On this day

February 27, 1942

Revisit the news, notable people, and historical moments connected to this date.

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Headlines from February 27, 1942

Notable Births

Jimmy Burns

1942Jimmy Burns, American singer-songwriter and guitarist[†]

Jimmy Burns is an American soul blues and electric blues guitarist, singer and songwriter. Although he was born in the Mississippi Delta, Burns has spent nearly all his life in Chicago. His elder brother, Eddie "Guitar" Burns, was a Detroit blues musician.

Robert H. Grubbs

1942Robert H. Grubbs, American chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 2021)[†]

Robert Howard Grubbs ForMemRS was an American chemist and the Victor and Elizabeth Atkins Professor of Chemistry at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, California. He was a co-recipient of the 2005 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his work on olefin metathesis.

Charlayne Hunter-Gault

1942Charlayne Hunter-Gault, American journalist[†]

Alberta Charlayne Hunter-Gault is an American civil rights activist, journalist and former foreign correspondent for National Public Radio, CNN, and the Public Broadcasting Service. Charlayne Hunter and Hamilton Holmes were the first African-American students to attend the University of Georgia.

Klaus-Dieter Sieloff

1942Klaus-Dieter Sieloff, German footballer (died 2011)[†]

Klaus-Dieter Sieloff was a German footballer who played as a defender. He spent 11 seasons in the Bundesliga with VfB Stuttgart and Borussia Mönchengladbach. He played in two World Cup Qualifying matches in 1966.

Historical Events

World War II

1942World War II: During the Battle of the Java Sea, an Allied strike force is defeated by a Japanese task force in the Java Sea in the Dutch East Indies.[†]

World War II or the Second World War was a global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies and the Axis powers. Nearly all of the world's countries participated, with many nations mobilising all resources in pursuit of total war. Tanks and aircraft played major roles, enabling the strategic bombing of cities and delivery of the first and only nuclear weapons ever used in war. World War II is the deadliest conflict in history, causing the death of 70 to 85 million people, more than half of whom were civilians. Millions died in genocides, including the Holocaust, and by massacres, starvation, and disease. After the Allied victory, Germany, Austria, Japan, and Korea were occupied, and German and Japanese leaders were tried for war crimes.