December 27
1831 - British naturalist Charles Darwin set out on a voyage to the Pacific Ocean aboard the HMS Beagle. Darwin's discoveries during the nearly five-year journey helped form the basis of his theories on evolution.
1900 - Prohibitionist Carry Nation smashed her first saloon.
1932 - Radio City Music Hall in New York City opened.
1945 - The World Bank was created with an agreement signed by 28 nations.
1949 - The Netherlands transferred sovereignty to Indonesia after more than 300 years of Dutch rule.
1958 - American physicist James Van Allen reported the discovery of a second radiation belt around Earth, in addition to one found earlier in the year.
1968 - Apollo 8, the first spaceflight to orbit the moon, returned to Earth.
1979 - Soviet forces seized control of Afghanistan. President Hafizullah Amin, who was overthrown and executed, was replaced by Babrak Karmal.
1985 - Naturalist Dian Fossey, who had studied gorillas in the wild, was found hacked to death at a research station in Rwanda.
1995 - Israeli jeeps sped out of the West Bank town of Ramallah, capping a seven-week pullout giving Yasser Arafat control over 90 percent of the West Bank’s 1 million Palestinian residents and one-third of its land.
1996 - Rwanda's first genocide trial opened for the 1994 slaughter of more than 800,000 Tutsis.
1999 - Space shuttle Discovery and its seven-member crew returned to Earth after fixing the Hubble Space Telescope.
2000 - President Bill Clinton put the first Black judge on the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals serving several Southern states. (The nomination of Roger Gregory had been stalled in the Senate, but Clinton used a recess appointment to put him on the bench.)
2001 - The U.S. announced plans to hold Taliban and al-Qaeda prisoners at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
2002 - A defiant North Korea ordered U.N. nuclear inspectors to leave the country and said it would restart a laboratory capable of producing plutonium for nuclear weapons; the U.N. nuclear watchdog said its inspectors were “staying put” for the time being.
2004 - Viktor Yushchenko won a runoff in Ukraine's presidential election, completing the country's "Orange Revolution."
2005 - Indonesia's Aceh rebels formally abolished their 30-year armed struggle for independence under a peace deal born out of the 2004 tsunami.
2016 - Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, accompanied by President Barack Obama, visited Pearl Harbor in Hawaii, where he offered his “sincere and everlasting condolences to the souls of those who lost their lives” in Japan’s 1941 attack; Abe did not apologize, but conceded his country “must never repeat the horrors of war again.”
2016 - Actress Carrie Fisher died in a hospital four days after suffering a medical emergency aboard a flight to Los Angeles; she was 60.
2020 - President Donald Trump signed a $900 billion pandemic relief package, ending days of drama over his refusal to accept the bipartisan deal that would deliver cash to businesses and individuals and avert a federal government shutdown.
Birthdays
26 - Timothee Chalamet (actor)
30 - Shay Mooney (singer)
30 - Chloe Bridges (actress)
31 - Cinthya Carmona (actress)
31 - Zelina Vega (professional wrestler)
33 - Hayley Williams (singer)
40 - Jay Ellis (actor)
40 - Emilie de Ravin (actress)
41 - Cesaro (professional wrestler)
45 - Aaron Stanford (actor)
48 - Wilson Cruz (actor)
55 - Bill Goldberg (professional wrestler)
55 - Eva LaRue (actress)
57 - Theresa Randle (actress)
57 - Ian Gomez (actor)
70 - Karla Bonoff (singer)
73 - Gerard Depardieu (actor)
77 - Tracy Nelson (singer)
77 - Mick Jones (singer)
82 - John Amos (actor)
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Today in Sports History - December 27
1953 - The Detroit Lions defeated the Cleveland Browns 17-16 in the NFL Championship Game.
1959 - The Baltimore Colts defeated the New York Giants 31-16 in the NFL Championship Game, a game that saw the Colts score 24 unanswered points in the fourth quarter.
1962 - Oregon State quarterback Terry Baker wins the Heisman Trophy.
1964 - The Cleveland Browns defeated the Baltimore Colts 27-0 in the NFL Championship Game. (It would mark the last major professional sports championship for the city of Cleveland until the Cavaliers won an NBA title in 2016.)
1974 - Ohio State running back Archie Griffin wins the Heisman Trophy.
1979 - The Soviet Union national hockey team defeats the New York Rangers 5-2 at Madison Square Garden.
1980 - #8 Nebraska defeats #17 Mississippi State 31-17 to win the Sun Bowl; NU finishes the year with a 10-2 record and ranked #7 in the final polls.
1981 - Wayne Gretzky (Edmonton Oilers) became the fastest NHL player to get to 100 points in a season. It only took him 38 games.
1987 - Steve Largent sets an NFL record for career catches with his 752nd career reception.
1990 - The Edmonton Oilers win their 500th NHL game in just their 915th attempt (500-295-120), good for a winning percentage of .612, the best mark in league history of teams with 500 wins.
1991 - The Cincinnati Bengals hire Dave Shula as their next coach, the youngest in NFL history at the time at age 32.
1998 - The Dallas Cowboys became the first team to sweep all of their NFC East opponents in a season.
2000 - Mario Lemeiux (Pittsburgh Penguins) returned to the National Hockey League (NHL) as a player after over 3 years of retirement. He was the first owner-player in the modern era of pro sports. Lemieux had purchased the Pittsburgh Penguins during his retirement from playing.
2002 - Mississippi defeats Nebraska 27-23 in the Independence Bowl; NU finishes the season with a 7-7 record and unranked. The loss ended Nebraska's streak of 40-consecutive winning seasons.
2014 - #24 USC defeats #25 Nebraska 45-42 in the Holiday Bowl in which Barney Cotton served as interim coach following the firing of Bo Pelini; NU ends the season with a 9-4 record.
1831 - British naturalist Charles Darwin set out on a voyage to the Pacific Ocean aboard the HMS Beagle. Darwin's discoveries during the nearly five-year journey helped form the basis of his theories on evolution.
1900 - Prohibitionist Carry Nation smashed her first saloon.
1932 - Radio City Music Hall in New York City opened.
1945 - The World Bank was created with an agreement signed by 28 nations.
1949 - The Netherlands transferred sovereignty to Indonesia after more than 300 years of Dutch rule.
1958 - American physicist James Van Allen reported the discovery of a second radiation belt around Earth, in addition to one found earlier in the year.
1968 - Apollo 8, the first spaceflight to orbit the moon, returned to Earth.
1979 - Soviet forces seized control of Afghanistan. President Hafizullah Amin, who was overthrown and executed, was replaced by Babrak Karmal.
1985 - Naturalist Dian Fossey, who had studied gorillas in the wild, was found hacked to death at a research station in Rwanda.
1995 - Israeli jeeps sped out of the West Bank town of Ramallah, capping a seven-week pullout giving Yasser Arafat control over 90 percent of the West Bank’s 1 million Palestinian residents and one-third of its land.
1996 - Rwanda's first genocide trial opened for the 1994 slaughter of more than 800,000 Tutsis.
1999 - Space shuttle Discovery and its seven-member crew returned to Earth after fixing the Hubble Space Telescope.
2000 - President Bill Clinton put the first Black judge on the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals serving several Southern states. (The nomination of Roger Gregory had been stalled in the Senate, but Clinton used a recess appointment to put him on the bench.)
2001 - The U.S. announced plans to hold Taliban and al-Qaeda prisoners at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
2002 - A defiant North Korea ordered U.N. nuclear inspectors to leave the country and said it would restart a laboratory capable of producing plutonium for nuclear weapons; the U.N. nuclear watchdog said its inspectors were “staying put” for the time being.
2004 - Viktor Yushchenko won a runoff in Ukraine's presidential election, completing the country's "Orange Revolution."
2005 - Indonesia's Aceh rebels formally abolished their 30-year armed struggle for independence under a peace deal born out of the 2004 tsunami.
2016 - Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, accompanied by President Barack Obama, visited Pearl Harbor in Hawaii, where he offered his “sincere and everlasting condolences to the souls of those who lost their lives” in Japan’s 1941 attack; Abe did not apologize, but conceded his country “must never repeat the horrors of war again.”
2016 - Actress Carrie Fisher died in a hospital four days after suffering a medical emergency aboard a flight to Los Angeles; she was 60.
2020 - President Donald Trump signed a $900 billion pandemic relief package, ending days of drama over his refusal to accept the bipartisan deal that would deliver cash to businesses and individuals and avert a federal government shutdown.
Birthdays
26 - Timothee Chalamet (actor)
30 - Shay Mooney (singer)
30 - Chloe Bridges (actress)
31 - Cinthya Carmona (actress)
31 - Zelina Vega (professional wrestler)
33 - Hayley Williams (singer)
40 - Jay Ellis (actor)
40 - Emilie de Ravin (actress)
41 - Cesaro (professional wrestler)
45 - Aaron Stanford (actor)
48 - Wilson Cruz (actor)
55 - Bill Goldberg (professional wrestler)
55 - Eva LaRue (actress)
57 - Theresa Randle (actress)
57 - Ian Gomez (actor)
70 - Karla Bonoff (singer)
73 - Gerard Depardieu (actor)
77 - Tracy Nelson (singer)
77 - Mick Jones (singer)
82 - John Amos (actor)
=========================================
Today in Sports History - December 27
1953 - The Detroit Lions defeated the Cleveland Browns 17-16 in the NFL Championship Game.
1959 - The Baltimore Colts defeated the New York Giants 31-16 in the NFL Championship Game, a game that saw the Colts score 24 unanswered points in the fourth quarter.
1962 - Oregon State quarterback Terry Baker wins the Heisman Trophy.
1964 - The Cleveland Browns defeated the Baltimore Colts 27-0 in the NFL Championship Game. (It would mark the last major professional sports championship for the city of Cleveland until the Cavaliers won an NBA title in 2016.)
1974 - Ohio State running back Archie Griffin wins the Heisman Trophy.
1979 - The Soviet Union national hockey team defeats the New York Rangers 5-2 at Madison Square Garden.
1980 - #8 Nebraska defeats #17 Mississippi State 31-17 to win the Sun Bowl; NU finishes the year with a 10-2 record and ranked #7 in the final polls.
1981 - Wayne Gretzky (Edmonton Oilers) became the fastest NHL player to get to 100 points in a season. It only took him 38 games.
1987 - Steve Largent sets an NFL record for career catches with his 752nd career reception.
1990 - The Edmonton Oilers win their 500th NHL game in just their 915th attempt (500-295-120), good for a winning percentage of .612, the best mark in league history of teams with 500 wins.
1991 - The Cincinnati Bengals hire Dave Shula as their next coach, the youngest in NFL history at the time at age 32.
1998 - The Dallas Cowboys became the first team to sweep all of their NFC East opponents in a season.
2000 - Mario Lemeiux (Pittsburgh Penguins) returned to the National Hockey League (NHL) as a player after over 3 years of retirement. He was the first owner-player in the modern era of pro sports. Lemieux had purchased the Pittsburgh Penguins during his retirement from playing.
2002 - Mississippi defeats Nebraska 27-23 in the Independence Bowl; NU finishes the season with a 7-7 record and unranked. The loss ended Nebraska's streak of 40-consecutive winning seasons.
2014 - #24 USC defeats #25 Nebraska 45-42 in the Holiday Bowl in which Barney Cotton served as interim coach following the firing of Bo Pelini; NU ends the season with a 9-4 record.
