February 27 in History

February 27 is the 58th day of the year. There are 308 days remaining until the end of the year.

• 425 – The University of Constantinople was founded by Emperor Theodosius II at the urging of his wife Aelia Eudocia.
• 1700 – The island of New Britain in Papua New Guinea was discovered.
• 1797 – The Bank of England issued the first one-pound and two-pound notes.
• 1801 – Pursuant to the District of Columbia Organic Act of 1801, Washington, D.C. was placed under the jurisdiction of the US Congress.
• 1812 – Lord Byron gave his first address as a member of the House of Lords, in defense of Luddite violence against industrialism.
• 1860 –  Abraham Lincoln gave his Cooper Union speech in New York City.
• 1864 – The first Union prisoners arrived at the Confederate prison at Andersonville, Georgia.
• 1900 – The British Labour Party was founded.
• 1922 – A challenge to the 18th Amendment to the US Constitution, allowing women the right to vote, was rebuffed by the Supreme Court in Leser v. Garnett.
• 1939 – The US Supreme Court ruled that sit-down strikes violate property owners' rights and are therefore illegal.
• 1951 – The 22nd Amendment to the US Constitution, limiting Presidents to two terms, was ratified.
• 1964 – The Italian government asked for help to keep the Leaning Tower of Pisa from falling over.
• 1973 – The American Indian Movement occupied Wounded Knee, South Dakota.
• 1974 – People magazine was published for the first time.
• 1986 – The US Senate allowed its debates to be televised on a trial basis.