It happened today
August 27, 1859 colonel Edwin DrakeWith the help of his drill, he discovered an oil field in Titusville, a small town in Pennsylvania. It has long been known that in those parts, underground, there is an abundance of precious hydrocarbons. But Drake’s well was the first profitable well. Thus was born the American oil industry, at that time also a dangerous business: a few years later, sixty villagers were killed in a huge explosion. The most powerful and loudest explosion ever heard in historical times occurred on August 27, 1883, when the Krakatoa eruption in Indonesia reached its peak. Three very strong shots destroyed the island of the same name and the archipelago surrounding it. The subsequent tsunami killed 36,000 people. The roar was felt all the way to Australia, and the sailors of the Sunda Strait – 60 kilometers away – had their eardrums shattered. The eruption also had climate implications, with global temperatures dropping slightly in subsequent years. (Luigi Gaetani)
born of the day
Friedrich Hegel, 27 August 1770, German philosopher and poet
Giuseppe Peano, 27 August 1858, mathematician, logician and glotothetic
Man Ray, August 27, 1890. American artist, photographer, filmmaker and graphic artist.
Cesaria Evora, born August 27, 1941, is a Cape Verdean singer.
Jeanette Winterson, 27 August 1959, British writer
Tom Ford, August 27, 1961, American fashion designer, director and screenwriter.
Lillo, August 27, 1962, actor, comedian, screenwriter, musician, broadcaster and voice actor
dead day
Titian, 27 August 1576, painter
Cesare Pavese, August 27, 1950, writer, poet, translator and literary critic
Le Corbusier, born August 27, 1965, is a Swiss architect, urban planner and artist.
Stevie Ray Vaughn, born August 27, 1990, is an American guitarist, singer and songwriter.
Saint of the day
Saint Monica, mother of Saint Augustine. He was born in Tagaste to a wealthy Christian family, which allowed him to study and deepen the Bible. She married Patrizio and had her first child, Agostino, at the age of 22. He followed his eldest son to Italy, hoping to see him later converted to Christianity.