Today is Wednesday, May 27, the 147th day of 2026. There are 218 days left in the year.
Today in history:
On May 27, 1993, a bomb set by the Sicilian mafia exploded outside the Uffizi Gallery in Florence, Italy; 5 people were killed and 48 wounded, and dozens of centuries-old paintings were destroyed or damaged.
Also on this date:
In 1896, 255 people were killed when a devastating F4 tornado struck St. Louis, Missouri, and East St. Louis, Illinois.
In 1930, New York’s Chrysler Building, at the time the world’s tallest building, opened to the public.
In 1937, the newly completed Golden Gate Bridge connecting San Francisco and Marin County, California, was opened to pedestrian traffic (vehicles began crossing the next day).
In 1941, the British Royal Navy sank the German battleship Bismarck off France, killing over 2,000 German sailors.
In 1942, Doris “Dorie” Miller, a cook aboard the USS West Virginia, became the first African American to receive the Navy Cross for displaying “extraordinary courage and disregard for his own personal safety” during Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbor.
In 1968, the U.S. Supreme Court, in United States v. O’Brien, upheld the conviction of David O’Brien for destroying his draft card outside a Boston courthouse, ruling that the act was not protected by freedom of speech.
In 1994, Nobel Prize-winning author Alexander Solzhenitsyn returned to Russia to the emotional cheers of thousands after spending two decades in exile.
In 1998, Michael Fortier, the governmentap star witness in the Oklahoma City bombing case, was sentenced to 12 years in prison after apologizing for not warning anyone about the deadly plot. (Fortier was freed in January 2006.)
In 2006, a magnitude 6.4 earthquake struck the Indonesian island of Java near the city of Yogyakarta, killing more than 5,700 people.
Today’s Birthdays:
- Actor Lee Meriwether is 91.
- Actor Bruce Weitz is 83.
- Musician Bruce Cockburn is 81.
- Singer Dee Dee Bridgewater is 76.
- Football Hall of Famer Jackie Slater is 72.
- Actor Richard Schiff is 71.
- Singer Siouxsie Sioux is 69.
- Comedian Adam Carolla is 62.
- Actor Todd Bridges is 61.
- Baseball Hall of Famer Jeff Bagwell is 58.
- Actor Paul Bettany is 55.
- Actor Jack McBrayer is 53.
- Rapper-musician Andre 3000 (Outkast) is 51.
- Rapper Jadakiss is 51.
- Celebrity chef Jamie Oliver is 51.
- Actor Ben Feldman is 46.
- Actor-singer Chris Colfer is 36.
- Actor Lily-Rose Depp is 27.
- Olympic gymnastics gold medalist Jade Carey is 26.
- Formula One driver Franco Colapinto is 23.
