On August 27 ...

… in 410, the sacking of Rome by the Visigoths ends after three days

… in 1172, Henry the Young King and Margaret of France become junior king and queen of England

… in what is now Brooklyn, NY, British forces defeat American soldiers under General George Washington in the Battle of Long Island in 1776

… in 1813, Napoleon is victorious at the Battle of Dresden, defeating Austrians, Russians and Prussians

… the first commercially-successful oil well is established in Titusville, PA after petroleum is discovered there in 1859

… Cape Hatteras, NC is attacked by Union forces in 1861

… A 45-minute war – the shortest in history – occurs in 1896 between the United Kingdom and Zanzibar

… Mariner 2 is launched to Venus by NASA in 1962

… in 1990, Stevie Ray Vaughan died in a helicopter crash

… Moldova becomes independent from the USSR in 1991

… Mars makes its closest approach to Earth in nearly 60,000 years in 2003

… in 2006, Comair Flight 5191 crashes on takeoff in Lexington, KY, killing 49 of 50 passengers

… Vice President Hannibal Hamlin was born in 1809 … Vice President and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Charles G. Dawes was born in 1865 … artist Man Ray was born in 1890 … serial killer Ed Gein was born in 1906 … President Lyndon B. Johnson was born in 1908 … actress Tuesday Weld was born in 1943 … actor G.W. Bailey was born in 1944 … actress Barbara Bach was born in 1947 … pro wrestler Sgt. Slaughter was born in 1948 … actor Charles Fleischer (voice of Roger Rabbit) was born in 1950 … actor Paul Reubens aka Pee-wee Herman was born in 1952 … Rush guitarist Alex Lifeson was born in 1953 … actor Peter Stormare was born in 1953 … MTV VJ Downtown Julie Brown was born in 1959 … designer Tom Ford was born in 1961 … dog trainer Cesar Millan was born in 1969 … No Doubt bassist Tony Kanal was born in 1970 … baseball player Jim Thome was born in 1970 … Bloodhound Gang frontman Jimmy Pop was born in 1972 … pro wrestler The Great Khali was born in 1972 … skier Jonny Moseley was born in 1975 … actress Alexa Vega was born in 1988 …

… Italian artist Titian died in 1577 … scholar W.E.B. Du Bois died in 1963 … comedienne Gracie Allen died in 1964 … guitarist Stevie Ray Vaughan died in 1990 … pro wrestler Luna Vachon died in 2010