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On this day in history - June 27

What Happened On This Day – June 27

  • 1991 Yugoslav troops invade Slovenia

    The attack, which marked the beginning of the Ten-Day War, followed Slovenia's declaration of independence. It was the first of the Yugoslav Wars, a number of ethnic conflicts leading to the break-up of Yugoslavia and resulting in at least 140,000 deaths.

  • 1986 The 1980s U.S. intervention in Nicaragua is declared illegal

    The International Court of Justice condemned the U.S. paramilitary campaign to overthrow the left-wing Nicaraguan government. The social democratic Sandinistas had begun to redistribute the country's wealth and improve education.

  • 1972 Nolan Bushnell and Ted Dabney found Atari, Inc.

    The pioneering video game and home computer company produced arcade classics like the two-dimensional tennis simulator Pong. Especially in the 1970s and 1980s, its products had a large impact on the electronic entertainment industry.

  • 1956 The film Moby Dick is premiered

    John Huston's adaptation of Herman Melville's homonymous novel, while not having been a great box office success, is today considered an outstanding work, especially for its use of light and color.

  • 1954 The world's first nuclear power plant is activated

    The reactor at Obninsk in present-day Russia remained in operation for 48 years. Today, there are some 400 atomic power plants worldwide. The technology remains controversial, especially due to the unsolved long-term storage of the highly dangerous nuclear waste.

Illustration of stork, signifying birth

Births On This Day,
June 27

  • 1985 Svetlana Kuznetsova

    Russian tennis player

  • 1969 Viktor Petrenko

    Ukrainian figure skater

  • 1886 Charlie Macartney

    Australian cricketer

  • 1869 Emma Goldman

    Lithuanian/American activist, writer

  • 1846 Charles Stewart Parnell

    Irish politician, founder of the Irish Parliamentary Party

Illustration of tombstone, signifying death

Deaths On This Day,
June 27

  • 2001 Jack Lemmon

    American actor, singer, director

  • 1999 Georgios Papadopoulos

    Greek colonel, politician, 169th Prime Minister of Greece

  • 1844 Joseph Smith

    American religious leader, founder, leader of the Latter Day Saint movement

  • 1839 Ranjit Singh

    Indian founder of the Sikh Empire

  • 1831 Sophie Germain

    French mathematician, physicist, philosopher