What Happened On This Day ? June 27
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1991
Yugoslav troops invade Slovenia
The attack, which marked the beginning of the Ten-Day War, followed Slovenia's declaration of independence. It was the first of the Yugoslav Wars, a number of ethnic conflicts leading to the break-up of Yugoslavia and resulting in at least 140,000 deaths.
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1986
The 1980s U.S. intervention in Nicaragua is declared illegal
The International Court of Justice condemned the U.S. paramilitary campaign to overthrow the left-wing Nicaraguan government. The social democratic Sandinistas had begun to redistribute the country's wealth and improve education.
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1972
Nolan Bushnell and Ted Dabney found Atari, Inc.
The pioneering video game and home computer company produced arcade classics like the two-dimensional tennis simulator Pong. Especially in the 1970s and 1980s, its products had a large impact on the electronic entertainment industry.
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1956
The film Moby Dick is premiered
John Huston's adaptation of Herman Melville's homonymous novel, while not having been a great box office success, is today considered an outstanding work, especially for its use of light and color.
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1954
The world's first nuclear power plant is activated
The reactor at Obninsk in present-day Russia remained in operation for 48 years. Today, there are some 400 atomic power plants worldwide. The technology remains controversial, especially due to the unsolved long-term storage of the highly dangerous nuclear waste.
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1985
Svetlana Kuznetsova
Russian tennis player
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1969
Viktor Petrenko
Ukrainian figure skater
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1886
Charlie Macartney
Australian cricketer
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1869
Emma Goldman
Lithuanian/American activist, writer
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1846
Charles Stewart Parnell
Irish politician, founder of the Irish Parliamentary Party
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2001
Jack Lemmon
American actor, singer, director
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1999
Georgios Papadopoulos
Greek colonel, politician, 169th Prime Minister of Greece
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1844
Joseph Smith
American religious leader, founder, leader of the Latter Day Saint movement
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1839
Ranjit Singh
Indian founder of the Sikh Empire
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1831
Sophie Germain
French mathematician, physicist, philosopher