March 27
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Featured Event
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Cleopatra reinstated as queen of Egypt
On this day in 47 bce, Cleopatra was reinstated to the Egyptian throne after having been ousted by her brother, Ptolemy XIII, three years prior. Rather than residing in exile, Cleopatra assembled her army in an attempt to reclaim the throne. While her forces were initially outnumbered, the tide shifted when Cleopatra gained Julius Caesar as an ally and lover (after being discreetly smuggled into his quarters). She successfully defeated her brother—who reportedly drowned while fleeing—and ruled over Egypt for almost two decades afterward. Her death in 30 bce marked the end of the 300-year Ptolemaic dynasty. [Read today’s edition of Today in History > >]
Featured Biography
Featured Biography
© Carrienelson1/Dreamstime.com
Born this day in 1970, American pop singer Mariah Carey was perhaps the most successful performer of the 1990s, known for a wide vocal range that was showcased on such hit albums as Emotions, Daydream, and Butterfly.
Famous Birthdays
More on March 27
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
2020
North Macedonia became the 30th country to join NATO. [Sort fact from fiction in our quiz about world organizations.]
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
2002
American comedian Milton Berle—who, as a popular entertainer in the early days of television in the United States, came to be known as “Mr. Television”—died at age 93. [Test your knowledge of pop culture.]
© Steve Allen/Dreamstime.com
1998
The drug Viagra from the pharmaceutical company Pfizer was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for use in treating erectile dysfunction. [Sort fact from fiction in our quiz about the human body.]
© Henri Bureau/Corbis/VCG—Sygma/Getty Images
1977
Two passenger airplanes collided on a runway on Tenerife in the Canary Islands, killing 583 people. It is the deadliest aviation accident in history.
© Alaska Stock LLC/Alamy
1975
Construction began on the Trans-Alaska Pipeline; spanning 800 miles (1,300 km), the oil pipeline cost $8 billion and was completed in 1977. [Sort fact from fiction in our quiz about oil and natural gas.]
U.S. Geological Survey
1964
South-central Alaska was struck by a 9.2-magnitude earthquake that was the strongest quake ever registered in the United States. [Test your knowledge of historic disasters.]
© 1994 Miramax Films
1963
American director and screenwriter Quentin Tarantino—whose films, including Reservoir Dogs (1992) and Pulp Fiction (1994), are noted for their stylized violence, razor-sharp dialogue, and fascination with film and pop culture—was born. [Take our quiz covering everything about movies.]
© Keystone/Getty Images
1958
Nikita Khrushchev replaced Nikolay Bulganin as premier of the Soviet Union. [Test your knowledge of Russian history.]
U.S. National Archives and Records Administration
1927
Mstislav Rostropovich, one of the best-known cellists of the 20th century and music director of the National Symphony Orchestra in Washington, D.C., from 1977 to 1994, was born in Azerbaijan. [How well do you know musical instruments?]
© Science History Images—Photo Researchers, Inc./Alamy
1915
American domestic Mary Mallon, better known as Typhoid Mary, was placed under a quarantine on North Brother Island, New York City, that lasted until her death in 1938; a typhoid carrier, she was allegedly responsible for multiple outbreaks of typhoid fever. [Test your knowledge of viruses, bacteria, and diseases.]
Carol M. Highsmith's America/Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. (LC-DIG-highsm-04847)
1886
German American architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, whose rectilinear forms crafted in elegant simplicity epitomized the International Style of architecture, was born. [Take our history of architecture quiz.]
Bettmann/Getty Images
1814
At the Battle of Horseshoe Bend (Tohopeka, Alabama) in the Creek War, Andrew Jackson and his 3,000 troops defeated the Creek Indians, slaughtering more than 800 warriors and imprisoning 500 women and children. [Test your knowledge of American history.]
© Photos.com/Getty Images
1625
Upon the death of James I, Charles I ascended the throne of Great Britain and Ireland. [How much do you know about the kings of England?]
Courtesy of the Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris
1351
As part of the struggle between Charles of Blois (supported by the king of France) and John of Montfort (backed by the king of England) over succession to the duchy of Brittany, their knights waged the Battle of the Thirty near Ploërmel. [Take our quiz about the history of warfare.]