History of the Day for:
June 27
- 1542: Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo claimed California for Spain.
- 1652: New Amsterdam (now New York City) passed the first speed limit law in the U.S. - it became illegal for horses to gallop within the city limits.
- 1693: The first women's magazine, The Ladies' Mercury, was published by John Dunton in London.
- 1776: Thomas Hickey was convicted of planning to hand George Washington over to the British; he was the first person executed by the U.S. Army.
- 1833: A white woman, Prudence Crandall, was arrested for operating an academy for African-American females.
- 1844: Joseph Smith, founder of the Mormon Church, was killed by a mob in an Illinois jail.
- 1880: Helen Keller, deaf and blind lecturer/author, was born in Tuscumbia, Ala. (d: 1968).
- 1890: George Dixon became the first African-American to win a boxing championship as a Bantam weight.
- 1893: A major stock market plunge began, leading to a depression which led to 600 banks and 74 railroads going out of business by the end of the year.
- 1929: German President Von Hindenburg refused to pay Germany's war debt for World War I.
- 1941: Krzysztof Kieslowski, Polish film director of "Three Colors" trilogy, was born (d: 1996).
- 1944: In World War II Allied forces captured Cherbourg.
- 1950: President Harry S. Truman ordered American forces into battle to aid South Korea; the U.N. urged all member nations to assist the South following the invasion by the North.
- 1954: The world's first atomic power station opened at Obninsk, near Moscow.
- 1955: Illinois passed the first automobile seat belt legislation.
- 1986: In the Hague, the World Court ruled the U.S. had broken international law by aiding Nicaraguan rebels.
- 1987: A commercial HS 748 (Philippine Airlines Flight 206) crashes near Baguio City, Philippines, killing 50.
- 1991: Slovenia, after declaring independence two days before, is invaded by Yugoslav troops, tanks, and aircraft, starting the Ten-Day War.
- 1998: Opening of the Kuala Lumpur International Airport in Malaysia.
- 2001: The International Court of Justice finds against the United States in its judgement in the LaGrand Case.
- 2001: Pope John Paul II beatifies 28 Ukrainian Greek Catholics, including 27 martyrs most of whom were killed by the Soviet secret police. Beatification takes place at the service in Lviv, western Ukraine during his first visit to this country.
- 2003: The United States National Do Not Call Registry, formed to combat unwanted telemarketing calls and administered by the Federal Trade Commission, enrolls almost three-quarters of a million phone numbers on its first day.
- 2005: AMD files broad antitrust complaints against Intel Corporation in U.S. Federal District Court, alleging abuse of monopoly powers and antitrust violations.
- 2007: The Brazilian Military Police invades the favelas of Complexo do Alemão in an episode which is remembered as the Complexo do Alemão massacre.
- 2008: Bill Gates steps down as Chairman of Microsoft Corporation to work full time for the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.