Britannica On This Day December 27 2023 * Dutch transfer of Indonesian sovereignty , Louis Pasteur is featured, and more *

This Day in History: December 27

Featured Event

1949





Dutch transfer of Indonesian sovereignty
On this day in 1949, four years after nationalist revolutionary leader Sukarno had declared Indonesia's independence, formal sovereignty over the country was transferred from the Dutch to the United States of Indonesia.

More Events On This Day

American painter, sculptor, and printmaker Ellsworth Kelly—who was a leading exponent of the hard-edge style, in which abstract contours are sharply and precisely defined—died in Spencertown, New York.Sort fact from fiction in our artists and painters quiz
Nils Jorgensen—REX Features/AP Images
2007

Pakistani politician Benazir Bhutto, the first woman leader of a Muslim nation in modern history, was assassinated in Rawalpindi, Pakistan, while campaigning for upcoming parliamentary elections.Read our list of six of the first women heads of state
Reuters/Alamy
1978

Houari Boumedienne, president of Algeria, died at age 51.How much do you know about African leaders?
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
1932

The internal passport system, previously denounced by Vladimir Lenin as one of the worst stigmas of tsarist backwardness and despotism, was reinstated in the Soviet Union by Joseph Stalin.Test your knowledge of Russian history
Sovfoto
1901

German American film actress Marlene Dietrich—whose beauty, voice, aura of sophistication, and languid sensuality made her one of the world's most glamorous movie stars—was born.Take our women in classic cinema quiz
Pictorial Parade
1831

Charles Darwin set sail on the HMS Beagle, beginning the voyage on which he would formulate his theory of evolution.What Darwin got right (and wrong) about evolution
Pho Jupiterimages tos.com.
1801

After conquering Italy, Napoleon established the Republic of Lucca.Take our quiz about French history
Courtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. Samuel H. Kress Collection, 1961.9.15
1571

German astronomer Johannes Kepler, who discovered three major laws of planetary motion, was born.Test your knowledge of astronomy and space
Erich Lessing/Art Resource, New York
1512

Ferdinand II issued the Laws of Burgos to “regulate the relations” between Spaniards and Indians in Spain's American colonies.
Archivo Iconografico, S.A./Corbis

Featured Biography

Louis Pasteur
French chemist and microbiologist

BornDecember 27, 1822
Dole, France
(Birthday in 2 days)
DiedSeptember 28, 1895 (aged 72)
Saint-Cloud, France




Gérard Depardieu
French actor



Marlene Dietrich
German American actress



Louis Pasteur
French chemist and microbiologist



Mīrzā Asadullāh Khān Ghālib
Indian poet



George Whitefield
British clergyman