Browse Historical Events by Day: What Happened on February 27th?

313 CE, February 27 - Edict of Milan, issued by Constantine the Great and Licinius, granting religious tolerance in the Roman Empire.

Edict of Thessalonica, Emperor Theodosius I declares Nicene Christianity as the official state religion of the Roman Empire.

Battle of La Roche-aux-Moines: English forces under William Marshal defeat the French.

The city’s new Mardi Gras (Fat Tuesday in French), tradition began in 1827 when the group of students,  donned masks and costumes and staged their own Fat Tuesday festivities. Over time, Mardi Gras grew into a more formal event, one now deeply embedded in New Orleans culture. Mardi Gras is followed by Ash Wednesday, a solemn day in Christian tradition, which denotes the beginning of Lent, a 40 day season of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving that ends at sundown on Holy Thursday. It's a period of preparation to celebrate the Resurrection of Jesus at Easter.

The Dominican Republic declares independence from the Republic of Haiti. The War of Independence (Spanish: Guerra de Independencia Dominicana) ended twelve years later on January 24, 1856. Before the war, the island of Hispaniola had been united for 22 years when the newly independent nation, previously known as the Captaincy General of Santo Domingo, was unified with the Republic of Haiti in 1822. The criollo class within the country overthrew the Spanish crown in 1821 before unifying with Haiti a year later. More

Oscar Wilde's play "Salomé" is premiered in Paris.

The Reichstag fire in Berlin allows Adolf Hitler to seize emergency powers, ultimately leading to Nazi dictatorship in Germany.

USS Langley the U.S. Navy's first aircraft carrier is attacked by Japanese aircraft while transporting U.S. Army P-40's to the Netherlands East Indies. The damaged carrier was scuttled by her escorting destroyers. More