Historical records highlight several significant events occurring on August 27. In 479 BC, the Battle of Plataea took place, where Greek forces led by the Spartan Pausanias defeated the Persian army of Mardonius.
In 1813, Napoleon Bonaparte led an army of 130,000 men to victory at the Battle of Dresden against a coalition of Austrian, Russian, and Prussian forces totaling 200,000. During this battle, Alexandros Ypsilantis was wounded and lost his right hand.
Other notable occurrences include the 1829 arrival of the first Greeks in Australia—seven sailors convicted of piracy—and the 1922 destruction of Smyrna, where Turkish forces entered the city, leading to fires and massacres of the Greek population. In 1923, a violent incident involving five Italians on the Ioanninon–Kakkavia road led to an Italian landing in Corfu.
In the cultural sphere, the opera ‘Tosca’ by Giacomo Puccini premiered in Athens in 1942, featuring a 19-year-old Maria Callas in the lead role.
Entities
Alec Issigonis · Antoine Lavoisier · Bank of Greece · Battle of Plataea · Greece · Maria Callas · Napoleon Bonaparte · Smyrna