On This Day for December 27 - Dutch transfer of Indonesian sovereignty , Louis Pasteur is featured, and more

This message contains graphics. If you do not see the graphics, click here to view. December 27 FEATURED BIOGRAPHY Louis Pasteur READ MORE   FEATURED EVENT 1949 Dutch transfer of Indonesian sovereignty READ MORE   Advertisement Advertisement   MORE EVENTS ON THIS DAY 2015: American painter, sculptor, and printmaker Ellsworth Kelly —who was a leading exponent of the hard-edge style, in which abstract contours are sharply and precisely defined—died in Spencertown, New York. [Sort fact from fiction in our artists and painters quiz.] 2007: Pakistani politician Benazir Bhutto, the first woman leader of a Muslim nation in modern history, was assassinated in Rawalpindi, Pakistan, while campaigning for upcoming parliamentary elections. [Read our list of six of the first women heads of state.] 1978: Houari Boumedienne, president of Algeria, died at age 51. [How much do you know about African leaders?] 1932: The internal passport system, previously denounced by Vladimir Lenin as one of the worst stigmas of tsarist backwardness and despotism, was reinstated in the Soviet Union by Joseph Stalin. [ Test your knowledge of Russian history.] 1901: German American film actress Marlene Dietrich—whose beauty, voice, aura of sophistication, and languid sensuality made her one of the world's most glamorous movie stars—was born. [Take our women in classic cinema quiz.] 1831: Charles Darwin set sail on the HMS Beagle, beginning the voyage on which he would formulate his theory of evolution. [ What Darwin got right (and wrong) about evolution.] SEE ALL EVENTS ON THIS DAY ALSO BORN ON THIS DAY 1901 Marlene Dietrich German American actress 1822 Louis Pasteur French chemist and microbiologist 1571 Johannes Kepler German astronomer 1948 Gérard Depardieu French actor 1797 Mīrzā Asadullāh Khān Ghālib Indian poet 1714 George Whitefield British clergyman SEE ALL BIOS ON THIS DAY   Advertisement   FOLLOW: To unsubscribe from Britannica e-mails, click here. Encyclopædia Britannica 325 N. LaSalle Street, Suite 200 Chicago, Illinois 60654 United States © 2020 Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc. Privacy Policy • Help