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August 27
5 moments across history
Mariner 2 Launches Toward Venus
On August 27, 1962, NASA launched Mariner 2 toward Venus from Cape Canaveral. Its December 14 flyby made it the first spacecraft to complete a successful mission to another planet. The achievement advanced planetary science during the Space Race and followed the failed launch of Mariner 1.
Mariner 2 Launches Toward Venus
First Guinness Book of Records Published
First Guinness Book of Records Published
Year: 1955
On August 27, 1955, the first edition of The Guinness Book of Records was published in the United Kingdom. Created by Norris and Ross McWhirter for Guinness Brewery, it became an authoritative and widely popular reference work cataloguing world records. Its success reflected the postwar growth of mass-market publishing and public enthusiasm for trivia, statistics, and measurable human achievement.
First Jet-Powered Aircraft Flight
First Jet-Powered Aircraft Flight
Year: 1939
On August 27, 1939, Germany’s Heinkel He 178 made the world’s first flight by an aircraft powered solely by a turbojet engine. The successful test demonstrated that jet propulsion was practical, paving the way for aircraft capable of greater speeds than piston-engine designs. It flew days before World War II began in Europe, but operational jet fighters did not enter combat until the war’s later years.
Kellogg-Briand Pact Signed in Paris
Kellogg-Briand Pact Signed in Paris
Year: 1928
On August 27, 1928, representatives of 15 nations signed the Kellogg-Briand Pact in Paris, renouncing war as an instrument of national policy. The pact mattered because it advanced the principle that aggressive war was illegitimate, although it lacked effective enforcement mechanisms. Born from post–World War I peace efforts, it failed to prevent later conflicts but helped shape international law, including the prosecution of aggressive war after World War II.
Anglo-Zanzibar War
Anglo-Zanzibar War
Year: 1896
On August 27, 1896, Britain attacked Zanzibar after Sultan Khalid bin Barghash seized power without British approval, defeating his forces in roughly 40 minutes. The conflict mattered because Britain removed Khalid and installed the more compliant Hamud bin Mohammed, tightening British control over the Zanzibar Sultanate. Commonly called history’s shortest recorded war, it reflected the unequal power and colonial intervention that characterized European imperialism in late-19th-century Africa.