Today in History: August 27, catastrophic eruption of Krakatoa

Today in History

Today is Sunday, Aug. 27, the 239th day of 2023. There are 126 days left in the year.

Today’s Highlight in History:

On Aug. 27, 1883, the island volcano Krakatoa erupted with a series of cataclysmic explosions. The resulting tidal waves in Indonesia’s Sunda Strait claimed some 36,000 lives in Java and Sumatra.

On this date:

In 1776, the Battle of Long Island began during the Revolutionary War as British troops attacked American forces who ended up being forced to retreat two days later.

In 1894, Congress passed the Wilson-Gorman Tariff Act, which contained a provision for a graduated income tax that was later struck down by the Supreme Court.

In 1939, the first turbojet-powered aircraft, the Heinkel He 178, went on its first full-fledged test flight over Germany.

In 1949, a violent white mob prevented an outdoor concert headlined by Paul Robeson from taking place near Peekskill, New York.

In 1967, Brian Epstein, manager of the Beatles, was found dead in his London flat from an accidental overdose of sleeping pills at age 32.

In 1979, British war hero Lord Louis Mountbatten and three other people, including his 14-year-old grandson Nicholas, were killed off the coast of Ireland in a boat explosion claimed by the Irish Republican Army.

In 2001, Israeli helicopters fired a pair of rockets through office windows and killed senior PLO leader Mustafa Zibri.

In 2004, President George W. Bush signed executive orders designed to strengthen the CIA director’s power over the nation’s intelligence agencies and create a national counterterrorism center.

In 2005, coastal residents jammed freeways and gas stations as they rushed to get out of the way of Hurricane Katrina, which was headed toward New Orleans.

In 2008, Barack Obama was nominated for president by the Democratic National Convention in Denver.

In 2020, speaking on the White House South Lawn, President Donald Trump accepted his party’s renomination, blasting Joe Biden as a hapless career politician who would endanger Americans’ safety and painting a grim portrait of violence in American cities run by Democrats.

Ten years ago: Maj. Nidal Hasan, the Army psychiatrist who days earlier was convicted of fatally shooting 13 people and injuring 30 more at Fort Hood, Texas, in 2009, rested his case without presenting any evidence during his trial’s penalty phase. (Hasan would later be sentenced to death.) Authorities in California revealed that the Rim Fire near Yosemite National Park, among the largest in the state’s history, had grown to 281 square miles.

Five years ago: Under pressure to take part in the national remembrance of the late Arizona Sen. John McCain, with whom he had feuded, President Donald Trump tersely recognized McCain’s “service to our country” and re-lowered the White House flag, which had been at half-staff only briefly after McCain’s death. The Trump administration reached a preliminary deal with Mexico to replace the North American Free Trade Agreement. Simona Halep (HAL’-ehp) lost in the first round of the U.S. Open to Kaia Kanepi (KY’-uh kuh-NEP’-ee) of Estonia, becoming the first top-seeded woman to lose her opening match at the tournament in the half-century of the professional era.

One year ago: Concern about the potential for a radiation leak at Europe’s largest nuclear power plant persisted as Ukrainian authorities said that Russian forces fired on areas just across the river and Russia claimed Ukrainian shelling hit a building where nuclear fuel is stored. A car driven by Princess Diana in the 1980s sold for 650,000 pounds ($764,000) at auction, just days before the 25th anniversary of her death. Bob LuPone, who as an actor earned a Tony nomination in the original run of “A Chorus Line” and went on to help lead the influential off-Broadway theater company MCC Theater for almost 40 years, died at age 76.

Today’s Birthdays: Author Lady Antonia Fraser is 91. Actor Tommy Sands is 86. Actor Tuesday Weld is 80. Actor G.W. Bailey is 79. Actor Marianne Sagebrecht is 78. Rock musician Alex Lifeson (Rush) is 70. Actor Peter Stormare is 70. Actor Diana Scarwid is 68. Rock musician Glen Matlock (The Sex Pistols) is 67. Golfer Bernhard Langer is 66. Country singer Jeffrey Steele is 62. Gospel singer Yolanda Adams is 62. Fashion designer and film director Tom Ford is 62. Writer-producer Dean Devlin is 61. Rock musician Mike Johnson is 58. Rap musician Eric “Bobo” Correa (Cypress Hill) is 56. U.S. Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines is 54. Country singer Colt Ford is 54. Actor Chandra Wilson is 54. Rock musician Tony Kanal (No Doubt) is 53. Rapper Mase is 48. Actor Sarah Chalke is 47. Actor RonReaco Lee is 47. Actor-singer Demetria McKinney is 45. Actor Aaron Paul is 44. Rock musician Jon Siebels (Eve 6) is 44. Actor Shaun Weiss is 44. Contemporary Christian musician Megan Garrett (Casting Crowns) is 43. Actor Kyle Lowder is 43. Actor Patrick J. Adams is 42. Actor Karla Mosley is 42. Actor Amanda Fuller is 39. Singer Mario is 37. Actor Alexa PenaVega is 35. Actor Ellar Coltrane is 29. U.S. Olympic and WNBA basketball star Breanna Stewart is 29. Actor Savannah Paige Rae is 20.