Something to think about.Something to discover.Something to remember.Every day.
⌕ My Time Capsule
HISTORY & TIMELINE
27 May

A journey through
27 May in history

The story of 27 May runs from a new king crowned in Westminster Abbey in 1199 to an American president standing before the ruined dome at Hiroshima in 2016. In between come a fortress raised on a marshy island in the Neva, a tsar crowned in the Kremlin, a flying boat landing on the Tagus at Lisbon, a world’s fair lit by starlight in Chicago, and a great bridge opened to walkers above the Golden Gate.

Begin the Timeline ↓ ← Back to Explore This Day
JUMP THROUGH TIME
II
THE MIDDLE AGES

Medieval History

Kingdoms, conflict, faith, power and the changing medieval world.

1199
The effigy of King John on his tomb in Worcester Cathedral, from an early 20th-century history bookThe effigy of King John on his tomb in Worcester Cathedral, from an early 20th-century history bookImage: HISTORY OF ENGLAND by SAMUEL R. GARDINER · Public domain
politics · Europe

John is crowned King of England

When Richard the Lionheart died of a crossbow wound in April 1199, his youngest brother John moved quickly to secure the throne ahead of their nephew Arthur of Brittany. He was crowned in Westminster Abbey on 27 May 1199. His reign brought the loss of Normandy, a quarrel with the pope and a baronial revolt that forced him to agree to Magna Carta in 1215.

Source: Westminster Abbey: John ↗
III
A CHANGING WORLD

Early Modern Era

Exploration, political change, scientific development and expanding global connections.

1703
The Peter and Paul Fortress on Hare Island in the Neva, the first building of St PetersburgThe Peter and Paul Fortress on Hare Island in the Neva, the first building of St PetersburgImage: Godot13 · CC BY-SA 4.0
politics · Europe

Peter the Great lays the first stones of St Petersburg

In the spring of 1703, early in the Great Northern War, Russian troops seized the Swedish positions at the mouth of the river Neva, giving Peter I a foothold on the Gulf of Finland. To hold it he needed a stronghold, and on 27 May (16 May in the Old Style calendar Russia then used) work began on an earth and timber fortress on little Hare Island in the Neva delta. The fortress took its name from the saints Peter and Paul, and the settlement that grew around it became St Petersburg. Peter drove the building on at great human cost, drafting labourers from across the country, and within a decade he had made the marshy port his capital. Rebuilt in stone, the fortress still stands at the heart of the city, whose birthday is celebrated every 27 May.

Source: State Museum of the History of St Petersburg: Peter and Paul Fortress, history ↗
IV
THE NINETEENTH CENTURY

The 1800s

Industry, empire, invention, reform and a century of enormous transformation.

1883
Portrait of Tsar Alexander III of RussiaPortrait of Tsar Alexander III of RussiaImage: Sergey Lvovich Levitsky · Public domain
politics · Europe

Alexander III is crowned in the Kremlin

Alexander III became tsar in 1881 after his father was killed by a revolutionary bomb, but his coronation was delayed for two years. It finally took place on 27 May 1883 (15 May in the Russian calendar) in the Dormition Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin, with days of ceremony and celebration. His reign was marked by firm autocratic rule and the rapid growth of Russia’s railways and industry.

Source: Moscow Kremlin Museums: Coronation of Alexander III ↗
V
THE TWENTIETH CENTURY

The 1900s

War and peace, technological leaps, social change, politics, sport and popular culture.

1905
Admiral Tōgō, inset, above his flagship Mikasa leading the Japanese battle line, on a commemorative card of about 1905Admiral Tōgō, inset, above his flagship Mikasa leading the Japanese battle line, on a commemorative card of about 1905Image: Imperial Japanese Navy · Public domain
world · Asia

Japan destroys Russia’s fleet in the Tsushima Strait

After Russia’s Pacific squadron was trapped at Port Arthur, the tsar sent his Baltic Fleet on an epic voyage of some 18,000 miles around Africa and across the Indian Ocean. Under Admiral Zinovy Rozhestvensky it headed for Vladivostok, and on the morning of 27 May 1905 Japanese scouts spotted it entering the Tsushima Strait between Korea and Japan. Admiral Tōgō Heihachirō was waiting. Turning his battle line across the path of the Russian columns, he brought his guns to bear with devastating effect, and over two days almost the whole Russian fleet was sunk, captured or scattered. The defeat pushed Russia towards peace talks, and the world took note that an Asian power had beaten a European one at sea.

Source: Britannica: Tōgō Heihachirō ↗
1919
The NC-4 flying boat at New Orleans during its tour of the United States after the Atlantic crossing, 1919The NC-4 flying boat at New Orleans during its tour of the United States after the Atlantic crossing, 1919Image: John T. Mendes · Public domain
world · Americas

A US Navy flying boat completes the first flight across the Atlantic

In May 1919 the United States Navy set out to prove that an aircraft could cross the Atlantic. Three big Curtiss flying boats, NC-1, NC-3 and NC-4, left Rockaway, New York, on 8 May and hopped north to Newfoundland before striking out for the Azores, guided by a chain of navy ships strung across the ocean. Fog and heavy seas forced two of them down, and only NC-4 made it. Commanded by Lieutenant Commander Albert C. Read, NC-4 took off from the Azores on 27 May and, after nearly ten hours in the air, landed on the river Tagus at Lisbon that evening, becoming the first aeroplane to fly across the Atlantic. It went on to Plymouth a few days later. Alcock and Brown’s non-stop crossing followed within three weeks.

Source: Naval History and Heritage Command: NC-4’s Transatlantic Crossing ↗
1933
An opening-day ticket for the Century of Progress world's fair in Chicago, 1933An opening-day ticket for the Century of Progress world’s fair in Chicago, 1933Image: A Century of Progress International Exposition (ticket); image by Centpacrr · Public domain
culture · Americas

Chicago’s world’s fair is switched on by starlight

In the depths of the Great Depression, Chicago staged its second world’s fair to mark a hundred years since the city’s founding and to celebrate science and industry. The Century of Progress Exposition filled a long stretch of lakefront with bold Art Deco pavilions in bright colours, a sharp contrast to the classical white city of the 1893 fair. On 27 May 1933 a parade wound down Michigan Avenue to Soldier Field for the formal opening. That evening, light from the star Arcturus, which had set out around the time of the 1893 fair, was caught by telescopes, turned into an electric signal and used to switch on the fair’s lights. Millions of visitors came, and the fair was so popular it reopened in 1934.

Source: Chicago History Museum: Arcturus and Art Deco, the opening of the 1933 World’s Fair ↗
1937
The Golden Gate Bridge spanning the entrance to San Francisco BayThe Golden Gate Bridge spanning the entrance to San Francisco BayImage: Frank Schulenburg · CC BY-SA 4.0
world · Americas

Walkers are the first to cross the Golden Gate Bridge

After more than four years of construction, the Golden Gate Bridge across the entrance to San Francisco Bay opened on 27 May 1937, a day given over to pedestrians. Tens of thousands of people streamed across the span, with its striking orange colour and a main span then the longest in the world. Cars followed the next day, to the sound of bells, sirens and ships’ whistles.

Source: Golden Gate Bridge, Highway and Transportation District: Opening Fiesta Week ↗
1942
The Cathedral of Saints Cyril and Methodius in Prague, where the parachutists made their last stand and a memorial now standsThe Cathedral of Saints Cyril and Methodius in Prague, where the parachutists made their last stand and a memorial now standsImage: Ludek · CC BY-SA 3.0
world · Europe

Czechoslovak parachutists strike at Reinhard Heydrich

On 27 May 1942 two Czechoslovak soldiers trained in Britain, Jozef Gabčík and Jan Kubiš, ambushed Reinhard Heydrich, the senior Nazi official ruling the occupied Czech lands, as his car slowed on a bend in Prague. Gabčík’s gun jammed, but a bomb thrown by Kubiš wounded Heydrich, who died on 4 June. The Nazis took savage revenge, including the destruction of the village of Lidice.

Source: United States Holocaust Memorial Museum: Assassination of Reinhard Heydrich ↗
1960
General Cemal Gürsel, who headed the National Unity Committee after the coup, photographed in 1960General Cemal Gürsel, who headed the National Unity Committee after the coup, photographed in 1960Image: THA · CC0
politics · Middle East

Turkey’s army overthrows the elected government

Adnan Menderes’s Democrat Party had swept to power in Turkey’s first freely contested election in 1950, but by the late 1950s it was curbing the press and the opposition, and student protests were met with martial law. Many army officers, who saw themselves as guardians of Atatürk’s republic, decided to act. In the early hours of 27 May 1960 officers and cadets from the war colleges in Istanbul and Ankara seized power in an almost bloodless coup. President Celâl Bayar, Prime Minister Menderes and their ministers were arrested, and a National Unity Committee under General Cemal Gürsel took charge. After trials on the island of Yassıada, Menderes and two ministers were hanged in 1961, and a new constitution was adopted.

Source: Britannica: Turkey, the military coup of 1960 ↗
1967
A 1967 campaign badge urging Australians to vote 'Yes' for Aboriginal people, in the collection of Museums VictoriaA 1967 campaign badge urging Australians to vote ‘Yes’ for Aboriginal people, in the collection of Museums VictoriaImage: Source: Museums VictoriaPhotographer: Jon Augier · CC BY 4.0
world · Oceania

Australians vote to change the constitution for First Nations people

Australia’s constitution of 1901 said that Aboriginal people were not to be counted when working out the population, and it barred the federal parliament from making special laws for them, leaving that to the states. For a decade First Nations activists and their supporters campaigned, gathering petitions across the country, to have those words removed. On 27 May 1967 voters were asked whether to make the change, and almost 91 per cent said yes, the largest majority ever recorded in an Australian referendum. Both major parties had backed it, so no official ‘No’ case was put. The amendment became law that August, and the vote is remembered as a landmark in the long struggle for Indigenous rights.

Source: National Museum of Australia: Indigenous referendum ↗
VI
2000 TO TODAY

Modern Day

The events of recent decades that have already become part of the historical record.

2006
A collapsed government office on Jalan Parangtritis in Yogyakarta, photographed the day after the earthquakeA collapsed government office on Jalan Parangtritis in Yogyakarta, photographed the day after the earthquakeImage: NoiX180 · CC BY 3.0
world · Asia

An earthquake devastates Yogyakarta and central Java

Just before six in the morning local time on 27 May 2006, a shallow earthquake of about magnitude 6.3 struck near Yogyakarta on the Indonesian island of Java. It lasted less than a minute but flattened homes across the densely populated Bantul district. More than 5,700 people died, tens of thousands were injured and well over 100,000 houses were destroyed, prompting a large international relief effort.

Source: US Geological Survey: M6.3 Java earthquake of 26 May 2006 (UTC) ↗
2009
The Stadio Olimpico in Rome, where the 2009 Champions League final was playedThe Stadio Olimpico in Rome, where the 2009 Champions League final was playedImage: Messapi, cropped by Blackcat · CC BY-SA 4.0
sport · Europe

Barcelona beat Manchester United in Rome to crown a treble

The 2009 Champions League final in Rome’s Stadio Olimpico brought together the holders, Manchester United, and a Barcelona side in its first season under a young coach, Pep Guardiola. United hoped to become the first club to retain the trophy in the Champions League era, while Barcelona had already won Spain’s league and cup. United started strongly, but after ten minutes Samuel Eto’o cut inside and scored, and Barcelona took control with their quick passing game. With twenty minutes left, Xavi crossed and Lionel Messi, the smallest man on the pitch, headed in the second. The 2-0 win gave Barcelona their third European Cup and the first treble in Spanish football.

Source: UEFA: Barcelona 2-0 Man Utd, 2009 final ↗
2016
The ruined dome of the Hiroshima Peace Memorial, left standing after the atomic bombing of 1945The ruined dome of the Hiroshima Peace Memorial, left standing after the atomic bombing of 1945Image: Oilstreet · CC BY 2.5
politics · Asia

A serving American president visits Hiroshima

For seventy years no sitting president of the United States had gone to Hiroshima, the city destroyed by an American atomic bomb in August 1945. On 27 May 2016, at the end of a G7 summit in Japan, Barack Obama arrived at the Peace Memorial Park with Prime Minister Shinzō Abe, toured the museum and laid a wreath at the memorial cenotaph. In a short speech Obama spoke of the morning when ‘death fell from the sky’ and called for a world without nuclear weapons, though he offered no apology. He then met survivors of the bombing, known in Japan as hibakusha, before leaving the city. The visit was seen on both sides of the Pacific as a powerful gesture of remembrance between former enemies.

Source: Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan: The President of the United States visits Hiroshima ↗
RESEARCH

Sources & Further Reading

Selected authoritative references supporting the events on this page.

Westminster Abbey: John↗The Royal Family: John Lackland (r. 1199-1216)↗State Museum of the History of St Petersburg: Peter and Paul Fortress, history↗Britannica: Peter-Paul Fortress↗Moscow Kremlin Museums: Coronation of Alexander III↗Library of Congress: The Sun (New York), 28 May 1883↗Britannica: Tōgō Heihachirō↗Royal Museums Greenwich: Photographs of the Battle of Tsushima, 27 May 1905↗Naval History and Heritage Command: NC-4’s Transatlantic Crossing↗National Air and Space Museum: Curtiss NC-4↗Chicago History Museum: Arcturus and Art Deco, the opening of the 1933 World’s Fair↗Encyclopedia of Chicago: Century of Progress Exposition↗Golden Gate Bridge, Highway and Transportation District: Opening Fiesta Week↗Golden Gate Bridge, Highway and Transportation District: Key dates↗United States Holocaust Memorial Museum: Assassination of Reinhard Heydrich↗Military History Institute Prague: the attack on Heydrich, 27 May 1942↗Britannica: Turkey, the military coup of 1960↗Britannica: Adnan Menderes↗National Museum of Australia: Indigenous referendum↗National Archives of Australia: The 1967 Referendum↗US Geological Survey: M6.3 Java earthquake of 26 May 2006 (UTC)↗ReliefWeb (OCHA): Emergency assistance to the victims of the earthquake of 27 May in Java, Indonesia↗UEFA: Barcelona 2-0 Man Utd, 2009 final↗FC Barcelona: The history of the Champions League finals, Rome 2009↗Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan: The President of the United States visits Hiroshima↗The White House (archived): Remarks by President Obama and Prime Minister Abe at Hiroshima Peace Memorial↗
WHY THESE MOMENTS?

Significance before volume

This page is not the longest possible list of events. It is a chronological journey through 27 May, where each entry is chosen for historical significance, human interest and reliability.

Facts are checked against authoritative museums, archives, universities and reference works. Where sources disagree, the page says so.

EXPLORED THE DEEPER STORY?

Return to the highlights of 27 May

Discover the lighter side of the date with famous birthdays, culture, firsts and lives remembered.

Explore This Day →
← PREVIOUS DAY26 May
HISTORY & TIMELINE27 May
NEXT DAY →28 May