Soviet War in Afghanistan

December 27, 1979

Russia invades Kabul, Afghanistan at the start of the nearly 10-year conflict between the Soviet Army and rebels in Afghanistan.

Howdy Doody

December 27, 1947

The children's TV show Howdy Doody debuts on NBC. "Say, kids, what time is it?" It was the first nationally-broadcast TV program for children.
Howdy Doody was originally a "voice only" character and there was no puppet. But, the response was so great to the character that they hastily had puppeteer Frank Paris create a puppet for the character. As popularity for the character and demand for merchandising increased, a battle ensued since Buffalo Bob Smith owned the character, but Paris owned the puppet. Feeling he was being cheated out of revenues, Paris took off with the puppet during a live broadcast of the show. The producers then concocted a story where Howdy Doody decided to have plastic surgery to make him more handsome for the electorate while he was running for "President Of All Kids Of the United States". A new puppet was created to replace Paris' puppet. This is the puppet most people associate with the show.

First Ordained Female Rabbi

December 27, 1935

Regina Jonas is ordained, making her the first female ordained as a rabbi. Her 1930 thesis argued that there was no law forbidding women from becoming rabbis, and that there were many biblical and historical examples of women teaching and arbitrating Jewish law.
She died in the Auschwitz concentration camp during WWII. After being arrested by the Nazis in 1942 and sent to the Theresienstadt concentration camp, she continued her rabbinic work and provided counseling to new arrivals until she and her mother were sent to Auschwitz where they were killed.
She was almost forgotten to history. After the war, she and her work were ignored by her male colleagues, even by those who worked with her in Theresienstadt. However, in 1991 a researcher discovered her ordination papers, seminary dissertation, and other personal documents.

Radio City Music Hall

December 27, 1932

Radio City Music Hall opens in New York City, featuring the high-kicking Rockettes.

Show Boat

December 27, 1927

Oscar Hammerstein II and Jerome Kern's musical Show Boat premieres at the Ziegfield Theater on Broadway. It is considered the first true American musical play and features the classic number, Ol' Man River. It was based on the Edna Ferber novel of the same name.

Heather O'Rourke

Born December 27, 1975 d. 1988

American child actress. Film: Poltergeist (1982, Carol Anne), Poltergeist II (1986), and Poltergeist III (1988).
In 1987, 12-year-old O'Rourke became ill with giardiasis and was diagnosed as having Crohn's disease. She was treated for the disease during the filming of Poltergeist III. On January 31, 1988, she began vomiting and the next morning she collapsed and suffered cardiac arrest en route to the hospital where she died later that day during surgery to repair an acute bowel obstruction caused by congenital stenosis of the intestine.

John Amos (John Allen Amos Jr.)

Born December 27, 1939 d. 2024

American actor. Known for his portrayal of patriarch James Evans on the TV show Good Times (1974-76). He claims he was kicked off the television show Good Times because he didn't agree with the shucking and jiving of his character's son J.J. Evans. Amos, at age 34 when the show began, was only eight years older than the actor who played his oldest son and 19 years younger than the actress who played his wife.
Amos signed as a free agent with the American Football League's Denver Broncos, but was released on the second day of training camp. He went on to play in the United Football League, the Continental Football League, and the Atlantic Coast Football League.
TV: Good Times (1974-76, James Evans, Sr.), The Mary Tyler Moore Show (1970-73, Gordy Howard the weatherman), Roots (1977, adult Kunta Kinte), and The West Wing (1999-2004, Admiral Percy Fitzwallace). Film: The World's Greatest Athlete (1973) and Coming to America (1988, Cleo McDowell).

Major Charles Sweeney

Born December 27, 1919 d. 2004

American pilot. He flew the plane which dropped the "Fat Man" atom bomb on Nagasaki (1945). Sixty percent of the city was destroyed and approximately 70,000 people were killed in the initial blast. This was the second atomic bomb dropped on Japan, after the atomic bombing of Hiroshima.

Louis Pasteur

Born December 27, 1822 d. 1895

French chemist, bacteriologist. He discovered a vaccination for rabies (1885) and food preservation by heating (pasteurization). Pasteur refuted the theory of spontaneous generation and supported the germ theory of disease. His theory that many diseases are caused by tiny organisms was met with skepticism by many scientists of the day.

Father of Aerodynamics

Sir George Cayley

Born December 27, 1773 d. 1857

English inventor, "Father of Aerodynamics." He built the first manned glider (c1849). By 1799 he had developed the concept of the modern airplane as a fixed-wing flying machine with separate systems for lift, propulsion, and control.
He was also the inventor of the hot air engine (1807). In 1837 he developed a hot air engine in which the products of combustion acted directly on a piston, making it the forerunner of the modern internal combustion engine.

Father of Modern Astronomy

Johannes Kepler

Born December 27, 1571 d. 1630

German mathematician, astronomer. "Father of Modern Astronomy." He discovered that planetary orbits are elliptical (1609), and invented the astronomical telescope (1611).