December 27 is the 361st day of the year (362nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar; four days remain until the end of the year.
1512 – The Spanish Crown issues the Laws of Burgos, governing the conduct of settlers with regard to native Indians in the New World.[2] 1657 – The Flushing Remonstrance articulates for the first time in North American history that freedom of religion is a fundamental right.[5] 1814 – War of 1812: The destruction of the schooner USS Carolina brings to an end Commodore Daniel Patterson's makeshift fleet, which fought a series of delaying actions that contributed to Andrew Jackson's victory at the Battle of New Orleans.[7] 1831 – Charles Darwin embarks on his journey aboard HMS Beagle, during which he will begin to formulate his theory of evolution.[8] 1845 – Ether anesthetic is used for childbirth for the first time by Dr. Crawford Long in Jefferson, Georgia.[10] 1845 – Having coined the phrase 'manifest destiny' the previous July, journalist John L. O'Sullivan argued in his newspaper New York Morning News that the United States had the right to claim the entire Oregon Country.[11] 1918 – The Great Poland Uprising against the Germans begins.
1922 – Japanese aircraft carrier Hōshō becomes the first purpose built aircraft carrier to be commissioned in the world.
1929 – Soviet General Secretary Joseph Stalin orders the 'liquidation of the kulaks as a class'.
1932 – Radio City Music Hall, 'Showplace of the Nation', opens in New York City.
1935 – Regina Jonas is ordained as the first female rabbi in the history of Judaism.
1968 – Apollo program: Apollo 8 splashes down in the Pacific Ocean, ending the first orbital crewed mission to the Moon.
1978 – Spain becomes a democracy after 40 years of fascist dictatorship.
1983 – Pope John Paul II visits Mehmet Ali Ağca in Rebibbia's prison and personally forgives him for the 1981 attack on him in St. Peter's Square.
1985 – Palestinian guerrillas kill eighteen people inside the airports of Rome, Italy, and Vienna, Austria.
1996 – Taliban forces retake the strategic Bagram Airfield which solidifies their buffer zone around Kabul, Afghanistan.
2002 – Two truck bombs kill 72 and wound 200 at the pro-Moscow headquarters of the Chechen government in Grozny, Chechnya, Russia.
2007 – Former Pakistani prime minister Benazir Bhutto is assassinated in a shooting incident.
2008 – Operation Cast Lead: Israel launches three-week operation on Gaza.
2009 – Iranian election protests: On the Day of Ashura in Tehran, Iran, government security forces fire upon demonstrators.