May 27 in Pop Culture History

May 27 Fun Facts, Trivia and History

May 27 History Highlights

  • 1703 – Tsar Peter the Great founded the city of Saint Petersburg.
  • 1933 – The Century of Progress World’s Fair opened in Chicago.
  • 1941 – The British navy sank the German battleship, Bismarck, in the North Atlantic near France, killing over 2,000 Germans.
  • 1972 – The Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty was signed by United States President Richard Nixon and Soviet Premier Leonid Brezhnev. The Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty limited the US and USSR to 2 anti-ballistic missile complexes with 100 missiles each, and the number of intercontinental ballistic missiles and submarine-launched ballistic missiles was frozen at the then-existing levels.
  • If you were born on May 27th,
    You were likely conceived the week of… September 3rd (prior year)

10 Facts About Peter The Great

  • Peter the Great was born Pyotr Alekseyevich on June 9, 1672, in Moscow, Russia.
  • Peter married twice and had eleven children; he also had many children outside of wedlock.
  • Peter became co-tsar of Russia at the age of 10 in 1682; he became sole ruler of Russia in 1696 after the death of his older brother, Ivan V.
  • In an early attempt to modernize the Russian government, he ordered all military and court officials to shave their beards and wear “modern” (European) clothing.
  • He created a “beard tax” for those who would not shave.
  • He also modernized the Russian alphabet, introduced the Julian calendar and established the first Russian newspaper.
  • With access to the Baltic, Black, and Caspian Seas, Peter created the Russian Navy.
  • Peter was the tallest Tsar ever; it is estimated that he was six feet, seven or eight inches in height.
  • While visiting Europe, he was disguised as a simple carpenter named “Peter Mikhailov”.
  • He died without a will or heir.
    While dying of uremia he managed to scrawl “Leave all to…”
    By default, wife #3, Catherine succeeded him on the throne

May 27 is…

Grape Popsicle Day
Sun Screen Day

May 27 Birthday Quotes

“Never be a minion, always be an owner.”
– Cornelius Vanderbilt

“We don’t always get the kind of work we want, but we always have a choice of whether to do it with good grace or not.”
– Christopher Lee

“You are not entitled to your opinion. You are entitled to your informed opinion. No one is entitled to be ignorant.”
– Harlan Ellison

“One way to open your eyes is to ask yourself, “What if I had never seen this before? What if I knew I would never see it again?”
– Rachel Carson

“I love summertime more than anything else in the world. That is the only thing that gets me through the winter, knowing that summer is going to be there.”
– Jack McBrayer

“Can you let me go to hell the way I want to?”
– Wild Bill Hickok

“In art, religion, and politics the respect must be mutual, no matter how violent the disagreement.”
– Vincent Price

May 27 Birthdays

1794 – Cornelius Vanderbilt, American businessman and philanthropist (died in 1877)
1837 – Wild Bill Hickok, American folk hero (died in 1876)
1907 – Rachel Carson, American biologist, environmentalist, and author (died in 1964)
1911 – Vincent Price, American actor (died in 1993)
1922 – Christopher Lee, English actor (died in 2015)
1923 – Henry Kissinger, German-American political scientist and politician, Nobel Prize laureate
1934 – Harlan Ellison, American author and screenwriter (died in 2018)
1935 – Lee Meriwether, American model and actress, Miss America 1955
1971 – Paul Bettany, English actor
1973 – Jack McBrayer, American comedic actor
1990 – Chris Colfer, American actor and singer

May 27 History

1199 – John (December 24, 1166 – October 19, 1216) became King of England. He’s the one who signed The Magna Carta, which was the first document to offer people individual rights.

May 27, 1723 (fiction) Sharpsville was destroyed, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, TV

1796 – The patent (#X0116) for a piano was issued to James Sylvanus McLean of New Jersey, for “an improvement in piano fortes.”

1890 – Two U.S. patents (#428,750,#428,751) for the first jukebox were issued to Louis Glass and his business associate, William S. Arnold for a “coin actuated attachment for phonographs.”

1896 (Tornado) St. Louis and East St. Louis, Missouri.

1919 – Pyrex glass was issued a patent (#1,304,623). The inventors Eugene C. Sullivan and William C. Taylor for Corning Glass Works.

1930 – Masking Tape was patented (#1,760,820) by Richard G. Drew of St. Paul, Minnesota, for his employer, 3M.

1931 – Auguste Piccard and Charles Knipfer took man’s first trip (in a pressurized cabin) into the stratosphere when they rode their balloon to an altitude of 51,800 feet.

1933 – The Walt Disney Company released the cartoon Three Little Pigs, with its hit song Who’s Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf?

1937 – The Golden Gate Bridge, connecting San Francisco with Marin County, California, opened. Today was “Pedestrian Day” – cars were allowed the following day.

1963 – Bob Dylan’s second album, The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan, was released.

1967 – Jacqueline Kennedy and her daughter Caroline launched the U.S. Navy aircraft carrier USS John F. Kennedy.

1972 #1 Hit May 27, 1972 – June 2, 1972: The Chi-LitesOh Girl

1983 – Benton Fireworks Disaster, Tennessee

1986Dragon Quest, the first major role-playing video game, was released in Japan.

1987 – U2 played in Rome so loud that they set off earthquake alarms in 2 different neighborhoods.

May 27, 1988 – Microsoft Windows 2.10 was released.

1994- The Arsenio Hall Show came to an end on FOX

1994 – The National League and American League Baseball MVPs were Jeff Bagwell and Frank Thomas, respectively. Jeff and Frank were both born on the exact same day: May 27, 1968.

1998 – Oklahoma City bombing: Michael Fortier was sentenced to 12 years in prison and fined $200,000 for failing to warn authorities about the terrorist plot.

#1 Hit May 27, 2017 – September 15, 2017: Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee featuring Justin Bieber – Despacito

Today’s Random Trivia and Shower Thoughts

If Superman didn’t stop Lex Luther’s real estate scam, California would have plenty of water.

“Be careful about reading health books. Some fine day you’ll die of a misprint.” – Markus Herz

Dogs are always the first to notice paranormal activity in movies, so ghosts must have a distinctive smell. #science

Actress Liv Tyler was born Liv Rundgren, raised by Todd Rundgren, and learned Steven Tyler was her biological father at age 8.

Bing Crosby – Real Name: Harry Lillis Crosby

Zero is plural, but 1 is singular. (0 Comments, 1 Comment)

A wallet will never hold the money that was used to buy it. #PeruvianProverb #notreally #ijustmadethatup

“How rude!” – Stephanie Tanner (Full House)

I just killed a mosquito. What future events did I just alter? Probably saved the universe. You’re Welcome 🙂

There’s nothing wrong with taking candy from a baby because babies shouldn’t be eating candy in the first place.

“Will Smith don’t gotta cuss in his rap to sell records. Well, I do.” #songlyrics

When somebody asks you to take their photo, technically you own the copyright to that photo.

Oz’s Nikko, the head winged monkey, is the name of the Japanese town that houses the shrine featuring the famous Hear No/See No/Speak No Evil monkeys.

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