach for the national team for two years, and later coach for various clubs. She was a Norway champion in discus throw three times. Read more
• 27 May 1944: Ingrid Roscoe, English historian and politician, Lord Lieutenant of West Yorkshire (died 2020) Dame Ingrid Mary Roscoe, was a writer on English art and Lord Lieutenant of West Yorkshire from 2004 to 2018. Read more
• 27 May 1944: Alain Souchon, French singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actor Alain Souchon is a French singer-songwriter and actor. He has released 15 albums and has played roles in seven films. Read more
• 27 May 1943: Cilla Black, English singer and actress (died 2015) Priscilla Maria Veronica Willis, known professionally as Cilla Black, was an English singer, actress and television presenter. Read more
• 27 May 1943: Bruce Weitz, American actor Bruce Peter Weitz is an American actor, best known for his role as Sgt. Michael "Mick" Belker in the TV series Hill Street Blues, which ran from 1981 until 1987. For his role in the series, he received six nominations for Emmy Awards and two for Golden Globe Awards, winning the 1984 Emmy for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series. He is also known for playing Stuart Caley, MSNBC boss, in Deep Impact. Read more
• 27 May 1942: Lee Baca, American police officer Leroy David "Lee" Baca is a former American law enforcement officer and convicted felon who served as the 30th Sheriff of Los Angeles County, California from 1998 to 2014. In 2017, he was convicted of felony obstruction of justice and lying to the FBI. Read more
• 27 May 1942: Piers Courage, English racing driver (died 1970) Piers Raymond Courage was a British racing driver, who competed in Formula One from 1967 to 1970. Read more
• 27 May 1942: Roger Freeman, Baron Freeman, English accountant and politician, Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster Roger Norman Freeman, Baron Freeman, PC was a British politician. A member of the Conservative Party, he served as Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster in the Cabinet of Prime Minister John Major from 1995 to 1997. He was a Member of Parliament (MP) representing the constituency of Kettering from the 1983 general election until his defeat in 1997. He was made a life peer in 1997. Read more
• 27 May 1942: Robin Widdows, English racing driver Robin Michael Widdows is a British former racing driver from England. He participated in Formula One, Formula Two, Formula Three and sportscars including Le Mans. Read more
• 27 May 1940: Mike Gibson, Australian journalist and sportscaster (died 2015) Mike Gibson, often also known by the nickname "Gibbo", was an Australian sports journalist, columnist, commentator, and radio and television presenter. Read more
• 27 May 1939: Simon Cairns, 6th Earl Cairns, English courtier and businessman Simon Dallas Cairns, 6th Earl Cairns,, styled Viscount Garmoyle between 1946 and 1989, is a British businessman. Read more
• 27 May 1939: Yves Duhaime, Canadian captain and politician Yves Duhaime is a former politician in Quebec, Canada. He served as Cabinet Member and Member of the National Assembly of Quebec. Read more
• 27 May 1939: Sokratis Kokkalis, Greek businessman Sokratis Kokkalis is a Greek businessman, founder and principal shareholder of Intracom Holdings. Read more
• 27 May 1939: Gerald Ronson, English businessman and philanthropist Sir Gerald Maurice Ronson is a British businessman, philanthropist, and convicted criminal. In the 1980s, he was one of the 'Guinness Four' involved in a trading fraud, for which he served six month in prison. He is a long-time supporter of Jewish charities, and was knighted for this charitable work in the UK's 2024 New Years Honours List. Read more
• 27 May 1939: Lionel Sosa, Mexican-American advertising and marketing executive Lionel Sosa is a Mexican-American advertising and marketing executive. Read more
• 27 May 1939: Don Williams, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (died 2017) Donald Ray Williams was an American country music singer, songwriter, and 2010 inductee into the Country Music Hall of Fame. He began his solo career in 1971, singing popular ballads and amassing 17 number-one country hits. His straightforward yet smooth bass-baritone voice, soft tones, and imposing build earned him the nickname "The Gentle Giant". In 1975, Williams starred in a movie with Burt Reynolds and Jerry Reed called W.W. and the Dixie Dancekings. Read more
• 27 May 1937: Allan Carr, American playwright and producer (died 1999) Allan Carr was an American producer and manager of stage and screen. He was nominated for numerous awards, winning a Tony Award and two People's Choice Awards, and was named Producer of the Year by the National Association of Theatre Owners. Read more
• 27 May 1936: Benjamin Bathurst, English admiral (died 2025) Admiral of the Fleet Sir David Benjamin Bathurst, was a British Royal Navy officer. After training as a pilot and qualifying as a helicopter instructor, Bathurst commanded a naval air squadron and then two frigates before achieving higher command in the navy. He served as First Sea Lord and Chief of the Naval Staff from 1993 to 1995: in that capacity he advised the British Government on the deployment of naval support including Sea Harriers during the Bosnian War. Read more
• 27 May 1936: Louis Gossett Jr., American actor and producer (died 2024) Louis Cameron Gossett Jr. was an American actor. He made his stage debut at age 17. Shortly thereafter, Gossett successfully auditioned for the Broadway play Take a Giant Step. He continued acting onstage in critically acclaimed plays including A Raisin in the Sun (1959), The Blacks (1961), Tambourines to Glory (1963), and The Zulu and the Zayda (1965). In 1977, Gossett appeared in the popular miniseries Roots, for which he won Outstanding Lead Actor for a Single Appearance in a Drama or Comedy Series at the Emmy Awards. Read more
• 27 May 1936: Marcel Masse, Canadian educator and politician, 29th Canadian Minister of National Defence (died 2014) Marcel Masse was a Canadian politician. He served as a Quebec MLA, federal MP and federal cabinet minister. Read more
• 27 May 1935: Daniel Colchico, American football player and coach (died 2014) Daniel Mametta Colchico was an American athlete who played defensive end in the National Football League (NFL). Read more
• 27 May 1935: Mal Evans, British road manager of The Beatles (died 1976) Malcolm Frederick Evans was an English road manager and personal assistant employed by the Beatles from 1963 until their break-up in 1970. Read more
• 27 May 1935: Jerry Kindall, American baseball player and coach (died 2017) Gerald Donald Kindall was an American professional baseball player and college baseball player and coach. He was primarily a second baseman in Major League Baseball (MLB) who appeared in 742 games played over nine seasons for the Chicago Cubs, Cleveland Indians (1962–64), and Minnesota Twins (1964–65). After his playing career, he became the head baseball coach of the University of Arizona Wildcats, winning 860 games and three College World Series (CWS) championships over 24 seasons (1973–1996). Kindall batted and threw right-handed and was listed as 6 feet 2 inches (1.88 m) tall and 175 pounds (79 kg). Read more
• 27 May 1935: Ramsey Lewis, American jazz pianist and composer (died 2022) Ramsey Emmanuel Lewis Jr. was an American jazz pianist, composer, and radio personality. Lewis recorded over 80 albums and received five gold records and three Grammy Awards in his career. His album The In Crowd earned Lewis critical praise and the 1965 Grammy Award for Best Jazz Performance. His best known singles include "The 'In' Crowd", "Wade in the Water", and "Sun Goddess". Until 2009, he was the host of the Ramsey Lewis Morning Show on the Chicago radio station WNUA. Read more
• 27 May 1935: Lee Meriwether, American model and actress, Miss America 1955 Lee Ann Meriwether is an American retired actress and the winner of the 1955 Miss America pageant. She has appeared in many films and television shows, notably as Betty Jones, the title character's secretary and daughter-in-law in the 1970s crime drama Barnaby Jones starring Buddy Ebsen. The role earned her two Golden Globe Award nominations in 1975 and 1976, and an Emmy Award nomination in 1977. She is also known for her portrayal of Catwoman, replacing Julie Newmar in the theatrical film Batman (1966), and for a co-starring role on the science-fiction series The Time Tunnel. Meriwether had a recurring role as Ruth Martin on the daytime soap opera All My Children until the end of the series in September 2011. Read more
• 27 May 1934: Ray Daviault, Canadian-American baseball player (died 2020) Raymond Joseph Robert Daviault was a Canadian professional baseball player. The right-handed pitcher, a native of Montreal, Quebec, had an 11-season (1953–63) professional career, but spent only part of one season in the Major Leagues, appearing in 36 games for the 1962 New York Mets, the first season in that expansion team's history. He stood 6 feet 1 inch (1.85 m) tall and weighed 175 pounds (79 kg). Read more
• 27 May 1934: Harlan Ellison, American author and screenwriter (died 2018) Harlan Jay Ellison was an American writer, known for his prolific and influential work in New Wave speculative fiction and for his outspoken, combative personality. His published works include more than 1,700 short stories, novellas, screenplays, comic-book scripts, teleplays, essays, and a wide range of criticism covering literature, film, television, and print media. Read more
• 27 May 1933: Edward Samuel Rogers, Canadian businessman (died 2008) Edward Samuel "Ted" Rogers Jr., was a Canadian businessman and philanthropist who served as the president and CEO of Rogers Communications. He was the fifth-richest person in Canada in terms of net worth. Read more
• 27 May 1933: Manfred Sommer, Spanish author and illustrator (died 2007) Manfred Sommer was a Spanish comics artist, best known for the reporter comics series Frank Cappa. Read more
• 27 May 1931: André Barbeau, French-Canadian neurologist (died 1986) André Barbeau, was a French Canadian neurologist. He was known for his research into Parkinson's disease and Friedreich's ataxia and taurine research. Read more
• 27 May 1931: John Chapple, English field marshal and politician, Governor of Gibraltar (died 2022) Field Marshal Sir John Lyon Chapple, was a British Army officer who served as Chief of the General Staff (CGS), the professional head of the British Army, from 1988 to 1992. Early in his military career he saw action during the Malayan Emergency and again during the Indonesia–Malaysia confrontation and later in his career he provided advice to the British government during the Gulf War. Read more
• 27 May 1931: Bernard Fresson, French actor (died 2002) Bernard Fresson was a French actor who primarily worked in film. Read more
• 27 May 1931: Faten Hamama, Egyptian actress and producer (died 2015) Faten Ahmed Hamama was an Egyptian film and television actress and film producer. She made her screen debut in 1939, when she was only seven years old. Her earliest roles were minor, but her activity and gradual success helped to establish her as a distinguished Egyptian actress. Later revered as an icon in Egyptian cinema. In 1996, nine of the films she starred in were included in the Top hundred films in the history of Egyptian cinema by the cinema critics of Cairo International Film Festival. Read more
• 27 May 1931: Philip Kotler, American author and professor Philip Kotler is an American marketing author, consultant, and professor emeritus. He was the S. C. Johnson & Son Distinguished Professor of International Marketing at the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University (1962–2018). He is known for popularizing the concept of the marketing mix. He is the author of over 80 books, including Marketing Management, Principles of Marketing, Kotler on Marketing, Marketing Insights from A to Z, Marketing 4.0, Marketing Places, Marketing of Nations, Chaotics, Market Your Way to Growth, Winning Global Markets, Strategic Marketing for Health Care Organizations, Social Marketing, Social Media Marketing, My Adventures in Marketing, Up and Out of Poverty, and Winning at Innovation. Kotler has described strategic marketing as "the link between society's needs and its pattern of industrial response." Read more
• 27 May 1930: John Barth, American novelist and short story writer (died 2024) John Simmons Barth was an American writer best known for his postmodern and metafictional fiction. His most highly regarded and influential works were published in the 1960s, and include The Sot-Weed Factor, a whimsical retelling of Maryland's colonial history; Giles Goat-Boy, a satirical fantasy in which a university is a microcosm of the Cold War world; and Lost in the Funhouse, a self-referential and experimental collection of short stories. He was co-recipient of the National Book Award in 1973 for his episodic novel Chimera. Read more
• 27 May 1930: William S. Sessions, American civil servant and judge, 8th Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (died 2020) William Steele Sessions was an American attorney and jurist who served as a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Western District of Texas and the fourth Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Sessions served as FBI director from 1987 to 1993, when he was dismissed by President Bill Clinton. After leaving the public sector, Sessions represented Semion Mogilevich, international leader of the Russian mafia. He is the father of Texas Congressman Pete Sessions. Read more
• 27 May 1930: Eino Tamberg, Estonian composer and educator (died 2010) Eino Tamberg was an Estonian composer whose works are performed internationally. He composed operas such as Cyrano de Bergerac, four symphonies, and several concertos. He taught composition for decades at the Estonian Academy of Music. Read more
• 27 May 1928: Thea Musgrave, Scottish-American composer and educator Thea Musgrave CBE is a Scottish composer of opera and classical music. She has lived in the United States since 1972. Read more
• 27 May 1927: Jüri Randviir, Estonian chess player and journalist (died 1996) Jüri Randviir was an Estonian chess player and journalist, who four times won the Estonian Chess Championship. Read more
• 27 May 1925: Tony Hillerman, American journalist and author (died 2008) Anthony Grove Hillerman was an American author of detective novels and nonfiction works, best known for his mystery novels featuring Navajo Nation Police officers Joe Leaphorn and Jim Chee. Several of his works have been adapted for film and television, including the AMC series Dark Winds. Read more
• 27 May 1924: Jaime Lusinchi, Venezuelan physician and politician, President of Venezuela (died 2014) Jaime Ramón Lusinchi was the president of Venezuela from 1984 to 1989. His term was characterized by an economic crisis, growth of the external debt, populist policies, currency depreciation, inflation and corruption that exacerbated the crisis of the political system established in 1958. Read more
• 27 May 1924: John Sumner, English-Australian director, founded the Melbourne Theatre Company (died 2013) John Hackman Sumner was an English and Australian theatre director, producer and impresario. He was the founder and artistic director of the Melbourne Theatre Company in Australia, gathering a group of later internationally famous stars including Ray Lawler, Zoe Caldwell, Barry Humphries and Fred Parslow. Read more
• 27 May 1923: Henry Kissinger, German-American political scientist and politician, 56th United States Secretary of State, Nobel Prize laureate (died 2023) Henry Alfred Kissinger was an American diplomat, political scientist, and politician. A member of the Republican Party, he served as the 7th national security advisor from 1969 to 1975 and as the 56th United States secretary of state from 1973 to 1977, serving under presidents Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford. Read more
• 27 May 1923: Sumner Redstone, American businessman and philanthropist (died 2020) Sumner Murray Redstone was an American billionaire businessman and media magnate. He was the founder and chairman of the second incarnation of Viacom, chairman of CBS Corporation, and the majority owner and chairman of the National Amusements theater chain. Read more
• 27 May 1922: Otto Carius, German lieutenant and pharmacist (died 2015) Otto Carius was a German tank commander in the Wehrmacht during World War II. He fought on the Eastern Front in 1943 and 1944 and on the Western Front in 1945. Carius is considered a "panzer ace", some sources credited him with destroying more than 150 enemy tanks, although Carius, in an interview claims he had around 100 kills or less. This was also due to the fact that he did not count kills as a commander, and rather only as a gunner. He was a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves. Read more
• 27 May 1922: Christopher Lee, English actor (died 2015) Sir Christopher Frank Carandini Lee was an English actor and singer. In a career spanning over 60 years, he became known as an actor with tremendous screen presence and a deep and commanding voice who often portrayed villains in horror and franchise films. Lee was knighted for services to drama and charity in June 2009 by Charles Prince of Wales, and received the BAFTA Fellowship in 2011 and received the BFI Fellowship in 2013. Read more
• 27 May 1922: John D. Vanderhoof, American banker and politician, 37th Governor of Colorado (died 2013) John David Vanderhoof was an American politician. A member of the Republican Party, Vanderhoof served as the 37th governor of Colorado from 1973 to 1975, assuming the office from John Arthur Love, who was appointed to the National Energy Policy Office by President Richard Nixon. Vanderhoof served out the remainder of Love's term, but failed to win a term in his own right, being defeated by Democrat Richard Lamm in the 1974 election. Read more
• 27 May 1921: Bob Godfrey, Australian-English animator, director, and voice actor (died 2013) Roland Frederick Godfrey MBE, known as Bob Godfrey, was an English animator whose career spanned more than fifty years. He is probably best known for the children's cartoon series Roobarb (1974), Noah and Nelly in… SkylArk (1976–77) and Henry's Cat (1983–1993) and for the Trio chocolate biscuit advertisements shown in the UK during the early 1980s. However, he also produced a BAFTA and Academy award-winning short film, Great (1975), a humorous biography of Isambard Kingdom Brunel. Further Academy Awards nominations received were for Kama Sutra Rides Again (1971), Dream Doll (1979), with Zlatko Grgic, and Small Talk (1994) with animator Kevin Baldwin. Read more
• 27 May 1918: Yasuhiro Nakasone, Japanese commander and politician, 45th Prime Minister of Japan (died 2019) Yasuhiro Nakasone was a Japanese politician who served as Prime Minister of Japan from 1982 to 1987. His political term was best known for pushing through the privatization of state-owned companies, pursuing a hawkish and pro-United States foreign policy and his rejection of Keynesianism and his support of neoliberalism. Read more
• 27 May 1917: Harry Webster, English engineer (died 2007) Henry George Webster, CBE was a British automotive engineer. He is best known for his work at the Triumph Motor Company throughout the 1950s and 1960s. Read more
• 27 May 1915: Ester Soré, Chilean singer-songwriter (died 1996) Ester Soré was the main singer of Chilean melodies of the 20th century. She recorded for the first time, the successful one "Chile Lindo" ("Pretty Chile"), of Clara Solovera, and did not only contribute to enriching the way to interpret those songs thanks to a voice recognized among the clearest and expressive of her time. Besides she was a popular artist in an extensive sense: on the radio, recordings, tours and movies. Read more
• 27 May 1915: Herman Wouk, American novelist (died 2019) Herman Wouk was an American author. He published 15 novels, many of them historical fiction such as The Caine Mutiny (1951), for which he won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1952. Other well-known works included The Winds of War and War and Remembrance, the bildungsroman Marjorie Morningstar; and non-fiction such as This Is My God, an explanation of Judaism from a Modern Orthodox perspective, written for Jewish and non-Jewish readers. His books have been translated into 27 languages. Read more
• 27 May 1912: John Cheever, American novelist and short story writer (died 1982) John William Cheever was an American short story writer and novelist. He is sometimes called "the Chekhov of the suburbs". His fiction is mostly set on the Upper East Side of Manhattan; the Westchester suburbs; old New England villages based on various South Shore towns around Quincy, Massachusetts, where he was born; and Italy, especially Rome. His short stories included "The Enormous Radio", "Goodbye, My Brother", "The Five-Forty-Eight", "The Country Husband", and "The Swimmer", and he also wrote five novels: The Wapshot Chronicle ,
  The Wapshot Scandal, Bullet Park (1969), Falconer (1977) and a novella, Oh What a Paradise It Seems (1982). Read more
• 27 May 1912: Sam Snead, American golfer and sportscaster (died 2002) Samuel Jackson Snead was an American professional golfer who was one of the top players in the world for the better part of four decades and widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all time. Snead was awarded a record 94 gold medallions, for wins in PGA of America Tour events and later credited with winning a record 82 PGA Tour events tied with Tiger Woods, including seven majors. He never won the U.S. Open, though he was runner-up four times. Snead was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 1974. Read more
• 27 May 1912: Terry Moore, American baseball player, coach, and manager (died 1995) Terry Bluford Moore was an American professional baseball center fielder, manager, and coach. He played 11 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the St. Louis Cardinals from 1935 to 1948, and later coached for them from 1949 to 1958. Moore also briefly managed the 1954 Philadelphia Phillies, taking the reins from Steve O’Neill, for the second half of the season. Read more
• 27 May 1911: Hubert Humphrey, American journalist and politician, 38th Vice President of the United States (died 1978) Hubert Horatio Humphrey Jr. was an American politician who served from 1965 to 1969 as the 38th vice president of the United States. He twice served in the United States Senate, representing Minnesota from 1949 to 1964 and from 1971 to 1978. As a senator, he was a major leader of modern liberalism in the United States. As President Lyndon B. Johnson's vice president, he supported the controversial Vietnam War. An intensely divided Democratic Party nominated him in the 1968 presidential election, which he lost to Republican nominee Richard Nixon. Read more
• 27 May 1911: Teddy Kollek, Hungarian-Israeli politician, Mayor of Jerusalem (died 2007) Theodor "Teddy" Kollek was an Israeli politician who served as the mayor of Jerusalem from 1965 to 1993. Read more
• 27 May 1911: Vincent Price, American actor (died 1993) Vincent Leonard Price Jr. was an American actor, known to film audiences for his work in the horror genre, mostly portraying villains. He appeared on stage, television, and radio, and in more than 100 films. Price has two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, one for motion pictures and one for television. Read more
• 27 May 1909: Dolores Hope, American singer and philanthropist (died 2011) Dolores Hope, DC*SG was an American singer, entertainer, philanthropist, and wife of American actor and comedian Bob Hope. Read more
• 27 May 1909: Juan Vicente Pérez, Venezuelan supercentenarian, oldest living man, last man born in 1900s decade (died 2024) Juan Vicente Pérez Mora was a Venezuelan supercentenarian who, until his death aged 114 years, 311 days, was the world's oldest verified living man following the death of Spain's Saturnino de la Fuente García on 18 January 2022. Read more
• 27 May 1907: Nicolas Calas, Greek-American poet and critic (died 1988) Nicolas Calas was the pseudonym of Nikos Kalamaris, a Greek-American poet and art critic. While living in Greece, he also used the pseudonyms Nikitas Randos and M. Spieros. Read more
• 27 May 1907: Rachel Carson, American biologist, environmentalist, and author (died 1964) Rachel Louise Carson was an American marine biologist, writer, and conservationist whose sea trilogy (1941–1955) and book Silent Spring (1962) are credited with advancing marine conservation and the global environmental movement. Read more
• 27 May 1906: Buddhadasa, Thai monk and philosopher (died 1993) Buddhadasa was a Thai Buddhist monk. Known as an innovative reinterpreter of Buddhist doctrine and Thai folk beliefs, he fostered a reformation in conventional religious perceptions in his home country, Thailand, as well as abroad. He developed a personal view that those who have penetrated the essential nature of religions consider "all religions to be inwardly the same", while those who have the highest understanding of dhamma feel "there is no religion". Buddhadasa was also known for his political engagement and developed a form of Buddhist socialism he called "Dhammic socialism". Read more
• 27 May 1906: Harry Hibbs, English footballer (died 1984) Henry Edward Hibbs was an English footballer who played as a goalkeeper for Birmingham and England in the 1920s and 1930s. His uncle Hubert Pearson and cousin Harold Pearson were also professional players. Read more
• 27 May 1906: Antonio Rosario Mennonna, Italian bishop (died 2009) Antonio Rosario Mennonna was an Italian prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. At the time of his death at the age of 103, he was the second-oldest bishop in the Church, behind Antoine Nguyên Van Thien. Read more
• 27 May 1900: Lotte Toberentz, German overseer of the Nazi Uckermark concentration camp (died 1964) Lotte Toberentz, born Maria Charlotte Toberentz was a German concentration camp overseer in Nazi Germany. She was tried in the Third Ravensbrück Trials but was acquitted of crimes due to lack of evidence. Read more
• 27 May 1900: Uładzimir Žyłka, Belarusian poet and translator (died 1933) Uladzimir Zhylka was a Belarusian poet. Read more
• 27 May 1899: Johannes Türn, Estonian chess and draughts player (died 1993) Johannes Türn was an Estonian chess player. Read more
• 27 May 1898: David Crosthwait, American engineer, inventor and writer (died 1976) David Nelson Crosthwait Jr. was an African-American mechanical and electrical engineer, inventor, and writer. Crosthwait's expertise was on air ventilation, central air conditioning, and heat transfer systems. He was responsible for creating heating systems for larger buildings such as Rockefeller Center and New York's Radio City Music Hall. He was granted an honorary doctoral degree in 1975 from Purdue University. In 1971, Crosthwait was elected as a fellow of the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE), making him the first African American fellow. Crosthwait was also named a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). Read more
• 27 May 1897: John Cockcroft, English physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1967) Sir John Douglas Cockcroft was a British experimental physicist who shared the 1951 Nobel Prize in Physics with Ernest Walton for their splitting of the atomic nucleus, which led to the development of nuclear power and weapons. Read more
• 27 May 1897: Dink Templeton, American rugby player and coach (died 1962) Robert Lyman "Dink" Templeton was an American track and field athlete, Olympic gold medalist in rugby union, college football player, and track coach. Read more
• 27 May 1895: Douglas Lloyd Campbell, Canadian educator and politician, 13th Premier of Manitoba (died 1995) Douglas Lloyd Campbell was a Canadian politician in Manitoba. He served as the 13th premier of Manitoba from 1948 to 1958. He was a member of the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba for 47 years, longer than anyone in the province's history. Read more
• 27 May 1894: Louis-Ferdinand Céline, French physician and author (died 1961) Louis Ferdinand Auguste Destouches, better known by the pen name Louis-Ferdinand Céline, was a French novelist, polemicist, and physician. His first novel Journey to the End of the Night (1932) won the Prix Renaudot but divided critics due to the author's pessimistic depiction of the human condition and his writing style based on working-class speech. In subsequent novels such as Death on the Installment Plan (1936), Guignol's Band (1944) and Castle to Castle (1957), Céline further developed an innovative and distinctive literary style. Maurice Nadeau wrote: "What Joyce did for the English language…what the surrealists attempted to do for the French language, Céline achieved effortlessly and on a vast scale." Read more
• 27 May 1894: Dashiell Hammett, American detective novelist and screenwriter (died 1961) Samuel Dashiell Hammett was an American writer of hard-boiled detective novels and short stories. He was also a screenwriter and political activist. Among the characters he created are Sam Spade, Nick and Nora Charles, The Continental Op and the comic strip character Secret Agent X-9. Read more
• 27 May 1891: Claude Champagne, Canadian violinist, pianist, and composer (died 1965) Claude Champagne was a French Canadian composer, teacher, pianist, and violinist. Read more
• 27 May 1891: Jaan Kärner, Estonian poet and author (died 1958) Jaan Kärner was an Estonian poet and writer. He is known especially for his nature poetry. Many of his poems were set to music by Estonian composers of choral music. Kärner also wrote numerous novels, plays, works of literary criticism, and scientific literature and historical treatises. He translated works from German and Russian, most notably the poems of Heinrich Heine into Estonian in 1934. Read more
• 27 May 1888: Louis Durey, French composer (died 1979) Louis Edmond Durey was a French composer. He was among the Les Six group of composers. Read more
• 27 May 1887: Frank Woolley, English cricketer (died 1978) Frank Edward Woolley was an English professional cricketer who played for Kent County Cricket Club between 1906 and 1938 and represented the England cricket team. A genuine all-rounder, Woolley was a left-handed batsman and a left-arm bowler. He was also an outstanding close-in fielder and remains the only non-wicket-keeper to have taken more than 1,000 catches in a first-class career. His aggregate of runs scored is the second-highest in first-class cricket history, while his total number of wickets places him 28th overall. Read more
• 27 May 1884: Max Brod, Czech journalist, author, and composer (died 1968) Max Brod was an Israeli author, composer and journalist, born as a German-speaking Czech. He is notable for promoting the work of writer Franz Kafka and composer Leoš Janáček. Read more
• 27 May 1883: Jessie Arms Botke, American painter (died 1971) Jessie Hazel Arms Botke was an Illinois and California painter noted for her bird images and use of gold leaf highlights. Read more
• 27 May 1879: Karl Bühler, German-American linguist and psychologist (died 1963) Karl Ludwig Bühler was a German psychologist and linguist. In psychology he is known for his work in Gestalt psychology, and he was one of the founders of the Würzburg School of psychology. In linguistics he is known for his organon model of communication and his treatment of deixis as a linguistic phenomenon. Read more
• 27 May 1879: Hans Lammers, German judge and politician (died 1962) Hans Heinrich Lammers was a German jurist and prominent Nazi Party politician. From 1933 until 1945 he served as Chief of the Reich Chancellery under Adolf Hitler. In 1937, he additionally was given the post of Reichsminister in the cabinet. During the 1948–1949 Ministries Trial, Lammers was found guilty of crimes against peace, war crimes, crimes against humanity, and membership in a criminal organization. He was sentenced to 20 years in prison in April 1949, but this was later reduced to 10 years and he was released early. Read more
• 27 May 1878: Anna Cervin, Swedish artist (died 1972) Anna Kristina Cervin was a Swedish artist, primarily known for her painting work. Read more
• 27 May 1876: Ferdynand Antoni Ossendowski, Polish journalist and author (died 1945) Ferdynand Antoni Ossendowski was a Polish writer, explorer, university professor, and anticommunist political activist. He is known for his books about Lenin and the Russian Civil War in which he participated. Read more
• 27 May 1876: William Stanier, English engineer (died 1965) Sir William Arthur Stanier was an English railway engineer, and was chief mechanical engineer of the London, Midland and Scottish Railway. Read more
• 27 May 1875: Frederick Cuming, English cricketer (died 1942) A cricket match was played as part of the 1900 Summer Olympics, which took place on 19–20 August at the Vélodrome de Vincennes between teams representing Great Britain and France. Read more
• 27 May 1875: Jorge Newbery, Argentine aviator (died 1914) Jorge Alejandro Newbery Malagarie was an Argentine aviator, civil servant, engineer and scientist. He died in an airplane crash on 1 March 1914, at the age of 38. Read more
• 27 May 1871: Georges Rouault, French painter and illustrator (died 1958) Georges-Henri Rouault was a French painter, draughtsman, and printmaker, whose work is often associated with Fauvism and Expressionism. Read more
• 27 May 1868: Aleksa Šantić, Bosnian poet and author (died 1924) Aleksa Šantić was a Herzegovinian Serb poet and writer from Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina. Šantić wrote about the urban culture of his hometown Mostar and Herzegovina, the growing national awareness of Bosnian Serbs, social injustice, nostalgic love, and the unity of the South Slavs. He was the editor-in-chief of the magazine Zora (1896–1901). Šantić was one of the leading persons of Serbian literary and national movement in Mostar. In 1914 Šantić became a member of the Serbian Royal Academy. Read more
• 27 May 1867: Arnold Bennett, English author and playwright (died 1931) Enoch Arnold Bennett was an English author, best known as a novelist, who wrote prolifically. Between the 1890s and the 1930s he completed 34 novels, seven volumes of short stories, 13 plays, and a daily journal totalling more than a million words. He wrote articles and stories for more than 100 newspapers and periodicals, worked in and briefly ran the Ministry of Information during the First World War, and wrote for the cinema in the 1920s. Sales of his books were substantial, and he was the most financially successful British author of his day. Read more
• 27 May 1863: Arthur Mold, English cricketer (died 1921) Arthur Webb Mold was an English professional cricketer who played first-class cricket for Lancashire as a fast bowler between 1889 and 1901. A Wisden Cricketer of the Year in 1892, he was selected for England in three Test matches in 1893. Mold was one of the most effective bowlers in England during the 1890s but his career was overshadowed by controversy over his bowling action. Although he took 1,673 wickets in first-class matches, many commentators viewed his achievements as tainted. Read more
• 27 May 1860: Manuel Teixeira Gomes, Portuguese politician, 7th President of Portugal (died 1941) Manuel Teixeira Gomes was a Portuguese politician who served as the president of Portugal from 1923 to 1925. Read more
• 27 May 1860: Margrethe Munthe, Norwegian songwriter (died 1931) Margrethe Aabel Munthe was a Norwegian teacher, children's writer, songwriter and playwright. Read more
• 27 May 1857: Theodor Curtius, German chemist (died 1928) Geheimrat Julius Wilhelm Theodor Curtius was professor of Chemistry at Heidelberg University. He published the Curtius rearrangement in 1890/1894 and also discovered diazoacetic acid, hydrazine and hydrazoic acid. In 1882 he carried out the first ever peptide synthesis, creating the N-protected dipeptide, benzoylglycylglycine. Read more
• 27 May 1852: Billy Barnes, English cricketer (died 1899) William Barnes was an English professional cricketer who played for Nottinghamshire County Cricket Club from 1875 to 1894, and in 21 Test matches for England from 1880 to 1890. He was born at Sutton-in-Ashfield, Nottinghamshire, and died at Mansfield Woodhouse, Nottinghamshire. Read more
• 27 May 1837: Wild Bill Hickok, American police officer (died 1876) James Butler Hickok, better known as "Wild Bill" Hickok, was a folk hero of the American Old West known for his life on the frontier as a soldier, scout, lawman, cattle rustler, gunslinger, gambler, showman, and actor, and for his involvement in many famous gunfights. He earned a great deal of notoriety in his own time, much of it bolstered by the many outlandish and often fabricated tales he told about himself. Some contemporaneous reports of his exploits are known to be fictitious, but they remain the basis of much of his fame and reputation. Read more
• 27 May 1836: Jay Gould, American businessman and financier (died 1892) Jay Gould was an American railroad magnate and financial speculator who founded the Gould business dynasty. He is generally identified as one of the robber barons of the Gilded Age. His sharp and often unscrupulous business practices made him one of the wealthiest men of the late 19th century. Gould was an unpopular figure during his life and remains controversial. Read more
• 27 May 1832: Zenas Ferry Moody, American surveyor and politician, 7th Governor of Oregon (died 1917) Zenas Ferry Moody was the seventh governor of Oregon from 1882 to 1887. Read more
• 27 May 1827: Samuel F. Miller, American lawyer and politician (died 1892) Samuel Franklin Miller was a United States representative from New York during the latter half of the American Civil War. Read more
• 27 May 1819: Julia Ward Howe, American poet and songwriter (died 1910) Julia Ward Howe was an American author and poet, known for writing the "Battle Hymn of the Republic" as new lyrics to the song "John Brown's Body," and the original 1870 pacifist Mothers' Day Proclamation. She was also an advocate for abolitionism and a social activist, particularly for women's suffrage. Read more
• 27 May 1818: Amelia Bloomer, American journalist and activist (died 1894) Amelia Jenks Bloomer was an American newspaper editor, women's rights and temperance advocate. Even though she did not create the women's clothing reform style known as bloomers, her name became associated with it because of her early and strong advocacy. In her work with The Lily, she became the first woman to own, operate and edit a newspaper for women. Read more
• 27 May 1815: Henry Parkes, English-Australian politician, 7th Premier of New South Wales (died 1896) Sir Henry Parkes, was a colonial Australian politician and the longest-serving non-consecutive premier of the Colony of New South Wales, the present-day state of New South Wales in the Commonwealth of Australia. He has been referred to as the "Father of Federation" due to his early promotion for the federation of the six colonies of Australia, as an early critic of British convict transportation and as a proponent for the expansion of the Australian continental rail network. Read more
• 27 May 1814: John Rudolph Niernsee, Viennese-born American architect (died 1885) John Rudolph Niernsee was an American architect. He served as the head architect for the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. Rudolph also largely contributed to the design and construction of the South Carolina State House located in Columbia, South Carolina. Along with his partner, James Crawford Neilson, Rudolph established the standard for professional design and construction of public works projects within Baltimore and across different states in the United States. Read more
• 27 May 1812: George K. Teulon, English-Texian journalist and freemason (died 1846) George Knight Teulon was a 19th-century English-Texian journalist and freemason who was a cofounder and the editor of The Austin City Gazette, the first newspaper published in Austin, the capital of the Republic of Texas, and the publisher of The Western Advocate. Read more

🕊️ Important Deaths on 27 May in World History

• 27 May 2025: Freddie Aguilar, Filipino musician and singer-songwriter (born 1953) Ferdinand "Freddie" Pascual Aguilar, also known by his Muslim name Abdul Farid, was a Filipino musician regarded as one of the pillars and icons of Original Pilipino Music (OPM). He was best known for his international hit "Anak" (1978), which became the best-selling Philippine music record of all time, selling 33 million copies worldwide. His rendition of "Bayan Ko" became the anthem of the opposition against the regime of Ferdinand Marcos during the 1986 People Power Revolution. He was heavily associated with Pinoy rock. Read more
• 27 May 2024: Elizabeth MacRae, American actress (born 1936) Elizabeth Hendon MacRae was an American actress who performed in dozens of television series and in nine feature films, working predominantly in productions released between 1958 and the late 1980s. Among her more widely recognized roles was her recurring character Lou-Ann Poovie on the sitcom Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C., which was originally broadcast from 1964 to 1969. Read more
• 27 May 2024: Bill Walton, American basketball player and sportscaster (born 1952) William Theodore Walton III was an American basketball player and television sportscaster. He played collegiately for the UCLA Bruins and professionally in the National Basketball Association (NBA) for the Portland Trail Blazers, San Diego / Los Angeles Clippers, and Boston Celtics. He is a member of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame and the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame. Read more
• 27 May 2021: Poul Schlüter, former Prime Minister of Denmark (born 1929) Poul Holmskov Schlüter was a Danish politician who served as Prime Minister of Denmark from 1982 to 1993. He was the first member of the Conservative People's Party to become prime minister, as well as the first conservative to hold the office since 1901. Schlüter was a member of the Folketing for the Conservative People's Party from 1964 to 1994. He was also Chairman of the Conservative People's Party from 1974 to 1977 and from 1981 to 1993. Read more
• 27 May 2020: Larry Kramer, American playwright, public health advocate and LGBT rights activist (born 1935) Laurence David Kramer was an American playwright, author, film producer, public health advocate, and gay rights activist. He began his career rewriting scripts while working for Columbia Pictures, which led him to London, where he worked with United Artists. There he wrote the screenplay for the film Women in Love (1969) and received an Academy Award nomination for his work. Read more
• 27 May 2018: Gardner Dozois, American science fiction author and editor (born 1947) Gardner Raymond Dozois was an American science fiction author and editor. He was the founding editor of The Year's Best Science Fiction anthologies (1984–2018) and was editor of Asimov's Science Fiction (1986–2004), garnering multiple Hugo and Locus Awards for those works almost every year. He also won the Nebula Award for Best Short Story twice. He was inducted to the Science Fiction Hall of Fame on June 25, 2011. Read more
• 27 May 2017: Gregg Allman, American musician, singer and songwriter (born 1947) Gregory LeNoir Allman was an American musician, singer and songwriter. He was known for performing in the Allman Brothers Band. Allman grew up with an interest in rhythm and blues music, and the Allman Brothers Band fused it with rock music, jazz, and country. He wrote several of the band's most popular songs, including "Whipping Post", "Melissa", and "Midnight Rider". Allman also had a successful solo career, releasing eight studio albums. He was born and spent much of his childhood in Nashville, Tennessee, before relocating to Daytona Beach, Florida, and then Macon, Georgia. Read more
• 27 May 2015: Erik Carlsson, Swedish rally driver (born 1929) Erik Hilding Carlsson was a Swedish rally driver for Saab. He was nicknamed "Carlsson på taket" as well as Mr. Saab. Read more
• 27 May 2015: Nils Christie, Norwegian sociologist, criminologist, and author (born 1928) Nils Christie was a Norwegian sociologist and criminologist. He was a professor of criminology at the Faculty of Law, University of Oslo. Considered a leading figure of his field, Christie is one of two Norwegian social scientists covered in the book 50 Key Thinkers in Criminology, alongside sociologist Thomas Mathiesen. Read more
• 27 May 2015: Andy King, English footballer and manager (born 1956) Andrew Edward King was an English professional footballer who played as a midfielder. He made 350 appearances and scored 92 goals in the Football League in the 1970s and 1980s, and also played abroad. He was capped twice by England at under-21 level. After retiring as a player, he had a lengthy career in management. Read more
• 27 May 2015: Michael Martin, American philosopher and academic (born 1932) Michael Lou Martin was an American philosopher and former professor at Boston University. Martin specialized in the philosophy of religion, although he also worked on the philosophies of science, law, and social science. He served with the US Marine Corps in Korea. Read more
• 27 May 2014: Robert Genn, Canadian painter and author (born 1936) Robert Douglas Genn was a Canadian artist, who gained recognition for his style, which is in the tradition of Canadian landscape painting. He ran a painters' website, which sends out twice weekly newsletters to 135,000 artists. In 2005, Genn campaigned against the Chinese website arch-world.com, which was selling thousands of high-resolution images of around 2,800 artists' work illegally without permission. He succeeded to an extent. Read more
• 27 May 2014: Helma Sanders-Brahms, German director, producer, and screenwriter (born 1940) Helma Sanders-Brahms was a German film director, screenwriter and producer. Read more
• 27 May 2014: Roberto Vargas, Puerto Rican-American baseball player, coach, and manager (born 1929) Roberto Enrique Vargas Vélez was a Puerto Rican pitcher in Major League Baseball and Negro league baseball. Vargas played for the Chicago American Giants for one season in 1948, in which he was named a Negro League All-Star. He also played one season for the Milwaukee Braves of the National League during the 1955 season. He was born in Santurce, Puerto Rico. Read more
• 27 May 2014: Massimo Vignelli, Italian-American graphic designer (born 1931) Massimo Vignelli was an Italian designer active in graphic design, industrial design, furniture, and architecture. He worked within the modernist tradition, emphasizing simplicity through the use of basic geometric forms. With his wife Lella, Vignelli helped establish the New York office of Unimark International and Vignelli Associates. Read more
• 27 May 2013: Jagjit Singh Lyallpuri, Indian politician (born 1917) Jagjit Singh Lyallpuri was an Indian politician. He was the oldest surviving member of the founding Central Committee of the Communist Party of India (Marxist). Read more
• 27 May 2013: Bill Pertwee, English actor (born 1926) William Desmond Anthony Pertwee was an English actor and comedian. He played Chief ARP Warden Hodges in Dad's Army and P.C. Wilson in You Rang, M'Lord?. Read more
• 27 May 2013: Abdoulaye Sékou Sow, Malian politician, Prime Minister of Mali (born 1931) Abdoulaye Sékou Sow was a Malian politician who served as Prime Minister of Mali from 12 April 1993 to 4 February 1994 under President Alpha Oumar Konaré. Read more
• 27 May 2012: Simeon Daniel, Nevisian educator and politician, 1st Premier of Nevis (born 1934) Simeon Daniel was the first Premier of Nevis. Read more
• 27 May 2012: Friedrich Hirzebruch, German mathematician and academic (born 1927) Friedrich Ernst Peter Hirzebruch ForMemRS was a German mathematician, working in the fields of topology, complex manifolds and algebraic geometry, and a leading figure in his generation. He has been described as "the most important mathematician in Germany of the postwar period." Read more
• 27 May 2012: Anahit Perikhanian, Russian-born Armenian Iranologist (born 1928) Anahit Georgievna Perikhanian was a Soviet-born Armenian academic. An Iranologist, Perikhanian specialized in Sasanian jurisprudence, history and society. In addition to her work on many aspects of ancient and medieval Iran, Perikhanian was also interested in ancient inscriptions of Asia Minor and the Middle East, as well as Middle Iranian languages and Armenian language. She also spent much time researching Armenian philology and etymology, especially in relation to Iranian loanwords in the Armenian language, and contributed to the understanding of Aramaic inscriptions found in Armenia. Read more
• 27 May 2012: David Rimoin, Canadian-American geneticist and academic (born 1936) David Lawrence Rimoin was a Canadian American geneticist. He was especially noted for his research into the genetics of skeletal dysplasia (dwarfism), inheritable diseases such as Tay–Sachs disease, and diabetes. Read more
• 27 May 2011: Jeff Conaway, American actor and singer (born 1950) Jeffrey Charles William Michael Conaway was an American actor. He portrayed Kenickie in the film Grease and had roles in three television series: struggling actor Bobby Wheeler in Taxi (1978–1982), Prince Erik Greystone in Wizards and Warriors, and security officer Zack Allan on Babylon 5. Conaway was featured in the first and second seasons of the reality television series Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew. Read more
• 27 May 2011: Margo Dydek, Polish-American basketball player (born 1974) Małgorzata Teresa Dydek-Twigg, better known as Margo Dydek, was a Polish professional basketball player. Standing 7 ft 2 in (2.18 m) tall, she was the tallest professional female basketball player in the world. Playing center position, she won nine national championships in Poland and four in Spain during her career. Outside of Europe, she played 11 seasons in the WNBA, for three teams, and was a coach for the Northside Wizards in the Queensland Basketball League. She was awarded the Polish Gold Cross of Merit (1999). Read more
• 27 May 2011: Gil Scott-Heron, American singer-songwriter and poet (born 1949) Gilbert Scott-Heron was an American jazz poet, singer, musician and author, known for his work as a spoken-word performer in the 1970s and 1980s. His collaborative efforts with musician Brian Jackson fused jazz, blues and soul with lyrics relative to social and political issues of the time, delivered in both rapping and melismatic vocal styles. He referred to himself as a "bluesologist", his own term for "a scientist who is concerned with the origin of the blues". His poem "The Revolution Will Not Be Televised", delivered over a jazz-soul beat, is considered a major influence on hip hop music. Read more
• 27 May 2010: Payut Ngaokrachang, Thai animator and director (born 1929) Payut Ngaokrachang was a Thai cartoonist and animator. He created Thai cinema's first cel-animated feature film, The Adventure of Sudsakorn. Read more
• 27 May 2009: Thomas M. Franck, American lawyer and academic (born 1931) Thomas Martin Franck was an American legal scholar and expert on international law. Franck was the Murry and Ida Becker Professor of Law at New York University and advised many nations on legal matters, even helping some to write their constitutions. Read more
• 27 May 2009: Clive Granger, Welsh-American economist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1934) Sir Clive William John Granger was a British econometrician known for his contributions to nonlinear time series analysis. He taught in Britain, at the University of Nottingham and in the United States, at the University of California, San Diego. Granger was awarded the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences in 2003 in recognition of the contributions that he and his co-winner, Robert F. Engle, had made to the analysis of time series data. This work fundamentally changed the way in which economists analyse financial and macroeconomic data. Read more
• 27 May 2009: Mona Grey, British nursing administrator; Northern Ireland's first Chief Nursing Officer (born 1910)
  Mona Elizabeth Clara Grey was a British nurse who was named Northern Ireland's first Chief Nursing Officer (CNO) in 1960. Read more
• 27 May 2009: Abram Hoffer, Canadian biochemist, physician, and psychiatrist (born 1917) Abram Hoffer was a Canadian biochemist, physician, and psychiatrist known for his "adrenochrome hypothesis" of schizoaffective disorders. According to Hoffer, megavitamin therapy and other nutritional interventions are potentially effective treatments for cancer and schizophrenia. Hoffer was also involved in studies of LSD as an experimental therapy for alcoholism and the discovery that high-dose niacin can be used to treat high cholesterol and other dyslipidemias. Read more
• 27 May 2009: Gérard Jean-Juste, Haitian-American priest and theologian (born 1946) Gérard Jean-Juste was a Haitian Catholic priest who served as rector of Saint Claire's Church for the Poor in Port-au-Prince. He was also a liberation theologian and a supporter of the Fanmi Lavalas political party, as well as heading the Miami, Florida-based Haitian Refugee Center from 1977 to 1990. Read more
• 27 May 2009: Carol Anne O'Marie, American nun and author (born 1933) Sister Carol Anne O'Marie, C.S.J., was a Roman Catholic sister in the Religious Congregation of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet. She was also a mystery writer. Read more
• 27 May 2009: William Refshauge, Australian soldier and physician (born 1913) Major General Sir William Dudley Duncan Refshauge, was an Australian soldier and public health administrator. He was Honorary Physician to Queen Elizabeth II (1955–64), director-general of the Australian Government Department of Health (1960–73), and secretary-general of the World Medical Association (1973–76). Read more
• 27 May 2009: Paul Sharratt, English-American television host (born 1933)

  Paul William Sharratt, was an English-born Australian entertainer and television personality, and later an American television producer. Read more

• 27 May 2008: Franz Künstler, Hungarian soldier (born 1900) Franz Künstler was, at age 107, the last known surviving veteran of the First World War who fought for the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Following the death of 110-year-old Ottoman veteran Yakup Satar on 2 April 2008, he was also the last Central Powers veteran of any nationality. He was born in Sósd, in the Kingdom of Hungary, now Măureni, Romania. Read more
• 27 May 2007: Izumi Sakai, Japanese singer-songwriter (born 1967) Sachiko Kamachi , known professionally as Izumi Sakai , was a Japanese pop singer and core member of the group Zard. As Sakai was the only member in the group for the majority of the 16 years which it was active, Zard and Sakai may be referred to interchangeably. She was the best-selling female recording artist of the 1990s and has sold over 38 million copies of sales, making her one of the best-selling music artists in Japan of all time. Read more
• 27 May 2007: Gretchen Wyler, American actress and dancer (born 1932) Gretchen Wyler was an American actress and dancer. She was also an animal rights advocate and founder of the Genesis Awards for animal protection. Read more
• 27 May 2007: Ed Yost, American inventor, created the modern hot air balloon (born 1919) Paul Edward Yost was the American inventor of the modern hot air balloon and is referred to as the "Father of the Modern Day Hot-Air Balloon." He worked for a high-altitude research division of General Mills in the early 1950s until he left to establish Raven Industries in 1956, along with several colleagues from General Mills. Read more
• 27 May 2006: Rob Borsellino, American journalist (born 1949) Rob Borsellino was a newspaper columnist who worked for the Des Moines Register. His columns, which appeared three times weekly, became popular due to Borsellino's colloquial writing style and ability to tell a story straight from the heart. His columns appeared several times in such publications as USA Today, Chicago Tribune, and The Washington Post, and a compilation of Borsellino's columns were published in his 2005 book So I'm Talkin' To This Guy… (ISBN 1-888223-66-9). Read more
• 27 May 2006: Paul Gleason, American actor (born 1939) Paul Xavier Gleason was an American film and television actor. He was known for his roles on television series such as All My Children and films such as The Breakfast Club, Trading Places, and Die Hard. Read more
• 27 May 2006: Craig Heyward, American football player (born 1966) Craig William Heyward, nicknamed "Ironhead", was an American professional football player who was a fullback in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Pittsburgh Panthers. He then played for the New Orleans Saints, Chicago Bears, Atlanta Falcons, St. Louis Rams, and Indianapolis Colts in an 11-year NFL career. Read more
• 27 May 2003: Luciano Berio, Italian composer and educator (born 1925) Luciano Berio was an Italian composer noted for his experimental work, and for his pioneering work in electronic music. His early work was influenced by Igor Stravinsky and experiments with serial and electronic techniques, while his later works explore indeterminacy and the use of spoken texts as the basic material for composition. Read more
• 27 May 2002: Marjorie Ogilvie Anderson, Scottish historian (born 1909)

  Marjorie Ogilvie Anderson was a Scottish historian and paleographer. Read more

• 27 May 2000: Kazimierz Leski, Polish engineer and pilot (born 1912) Kazimierz Leski, nom de guerre Bradl, was a Polish engineer, co-designer of the Polish submarines ORP Sęp (1938) and ORP Orzeł, a fighter pilot, and an officer in World War II Home Army's intelligence and counter-intelligence. Read more
• 27 May 2000: Murray MacLehose, Baron MacLehose of Beoch, Scottish politician and diplomat, 25th Governor of Hong Kong (born 1917) Crawford Murray MacLehose, Baron MacLehose of Beoch,, was a British politician, diplomat and colonial official who served as the 25th Governor of Hong Kong, from 1971 to 1982. He was the longest-serving governor of the colony, with four successive terms in office. He previously worked for the British Council in China and was the British ambassador to South Vietnam and Denmark. Read more
• 27 May 2000: Maurice Richard, Canadian ice hockey player and coach (born 1921) Joseph Henri Maurice Richard was a Canadian professional ice hockey player who played 18 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Montreal Canadiens. He was the first player in NHL history to score 50 goals in one season, accomplishing the feat in 50 games in 1944–45, and the first to reach 500 career goals. Read more
• 27 May 1998: Minoo Masani, Indian lawyer and politician (born 1905) Minocher Rustom "Minoo" Masani was an Indian politician, a leading figure of the erstwhile Swatantra Party. He was a three-time Member of Parliament, representing Gujarat's Rajkot constituency in the second, third and fourth Lok Sabha. A Parsi, he was among the founders of the Indian Liberal Group think tank that promoted classical liberalism. Read more
• 27 May 1992: Uncle Charlie Osborne, American fiddler (born 1890) Charles Nelson Osborne, affectionately known as "Uncle Charlie," was a musician in the Appalachian Mountains of southwest Virginia. He was born in what is now known as Cowan Osborne Hollow, named for his father, in Copper Creek, Virginia. He was regionally famous from the time he was about 15 until his death at age 101 in 1992. Read more
• 27 May 1991: Leopold Nowak, Austrian musicologist and theorist (born 1904) Leopold Nowak was an Austrian musicologist chiefly known for editing the works of Anton Bruckner for the International Bruckner Society. He reconstructed the original form of some of those works, most of which had been revised and edited many times. Read more
• 27 May 1990: Robert B. Meyner, American lawyer and politician, 44th Governor of New Jersey (born 1908) Robert Baumle Meyner was an American Democratic Party politician and attorney who served as the 44th governor of New Jersey from 1954 to 1962. Before being elected governor, Meyner represented Warren County in the New Jersey Senate from 1948 to 1951. Read more
• 27 May 1989: Arseny Tarkovsky, Russian poet and translator (born 1907) Arseny Aleksandrovich Tarkovsky was a Soviet and Russian poet and translator. He was predeceased by his son, film director and screenwriter Andrei Tarkovsky. Read more
• 27 May 1988: Hjördis Petterson, Swedish actress (born 1908) Hjördis Olga Maria Petterson was a Swedish actress. She appeared in more than 140 films. She was born in Visby, Sweden and died in Stockholm. She had one child with her second husband, Fred Renstroem. Read more
• 27 May 1988: Ernst Ruska, German physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1906) Ernst August Friedrich Ruska was a German physicist who won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1986 for his work in electron optics, including the design of the first electron microscope. Read more
• 27 May 1987: John Howard Northrop, American biochemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1891) John Howard Northrop was an American biochemist who, with James Batcheller Sumner and Wendell Meredith Stanley, won the 1946 Nobel Prize in Chemistry. The award was given for these scientists' isolation, crystallization, and study of enzymes, proteins, and viruses. Northrop was a Professor of Bacteriology and Medical Physics, Emeritus, at University of California, Berkeley. Read more
• 27 May 1986: Murder of the Faruqis: Ismaʿil Raji al-Faruqi was a Palestinian-American Muslim philosopher and scholar of religion. He contributed significantly to Islamic studies, ethics, and interfaith dialogue, and is best known for pioneering the Islamization of knowledge and articulating tawhid (monotheism) as a comprehensive worldview. He proposed a model of meta-religion based on shared ethical values and the universal concept of divine unity. Read more
• 27 May 1986: Murder of the Faruqis: Lois Lamya al-Faruqi was an American scholar and expert on Islamic art and music. She made contributions to the field of ethnomusicology, particularly in the study of Islamic musical culture, and co-authored the work The Cultural Atlas of Islam with her husband, Ismail al-Faruqi. Read more
• 27 May 1986: Ajoy Mukherjee, Indian politician, Chief Minister of West Bengal (born 1901) Ajoy Kumar Mukherjee was an Indian independence activist and politician who served three short terms as the Chief Minister of West Bengal. He hailed from Tamluk, Purba Medinipur district, West Bengal. Read more
• 27 May 1986: Giorgos Tzifos, Greek actor and cinematographer (born 1918) Giorgos Tzifos was a Greek actor in theater and movies. He played mostly secondary roles in comedies, even Law 4000 of Giorgos Dalianidis. I Will Make You Queen and I de gyni na fovitai ton andra as a chauffeur. In 1982, he appeared in the movie Alaloum with Harry Klynn. He also appeared in that time in a television series about milk, as a hero of little Bobo. He died on 27 May 1986 and is buried in Athens Cemetery. Read more
• 27 May 1984: Vasilije Mokranjac, Serbian composer (born 1923) Vasilije Mokranjac was a Serbian composer, professor of composition at the Faculty of Music in Belgrade and a member of the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts. He was one of the most prominent Serbian composers in the second half of the 20th century. Although famed for his symphonies, he also wrote piano music, as well as music for radio, film and theatre. He won the most prestigious awards in former Yugoslavia, including the October Prize, the award of the Yugoslav Radio-Diffusion, as well as the Lifetime Achievement Award. Read more
• 27 May 1980: Gün Sazak, Turkish agronomist and politician (born 1932) Gün Sazak was a Turkish nationalist politician and former government minister of the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP). He was assassinated by the Revolutionary People's Liberation Party/Front after his police guard was removed. After his killing, MHP supporters carried out the Çorum massacre in reprisal. Read more
• 27 May 1971: Béla Juhos, Hungarian-Austrian philosopher from the Vienna Circle (born 1901) Béla Juhos was a Hungarian-Austrian philosopher and member of the Vienna Circle. Read more
• 27 May 1971: Armando Picchi, Italian footballer and coach (born 1935) Armando Picchi was an Italian football player and coach. Regularly positioned as a libero, he captained the Inter Milan side known as "La Grande Inter". Read more
• 27 May 1969: Jeffrey Hunter, American actor and producer (born 1926) Jeffrey Hunter was an American film and television actor and producer known for his roles in films such as The Searchers and King of Kings. On television, Hunter is known for his 1965 role as Captain Christopher Pike in the original pilot episode of Star Trek: The Original Series. Read more
• 27 May 1967: W. Otto Miessner, American composer and educator (born 1880) William Otto Miessner was an American composer and music educator. Most of his life was spent in the midwest, particularly Indiana and Wisconsin. Read more
• 27 May 1967: Ernst Niekisch, German academic and politician (born 1889) Ernst Niekisch was a German writer and political theorist. Initially a member of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) and of the Old Social Democratic Party of Germany (ASPD), he later became a prominent exponent of the National revolutionary branch of the Conservative Revolution and National Bolshevism. Read more
• 27 May 1965: John Rinehart Blue, American military officer, educator, businessperson, and politician (born 1905) John Rinehart Blue was an American military officer, educator, businessperson, and politician in the U.S. state of West Virginia. Blue was a Democratic member of the West Virginia House of Delegates representing Hampshire County, from 1953 until 1959. Read more
• 27 May 1964: Jawaharlal Nehru, Indian lawyer and politician, 1st Prime Minister of India (born 1889) Jawaharlal Nehru was an Indian anti-colonial nationalist, secular humanist, social democrat, and statesman who was a central figure in India during the middle of the 20th century. Nehru was a principal leader of the Indian nationalist movement in the 1930s and 1940s. Upon India's independence in 1947, he served as the country's first prime minister for 16 years. Nehru promoted parliamentary democracy, secularism, and science and technology during the 1950s, powerfully influencing India's arc as a modern nation. In international affairs, he steered India clear of the two blocs of the Cold War. A well-regarded author, he wrote books such as Letters from a Father to His Daughter (1929), An Autobiography (1936) and The Discovery of India (1946), that have been read around the world. Read more
• 27 May 1963: Grigoris Lambrakis, Greek physician and politician (born 1912) Grigoris Lambrakis was a Greek politician, physician, athlete, and lecturer. He participated in track and field sports and was a member of the faculty of the School of Medicine at the University of Athens. A member of the Greek resistance to Axis rule during World War II, he later became a prominent anti-war activist. His assassination by right-wing zealots that were covertly supported by the police and military provoked mass protests and led to a political crisis. Read more
• 27 May 1960: James Montgomery Flagg, American painter and illustrator (born 1877) James Montgomery Flagg was an American artist, comics artist, and illustrator. He worked in media ranging from fine art painting to cartooning, but is best remembered for his political posters, particularly his 1917 poster of Uncle Sam created for United States Army recruitment during World War I. Read more
• 27 May 1953: Jesse Burkett, American baseball player and manager (born 1868) Jesse Cail Burkett, nicknamed "Crab", was an American professional baseball left fielder. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1890 to 1905 for the New York Giants, Cleveland Spiders, St. Louis Perfectos / Cardinals, St. Louis Browns, and Boston Americans. Read more
• 27 May 1949: Robert Ripley, American cartoonist, publisher, and businessman, founded Ripley's Believe It or Not! (born 1890) LeRoy Robert Ripley was an American cartoonist, entrepreneur, and amateur anthropologist, who is known for creating the Ripley's Believe It or Not! newspaper panel series, television show, and radio show, which feature odd facts from around the world. Read more
• 27 May 1947: Ed Konetchy, American baseball player and manager (born 1885) Edward Joseph Konetchy, nicknamed "Big Ed" and "the Candy Kid", was an American first baseman in Major League Baseball for a number of teams, primarily in the National League, from 1907 to 1921. He played for the St. Louis Cardinals (1907–1913), Pittsburgh Pirates (1914), Pittsburgh Rebels of the Federal League (1915), Boston Braves (1916–1918), Brooklyn Robins (1919–1921), and Philadelphia Phillies (1921). He batted and threw right-handed. Read more
• 27 May 1945: Enno Lolling, German physician (born 1888) Enno Lolling was a Nazi doctor. As a member of the SS, he served as a Lagerarzt at Dachau concentration camp. He later headed up the medical division for all the SS concentration camps. Lolling committed suicide in Flensburg as the war was ending. Read more
• 27 May 1943: Gordon Coates, New Zealand soldier and politician, 21st Prime Minister of New Zealand (born 1878) Joseph Gordon Coates served as the 21st prime minister of New Zealand from 1925 to 1928. He was the third successive Reform prime minister since 1912. Read more
• 27 May 1942: Muhammed Hamdi Yazır, Turkish theologian, logician, and translator (born 1878) Muhammed Hamdi Yazır also known as Elmalılı Hamdi Yazır and Elmalılı was a Turkish Maturidi theologian, logician, Qur'an translator, Qur'anic exegesis scholar, Islamic legal academic, philosopher and encyclopedist. Read more
• 27 May 1941: Ernst Lindemann, German captain (born 1894) Otto Ernst Lindemann was a German Kapitän zur See. He was the only commander of the battleship Bismarck during its eight months of service in World War II. Read more
• 27 May 1941: Günther Lütjens, German admiral (born 1889) Johann Günther Lütjens was a German admiral whose military service spanned more than 30 years and two world wars. Lütjens is best known for his actions during World War II and his command of the battleship Bismarck during her foray into the Atlantic Ocean in 1941. He was killed in action during the last battle of the battleship Bismarck. Read more
• 27 May 1939: Joseph Roth, Austrian-French journalist and author (born 1894) Moses Joseph Roth was a Austro-Hungarian journalist and novelist, best known for his family saga Radetzky March (1932), about the decline and fall of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, his novel of Jewish life Job (1930) and his seminal essay "Juden auf Wanderschaft", a fragmented account of the Jewish migrations from eastern to western Europe in the aftermath of World War I and the Russian Revolution. In the 21st century, publications in English of Radetzky March and of collections of his journalism from Berlin and Paris created a revival of interest in Roth. Read more
• 27 May 1933: Achille Paroche, French target shooter (born 1868) Nicolas Achille Paroche was a French sport shooter who competed in the 1900 Summer Olympics and 1920 Summer Olympics. Read more
• 27 May 1919: Kandukuri Veeresalingam, Indian author and activist (born 1848) Kandukuri Veeresalingam was a social reformer and writer from the Madras Presidency, British India, current Andhra Pradesh. He was considered as the Father of the Telugu Renaissance movement. He was one of the early social reformers who encouraged the education of women and the remarriage of widows. He also fought against child marriage and the dowry system. He started a school in Dowlaiswaram in 1874, constructed the 'Brahmo Mandir' in 1887 and built the 'Hithakarini School' in 1908 in Andhra Pradesh. His novel Rajasekhara Charitramu is considered to be the first novel in Telugu literature. Read more
• 27 May 1918: Ōzutsu Man'emon, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 18th Yokozuna (born 1869) Ōzutsu Man'emon was a Japanese professional sumo wrestler from Shiroishi, Miyagi Prefecture. He was the sport's 18th yokozuna. Read more
• 27 May 1910: Robert Koch, German physician and microbiologist, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1843) Heinrich Hermann Robert Koch was a German physician and microbiologist. He won the 1905 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine "for his investigations and discoveries in relation to tuberculosis". Read more
• 27 May 1896: Aleksandr Stoletov, Russian physicist, engineer, and academic (born 1839) Alexander Grigorievich Stoletov was a Russian physicist, founder of electrical engineering, and professor in Moscow University. He was the brother of general Nikolai Stoletov. Read more
• 27 May 1867: Thomas Bulfinch American mythologist (born 1796) Thomas Bulfinch was an American author born in Newton, Massachusetts, known best for Bulfinch's Mythology, a posthumous combination of his three volumes of mythologies. Read more
• 27 May 1840: Niccolò Paganini, Italian violinist and composer (born 1782) Niccolò Paganini was an Italian violinist and composer. He was the most celebrated violin virtuoso of his time, and left his mark as one of the pillars of modern violin technique. His 24 Caprices for Solo Violin Op. 1 are among the best known of his compositions and have served as an inspiration for many prominent composers. Read more
• 27 May 1831: Jedediah Smith, American hunter, explorer, and author (born 1799) Jedediah Strong Smith was an American clerk, transcontinental pioneer, frontiersman, hunter, trapper, author, cartographer, mountain man and explorer of the Rocky Mountains, the Western United States, and the Southwest during the early 19th century. After 75 years of obscurity following his death, Smith was rediscovered as the American whose explorations led to the use of the 20-mile (32 km)-wide South Pass as the dominant route across the Continental Divide for pioneers on the Oregon Trail. Read more

Why is 27 May Important in World History?

Several significant political, cultural, educational, and sporting events took place on 27 May, making it an important topic for general knowledge and competitive examinations.

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What happened on 27 May in World history?

On 27 May, several important historical events, notable births, and major milestones occurred in World history.

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