Today in History in 2003 Mars makes closest approach to Earth in nearly 60,000 years, passing approximately 34,646,416 miles (55,758,006 kilometers) from Earth.

Our on this day in history archives contain over 200,000 events, birthdays and deaths from 6,000 years of history. Here is a roundup of a few of them:

August 27 is the 239th day of the year (240th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 126 days remaining until the end of the year.

EVENTS

479 BC – Battle of Plataea ends the Persian invasion of Greece, Mardonius routed by Pausanias, the Spartan commander of the Greek army.

55 BC – Julius Caesar Lands in Britain for the first time.

AD 410 – Vandal sack of Rome ends after three days.

1172 – Henry the Young King and Margaret of France crowned as junior king and queen of England.

1593 – Pierre Barriere fails in his attempt to kill King Henry IV of France.

1597 – Japan defeats Korea in the Naval Battle of Chilchonryang during the Imjin War, following several mistakes by the Korean admiral Won Gyun.

1664 – After officially taking control of the former Dutch colony of New Amsterdam, British colonists rename it New York.

1664 – The French East India Company is officially founded by Louis XIV of France.

1728 – On this date in the Gregorian calendar, Vitus Bering lands on the Diomede Islands in the now-named Bering Strait between Alaska, now in the US, and the Russian far east.

1776 – Battle of Long Island, in present-day Brooklyn, New York British forces under General William Howe defeat Americans under General George Washington.

1793 – French Revolutionary Wars: The city of Toulon revolts against the French Republic.

1810 – The French Navy defeats the British Royal Navy, preventing them from taking the harbor of Grand Port and Ile de France.

1813 – Napoleon defeats the Austrians, Russians and Prussians at the Battle of Dresden.

1820 – Along with two other people, Josef Naus becomes the first person to climb Zugspitze, the highest mountain in Germany.

1828 – The Russians defeat the Turks at Akhaltzikke.

1832 – Black Hawk, leader of the Sauk tribe of Native Americans, surrenders to US forces.

1859 – Petroleum discovered in Titusville, Pennsylvania - the world's first successful oil well.

1861 – American Civil War: Union forces attack Cape Hatteras, North Carolina.

1883 – The after effects caused by the Krakatoa explosion in Indonesia kill over 36,000 people, as the eruption ends in a loud explosion, which causes deadly tsunamis.

1896 – The shortest war in the world - 9:02 - 9:40 between the United Kingdom and Zanzibar

1900 – British defeat Boer commandos at Bergendal.

1912 – The novel Tarzan of the Apes by Edgar Rice Burroughs goes on sale.

1914 – World War I: French and British troops occupy the then-German colony of Togoland.

1916 – World War I: Romania declares war on Austria-Hungary.

1921 – The British Faisal I as King of Iraq.

1927 – Five Canadian women file a petition to the Supreme Court of Canada asking whether the word 'persons' in Section 24 of the British North America Act of 1867, includes female persons.

1928 – The Kellogg-Briand Pact, outlawing war, is signed by sixty nations.

1939 – First jet aircraft flight.

1943 – World War II: Japanese forces evacuate New Georgia Island in the Pacific Theater of Operations during the war.

1952 – Reparation negotiations between West Germany and Israel end in Luxembourg; West Germany to pay 3 billion Deutschmarks.

1955 – The Guinness Book of Records goes on sale for the first time.

1957 – The Constitution of Malaysia comes into force.

1962 – The Mariner 2 space probe is launched.

1971 – A failed military coup occurs in Chad.

1975 – The Governor of Portuguese Timor (now East Timor) abandons his capital, Dili, and flees to Atauro Island, leaving control to a rebel group.

1979 – An IRA bomb kills Lord Mountbatten and 3 others on holiday in Sligo, Republic of Ireland. Another near Warrenpoint, Northern Ireland kills 18 British soldiers.

1982 – Turkish military diplomat Colonel Atilla Altikat is shot dead in Ottawa, Canada. The group Justice Commandos Against Armenian Genocide claims responsibility.

1985 – The Nigerian government is peacefully overthrown by army chief Ibrahim Babangida.

1990 – The British Broadcasting Corporation launches BBC Radio Five Live at 9am GMT with a mixture of sports, news, and children's programming. The station broadcasts for eighteen hours per day.

1991 – The European Community recognizes the independence of the Baltic states: Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania.

1991 – Moldova declares independence from the USSR.

1993 – The Gouhou Dam in Gonghe, Qinghai province, breaks, resulting in 240 deaths.

1993 – The Florida DOT decides to cease producing its distinctive colored U.S. Highway shields so that it can make use of Federal funds for those signs.

2000 – Ostankino Tower in Moscow catches fire, and three people are killed.

2003 – Mars makes closest approach to Earth in nearly 60,000 years, passing approximately 34,646,416 miles (55,758,006 kilometers) from Earth.

2005 – The Turning Torso in Malmo, Sweden, which is the tallest residential building in Europe, is opened.

2005 – Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama declare a State of Emergency in preparation for Hurricane Katrina.

2006 – Comair Flight 5191 crashes on take-off at Lexington, Kentucky, with 49 people out of the 50 on board being confirmed dead within hours of the crash.

2010 – Kenya promulgates a new constitution under Mwai Kibaki

2011 – Hurricane Irene strikes the east coast of the United States.