May 27 facts for kids

May 27 is the 147th day of the year (148th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar; 218 days remain until the end of the year.

Events

Pre-1600

• 1120 – Richard III of Capua is anointed as Prince two weeks before his untimely death.
• 1153 – Malcolm IV becomes King of Scotland.
• 1199 – John is crowned King of England.
• 1257 – Richard of Cornwall, and his wife, Sanchia of Provence, are crowned King and Queen of the Germans at Aachen Cathedral.

1601–1900

• 1644 – Manchu regent Dorgon defeats rebel leader Li Zicheng of the Shun dynasty at the Battle of Shanhai Pass, allowing the Manchus to enter and conquer the capital city of Beijing.
• 1703 – Tsar Peter the Great founds the city of Saint Petersburg.
• 1798 – The Battle of Oulart Hill takes place in Wexford, Ireland; Irish rebel leaders defeat and kill a detachment of militia.
• 1799 – War of the Second Coalition: Austrian forces defeat the French at Winterthur, Switzerland.
• 1813 – War of 1812: In Canada, American forces capture Fort George.
• 1860 – Giuseppe Garibaldi begins the Siege of Palermo, part of the wars of Italian unification.
• 1863 – American Civil War: The first Union infantry assault of the Siege of Port Hudson occurs.
• 1874 – The first group of Dorsland trekkers under the leadership of Gert Alberts leaves Pretoria.
• 1883 – Alexander III is crowned Tsar of Russia.
• 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.

1901–present

• 1905 – Russo-Japanese War: The Battle of Tsushima begins.
• 1915 – HMS Princess Irene explodes and sinks off Sheerness, Kent, with the loss of 352 lives.
• 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.
• 1919 – The NC-4 aircraft arrives in Lisbon after completing the first transatlantic flight.
• 1927 – The Ford Motor Company ceases manufacture of the Ford Model T and begins to retool plants to make the Ford Model A.
• 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.
• 1933 – New Deal: The U.S. Federal Securities Act is signed into law requiring the registration of securities with the Federal Trade Commission.
• 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).
• 1937 – In California, the Golden Gate Bridge opens to pedestrian traffic, creating a vital link between San Francisco and Marin County, California.
• 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.
• 1941 – World War II: U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt proclaims an "unlimited national emergency".
• 1941 – World War II: The German battleship Bismarck is sunk in the North Atlantic, killing almost 2,100 men.
• 1942 – World War II: In Operation Anthropoid, Reinhard Heydrich is fatally wounded in Prague; he dies of his injuries eight days later.
• 1950 – The Linnanmäki amusement park is opened for the first time in Helsinki.
• 1958 – First flight of the McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II.
• 1960 – In Turkey, a military coup removes President Celâl Bayar and the rest of the democratic government from office.
• 1962 – The Centralia mine fire is ignited in the town's landfill above a coal mine.
• 1965 – Vietnam War: American warships begin the first bombardment of National Liberation Front targets within South Vietnam.
• 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.
• 1967 – The U.S. Navy aircraft carrier USS John F. Kennedy is launched by Jacqueline Kennedy and her daughter Caroline.
• 1971 – The Dahlerau train disaster, the worst railway accident in West Germany, kills 46 people and injures 25 near Wuppertal.
• 1971 – Pakistani forces massacre over 200 civilians, mostly Bengali Hindus, in the Bagbati massacre.
• 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.
• 1977 – A plane crash at José Martí International Airport in Havana, Cuba, kills 67.
• 1984 – The Danube–Black Sea Canal is opened, in a ceremony attended by the Ceaușescus. It had been under construction since the 1950s.
• 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.
• 1996 – First Chechen War: Russian President Boris Yeltsin meets with Chechnyan rebels for the first time and negotiates a cease-fire.
• 1997 – The 1997 Central Texas tornado outbreak occurs, spawning multiple tornadoes in Central Texas, including the F5 that killed 27 in Jarrell.
• 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.
• 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.
• 2006 – The 6.4 M_w Yogyakarta earthquake shakes central Java with an MSK intensity of VIII (Damaging), leaving more than 5,700 dead and 37,000 injured.
• 2016 – Barack Obama is the first president of United States to visit Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park and meet Hibakusha.
• 2017 – Andrew Scheer takes over after Rona Ambrose as the leader of the Conservative Party of Canada.
• 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.

Births

Pre-1600

• 742 – Emperor Dezong of Tang (d. 805)
• 1332 – Ibn Khaldun, Tunisian historian and theologian (d. 1406)
• 1378 – Zhu Quan, Chinese military commander, historian and playwright (d. 1448)
• 1519 – Girolamo Mei, Italian historian and theorist (d. 1594)
• 1537 – Louis IV, Landgrave of Hesse-Marburg (d. 1604)
• 1576 – Caspar Schoppe, German author and scholar (d. 1649)
• 1584 – Michael Altenburg, German theologian and composer (d. 1640)

1601–1900

• 1601 – Antoine Daniel, French-Canadian missionary and saint (d. 1648)
• 1626 – William II, Prince of Orange (d. 1650)
• 1651 – Louis Antoine de Noailles, French cardinal (d. 1729)
• 1652 – Elizabeth Charlotte, Princess Palatine of Germany (d. 1722)
• 1738 – Nathaniel Gorham, American merchant and politician, 14th President of the Continental Congress (d. 1796)
• 1756 – Maximilian I Joseph of Bavaria (d. 1825)
• 1774 – Francis Beaufort, Irish hydrographer and officer in the Royal Navy (d. 1857)
• 1794 – Cornelius Vanderbilt, American businessman and philanthropist (d. 1877)
• 1814 – John Rudolph Niernsee, Viennese-born American architect (d.1885)
• 1815 – Henry Parkes, English-Australian politician, 7th Premier of New South Wales (d. 1896)
• 1818 – Amelia Bloomer, American journalist and activist (d. 1894)
• 1819 – Julia Ward Howe, American poet and songwriter (d. 1910)
• 1827 – Samuel F. Miller, American lawyer and politician (d. 1892)
• 1832 – Zenas Ferry Moody, American surveyor and politician, 7th Governor of Oregon (d. 1917)
• 1836 – Jay Gould, American businessman and financier (d. 1892)
• 1837 – Wild Bill Hickok, American police officer (d. 1876)
• 1852 – Billy Barnes, English cricketer (d. 1899)
• 1857 – Theodor Curtius, German chemist (d. 1928)
• 1860 – Manuel Teixeira Gomes, Portuguese politician, 7th President of Portugal (d. 1941)
• 1860 – Margrethe Munthe, Norwegian songwriter (d. 1931)
• 1863 – Arthur Mold, English cricketer (d. 1921)
• 1867 – Arnold Bennett, English author and playwright (d. 1931)
• 1868 – Aleksa Šantić, Bosnian poet and author (d. 1924)
• 1871 – Georges Rouault, French painter and illustrator (d. 1958)
• 1875 – Frederick Cuming, English cricketer (d. 1942)
• 1876 – Ferdynand Antoni Ossendowski, Polish journalist and author (d. 1945)
• 1876 – William Stanier, English engineer (d. 1965)
• 1878 – Anna Cervin, Swedish artist (d. 1972)
• 1879 – Karl Bühler, German-American linguist and psychologist (d. 1963)
• 1879 – Hans Lammers, German judge and politician (d. 1962)
• 1883 – Jessie Arms Botke, American painter (d. 1971)
• 1884 – Max Brod, Czech journalist, author, and composer (d. 1968)
• 1887 – Frank Woolley, English cricketer (d. 1978)
• 1888 – Louis Durey, French composer (d. 1979)
• 1891 – Claude Champagne, Canadian violinist, pianist, and composer (d. 1965)
• 1891 – Jaan Kärner, Estonian poet and author (d. 1958)
• 1894 – Louis-Ferdinand Céline, French physician and author (d. 1961)
• 1894 – Dashiell Hammett, American detective novelist and screenwriter (d. 1961)
• 1895 – Douglas Lloyd Campbell, Canadian educator and politician, 13th Premier of Manitoba (d. 1995)
• 1897 – John Cockcroft, English physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1967)
• 1897 – Dink Templeton, American rugby player and coach (d. 1962)
• 1898 – David Crosthwait, American engineer, inventor and writer (d. 1976)
• 1899 – Johannes Türn, Estonian chess and draughts player (d. 1993)
• 1900 – Lotte Toberentz, German overseer of the Nazi Uckermark concentration camp (d. 1964)
• 1900 – Uładzimir Žyłka, Belarusian poet and translator (d. 1933)

1901–present

• 1906 – Buddhadasa, Thai monk and philosopher (d. 1993)
• 1906 – Harry Hibbs, English footballer (d. 1984)
• 1906 – Antonio Rosario Mennonna, Italian bishop (d. 2009)
• 1907 – Nicolas Calas, Greek-American poet and critic (d. 1988)
• 1907 – Rachel Carson, American biologist, environmentalist, and author (d. 1964)
• 1909 – Dolores Hope, American singer and philanthropist (d. 2011)
• 1909 – Juan Vicente Pérez, Venezuelan supercentenarian, oldest living man, last man born in 1900s decade
• 1911 – Hubert Humphrey, American journalist and politician, 38th Vice President of the United States (d. 1978)
• 1911 – Teddy Kollek, Hungarian-Israeli politician, Mayor of Jerusalem (d. 2007)
• 1911 – Vincent Price, American actor (d. 1993)
• 1912 – John Cheever, American novelist and short story writer (d. 1982)
• 1912 – Sam Snead, American golfer and sportscaster (d. 2002)
• 1912 – Terry Moore, American baseball player, coach, and manager (d. 1995)
• 1915 – Ester Soré, Chilean singer-songwriter (d. 1996)
• 1915 – Herman Wouk, American novelist (d. 2019)
• 1917 – Harry Webster, English engineer (d. 2007)
• 1918 – Yasuhiro Nakasone, Japanese commander and politician, 45th Prime Minister of Japan (d. 2019)
• 1921 – Bob Godfrey, Australian-English animator, director, and voice actor (d. 2013)
• 1922 – Otto Carius, German lieutenant and pharmacist (d. 2015)
• 1922 – Christopher Lee, English actor (d. 2015)
• 1922 – John D. Vanderhoof, American banker and politician, 37th Governor of Colorado (d. 2013)
• 1923 – Henry Kissinger, German-American political scientist and politician, 56th United States Secretary of State, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2023)
• 1923 – Sumner Redstone, American businessman and philanthropist (d. 2020)
• 1924 – Jaime Lusinchi, Venezuelan physician and politician, President of Venezuela (d. 2014)
• 1924 – John Sumner, English-Australian director, founded the Melbourne Theatre Company (d. 2013)
• 1925 – Tony Hillerman, American journalist and author (d. 2008)
• 1927 – Jüri Randviir, Estonian chess player and journalist (d. 1996)
• 1928 – Thea Musgrave, Scottish-American composer and educator
• 1930 – John Barth, American novelist and short story writer
• 1930 – William S. Sessions, American civil servant and judge, 8th Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (d. 2020)
• 1930 – Eino Tamberg, Estonian composer and educator (d. 2010)
• 1931 – André Barbeau, French-Canadian neurologist (d. 1986)
• 1931 – John Chapple, English field marshal and politician, Governor of Gibraltar (d. 2022)
• 1931 – Bernard Fresson, French actor (d. 2002)
• 1931 – Faten Hamama, Egyptian actress and producer (d. 2015)
• 1931 – Philip Kotler, American author and professor
• 1933 – Edward Samuel Rogers, Canadian businessman (d. 2008)
• 1933 – Manfred Sommer, Spanish author and illustrator (d. 2007)
• 1934 – Ray Daviault, Canadian-American baseball player (d. 2020)
• 1934 – Harlan Ellison, American author and screenwriter (d. 2018)
• 1935 – Daniel Colchico, American football player and coach (d. 2014)
• 1935 – Mal Evans, British road manager of The Beatles (d. 1976)
• 1935 – Jerry Kindall, American baseball player and coach (d. 2017)
• 1935 – Ramsey Lewis, American jazz pianist and composer (d. 2022)
• 1935 – Lee Meriwether, American model and actress, Miss America 1955
• 1936 – Benjamin Bathurst, English admiral
• 1936 – Louis Gossett Jr., American actor and producer
• 1936 – Marcel Masse, Canadian educator and politician, 29th Canadian Minister of National Defence (d. 2014)
• 1937 – Allan Carr, American playwright and producer (d. 1999)
• 1939 – Simon Cairns, 6th Earl Cairns, English courtier and businessman
• 1939 – Yves Duhaime, Canadian captain and politician
• 1939 – Sokratis Kokkalis, Greek businessman
• 1939 – Gerald Ronson, English businessman and philanthropist
• 1939 – Lionel Sosa, Mexican-American advertising and marketing executive
• 1939 – Don Williams, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2017)
• 1940 – Mike Gibson, Australian journalist and sportscaster (d. 2015)
• 1942 – Lee Baca, American police officer
• 1942 – Piers Courage, English racing driver (d. 1970)
• 1942 – Roger Freeman, Baron Freeman, English accountant and politician, Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
• 1942 – Robin Widdows, English racing driver
• 1943 – Cilla Black, English singer and actress (d. 2015)
• 1943 – Bruce Weitz, American actor
• 1944 – Christopher Dodd, American lawyer and politician
• 1944 – Karen Fladset, Norwegian handball player
• 1944 – Ingrid Roscoe, English historian and politician, Lord Lieutenant of West Yorkshire (d. 2020)
• 1944 – Alain Souchon, French singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actor
• 1945 – Bruce Cockburn, Canadian singer-songwriter and guitarist
• 1946 – Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen, Danish bassist and composer (d. 2005)
• 1946 – John Williams, English motorcycle racer (d. 1978)
• 1947 – Peter DeFazio, American politician
• 1947 – Marty Kristian, German-Australian singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actor
• 1947 – Branko Oblak, Slovenian footballer and coach
• 1947 – Riivo Sinijärv, Estonian politician, 19th Estonian Minister of Foreign Affairs
• 1948 – Wubbo de Boer, Dutch civil servant (d. 2017)
• 1948 – Pete Sears, English bass player
• 1948 – Morning Glory Zell-Ravenheart, American occultist and author (d. 2014)
• 1949 – Hugh Lowther, 8th Earl of Lonsdale, English politician
• 1949 – Christa Vahlensieck, German runner
• 1950 – Dee Dee Bridgewater, American singer-songwriter and actress
• 1950 – Makis Dendrinos, Greek basketball player and coach (d. 2015)
• 1951 – John Conteh, English boxer
• 1954 – Pauline Hanson, Australian businesswoman, activist, and politician
• 1954 – Jackie Slater, American football player and coach
• 1955 – Eric Bischoff, American wrestler, manager, and producer
• 1955 – Richard Schiff, American actor, director, and producer
• 1955 – Ian Tracey, English organist and conductor
• 1956 – Cynthia McFadden, American journalist
• 1956 – Rosemary Squire, English producer and manager, co-founded Ambassador Theatre Group
• 1956 – Giuseppe Tornatore, Italian director and screenwriter
• 1957 – Dag Terje Andersen, Norwegian politician, Norwegian Minister of Labour
• 1957 – Nitin Gadkari, Indian lawyer and politician, Indian Minister of Transport
• 1957 – Eddie Harsch, Canadian-American keyboard player and bass player (d. 2016)
• 1957 – Siouxsie Sioux, English singer-songwriter, musician, and producer
• 1958 – Nick Anstee, English accountant and politician, 682nd Lord Mayor of London
• 1958 – Neil Finn, New Zealand singer-songwriter and musician
• 1958 – Jesse Robredo, Filipino politician, 23rd Secretary of the Interior and Local Government (d. 2012)
• 1960 – Gaston Therrien, Canadian ice hockey player and sportscaster
• 1961 – José Luíz Barbosa, Brazilian runner and coach
• 1961 – Peri Gilpin, American actress
• 1962 – Marcelino Bernal, Mexican footballer
• 1962 – Ray Borner, Australian basketball player
• 1962 – Steven Brill, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
• 1962 – Anthony A. Hyman, Israeli-English biologist and academic
• 1962 – David Mundell, Scottish lawyer and politician, Secretary of State for Scotland
• 1962 – Ravi Shastri, Indian cricketer and sportscaster
• 1963 – Gonzalo Rubalcaba, Cuban pianist and composer
• 1963 – Maria Walliser, Swiss skier
• 1964 – Adam Carolla, American actor, producer, and screenwriter
• 1965 – Todd Bridges, American actor
• 1965 – Pat Cash, Australian-English tennis player and sportscaster
• 1966 – Heston Blumenthal, English chef and author
• 1967 – Paul Gascoigne, English international footballer, coach, and manager
• 1967 – Eddie McClintock, American actor
• 1968 – Jeff Bagwell, American baseball player and coach
• 1968 – Rebekah Brooks, English journalist
• 1968 – Harun Erdenay, Turkish basketball player and coach
• 1968 – Frank Thomas, American baseball player and sportscaster
• 1969 – Todd Hundley, American baseball player
• 1969 – Jeremy Mayfield, American race car driver
• 1969 – Craig Federighi, American computer scientist and engineer
• 1970 – Michele Bartoli, Italian cyclist
• 1970 – Tim Farron, English educator and politician
• 1970 – Joseph Fiennes, English actor
• 1970 – Alex Archer, American-born Australian musician
• 1971 – Mathew Batsiua, Nauruan politician
• 1971 – Paul Bettany, English actor
• 1971 – Wayne Carey, Australian footballer and coach
• 1971 – Kaur Kender, Estonian author
• 1971 – Lisa Lopes, American rapper and dancer (d. 2002)
• 1971 – Lee Sharpe, English footballer
• 1971 – Grant Stafford, South African tennis player
• 1971 – Sophie Walker, British politician, leader of the Women's Equality Party
• 1971 – Petroc Trelawny, British radio and television broadcaster
• 1972 – Todd Demsey, American golfer
• 1972 – Antonio Freeman, American football player
• 1972 – Maxim Sokolov, Russian ice hockey player
• 1973 – Jack McBrayer, American actor and comedian
• 1973 – Tana Umaga, New Zealand rugby player and coach
• 1973 – Yorgos Lanthimos, Greek film video, and theatre director, producer and screenwriter
• 1974 – Skye Edwards, British singer-songwriter
• 1974 – Denise van Outen, English actress, singer, and television host
• 1974 – Derek Webb, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
• 1974 – Danny Wuerffel, American football player
• 1975 – André 3000, American rapper
• 1975 – Michael Hussey, Australian cricketer
• 1975 – Jadakiss, American rapper
• 1975 – Jamie Oliver, English chef and author
• 1975 – Feryal Özel, Turkish astrophysicist, astronomer, and academic
• 1976 – Marcel Fässler, Swiss racing driver
• 1977 – Abderrahmane Hammad, Algerian high jumper
• 1977 – Mahela Jayawardene, Sri Lankan cricketer
• 1978 – Adin Brown, American soccer player
• 1979 – Michael Buonauro, American author and illustrator (d. 2004)
• 1979 – Mile Sterjovski, Australian footballer
• 1980 – Craig Buntin, Canadian figure skater
• 1981 – Alina Cojocaru, Romanian ballerina
• 1981 – Johan Elmander, Swedish footballer
• 1982 – Natalya, Canadian professional wrestler
• 1984 – Blake Ahearn, American basketball player
• 1984 – Miguel González, Mexican baseball pitcher
• 1985 – Chiang Chien-ming, Taiwanese baseball player
• 1985 – Roberto Soldado, Spanish footballer
• 1986 – Conor Cummins, Manx motorcycle racer
• 1986 – Bamba Fall, Senegalese basketball player
• 1986 – Lasse Schöne, Danish footballer
• 1987 – Gervinho, Ivorian footballer
• 1987 – Bella Heathcote, Australian actress
• 1987 – Bora Paçun, Turkish basketball player
• 1987 – Matt Prior, Australian rugby league player
• 1987 – Martina Sáblíková, Czech speed skater and cyclist
• 1988 – Vontae Davis, American football player
• 1988 – Irina Davydova, Russian hurdler
• 1988 – Garrett Richards, American baseball pitcher
• 1988 – Tyler Sash, American football player (d. 2015)
• 1989 – Igor Morozov, Estonian footballer
• 1989 – Peakboy, South Korean rapper, record producer, and singer-songwriter
• 1990 – Yenew Alamirew, Ethiopian runner
• 1990 – Chris Colfer, American actor and singer
• 1990 – Marcus Kruger, Swedish ice hockey player
• 1991 – Sebastien Dewaest, Belgian footballer
• 1991 – Tim Lafai, Samoan rugby league player
• 1991 – Ksenia Pervak, Russian tennis player
• 1991 – Eneli Vals, Estonian footballer
• 1992 – Aaron Brown, Canadian sprinter
• 1992 – Laurence Vincent-Lapointe, Canadian canoer
• 1995 – Yoán Moncada, Cuban baseball player
• 1997 – Anna Bondar, Hungarian tennis player
• 1997 – Daniel Jones, American football player
• 1999 – Lily-Rose Depp, French-American actress and model

Deaths

Pre-1600

• 366 – Procopius, Roman usurper (b. 325)
• 398 – Murong Bao, emperor of the Xianbei state Later Yan (b. 355)
• 475 – Eutropius, bishop of Orange
• 866 – Ordoño I of Asturias (b. 831)
• 927 – Simeon I of Bulgaria first Bulgarian Emperor (b. 864)
• 1039 – Dirk III, Count of Holland (b. 981)
• 1045 – Bruno of Würzburg, imperial chancellor of Italy (b. c. 1005)
• 1178 – Godfrey van Rhenen, bishop of Utrecht
• 1240 – William de Warenne, 5th Earl of Surrey (b. 1166)
• 1444 – John Beaufort, 1st Duke of Somerset, English commander (b. 1404)
• 1508 – Ludovico Sforza, Duke of Milan (b. 1452)
• 1525 – Thomas Müntzer, German mystic and theologian (b. 1488)
• 1541 – Margaret Pole, Countess of Salisbury (b. 1473)
• 1564 – John Calvin, French pastor and theologian (b. 1509)

1601–1900

• 1610 – François Ravaillac, French assassin of Henry IV of France (b. 1578)
• 1624 – Diego Ramírez de Arellano, Spanish sailor and cosmographer (b. c. 1580)
• 1637 – John Boteler, 1st Baron Boteler of Brantfield, English politician (b. c. 1566)
• 1661 – Archibald Campbell, 1st Marquess of Argyll, Scottish general and politician (b. 1607)
• 1675 – Gaspard Dughet, Italian-French painter (b. 1613)
• 1690 – Giovanni Legrenzi, Italian organist and composer (b. 1626)
• 1702 – Dominique Bouhours, French priest and critic (b. 1628)
• 1707 – Françoise-Athénaïs, marquise de Montespan, French mistress of Louis XIV of France (b. 1640)
• 1781 – Giovanni Battista Beccaria, Italian physicist and academic (b. 1716)
• 1797 – François-Noël Babeuf, French journalist (b. 1760)
• 1831 – Jedediah Smith, American hunter, explorer, and author (b. 1799)
• 1840 – Niccolò Paganini, Italian violinist and composer (b. 1782)
• 1867 – Thomas Bulfinch American mythologist (b. 1796)
• 1896 – Aleksandr Stoletov, Russian physicist, engineer, and academic (b. 1839)

1901–present

• 1910 – Robert Koch, German physician and microbiologist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1843)
• 1918 – Ōzutsu Man'emon, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 18th Yokozuna (b. 1869)
• 1919 – Kandukuri Veeresalingam, Indian author and activist (b. 1848)
• 1933 – Achille Paroche, French target shooter (b. 1868)
• 1939 – Joseph Roth, Austrian-French journalist and author (b. 1894)
• 1941 – Ernst Lindemann, German captain (b. 1894)
• 1941 – Günther Lütjens, German admiral (b. 1889)
• 1942 – Muhammed Hamdi Yazır, Turkish theologian, logician, and translator (b. 1878)
• 1943 – Gordon Coates, New Zealand soldier and politician, 21st Prime Minister of New Zealand (b. 1878)
• 1945 – Enno Lolling, German physician (b. 1888)
• 1947 – Ed Konetchy, American baseball player and manager (b. 1885)
• 1949 – Robert Ripley, American cartoonist, publisher, and businessman, founded Ripley's Believe It or Not! (b. 1890)
• 1953 – Jesse Burkett, American baseball player and manager (b. 1868)
• 1960 – James Montgomery Flagg, American painter and illustrator (b. 1877)
• 1963 – Grigoris Lambrakis, Greek physician and politician (b. 1912)
• 1964 – Jawaharlal Nehru, Indian lawyer and politician, 1st Prime Minister of India (b. 1889)
• 1965 – John Rinehart Blue, American military officer, educator, businessperson, and politician (b. 1905)
• 1967 – W. Otto Miessner, American composer and educator (b. 1880)
• 1967 – Ernst Niekisch, German academic and politician (b. 1889)
• 1969 – Jeffrey Hunter, American actor and producer (b. 1926)
• 1971 – Béla Juhos, Hungarian-Austrian philosopher from the Vienna Circle (b. 1901)
• 1971 – Armando Picchi, Italian footballer and coach (b. 1935)
• 1980 – Gün Sazak, Turkish agronomist and politician (b. 1932)
• 1984 – Vasilije Mokranjac, Serbian composer (b. 1923)
• 1986 – Ismail al-Faruqi, Palestinian-American philosopher and academic (b. 1921)
• 1986 – Ajoy Mukherjee, Indian politician, Chief Minister of West Bengal (b. 1901)
• 1986 – Giorgos Tzifos, Greek actor and cinematographer (b. 1918)
• 1987 – John Howard Northrop, American biochemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1891)
• 1988 – Hjördis Petterson, Swedish actress (b. 1908)
• 1988 – Ernst Ruska, German physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1906)
• 1989 – Arseny Tarkovsky, Russian poet and translator (b. 1907)
• 1990 – Robert B. Meyner, American lawyer and politician, 44th Governor of New Jersey (b. 1908)
• 1991 – Leopold Nowak, Austrian musicologist and theorist (b. 1904)
• 1992 – Uncle Charlie Osborne, American fiddler (b. 1890)
• 1998 – Minoo Masani, Indian lawyer and politician (b. 1905)
• 2000 – Kazimierz Leski, Polish engineer and pilot (b. 1912)
• 2000 – Murray MacLehose, Baron MacLehose of Beoch, Scottish politician and diplomat, 25th Governor of Hong Kong (b. 1917)
• 2000 – Maurice Richard, Canadian ice hockey player and coach (b. 1921)
• 2002 – Marjorie Ogilvie Anderson, Scottish historian (b. 1909)
• 2003 – Luciano Berio, Italian composer and educator (b. 1925)
• 2006 – Rob Borsellino, American journalist (b. 1949)
• 2006 – Paul Gleason, American actor (b. 1939)
• 2006 – Craig Heyward, American football player (b. 1966)
• 2007 – Izumi Sakai, Japanese singer-songwriter (b. 1967)
• 2007 – Gretchen Wyler, American actress and dancer (b. 1932)
• 2007 – Ed Yost, American inventor, created the hot air balloon (b. 1919)
• 2008 – Franz Künstler, Hungarian soldier (b. 1900)
• 2009 – Thomas M. Franck, American lawyer and academic (b. 1931)
• 2009 – Clive Granger, Welsh-American economist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1934)
• 2009 – Mona Grey, British nursing administrator; Northern Ireland's first Chief Nursing Officer (b. 1910)
• 2009 – Abram Hoffer, Canadian biochemist, physician, and psychiatrist (b. 1917)
• 2009 – Gérard Jean-Juste, Haitian-American priest and theologian (b. 1946)
• 2009 – Carol Anne O'Marie, American nun and author (b. 1933)
• 2009 – William Refshauge, Australian soldier and physician (b. 1913)
• 2009 – Paul Sharratt, English-American television host (b. 1933)
• 2010 – Payut Ngaokrachang, Thai animator and director (b. 1929)
• 2011 – Jeff Conaway, American actor and singer (b. 1950)
• 2011 – Margo Dydek, Polish-American basketball player (b. 1974)
• 2011 – Gil Scott-Heron, American singer-songwriter and poet (b. 1949)
• 2012 – Simeon Daniel, Nevisian educator and politician, 1st Premier of Nevis (b. 1934)
• 2012 – Friedrich Hirzebruch, German mathematician and academic (b. 1927)
• 2012 – Anahit Perikhanian, Russian-born Armenian Iranologist (b. 1928)
• 2012 – David Rimoin, Canadian-American geneticist and academic (b. 1936)
• 2013 – Jagjit Singh Lyallpuri, Indian politician (b. 1917)
• 2013 – Bill Pertwee, English actor (b. 1926)
• 2013 – Abdoulaye Sékou Sow, Malian politician, Prime Minister of Mali (b. 1931)
• 2014 – Robert Genn, Canadian painter and author (b. 1936)
• 2014 – Helma Sanders-Brahms, German director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1940)
• 2014 – Roberto Vargas, Puerto Rican-American baseball player, coach, and manager (b. 1929)
• 2014 – Massimo Vignelli, Italian-American graphic designer (b. 1931)
• 2015 – Erik Carlsson, Swedish rally driver (b. 1929)
• 2015 – Nils Christie, Norwegian sociologist, criminologist, and author (b. 1928)
• 2015 – Andy King, English footballer and manager (b. 1956)
• 2015 – Michael Martin, American philosopher and academic (b. 1932)
• 2017 – Gregg Allman, American musician, singer and songwriter (b. 1947)
• 2018 – Gardner Dozois, American science fiction author and editor (b. 1947)
• 2020 – Larry Kramer, American playwright, public health advocate and LGBT rights activist (b. 1935)
• 2021 – Poul Schlüter, former Prime Minister of Denmark (b. 1929)

Holidays and observances

• Armed Forces Day (Nicaragua)
• Children's Day (Nigeria)
• Christian feast day:
  • Augustine of Canterbury
  • Blessed Lojze Grozde
  • Bruno of Würzburg
  • Eutropius of Orange
  • Hildebert
  • Julius the Veteran
  • May 27 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
• Mother's Day (Bolivia)
• Navy Day (Japan)
• Slavery Abolition Day (Guadeloupe, Saint Barthélemy, Saint Martin)
• Start of National Reconciliation Week (Australia)

See also

In Spanish: 27 de mayo para niños