August 27
1784: Apothecary and editor James Tytler made the first balloon ascent in Britain in a hot-air balloon at Edinburgh, Scotland. Before a small number of onlookers, the balloon rose to 350 feet in the air, travelled half a mile, and landed in Restalrig village.
1858: Mathematician Giuseppe Peano born. He will do pioneering work in mathematical logic and set theory.
1915: Physicist Norman Foster Ramsey Jr. born. He will be awarded the 1989 Nobel Prize in Physics for the invention of the separated oscillatory field method, which will have important applications in the construction of atomic clocks.
1926: Chemist and composer George Brecht born. He will be a conceptual artist and avant-garde composer, as well as a professional chemist who will work as a consultant for companies including Pfizer, Johnson & Johnson, and Mobil Oil.
2003: Mars makes its closest approach to Earth in nearly 60,000 years, passing 34,646,418 miles (55,758,005 km) distant.
2017: Dennis Paulson of Mars wins Pulitzer Prize for Best Reality Television Show.