This Day in History – August 27, 2011

26 -BC- Origin of Egyptian Era 1667 Earliest recorded hurricane in US (Jamestown Virginia) 1776 British defeat Americans in Battle of Long Island 1783 1st hydrogen balloon flight (unmanned); reaches 900 m altitude 1859 1st successful oil well drilled, near Titusville, Penn 1927 Parks College, America’s oldest aviation school, opens 1928 Kellogg-Briand Pact, where 60 nations agree to outlaw war 1937 George E.T. Eyston sets world auto speed record at 345.49 MPH 1940 Caproni-Campini CC-2, experimental jet plane, maiden flight (Milan) 1945 US troops land in Japan after Japanese surrender 1961 Francis the Talking Mule is the mystery guest on “What’s My Line” 1962 Mariner 2 launched; 1st probe to fly by Venus 1966 Francis Chichester begins the 1st solo sail around the world 1975 Veronica & Colin Scargill (England) complete tandem bicycle ride, a record 18,020 miles around the world 1978 Reds Joe Morgan is 1st to hit 200 HRs & have 500 stolen bases 1978 Yankee Catfish Hunter’s 6-2 win gives him a perfect 6-0 in Aug 1978 1981 Divers begin to recover a safe found aboard the Andrea Doria 1984 President Reagan announces the Teacher in Space project 1990 52 Americans arrive in Turkey from Iraq 1990 Stevie Ray Vaughan dies in a helicopter crash. 2003 Mars makes its closest approach to Earth in nearly 60,000 years, passing 34,646,418 miles (55,758,005 km) distant. 2006 Comair Flight 5191 crashes on takeoff from Blue Grass Airport in Lexington, Kentucky bound for Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport in Atlanta, Georgia. Of the passengers and crew, 49 of 50 are confirmed dead in the hours following the crash. 2007 The skeletal remains of Alexei Nikolaevich, Tsarevich of Russia, and his sister Anastasia are found near Yekaterinburg, Russia.]]]]> ]]>