February 27
1844
Dominican Republic gained independence from Haiti.
1933
German Reichstag building in Berlin was destroyed by fire.
1951
The 22nd Amendment to the Constitution was ratified, limiting the President to two terms.
1973
Members of the American Indian Movement occupied the village of Wounded Knee, S.D.
1991
Kuwait was liberated in the Gulf War.
2003
Fred Rogers, of Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood, died.
2012
Ali Abdullah Saleh stepped down as president of Yemen after months of protests.
Birthdays
John Steinbeck
1902–1968, American Writer.
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
poet (1807)
Alice Hamilton
physician, reformer (1869)
Hugo Black
Supreme Court Justice (1886)
Marian Anderson
contralto (1897)
Ariel Sharon
general and politician (1928)
Elizabeth Taylor
actress (1932)
Ralph Nader
consumer advocate (1934)